Decisions Ch. 09

"You know what we've got to do," Coach Butler said as we prepared to leave the locker rooms. Everyone was suited up and ready to go. "If we lose this game, we're out of the running for the championships. Just play like you did at practice, and we'll be ok! Boys, I want you to play so hard that by the end of tonight, your parents will have to peel you off the ice because you're so goddamned tired. Let's show these humans how monsters... yes, you too Chris, how monsters play, yeah?"

"Yes, Coach!" We chorused.

Coach Butler looked at us proudly as if we were his own kids and together, we walked out into the tunnel that lead us towards the ice. Cameras blinded and swarmed us, the bright light making me wince. As we got closer to where we were supposed to enter, the crowd noise seemed to get only louder and louder. I felt the stirrings of a sharp pain at the back of my head.

"Not now..." I moaned.

"What?!" Vik asked loudly, straining his vampiric hearing towards me. "What'd you say?"

"I said I see cows!" I shouted back.

"What?!" Vik asked again. "You said what about meows?"

I wafted my hand, telling him to drop it. The headache wasn't subsiding, but it wasn't as severe as I thought it'd be. As long as I pushed it to the back of my head, I was going to be fine. I clutched my Easton Synergy, holding onto it with an iron grip. The lurching feeling in my stomach was hardly subsiding!

Finally, we reached the ice and we waited we heard the familiar guitar riff of 'Welcome to the Jungle'. Then, I waited... and waited... and waited... until...

"Ladies and gentlemen," The loudspeaker bawled. "Yooooouuuur Belcourt High School Minotaaaaaaurs!"

When the song started up, I charged onto the ice, followed by my teammates and the crowd roared with tumultuous applause. The stadium was completely packed, and not just with students. It seemed like everyone from all over the city was coming together to forget about the trauma our city went through. Everyone wanted to simply enjoy some good old high school hockey. Although most of the crowd was wearing the Royal Belcourt Blue, a sizable chunk were in Bear Mountain Black.

I glided around our side of the rink, searching for Stasi. After a few moments, I found her in the front row just beside our bench. As always, she was wearing my white hockey sweater. She was sitting with the both of our families and close friends as well as a college-aged woman with blonde hair and regal features. I instantly recognized her as Josie Duquette, a vampire Princess of the Royal Family.

What the heck was she doing here?!

I skated over to her. Stasi was embroiled in a conversation with Josie, Lucy, Ricky, and Jazz and it took Yulia to tap them all on the shoulder and gesture to me to get Stasi to finally notice me. I waved at the them and Stasi's expression immediately brightened. The four of them blew me a kiss that made me heart flutter and Jazz screamed something that I couldn't hear.

I wouldn't have noticed, anyways.

All my attention was focused on Stasi. She had a huge smile on her face and her crystal blue eyes were full of happiness. "I love you." She mouthed. I blew her a kiss and skated away.

A smattering of light applause caught my attention and I turned my head to see the Bear Mountain Hockey Team take to the ice. Their all-black uniforms looked intimidating, as did their size. Once both teams got their warmups out of the way, Vik and I skated to the center rink, being met with two players from the opposing team. My alternate and their captain and alternate. The referee was standing there as well.

"Alright, let's have a good game good fashioned hockey. Captains, shake hands." The referee said brusquely.

I stepped forward, my hand outstretched. When the Bear Mountain High School Hockey Captain shook my hand, my eyes widened in surprise. The captain was a girl, only a few inches shorter than me, but with a broad and muscular frame. She had blonde hair and startling grey eyes. I'd also be a liar if I didn't say she was very pretty. She smiled at me as she crushed my hand in an extremely firm grip.

"Good luck." She said briskly.

"Be safe." I replied.

After we concluded our handshakes, Vik and I skated back to the bench, then back out to the ice with Jordan and the Kelly brothers in tow. We stood for the national anthem, which was sung by a, you guessed it, siren, and then we took our spots on the ice. I took my position to the far left of the formation, waiting for the face off.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your starting lineup!" The loudspeaker blared, making me wince. "Number thirty one, Goalie Gerald McCoy, number eighty, Defenseman Henry Kelly, number eighty four, Defenseman Dan Kelly, number twelve, Right Winger Jesse Jordan, number twenty four, Center Viktor Sokolov, and number fourteen, Left Winger Chris Williams!"

My eyes widened when he read my last name. He had a certain flair to it, announcing me as if I was some pro wrestler. The crowd simply ate it all up, cheering as loud as they possible could. Immediately, I heard a chant stirring in the North side of the stadium, and it only took a few seconds before I could make it out.

"Chris! Chris! Chris! Chris! Chris! Chris!" The crowd chanted vehemently. I even heard Ricky's booming voice adding to the noise from here!

My head throbbed and face reddened. Dan Kelly looked at me from my right, grinning. "They love you, dude!" He said, excitedly. "You're even on the screen!"

I looked up and sure enough, I was there. The large screen showing me looking up at the large screen. I felt stirrings of pride and embarrassment. My name getting chanted made me happy but... I wasn't the MVP. I wasn't the only player. Everyone's name should've been chanted. Hockey was a team sport, not an individual one!

I realized why my name was being chanted, though. To all these different nonhuman species, I was the one that was carrying the banner of their people. I was the one that was supposed to make things right. Me, a high school kid, with no credentials. I was just a normal kid and I did the only thing a normal kid could think of. I raised a finger to my mouth, asking the crowd to kindly shush. The chant quickly died out and the stadium got so quiet, it was spooky. I never heard a complete hush out of so many people.

The ref looked around, baffled, until I got his attention.

"We're ready." I said.

He nodded and made sure Viktor and the opposing center were ready to play. Then he dropped the puck and off we went, twelve players furiously fighting for a spot in the State Championship.

Chapter 5:

When the first period finally ended and the buzzsaw that was the Bear Mountain High School Hockey Team turned off (for the time being), we walked into the locker room, hopes dashed and exhausted, simply wishing that the game would simply end.

Comebacks are difficult at the highest level of hockey, but they are even more difficult in the playoffs against a team built on the back of defensive stalwarts and backed by an elite goaltender in James White. All Belcourt could do for the first period was helplessly watch as Bear Mountain jumped to a 4-0 lead.

I collapsed on the wooden bench, ripping off my helmet and throwing it across the room. Viktor wearily picked it up, carrying it over to me.

"What the fuck are we doing out there?!" Gerald screamed, storming into the locker room. For a leprechaun, he sure could be comically imposing. "Better yet, what the fuck are you guys doing out there?"

"Shut it, Jerry." Henry snapped.

"You shut it." Gerald retorted. "We wouldn't have been in this mess if you'd simply done your job with your dumbass brother.."

"Say that again, dipshit." Henry challenged, standing up. He was taller than the leprechaun, being an elf.

"I said," Gerald began, angrily.

"Both of you, shut up." Coach Butler fumed, storming into the locker room. He looked every bit as werewolf as he usually was, gnawing furiously at a popsicle stick that was in his mouth. He stared at everyone in the locker room, his huge hands on his hips. "Well boys, here it is! Here we are, knocking at the doors of becoming the first Belcourt Hockey Team to have a spot in the State Championship, and here are shitting the GODDAMN BED!"

I winced when he threw his clipboard across the room, the wood breaking as it smashed against the wall. But really, I was numb. Was this how it was going to end? A hard march to the State Championship and we were going to get knocked out when we got so close.

It just wasn't fair.

Coach Butler took in a deep breath, struggling to keep his composure. His face was red and a vein was popping out in his neck. "Look men, I don't know about you, but I didn't come all this way here to show these people that I can't finish the job. I didn't come all this way, to show that humans are better than nonhumans. Did you?"

"No, coach." We mumbled.

"Did you?!" He asked, louder.

"No, coach!" We repeated louder.

"Then why are we losing?!" He shouted. "Why are we losing to these guys!? We're better than them, I know we are. We're just committing dumb mistakes. We're hitting too high, we're not having enough stick control, we're not being physical enough, and we need to capitalize on our offense. We're tying them in shots, we just need to land them."

Coach Butler did as his title said he'd do. He coached us, telling us what we needed to improve on, what we needed to correct, and what we needed to capitalize on. By the time the intermission was over, I had my scratched helmet back on and we were walking back to the ice, balancing on our skates. Before we skated through the tunnel, however, Coach Butler stopped us.

"Men, it's going to be difficult." He said, shouting over the din of the crowd. "I've seen teams come back from a 4-0 deficit and trust me, it's hard, but we can do it. I know we can."

He started to say something else but was drowned out by the roar of the crowd and the blood-pumping music that usually accompanied our entrance. I took a deep breath and skated out, zipping along the blue lines to warm up. I decided that no matter the score, I was going to give it my all, until I heard that final whistle. I promised that they were going to have to carry me off the field.

*****

Thunk! Whoosh! Clack!

"Nice save, Eric!" Dan screamed. "Well-..."

"Done!" Henry finished.

Eric Watson, the slime backup goalkeeper, was moving smoothly in his post, deflecting pucks with his pads, gloves, and sticks, whatever he could. When Gerald nearly let another goal go to Bear Mountain to start the second period, Coach Butler decided he had enough and pulled him from the game. It seemed his decision was supported by the audience, who cheered when they saw number thirty one skating off the ice, only to be placed by number fifty four.

And what a fine job number fifty four did. Despite his rather gelatinous nature, Watson was a solid wall. He did not let anything through for the entirety second period. And why would he? He had trained the entire season, training and preparing for a role that might never have materialized for him this season. Now his hard work was paying off.

The first period moved at a quick pace, and we managed to score a goal in the first fifteen minutes. Bear Mountain seemed to adjust their game plan when it came to me. Rather than play with brute force, I tried to mesmerize the defenseman with my puck. It worked for the first period, allowing Viktor and I to create opportunities, but now, the defenseman was solely focused on me and not the puck.

With four minutes left though, we were able to create one more opportunity. My line was out, cycling the puck in the Bear Mountain defensive zone, looking for a way to cut the deficit to two before the end of the second period.

I sent the puck towards the net with a slapshot and the goaltender deflected it with his goalie pad, making the crowd groan. The puck was deflected straight at Jordan, who passed it to Viktor, who fired off another shot towards the net. I collided with the Bear Mountain defenseman as we fought to get the puck over the goal line until...

"WOO!" Jesse screamed, the crowd roaring it's approval when the light came on. I slammed into Jesse with a hug, and another thump signaled that Viktor decided to arrive. Together, we skated back to the bench, a fire lit in our hearts. We weren't quitting and neither was the Belcourt home crowd.

When the third period began, we finally managed to cut the deficit to one, with a goal scored by Zachary Brady, the second line winger. When he scored, everybody began to believe that this was possible. We could win. We were going to win. Our hopes for a State Championship was alive and well. It was unbelievable.

When my line was on, Vik and I were scrambling in the defensive zone. Finally, Viktor slid the puck to me and I slammed it home, tying the game up. When I scored, I knew that this was going to be the greatest feeling I ever had playing this sport.

I skated back to the bench, specifically to Stasi's spot, screaming and pumping my fist into the air. The crowd went absolutely bananas. I had never seen our home team go this crazy before. I even saw Principal Finch jumping up and down like a maniac, students giving her a wide berth.

I skated over to the vampire that doubled as the love of my life and best friend, screaming in jubilance. Even Josie, a supposed princess, seemed to have lost all aristocratic manner and lost her mind.

We could do absolutely no wrong, until the final moments of the third period. For the record, it was me that did the wrong. I forgot the number one rule that was drilled into me by my coach: Keep your head on a swivel. Don't stay transfixed on the puck. Make sure you know where everybody is.

In Stasi's words: Bud'te vnimatel'ny i ostat'sya v zhivykh.

Stay alert and stay alive.

******

I was going after the puck, skating towards the boards. Behind me, a Bear Mountain defenseman came and slammed me at the knees with his body, clipping me in a dirty hit. One moment I had my feet planted to the ground and suddenly, I was flying through the air before crashing to the ice. I instantly knew that something was wrong, rolling around in agony at the sudden sharp pain coursing through my right knee.

A scrum immediately erupted around me as my teammates rushed to my defense, hoping to get their licks in on the Bear Mountain defenseman who committed the penalty. Clipping was usually seen as an attempt to injure a player and it was obvious that that's what the Bear Mountain defenseman was hoping to do. While Henry and Dan were the ones leading the effort to get the defenseman's head, Viktor hurriedly skated to me, kneeling beside me.

All I could do was lay there, clutching my knee.

"Chris, Chris!" He urged. "Are you ok?! Chris, look at me!"

"Something's wrong." I cried, unbuckling my helmet. "Something's wrong! Something's wrong! Something's wrong!"

"I...I..." Vik stammering, before looking up at the bench and signalling for the athletic trainer, our health care professional. "Trainer! TRAINER!"

Tears threatened to spring into my eyes. This was not how my season was supposed to end. I was supposed to win it all. We were supposed to win it all! We were supposed to show the world we could do it.

I looked around the rink, my blurry vision focusing on Stasi. She was watching, speechless. Like my mom, Yulia, Lucy, Jazz, Josie, and Elena, her hands were clamped around her mouth and tears of blood were springing to her eyes. She wasn't the only one speechless. The entire rink was quiet. Even Ricky, who was so loud, and sometimes, rivaled Stasi for being my loudest supporter, was quiet.

It was surreal. I could've heard a pin drop.

I could almost imagine that this was a movie cliche where I was being introduced by the sound of a vinyl record scratch followed by a freeze frame, then me going "Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation." Except, this was real.

It just wasn't fair.

"Chris," The Athletic Trainer said, dropping to one knee beside me. Coach Butler was behind him, looking at me with a tight lip. "What's wrong, son?"

"Knee." I said, hissing in pain when the trainer probed at my injury. It wasn't a dislocated patella or, god forbid, an ACL tear. That much I knew. I tried to sit up, stand up, anything. I just needed to do something. "I can play. I can play. I can play!"

"No, no, no, no." The trainer said, waving off my fumbling attempts to try to play through my injury. He was pale and had fangs, a vampire. He smiled softly at me, patting me on the shoulder. "You've done enough, son. Rest easy. Number twenty four, can you...?"

The athletic trainer picked up my stick and gestured for Viktor to grab my other side and help me to my feet. Together, they picked me up and I limped on one skate, hobbling to the bench to cheers and applause.

I realized that I was fulfilling the promise I made to myself earlier in the game. I was getting carried off the field, just like I asked. How ironic.

Along the way though, we were stopped by my team.

"Chris, we love you, bro." Dan said, patting me on the back of the head.

"Yeah, we got you." Henry affirmed.

I nodded, sniffling and holding back tears. That was all I could do. I continued to hobble forward, looking behind me at the Bear Mountain Hockey Team. They appeared jubilant and ecstatic that I was going off the field, but the captain, the blonde girl, was looking at what was going on in dismay. I forced myself to look forward, nodding my head as my replacement, Zachary Brady skated towards me. He was a junior lizardman with a decent shot.

"Finish it off, Zackie." I ordered.

"I got you, Chris." He declared, his voice shaky.

"I know you do." I said. "I know you do."

It just wasn't fair.

******

"It's the knee." I winced as the trainer probed below the pad. "I think it's a sprain."

"That's what I'm thinking too." The trainer muttered, feeling the tender skin. I looked around the bench, my eyes finding Stasi once more. It just seemed like my eyes were magnetized to her. I saw her and only her. She was being consoled by Lucy, Josie, and my mom, tears of blood streaming down her pale cheeks. When she saw me looking at me, she stood up, trying to get a better view. I simply gave her a nod, telling her I was ok. She mouthed something in return and I knew what it was. I heard it so many times.

"I love you, Chris." She mouthed.

Her words somehow gave me strength. I looked to the trainer. "We're in overtime, right?"

"Yeah." The trainer replied, lowering my pants over my knee. I looked over his shoulder, realizing that the clock was stopped and Viktor was getting ready to take the faceoff. It was obvious that he was shaken up.

"I can still play, right?" I asked, urgently. "Right!?"

The trainer looked up in alarm. "What, no, no, no, no, no!"

"Chris, just sit out." Ledeckie, my benchmate, said. "What do you have left to prove? You got us this far."

"No, I have everything to prove! Just-... get the... get off!" I barked, brushing the trainer's hands away from my knee. I didn't even care that I wasn't being polite to the guy that kept our team safe. I wanted to win that much. I hobbled over to Coach Butler, who was reading from his taped together clipboard. "Coach, Coach Butler! I can shoot! I can still shoot if you need me to! Hey, hey, Coach! I can still shoot!"

Coach Butler looked at me in surprise, as if he couldn't believe I was still walking. I wasn't sure how I was, either. Maybe it was the endorphins kicking in, or maybe it was something more powerful. Stasi's love. The love of someone that was my best friend, the love of my life, and wasn't even my own species.

"Chris," He began. "Just sit-..."