Free Requiem for a Mouse by Jamie Wang

times like this that Sasha missed the days where pedestrians would at least acknowledge her. But those days went away with the Lions.
    “You don’t have to do this Mouse.” The Hawk’s knees bent and his knife danced in front of him. It looked like he at least knew a little about knife play.
    “You must not know me very well.”
    Sasha’s heart thumped against her chest and her muscles tingled with anticipation. She watched a bead of sweat drip down the Hawk’s chin. His tongue flicked in and out trying to wet his lips. His breaths were deep.
    He’s tired.
    A throbbing pain reminded her of her own handicaps. Blood from her forehead trickled into her left eye, forcing it shut. A string of scarlet dripped out her mouth. Her feet shifted as she fought to maintain her posture. The world hadn’t stopped spinning.
    “You think you can stop me?” The Hawk’s grin cut across his face.
    “Just who the hell do you think I am?”
    It was just a slight twitch of his leg, but Sasha read his movements. The Hawk lunged forward wildly slashing into the air. Sasha leapt backwards and slid to a stop. If the Hawk chose to grab the pills and run, she wouldn’t be able to stop him. But she was more worried about the girl than the pills.
    The Hawk seemed to read her mind. He glanced at the plastic bag on the ground before returning his gaze to Sasha. Stepping over the blonde Mouse, he sprang forward, the silver of his knife disappearing in a whirling blur. Sasha ducked and dodged, making sure to keep her distance. The Hawk was much larger than her and almost as nimble. Worse, he was left-handed.
    He stuck onto her tirelessly. With every step back she took, he responded with two steps forward. The difference in their strength was obvious. Sasha ducked a horizontal slash, feeling the blade whisk away the tip of her hair. It was all she could do just to avoid his knife. Another slash from the right. Sasha’s ankles burned, unused to always dodging to the left.
    Shit!
    Her legs tangled together. Luckily, she fell just out of the Hawk’s reach. A twenty-dollar bill floated down beside her.
    She looked up to see the Hawk equally as stunned. Nobody moved as they both watched the bill land on the dirt. In a single moment, they lunged toward the bill. Even though Sasha was closer, the Hawk got to it first. Sasha stabbed her blade toward his hand.
    The Hawk’s hand shot back as he twisted his body with a retaliatory strike. Sasha leaned back just far enough to avoid the knife and in the same movement flung dirt into the Hawk’s face.
    “Fuck!” The Hawk’s arms came up and his head recoiled backwards.
    Sasha thrust her knife forward, but at the last moment, turned her stab into a wild punch. She heard the satisfying crunch of her fist against the Hawk’s nose. Blood exploded from his face like fireworks.
    The Hawk’s head lunged backwards and hit the ground behind him. “God damn it!” His voice sounded nasally. Blood poured out of his nose in a rich gush of crimson.
    Sasha swiped the money off the ground and put it back in her pocket. “I could’ve killed you there.”
    “Your mistake.” The Hawk shook with anger, his knuckles white from clutching his knife so hard. He pushed himself up.
    Sasha’s head pounded to the rhythm of her ragged breaths. She wiped the blood from her eye only to have more trickle through. For the first time, she noticed that the Mouse had disappeared along with the drugs.
    “Where is she?” Sasha demanded.
    “What the fuck are you asking me for?”
    “Then who took her?”
    “The fucking Slasher!” He said. “Are you an idiot? She took off.”
    How did I miss that? Sasha swept her eyes around the circle of people that had gathered around to watch. The blond Mouse had disappeared.
    “Don’t think I’ve forgotten you, Mouse.” The Hawk raised his knife and pointed it at her.
    Sasha returned his stare in kind. With a scornful grunt, the Hawk stepped backward, abandoning his posture. He grabbed