Flatline

Kay

I kneeled next to my best friend, hands clasped behind our heads. I should have listened to my gut and stayed home tonight despite Amalia's pleas. Watching the situation closely, I tried to keep my panic at bay. One minute we were drinking and having fun and the next we found ourselves here. I struggled to keep my breath even, willing the tears to stay put as a stranger waved a gun around the room.

Amalia and I had fought about her new guy, Andy, he was no good. The signs were obvious; flashy clothes, cars and money on tap, he was too good to be true. She, however, was blinded by his good looks and smooth talking. I had to admit, he was handsome. He had dark wavy hair, sparkling green eyes and a muscular physique, added to the glamorous lifestyle, I could see why women fawned over him. There was something about him that didn't sit well with me though, a sense of slyness that I just couldn't shake, so I was always wary around him. I was pretty sure he didn't like me either, he was always curt and only spoke to me when absolutely necessary. We were just nineteen and he was in his mid-twenties, all things considered, a recipe for disaster in my opinion, but she wouldn't hear my opinion, or anyone else's, so here we were.

The opulent room was at odds with the current situation, I admired the décor, a perfect blend of modern and luxury, cutting-edge style and the prices matched the atmosphere. I would have enjoyed the space much more if it didn't include Andy and his conceited friends, rejecting their entitled advances was becoming a pain. I couldn't see how Amalia stomached their attitudes. While soundproofed, gorgeous rooms were great in theory, it wasn't doing us any favours right now. Nobody would rush in having heard the screams, it may even have been a moot point considering the ear-shattering level of music in the exclusive club. I looked around the room, taking in Andy and his friends, they didn't look very confident, in fact, fear was very present in their body language and even more concerning, their eyes. The gunman's friends, however, were all calm and in control, each a hulking mass of muscle. This really didn't bode well.

I could hear Amalia whimpering next to me, I risked a quick glance, she was wide-eyed and simply terrified, as was I. She turned slightly, looked at me and mouthed the word "sorry", while her eyes pleaded for forgiveness. My heart melted, I would forgive her anything. She was my sister and we stood by each other through everything, always had and always would. I sent her a look that said 'it's going to be ok'. My eyes moved back to the stranger, he was tall, with long, dark blonde hair and icy blue eyes, cold, just like his demeanour. He radiated power, the kind that gave you chills and not in a good way. He had a slight accent, Russian maybe?

"So you thought you could mess with me?!" the stranger screamed at Andy, "You wanna play in the big leagues, you better have the balls to back it up! Let's see what you got then," he said as he shot Andy in the leg.

Amalia and Andy screamed at the same time, tears and sweat poured down Andy's face as he started begging in desperation, "Please, I didn't mean to offend you, I just wanted to expand a little. I'll give you whatever you want, please."

The stranger laughed, "Not such a big mouth now huh? Where's all the macho shit now huh?" He screamed louder, and shot Andy in the other leg.

Andy screamed again, Amalia too, she looked like she would pass out any moment now. "Please," said Andy "Please, whatever you want, money? My girl over there? She's really pretty." My terror was quickly replaced by rage, how dare he, the fvcker!

"What, the loud one?" the stranger asked and Andy nodded. He turned around and without batting an eye, he shot Amalia in the chest.

My heart stopped as I watched the life drain out of the eyes of my best friend, my childhood comrade, my ride or die chick.

The stranger turned back to Andy and smirked, "No thanks," he said.

Andy looked at him, fear written all over his face, as realization set in, there was no way out. True to his character he continued to beg and cry, snivelling about how he didn't want to die. I hadn't made a sound, I quickly made my way over to her and pressed my hand to her wound attempting to staunch the heavy flow of blood, it wasn't helping.

I held her hand as her breathing slowed, her eyes fluttered closed and then her breathing stopped. I was still in shock, my heart slowly shattering into a million pieces at the loss of my cherished friend. As the scene played out, I realized that it was unlikely I would get out of it alive either, I was a witness, they would never let me leave. A few moments later another gunshot rang out and Andy had a neatly placed bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. The stranger then put a bullet into each of Andy's friends and turned to face me.

I looked at him through teary eyes, the devil incarnate, who within a matter of minutes had changed my life irrevocably. I put every ounce of hatred I could manage into my glare and silently, and with all my being, cursed him straight to hell. It was all I could do, since I was probably going to die in the next few seconds.

Surprise flitted across his face briefly, he turned to one of his men and coldly said "Take her."

Kay

I inhaled deeply and stepped forward again, all sound was drowned out by my heavy breathing, the rush of blood and adrenaline in my ears, all I could see was her and I doggedly kept my gaze fixed on her throat. I just managed to dodge the front kick she snapped out at me, God I was so tired already, how long had we been going I wondered. I needed to be careful, her reach was much longer than mine, and we were neck and neck with blows so far. She was definitely tough, I couldn't slip up for a second or she'd put me down hard. 'Light as a feather, rooted as a tree, touching heaven and earth', I kept chanting to myself while moving around. As I sidestepped, I landed a punch to her left rib, but she recovered quickly and immediately came at me with a punch to the face. She caught me just below the right eye, fvck! That was definitely gonna be a shiner, I moved to keep a good distance and landed a reverse roundhouse kick to the left rib again. Ha, always took them by surprise. She slowed down slightly, showing the efficacy of the technique. Sticking to her left side, I punched her face, she blocked it and I landed a kick to her thigh. As I'd hoped, she dropped her guard and I followed through with a hook punch to her opposite side, landing it right on the temple. She shook it off, but I could see it had done its job, her balance was affected. I swept her and took her down, landing a punch to her face with gravity and bodyweight behind it.

Finally, I heard the bell and the referee stopped the match. Damn, that was the longest three minutes of my life. Breathing deeply, I started hearing the audience's cheers again, things came back into focus as I slowly recovered, my lungs were on fire and my legs were deadweight. I knew I'd scored more points so I had won, the referee called it.

Thankfully this was my last kumite match of the tournament, although I had to stay to the end anyway as I was also an official there. I bowed to the judges and my opponent, and as I left the mat I saw Peter waiting in the common area. As I exited the participant's area, he walked over and wrapped me in a tight embrace, he clearly didn't mind the sweat dripping off me.

"You did well Kay, I'm really proud of you," he praised. My mouth opened slightly in shock, Peter had never hugged me that way before and very publicly no less.

"Erm, thank you, " I whispered, feeling my cheeks heat up even more as his hard chest pressed up against me.

He gently traced the already swelling bruise under my eye. Suddenly, he seemed to realize what he was doing and slowly released his hold on me. Peter was my Sensei, we met at his brother's funeral, the man who had saved my life, but lost his in the process fifteen years ago. I felt like, on some level, Peter blamed me. We had gotten very close since he suggested I start training to keep the nightmares at bay. No matter what, it still felt like there was a wall between us, one that would be eternal. I had let go of any romantic desires I had towards him when I realised it wasn't mutual years ago. His behaviour now was confusing me.

I cleared my throat and stammered, "I better hit the shower, I'll see you later."

His deep blue eyes darkened and his expression hardened for a second before he nodded and let me go, running his hand through his dark hair. I headed to the showers to freshen up and change into the official uniform. I stepped into the cool water and felt my entire body wake up, I needed to break the sensual spell Peter had inadvertently awakened. I could still smell him. A little uneasy at my body's reaction to him, my mind replayed what his body felt like up against me. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, I couldn't quite rid myself of the heat between my legs. It had definitely been too long. I set the water to ice cold in desperation, the jolt to my senses snapped me out of it instantly.

"Well done Aunt Kay!" Seth said, his tall frame engulfing me in a bear hug as I left the change rooms.

Seth and I both had a love for martial arts, I had raised him since he was just a year old, when his mom passed away. When he turned four, I took him along to the dojo and he took to it naturally.

"Well done to you too Mr, a gold no less!!" I squealed, quite proud of his achievement at just sixteen. "We'll have to celebrate tomorrow, we'll go out for dinner, " I beamed. He had come such a long way from the shy, awkward kid. He grinned widely and his chest puffed out with pride. Martial arts had really helped his confidence and self-esteem.

Despite the odd spot on his face, he was also quite good looking; light brown hair that flopped onto his forehead, green eyes and a strong jaw, reminding me more and more of his beautiful mother every day. He would be giving the ladies trouble soon enough. He went off to watch the rest of the matches, while I did my admin duties.

As a table official I'd help keep score, the next kata up at my mat was Peter. He walked up to the mat and entered with a bow. The aura rolling off him was powerful and deadly, a palpable presence. He took his place and started his kata with explosive movement, his body graceful yet lethal. I stood in a trance, captivated by the art he always managed to produce. I could picture his opponent, feel the violence wrapped in such beauty, was I warped to see it as such? I was in awe as his body flowed from one movement into the next seamlessly, each technique laced with perfect form, speed, power and pinpoint accuracy. His startling kiai was like a roar from his soul, it was part of the kata, but still intimidated me like a heady tonic. He finished with a bow and the judges delivered their scores, near perfect. Our eyes met just as he was leaving the area, his fierce expression left me dumbstruck again. Violence and lust in equal parts, was I imagining it? What on earth was going on with Peter?

It had been a long two days and I felt it as we headed home, the drive felt interminable. When we finally got home Seth went to bed and I ran a hot bath, I needed this quiet space to clear my mind. I chose a playlist on my phone, connected it to the Bluetooth system and stepped into the bath. I washed my body with water and my soul with sound. My muscles relaxed as if my body had let out a huge sigh, the heat of the water worked out some of the tension and the herbal fragrance of the bath oil produced mental pictures of a lush, fresh forest. I exhaled, pushing the last of the air out of my lungs and dipped my head underwater, the distorted sounds always making it feel somewhat alien. I came up, took in a brand new breath and invited peace. As my breathing returned to normal more tension left my body. When I felt myself drifting off I got out, dried off and moisturized, loving the silky feeling of my skin when I'd finished. I didn't bother with nightwear, preferring the feeling of the cotton sheets on my body. When my head hit the pillow, there was no thought left and I drifted off to sleep with a satisfied sigh.

Author Notes

Hey guys, hope you enjoy this story. Please feel free to comment anytime

Kiai - is a Japanese term used in martial arts for the short shout uttered when performing an attacking move.

Kata - a system of individual training exercises in karate and other martial arts

Kay

My alarm went off for the third time, ugh Mondays! We were going to be late if I didn't get a move on.

"Seth! Time to wake up!" I shouted from my room.

I could just picture him groaning and covering his head with his blanket, still, he couldn't afford to be late again. Teenagers. I whipped up a bacon and egg breakfast as quick as I could and hurried him along before we finally hit the road.

Our team had to pitch for the Flatline account that morning, I couldn't be late. While I had done most of the work, the director wouldn't let me deliver the presentation. The owner of the successful brand of streetwear was a dark horse and they weren't sure whether he'd like it if a woman headed up the account. They chose Mitch instead, he's an ok guy, a little straight-laced so at this particular brand I would be much better. I would be there though, it pissed me off more than I'd have liked to admit, but the ad agency really needed this account. I tried to choose my battles carefully and realised that this wasn't one of them. I loved my job and the agency I worked for was better than most, I'd had opportunities, but nothing as big as this. We were a medium-sized company and were finally becoming known for our edgy, avant-garde style. I was also a little relieved as I had to work some make-up magic to cover my bruised eye, so being the centre of attention would probably not have been ideal.

I walked into the building in my standard work attire; pencil skirt that fell just below the knee, long sleeved-shirt, stilettos and lace top stockings. No need for anyone at the office to see my full sleeve tattoos or the ones on my legs for that matter. The smell of freshly brewed coffee first thing in the morning and the sophisticated, sleek and quirky decor always put me in a great creative mental space.

I just needed to have a look through the strategy for the pitch one more time before the meeting and headed to my cubicle.

"Boo!" Jess popped her head around the wall, "damn Kay, why can I never catch you?"

I chuckled, "I've told you before, spidey-sense," and wiggled my eyebrows.

"Soooo, how was your weekend, please tell me you left your apartment at least?" she asked, although she already knew what I'd say.

"Of course not, I needed my beauty sleep after the tournament, you know how that goes," I mumbled.

Nobody in the office knew about the tournaments beside Jess, I wasn't sure why, but I'd just never told anyone else. I caught the odd look sometimes, when I was bruised, despite my best efforts to cover it up, but I wasn't married or in a relationship so they probably didn't know what to make of it. Nobody ever asked about it and I certainly didn't volunteer. Jess and I were close though, for some reason we just gelled well.

"How was yours?" I asked.

She went on about her weekend and all the places she'd been to, granted she was quite a bit younger than my thirty four years, so I guess I couldn't begrudge her. She was married, but her husband worked abroad and only came home for a week every three months.

"But you really need to meet someone girl, I need to live vicariously through you," she laughed.

"Don't hold your breath babe," I countered.

Honestly though, I wasn't completely opposed to a social life or dating, I was just tired of the one dimensional bullshit, so I decided to take a nice, long break. Then there was Seth, my dad never minded "baby-sitting" even if he had to do it at my place. My friends also knew better than to ask me to go anywhere on a tournament weekend.

*_*

Emile

"I hope this one is better than the last two, how could there not be a single person there who could remotely relate to our brand, damn yuppies!" I asked, annoyed.

We were in the Maybach, driving to the third agency we were meeting this week and I had yet to see a worthwhile concept.

"Boss, maybe you should take the lead on the next meeting, might be easier for you to get what you want?" Tony asked.

"No, I pay you to be the face of the business, you know I prefer it that way."

As soon as Flatline started making it big, there was no shortage of people looking for a handout or just wanting to be around us for the money. Once, I met a beautiful woman in a bar, I joked that Tony was the owner of the brand and abruptly her attention shifted to him. So what started as a joke, became my cover from that day on.

In terms of business it had been a good strategy as well, I posed as his assistant which allowed me to appraise everyone in meetings very carefully. Nobody ever paid attention to the assistant. I came from nothing, from the hood so I had no problem keeping it real humble, it came naturally, as did my ruthless business sense.

Finally we were seated in the conference room, I scanned the room and stopped on a woman and as her eyes met mine I was taken aback. She was striking, all wide curves, long dark hair, tropical ocean blue eyes and smooth caramel skin. Her eyes flashed something, annoyance? It was gone before I could be sure.

She had a hot body, but dressed like a prude, a shame she wasn't ideal for my brand either then. Tony continued with the meeting, and I scanned the rest of the room, all yuppies too. That was disappointing. My eyes stopped at the woman again, I spotted her bruised eye under loads of makeup and found myself frowning. She wasn't wearing a wedding ring, so would she really stick around with an abusive boyfriend?

As she reached for her glass of water, her shirt sleeve came unbuttoned and I caught a glimpse of some tattoos under her prissy shirt. There was no way that was a little heart or rose, what I just saw looked like a sleeve. Damn this woman had managed to shock me three times in just 5 mins. My gaze was intense, little Miss Priss was hiding some serious street under her fussy clothes, she may not have wanted to show these assholes, which just made her even more intriguing.

The meeting carried on and I couldn't stop staring, wondering what else she was hiding. She looked up at me and it hit me like a sucker punch. I wanted to peel back her layers, find out who this woman really was and suddenly I was picturing myself peeling back that prissy shirt and skirt, imagining what I'd find under there. While I mentally worked my way down a list of how I would have liked to take her, she was still looking at me and blushed slightly before returning her attention to the meeting.

I had been half listening to the pitch, it was surprisingly good, the best of the lot. We were definitely going with this agency, as soon as the presentation was over I leaned over and whispered something to Tony.

He looked over at everyone and said "Gentlemen and Lady, I have an urgent call I need to attend to, please excuse us for a few minutes."

*_*

Kay

Mitch was all over the presentation but I felt like I could have done better, it was all my work anyway. With a mental sigh I let it go, there was no point in being salty, it was what it was.

I looked over and found the assistant staring at me, he was really attractive. Strong, wide jaw, chiselled features, tall, handsome as sin and judging by his shape and wide shoulders he was quite muscular too. He had the air of danger, an edge, like he was a powerhouse, a bomb waiting to explode. I saw the same surprised look I get every time a guy looks me in the eye, the unusual contrast of my eyes and skin colour almost always gets the same reaction. Suddenly I was annoyed, it was so boring, predictable and I was actually a little disappointed.

It was for the best anyway, I didn't need any more bad boy liaisons, been there, got burned. The meeting carried on, I focused on the owner as he spoke, his assistant was definitely a lot more attractive than him, but I was sure he had no problems with female attention considering his healthy bank balance. His face was passive, I couldn't read if he liked the pitch or not, damn.

I looked at the assistant again, our eyes locked and I was stunned by the intense look of a predator eyeing his prey. He held my gaze, I blushed slightly and finally managed to look away, damn I couldn't decide if I was pissed at such an overt display or if it turned me on. Maybe a bit of both? Holy shit that was crazy, I was relieved when they both left the room for a few minutes. Our team was silent and the atmosphere was heavy, all we could do now was wait for their decision.

Finally, they returned and Mr Richards addressed Mitch, "We love your ideas for the campaign, we'll sign, on one condition" I could feel the tension rolling off Mitch, this account would elevate us to another level.

Mr Richards looked me straight in the eye and said "We want her to head up the campaign".