Finding the Light (Whitsborough Chronicles Book 3)

by C. A. Rene

  "We'll talk later." He grits out and walks out of the room.

  "What was that about?" Adri asks as we watch Trent follow Emmett out of the room.

  "Emmett wanted to know what I was saying to Carm."

  "Is Carm up to something?" She asks.

  "I don't know." I lead us out of the room and we meet Emmett and Trent in the hallway. I can feel the tension radiating off Emmett and I sigh in relief when I see my brother coming down the hall.

  "Em is taping up her hands right now, you guys ready to head to the ring?" Vin asks.

  "Yeah," I answer quickly, "let's go."

  "I have to walk Ember out." Emmett tells me. "I'll see you guys after."

  I nod and guide Adri into my side. I can only imagine the type of crowd that frequents these things and it’s not somewhere I want Adri to be alone. We follow Vin into an elevator and it takes us down two floors. When we step out two guards nod at Vin and step aside.

  “We got money on Blur tonight.” One of the guards says to Vin.

  “Fucking smart.” Vin tells him and they fist bump.

  It’s a little disconcerting how comfortable Vin is becoming with the gang life here. I know when he went to Toronto, he said he was caught up in a rough crowd but I ever got to hear the whole story. I need to ask him about it and keep an eye on his dealings with the people here. I will always have my brother’s back.

  “We’ll sit up here near the front.” Vin nods at ten open seats in the front row. “If she makes it bloody, you may get sprayed, you okay with that Adri?” He smirks at her.

  “I would be so lucky.” She says with a smirk of her own.

  I can’t help it, I let out a snort at the look on Vin’s face. He was expecting a squeamish girl who was scared for her friend and instead Adri is excited to see E kick some ass.

  In the next twenty minutes, the place fills up and chants for Blur start circling the ring. I keep watching Vin because I can see his nerves plain as day on his face.

  “Bro,” I lean over Adri, “what’s up?”

  “I’m good,” he waves me off. “I always get like this. It’ll go away once she starts fucking shit up.”

  “Do we know anything about the guy she’s fighting?” I ask him.

  “Yeah, Carm says he’s one of Wade’s top guys. Well trained in combat.”

  He has a right to be nervous.

  The lights dim and a bright white light shines overhead. When it begins to strobe, everyone starts cheering. Then I watch as a man dressed in an impeccable suit walks up beside a guy with his head covered in a black shroud and Trent on the other side. They open the cage and toss the guy in, closing the door behind them. Then they make their way over to us and sit on Vin’s other side.

  “Guys,” Trent leans over, “this is Wade.” He points to the suit.

  We each nod to him and turn to watch as the guy in the cage roars out at the crowd. He has ripped the shroud off his head and Adri gasps at the sight of him.

  “He’s really big.” She says in awe. “Will she…”

  “Yes,” Vin cuts her off. “She always does.”

  The lights cut out then and the area is quiet except for the roars from the angered fuck in the cage. The sounds of Bodies by Drowning Pool starts playing over the speakers and the crowd fucking loses it. The light comes back on, strobing to the beat of the song.

  “Tonight, we have your favourite fighter! She’s here and she’s not fucking around!” The MC says over the mic, “everyone applaud for your girl, the decimator… Blur!!!”

  The screaming pitch hits an all time high and Adri covers her ears to protect herself from the noise assault. We see E coming down the center aisle, her dark hair is braided back and she’s dressed in all black. Flanking her are both Emmett and Carm, they each have a knowing smirk on their faces. E’s face though, is calm and her eyes are void of emotion. This is what she looked like when she got back after the kidnapping. It makes my blood spike with fear because each time she turns herself over to the darkness, there’s more of a chance of losing her to it forever.

  “She looks so tough,” Adri breathes, “she’s so fucking hot.” I watch as she squirms in her seat.

  Adri has had a little thing for Ember since that make out at Vin’s party. I know she finds her attractive and if she could experiment with her further, she would.

  E pops up into the cage and throws her sweater off and into the corner. She flexes her taped hands and cracks her neck from side to side. She looks so small compared to the muscled asshole in there with her. I can hear him from here, taunting her and calling her names. She remains unfazed though as she slowly paces back and forth.

  Emmett and Carm sit on my other side and Emmett leans over into my ear, “this guy is fucking brutal. I’m worried.”

  I quickly turn my head and look at him, “can she drop out?”

  “No,” he solemnly shakes his head, “she would never be hired for another job again.”

  “So what?” I shrug and nervously look back at E.

  “She won’t hear it. She’s confident she can beat him.”

  “Then we just have to trust her.” I whisper, knowing he can’t hear me.

  “It’s a special night again tonight guys!” The MC calls out over the mic, “we have another… fight to the death!!!” The crowd’s roar only intensifies the gnawing feeling in my stomach.

  I lean over and look at Vin, his gaze is steady on E and it looks like he’s mouthing something. Fuck, is he praying? I begin to sweat and the complete unease I’m feeling makes me want to rush that cage door and sweep her out of here.

  The bell sounds and the fucking beast of a man rushes at Ember. Finally, I watch as a slight smirk hits her mouth and it eases some of my fear. His large right fist flies out, aimed for her face and she quickly-so fucking quickly-leans back, her back parallel with the mat and comes back up, lifting her leg and kicking him in the stomach. He flinches slightly and staggers back a few steps, but he’s undeterred. He comes back at her, swinging around and kicking out his leg in a roundhouse kick. Again, Ember’s back hits the mat as she dodges his foot and pushes herself through his legs and comes up behind him, only to give him a hard swat on the ass.

  “What the fuck is she doing?” I snarl. The crowd is eating it up and laughing at her antics. “She’s only making him more angry.”

  “It’ll also tire him out as he lets his anger make him sloppy.” Carm yells to me over the noise.

  Adri has been in a state of hands over mouth since this began. Her eye’s filling with unshed tears. She’s worried and fuck, so am I.

  I turn back just in time to see E throw out her fist and hit the guy in the throat. His hands come up to grip it and she uses the distraction to pummel his stomach with her fists. The final hit is against his ribs and he roars out in pain. Looks like she might have cracked one. Finally, she’s dealing out some damage. The guy staggers back and hits the cage and Ember is right up on him, hauling herself up, climbing the cage and kneeing the guy repeatedly in the stomach and ribs. He gets a hold of her waist and throws her off and I watch with bated breath as her back hits the mat with a loud thud and she skids to the other side.

  My breath is literally lodged in my throat until I watch her flip herself back up to her feet and turn to throw us a wink. At that moment, I both love and hate her fiercely. The guy isn’t so fast anymore but it doesn’t look like he’s any closer to giving up. He thunders towards her, his feet making loud noises with each step. E stands completely still until he is practically on her and then she quickly side steps and punches him twice in his left ear. The hits are hard, I could hear the crack of each one and he tosses his head and screams. I watch as blood begins to run out of his ear and E stares at it. Her breathing increases and a look of pure lust comes across her face.

  “This is it.” Emmett says beside me, “this is where she starts fucking shit up.”

  I fucking hope so because I don’t know how much more o
f this I can watch.

  Ember swings her arm out and blocks his punch and then delivers one of her own straight into his nose and I watch as the blood spurts out and sprays across her face. Instead of being disgusted, she looks almost euphoric. She’s delivering punch after punch to his face until he sways on the spot and drops down to his knees. Finally, it looks like this match is coming to an end and it couldn’t be soon enough.

  Ember stops and takes a deep breath, tipping her head to the ceiling as if enjoying the blood coating her skin and clothes, breathing in the scent, and committing it to memory. I’m sitting here, nervously anticipating the ending, how will she do it? All that keeps flashing through my brain is how she killed my mother with ease.

  The crowd gasps and I quickly turn my sights onto the guy and watch as he holds out a knife, pointed directly at Ember’s stomach. Before it fully registers in my brain, Vin is on his feet and both Carm and Emmett are lighting fast, running towards the cage door.

  “How the fuck did he get in there with that?” Vin screams out.

  I look over to the suit covered Wade and see his face has a slight smile. He did walk the guy out here, and he could have very well given him that knife. I look back to the cage and watch as E holds her hand out, halting her brothers from entering. She backs away from the guy slowly and he sways there on the spot, his arm holding the knife shakes and his head lolls from side to side. His face is a mess of bright red blood and his left eye is completely swollen shut and purple. His nose is bent at a weird angle and his bottom lip has several splits.

  “Let it be!” She yells out, “I enjoy the challenge.”

  I want to kill her. If she makes it out of there alive, I will fucking kill her myself. The anger I feel is indescribable. I only know that I want to kill him and her for putting me through the stress of this fifteen minute fight.

  The guy gets to his feet and tries to steady himself against the edge of the cage. He looks near defeated but his one good eye holds an anger that looks like it could burn through us all. I get up out of my seat and I make my way over to the cage. My feet move of their own will and my eyes stay trained on the one person that has shown me love, the very first to show it’s unconditional. My fingers curl and lock around the linked wire and I narrow my sights on her form.

  She’s slightly bent, watching this guy and his erratic hold on the knife. My heart is literally in his hands, if he in any way injures her, I will be forever broken watching from the outside.

  He lunges forward, the knife held straight out and aimed for her stomach. Time slows and I can count the seconds between each of my heartbeats. He quickly slashes out and catches her on her upper stomach, cutting through the fabric and the blood sprays out in a perfect arch. She twists around, her hands holding onto the wound and stumbles away to the other side of the ring. I watch in horror as the blood begins to pool around her fingers.

  He doesn’t let up and he’s coming at her again. My eye is trained on her form, how her feet move slightly and her body curves away from the pointed edge. He misses her by mere centimeters. She reaches out and grabs the wrist holding the knife and uses her knee to slam it. The crack is loud and cuts through the silence that has descended inside this ring tonight. The knife hits the mat and bounces twice out of reach.

  She still has a hold on his wrist and twists it over and above her head. It lands behind his back and he bows in pain. She yanks down and I wince as the shoulder is pulled out of its socket. I can see the gaping hole in her shirt and the blood running too fast to be minor. I’m scared and before anything can register, I feel Emmett’s arms around me. I’m screaming in complete fear for my family inside a locked cage, fighting for her life. His hand closes over my mouth and he presses his mouth to my ear.

  “Don’t scream,” he soothes. “She can do this.”

  I vaguely hear Vin screaming just a few feet down from me as he bangs his fists on the cage. If I’m feeling like this, how the fuck is he surviving?

  I pull my eyes off the mat and look to Ember. Her eyes are on me and she gives me a slight nod before her hands hit the mat in a handstand. Then, quick as shit, she’s wrapped her legs around his neck and hoisted herself up on top of his shoulders. He drops under her weight to his knees and I watch as her chest rises and falls under strained, painful breaths. She then wraps her left arm around his head and nods once more towards me then slams the fucker’s very own knife into the side of his head. She jumps back as his body hits the floor, still and unmoving.

  The place erupts into hushed chants for Blur and it’s like everyone knows something terrible happened here tonight. That guy should never have had that knife and now there’s the problem of finding out how he got it.

  She’s staggering slightly as she walks to the cage door, her hand firmly held to her stomach. I watch as Carm and Vin rush to the other side to let her out. She bends to pick up her sweater and holds it to her wound. They help her out of the cage and try to lead her back up the main aisle but she’s refusing. Her head is turned and her gaze is locked with mine. She shoves Carm off and starts staggering towards me. Vin picks her up, bridal style and briskly walks her over. As soon as she’s there in front of me breathing and smiling through her blood soaked face, a sob escapes me.

  “Shh,” her bloody fingertips touch my cheek, “I’m okay.”

  Her eyes move from mine and stare over my shoulder. She motions for Vin to let her down and he does with a pained expression on his face.

  “Tall, dark and cunty,” Ember calls out and I turn to see who she’s talking to.

  “Blur!” Suit bellows, “another victory.”

  “Looks like the guy who tried to off you was given the means to off me.” Her voice drops a few levels and she walks to stand directly in front of him. The fucker didn’t even have the decency to stand. “I’m sure the both of us will be able to figure this out, no?”

  “Of course.” He nods.

  She bends down and winces as she presses her blood soaked face and mouth against his cheek. When she pulls back, that side of his face is coated in blood. “Thank you.”

  She stares at him a bit longer then turns into Vin. He picks her up and he whisks her away with Carm, Trent and Emmett close behind barking out orders and telling someone to get the doctor.

  “Oh God,” I hear a moan from behind me. I turn and see Adri, she’s still sitting in her seat but her golden complexion is pure white and she’s shaking uncontrollably.

  I rush to her side and take her hands in mine, they are ice cold. Her eyes don’t move from the cage and she stares transfixed on the body that still lays on the mat. I know this look, Adri is in shock. I slowly pick her up and into my arms as I follow the path I saw the others take.

  I find a hallway and Trent pacing the width of it up ahead. When he sees us approaching he groans.

  “Fuck, I’m sorry man. I shouldn’t have left you there.” His hand comes out to rest on Adri’s forehead. “She okay?”

  “I think she’s in shock, is there a quiet room we could go to?”

  “Yeah man.” He turns and leads us a few doors over.

  It opens up into what looks to be a large bedroom and has an adjoining bathroom. The king size bed looks clean with fresh linens. I bring her to the bed and lay her down gently.

  “Thank you.” I say as I turn and look at him.

  “The rest are right across the hall with Ember. The doctor is in there now. I’ll let them know you guys are here.” Then he shuts the door.

  “Is she going to be okay?” Adri asks, finally looking at me.

  “Of course, it’s Ember.”

  “When that guy slashed her with the knife, I couldn’t breathe.” Tears start rolling down her cheeks, “I never want to see that again.”

  “You won’t have to.”

  “When can we see her?” She asks. Her voice becoming stronger.

  “As soon as the doctor is done.”

  The door opens and I stand to see wh
o it is. Emmett comes in and closes the door behind him. His hands are a red-brown colour from dried blood and his face has a few streaks on it. He looks tired and the slump of his shoulders gives him a defeated look.

  “She’s okay.” He croaks out, “nothing important was hit but the cut was deep and she needed stitches.”

  I don’t think about my actions or what Adri is seeing, I just cross the room and wrap him up in my arms. I feel his chest heave against mine as he buries his face into my neck and softly begins to cry. His arms come around my waist and he grips me tightly as he continues to cry.

  23

  Time stood still as I watched that motherfucker slice open my twin sister. Her blood ran in quick waves and her face was covered in shock. When they say ‘your life flashes before your eyes’ before you die, the same can be said when you feel like you’re losing your twin. Every moment of importance with her, flashed like a slideshow in front of my closed eyelids. The only thing snapping me out of it was Travis’ anguished cries.

  My face is currently buried into his neck and his scent is helping to calm my turbulent insides. All I keep seeing is blood, so much blood.

  “Emmett?” Adri’s small voice penetrates my thoughts and I lift my head from Travis’ shoulder.

  I pull her in and she nestles between Travis and I. My head rests on top of hers and I look at him. He stands still behind her and his sad gaze meets mine. The green of his eyes are vivid against the unshed tears pooling around them.

  “When can we see her?” Adri’s muffled voice asks.

  “The doctor had to give her a sedative because she wasn’t really co-operating. She should be up in a few hours.” I answer, my body suddenly heavy with exhaustion.

  “Let’s lay down for a bit. Maybe get some sleep while she’s resting.” Travis suggests.

  I barely make it to the bed before I fall and I’m asleep before my head hits the pillow.

  “See?” I hear Vin’s hushed voice seep into my sleepy brain. “They are fine and all cozied up… the three of them.”