Arena Wars Trilogy

by Hoffman, Samantha

  I stared at him for a minute, trying to find the joke that I was apparently missing. “You’re kidding, right?”

  He shook his head sadly. “I wish I was. There are usually about twenty pairs and each pair fights once every other day. If you win, you and your partner get a decent meal and a chance to shower; they want you to be clean for each fight.

  “If you lose the fight but both of you are still alive, one of you will be sacrificed, and you’ll be forced to form another partnership with someone else that’s in need of a new partner.”

  I thought all of this information through, horrified that people could consider something like this as entertainment. How sick and disgusting would someone have to be to watch two people batter each other to death for the sake of entertainment?

  “How long have you been here?” Quinten asked, inching closer to me. He wrapped his free arm around my waist, and I pulled myself as close as I possibly could.

  Tyler’s forehead wrinkled in concentration. “You kind of lose track of time here. I think it’s been like ten days or something. Yeah, I just finished my fifth fight.”

  “You’ve won all five of your fights?”

  He looked away. “No, my partner and I won our first two, and then we lost our third. He was chosen to be sacrificed, and I was given a new partner. We lost our first match together, and he was sacrificed. I was paired with Dennis after that, and we won our first match together today. Two days from now will be our second fight together.”

  I looked at this kid, barely a teenager, and already his life was destroyed. If he managed to survive these wars, he’d never be the same as he was before. His childhood was gone, and he’d never be able to get it back. And that was if he survived.

  The alternative was a horrible death in front of a bunch of people, cheering him on or booing him if he wasn’t vicious enough. Crowds of people eagerly anticipating his eventual demise. How could anyone be so heartless?

  “You guys should try and get some rest. You’ll be expected to fight in two days time. Until then, try and get as much sleep and food as you possibly can. Most people who don’t survive their first fight fail because they’re too tired or hungry to focus and give it their all. The food is going to be terrible, but make sure that you eat everything they give you. The food will keep you going.”

  Tyler pointed out the cots that would be mine and Quinten’s until we found a way to escape from this horrible place. They were thankfully side by side, giving the two of us a chance to talk in private before trying to get some shuteye.

  I lay back, staring at the ceiling above me, wishing I was home with Ray and Jax.

  “Quinten?”

  “I’m scared,” he said, before I could even ask him how he was doing. “I’m your partner, Alanna. They expect me, a blind human boy, to be able to actually participate in this fight two days from now. I’m better off than a lot of blind people because I’ve had to keep up with you over the years, but I’m definitely no warrior. I just know that I’m ether gonna get in your way, or they’re gonna use me to get you to lose your focus.”

  “Quinten, don’t worry about it so much. Just try and stay as close to me as possible. I promise I’ll do everything in my power to protect you.”

  “If I get you killed, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”

  “Don’t worry so much. You heard Tyler; just get as much rest as possible. Tomorrow I can show you a few moves that’ll hopefully keep us alive long enough to get us out of here.”

  *****

  In the morning, we took seats next to Tyler. He told us that each morning two vampires armed with cattle prods would bring in trays of food for everyone. After they left, the door would be locked behind them. We’d be shut in these rooms until it was time for the fights. Food would be brought in at noon and after the fights…for those that survived.

  Breakfast was a piece of dry, burnt toast, a handful of dried apples, and a cold hard-boiled egg. We were given a large metal bucket full of water, which would have to last the six of us the entire day. That gave us each about two glasses of water apiece, not nearly enough to keep us going for long.

  “How the hell are we supposed to keep up our stamina if we’re fed shit like this?” I asked Tyler, trying to choke down the dry, hard toast.

  Quinten ate without complaint. I could tell he was still really worried about our first fight tomorrow.

  “We’re not. They think that most of us won’t survive long enough for malnutrition to become an issue. The average number of matches won is two, I think. I guess sometimes you get people who’ve been trained in hand-to-hand combat and they’ll win like five or six matches, but everybody loses sooner or later.”

  “If a partnership loses, how do they decide which member of the team to kill and which to allow to fight again?”

  “They guy who runs the Arena, he calls himself The Champion, has the final say. Whichever member of the team impresses him the most gets to live, and the other is killed right there on the field. But, I’ve heard that you can demand the right of substitution, and take your partner’s place. Though, I doubt anyone here would sacrifice their own life for that of their partner’s.”

  “What kind of fighting happens here? Is it mostly hand-to-hand, or are we allowed to use weapons? Can I shift?”

  Tyler looked at me nervously. “Shift? You’re a werewolf?” He asked, obviously surprised.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Most of the contestants here are human, like your friend. I think the only other werewolf here right now is my partner, Dennis. But no, you aren’t allowed to shift. You know, that probably makes you guys the favorites to win. You’re not worn out yet from the fights, and you’ve got super strength. I think you guys will do well. Maybe even win this whole thing.”

  Quinten snorted, and angrily slammed his tray down on the stack of empty ones. He stormed over to his cot, and sat with his head in his hands. I could see his shoulder’s trembling with either barely suppressed rage, or sobs.

  “What’s his problem?”

  I sighed. “Quinten’s blind.”

  Tyler chuckled, and then stopped when I didn’t laugh with him. “What, are you serious?”

  I nodded. “He’s completely blind. He sees absolutely nothing. His hearing’s pretty good, and he’s good at maneuvering his way around obstacles, but he still needs a little direction sometimes.”

  “Listen sweetheart, this is gonna sound harsh, but take my advice. Let him just do his own thing. Worry about your own ass. Maybe you’ll get a better partner. One that can actually hold his own in the Arena.”

  I glared at him, and he put up his hands in surrender. “I will not just let him do his own thing! He’s been my best friend since we were little kids. I would never leave him to die just so that I could have a better chance of survival.”

  Tyler shook his head. “Then both of you are going to die.”

  I ignored him and went over to sit by Quinten’s side. His forehead was pressed against the cool cement wall, and he was visibly shaking. “Alanna, I’m gonna get you killed, I know it.”

  “Then we’ll die together,” I said, taking his hand. I pulled him away from the wall and he reluctantly followed me over to the corner. “Alright, I’m going to teach you some basic moves, hopefully it’ll be enough for you to hold your opponent off long enough for me to help.”

  *****

  “Ignore everything except the other fighter. Listen for his footsteps and you can probably get a pretty good idea of where he’ll strike. Remember, he’s only human. Stay quick on your feet and I’ll try and make as little noise as possible, and I’ll help you as much as I can.”

  Quinten sighed. “Alanna, this is never going to work. I can’t even see where I’m throwing a punch. I can’t see one to dodge it either. I’m a dead man walking, and I’m going to end up taking you down with me.”

  I smacked the back of his head lightly. “Don’t say that! You and I are going to get out of this, I promise.”


  His head tilted sideways at me. “Don’t make promises that you can’t keep,” he said sadly.

  “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that promise gets kept.”

  He groaned, and turned away from me. “I should be the one taking care of you!”

  “Quinten, I can take care of myself. When I first shifted, Ray started teaching me how to fight. And even before that I learned some hand-to-hand techniques. We’ll be fine. Remember your first encounter with a vampire? You saved my life. You’re not as useless as you think you are.”

  “I survived by sheer dumb luck, Alanna. You and I both know it. If I’d missed its heart, you and I would both be dead right now.”

  “You had some fancy moves then.”

  “It was pure adrenaline. I wasn’t thinking about anything except keeping you alive. This is different. There’ll be people watching and cheering and waiting for one of us to make a mistake. Guess which one of us that will be?”

  “Quinten, I have faith in you, even if you don’t. And I know that if Ray knew where we were right now, he’d have faith in you to keep me alive, same as I do. We can do this, as long as we trust one another.”

  He sighed. “What do you think Ray and Jax are doing right now? Have they realized where we went? If so, do you think they’re looking for us?”

  “I’m sure Ray’s doing everything he can to find us. I just hope they realize how far gone Ilene is. The thought of her living with him, comforting him, pretending to be good, is just horrible.”

  Thinking about Ilene made my heart hurt. She was mated with Roger Mason, and she was no longer my little sister. She’d help set me up to be abducted and brought to this horrible arena. She wanted to hurt me. She wanted me to suffer.

  She wanted me dead.

  And now she was probably going to get everything she’d ever wanted. I was talking a big game to Quinten, trying to bolster his confidence, but inside, I was terrified. How was I supposed to fight others to the death, when the only fights I’d ever been in had ended badly?

  I’d lost to the first vampire that turned me into a werewolf, and I’d lost to the next one, too. My fight against Roger hadn’t gone any better, and here I was now, expected to kill some stranger that hadn’t done anything wrong, except for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  This just wasn’t fair.

  “Are we going to do this or not?”

  I held up my hand, palm open, and tapped it twice with my other hand. “Right here. Just like I told you earlier.”

  He swung, and I was happy to see he connected solidly with my hand. As long as I gave him some type of noise, it gave him an actual target. He wasn’t just blindly swinging, hoping to hit something. This was going to be difficult, but it wasn’t impossible.

  For the rest of the day I forced Quinten to practice punching my open hands until I felt sure that he could reliably do it tomorrow. His knuckles were bruising, but he was alright. I felt better knowing that he wouldn’t be totally helpless in the fight tomorrow.

  I hadn’t been able to teach him anything fancy, but hopefully it would be enough to survive this one fight. Then I’d find a way to get the two of us out of here in one piece. Hopefully I’d be able to save the others as well.

  *****

  In the morning, we ate our breakfast with Tyler, and I tried not to throw it all back up. Quinten was trembling and I reached over to take his hand. He squeezed it, thankful for the contact.

  Tyler shook his head. “Don’t get all worked up now. You guys are the newest pair, you’ll fight last. Your fight probably won’t come until after lunch. You’ve got a few hours.”

  I glanced over at Tyler. “So, what all do we need to know about these fights? Is there anything that will get us killed if we do it?”

  Tyler swallowed. “No weapons, no shifting. If you try, you’ll be shot. It’s a fight to the death with your bare hands; they get more entertainment out of it that I guess. Anyway, when both of your opponents are done, The Champion will choose which one of them to sacrifice. Try not to let it be you that gets killed.”

  “Is there a time limit for the fight? How long do they usually last?”

  “There’s no time limit, really. The first fight usually lasts about thirty minutes or so, but after that they get shorter and shorter. Of course, that’s for inexperienced people, not werewolves. Your fight probably won’t last that long. And, people get better at fighting as they win, and it makes for shorter fight times.”

  “Tyler, I have another question. Why is the guy that runs this place called The Champion? It doesn’t really make sense to me.”

  “Apparently there used to be a tournament in this arena between vampires and werewolves. The Champion, a vampire, won the very first tournament. He’s won it several times since then. Supposedly he’s the best fighter in the world. That’s why he’s called The Champion. He’s only ever been beaten once, by a werewolf, a long time ago. Since then he’s been undefeated in the arena.”

  “Do you know how the Seekers found us? Was it just us being unlucky?” Quinten asked.

  “Someone probably contacted them and told them where to find you. Piss anybody off lately?”

  Quinten snorted, and I sighed. “Roger Mason? Do you know about him?”

  Tyler choked on his water, and Dennis frowned as he took a seat beside us. “Holy shit, yeah I know him. Every human that’s ever been in contact with the supernatural world knows him. What did you do to piss him off?”

  “I turned down his offer to be his mate.”

  Dennis raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Seriously? You were brave enough to tell him no? What made you do it? I know a lot of werewolves that would have given their left hand to be his mate.”

  I glanced at Quinten out of the corner of my eyes. “I have my reasons.”

  Tyler grinned. “Oh, I see.”

  I glared at him. “No, you don’t.”

  He chuckled, and raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. But just so you know, I think anybody with the guts to tell him no is alright in my book. There aren’t that many people brave enough to do that.”

  “My dad and cousin were helping me find a way to get him off my back. It doesn’t really matter anymore though. He’s mated with my younger sister. She’s only fourteen years old.”

  Tyler shook his head. “Damn, that is so disgusting. I can’t believe your people don’t have a problem with that. If he was a normal dude, banging a fourteen year old, he’d be in jail before you could even say guilty.”

  I cringed at his choice of words, but didn’t argue with him. It was disgusting, and I couldn’t blame anyone for thinking so. Ilene was being used by a disgusting monster, and she either didn’t see it, or just didn’t care.

  “You wouldn’t understand,” Dennis said. “Werewolves don’t usually see age. Once you’ve turned, you become part of a secret world. To us, her sister isn’t a little girl anymore. She’s an immortal being that will live for centuries and centuries, unless she’s killed. You can’t get any more mature than that.”

  “But–” Tyler began.

  “No buts. To us, she’s perfectly capable of making her own choices now, including who she wants to be her mate,” Dennis said. “That’s just the way our kind are.”

  Quinten snorted. “So, you would have sex with a fourteen year old girl?”

  Dennis glared. “No, I wouldn’t. My mate is twenty-four. She’s a few years older than me, but that doesn’t matter to us, or anyone we know. She waited for me for a very long time. I can’t help that I turned at seventeen, no more than you can help being blind. It was an accident. It happened, but we’ve moved on.”

  Quinten opened his mouth to argue some more, and I elbowed him gently.

  “Quinten, I’m never going to age past twenty. You’re going to keep aging until the day you die. How will that look? A fifty year old man with me standing by your side? What would people think?”

  He sighed, and didn’t argue anymore. “I�
�m sorry.”

  “It’s alright, man,” Tyler said. “You’re not a natural part of the supernatural world either. It takes some getting used to, doesn’t it?”

  I looked at Tyler, barely fourteen. “How did you get mixed up in our world?”

  Dennis chuckled, and Tyler grinned impishly.

  “My girlfriend was a vampire. When she told me I wasn’t really all that surprised.”

  “You suspected that your girlfriend was a vampire?” I asked.

  “I always thought it was strange that she liked to bite,” he said with a smile, making me laugh for the first time in days. “Well, you guys should probably get a little more practice in, and then try and get some rest. Eat all of your lunch, even if you feel like you’re going to be sick. It’s better than fainting during the fight and getting yourself killed. And…good luck you two.”

  Tyler rose from his seat, and Dennis was right behind him.

  This was the first good look at Dennis that I’d gotten. He’d just told me that he was seventeen years old, but somehow he looked older. He was over six feet tall, with a solid muscular build, red hair, and focused gray eyes. He was determined to get out of this place, and he’d destroy anyone in his way.

  The door unlocked and the two vampire guards came in, carrying their cattle prods. “Let’s go!” One of them barked. “You’re up.”

  Tyler gave us one long look, and I felt my eyes begin to fill with tears. His fight was right now?

  Is this the last time I’ll ever see the boy that was so nice to both of us?

  Quinten and I decided not to waste our time, so we took his advice and started to practice again. It was the easiest way to not think about Tyler and Dennis and the fact that neither of them might return after their fight was done.

  Quinten’s hands were still a little sore and bruised, but I forced him to grit his teeth and work through it. Whoever we had to fight later wasn’t going to stop just because Quinten needed a minute to gather himself.