Darkling

Chapter Three: Bad timing

Content/trigger warnings: Death, Violence, Child abuse, Suicidal ideation, PTSD, Emotional abuse, Trauma, Murder

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"Meditation is important for maintaining inner and outer balance," said Carl. A frown darkened the lines on his forehead. "We teach you Mixed Martial Arts here and, if you've been paying attention, you should know the basics by now. Martial Arts is more than just a way to fight. It's a lifestyle."

"If we need balance, why's there only one chick here?" said Nigel. "If this ain't a dude's group, shouldn't we at least have more choices to pick from?"

"'Specially since Jason's bagged her already," added his cousin, Brian. "That's not fair for the rest of us."

Satara looked him up and down slowly before turning away again. A derogative smile flitted across her face, lingering just long enough for him to see it.

"Oh, fu-" Carl's voice cut across Jason's dry yet less silent response.

"It doesn't matter whether you're a girl or a boy. You're all here to learn MMA. Nothing else." The chill in his voice swept over them like an unexpected slew of hailstones. He pointed to the entrance they had all come through. "And if that's not the case, the door is there."

Nigel and Brian laughed but soon fell into the same nervous silence as everyone else. Satara knew she wasn't the only one exchanging glances with the person next to them. Jason pressed his lips together, brows raised.

"Stress?" she muttered and he shrugged, his glowering eyes sliding past her to focus on the two boys at the other end of the group.

"By the end of next week, I want everyone to have their hands up when I ask about meditation." Carl dragged the mobile whiteboard closer to where they were sitting, writing the word chi at its centre. The pen squeaked across its pale surface, more noticeable in the unnatural silence. "So going back to chi. Does everyone know what it is?"

"Isn't that what Indian people call tea?" asked someone from the back of the group.

"That's chai, you idiot," said someone else, the words accompanied by the sound of an open palmed slap against the other's back.

"Qi?" Like Street-fighter?" Nigel pressed his hands together in a crocodile pose, opening them like jaws in Brian's direction. "Hadoken!"

"Shroyuken!" Brian swung his fist skyward in an exaggerated uppercut before the two of them started laughing. Again.

"It has to be." Nigel nodded in her direction, pointing to his own forehead. "Look, Satara even came prepared for class today. Sick!"

"Is it the same as chakra?" she asked, her gaze returning to Carl.

"Not quite." Their instructor followed her lead, turning his back pointedly on the two disruptive students. A thinly veiled warning settled on his movements. He drew a line from the circle around the word chi and added the word chakra – and more – to his evolving spider diagram. "Chi, also written as qi or ki, is a form of energy that flows throughout your body. Chakras are spiralling pools or focal points of chi that are located along the spine. Some people also refer to them as gateways through which we can access chi."

"Doesn't Naruto use chakra?" mumbled a boy with short brown hair and glasses sitting in front of her.

"You watch Naruto? Ugh," said another boy next to him.

"Don't you ugh me. I'm not the one who reads Fruits Basket."

"What? No, I don't!" The nape of the second boy's neck reddened. Almost as though it wanted Satara to slam the edge of her palm on it.