"Bitch!" Alvin shouted, just before he kicked her in the ribs.

"Drop you charges against me to the Council, or things are going to get a hell of a lot worse." He put a foot on her ass and shoved her to the ground.

"Things like you should be put down, not coddled. You're a disgrace."

Madison turned her face back toward him.

"Says the guy who needs his buddies so he can go pick on a blind girl."

"Dude," one of said buddies muttered, "I hear someone coming. Let's get."

Alvin shoved her back to the ground with his foot one more time before he took off, and Madison heard a "crunch" as he left.

Covering her eyes, she looked out with her echolocation and saw that he had stepped on her sunglasses before running off. She got back to her feet, ginger with her injured knee and holding her ribs. She let out a pained gasp as she touched her side, wondering if anything was broken. A few tears finally forced themselves out of her eyes as her mind replayed how things should have gone, with her kicking all their asses and them crawling away instead of her. She'd been training hard, and she had not been able to get off anything except a couple of one liners. She found her cell phone and picked up her backpack, which was a struggle to walk with due to the pain in her knee. She had to get back to her room on memory, because she was afraid of using her Gift and getting caught.

She was fumbling with the keys, trying to get into her room when she heard footsteps behind her. She spun around and tried to put herself in an en guard position .

"Leave me the fuck --"

"Madison?" came a familiar feminine voice. It was Sasha, probably coming to help her get ready.

“Madison, what's wrong?"

“Nothing,” was the reply, and Madison turned away and tried to get the key in the lock with shaking hands.

“Don't tell me nothing!" her friend said, trying to turn Madison back around to face her. She saw the girl wince when she touched her side, and her concern began to grow.

“What happened?"

“I... What's the fucking point," Madison whimpered.

“I've been training and I thought I was getting good but I still can't fucking defend myself."

“Was it Alvin again? God damn it, was it?!" Sasha pulled out her cell phone and started punching numbers.

"No more. If the Council is going to drag their damn feet and do nothing, then the police -—"

“We can't bypass the Council and got straight to human law," Madison said, activating her Gift so that she could see and grab her friend's cell phone.

"You know the rules."

"Madison, this was an assault! And if the Council isn't going to do anything --"

"You think the campus cops are any more likely to help? The Council will make sure that the complaint gets routed back to them. Maybe I should just —-"

"Don't you dare say quit! The Madison I know would never give in to someone like Alvin Hannity."

"Well YOU'RE not the one who has to go to work with fucked up ribs and a bad knee," Madison whispered, tears flowing freely now.