by H. T. Night
I guess it made sense. Tommy himself had insisted on being in a cage until he was able to control it.
We walked through the room and all the fighters stared me down. They would nod at Romero, but they all knew I was a new guy who Romero was trying to bring in. I had seen these kinds of looks before when I would go to a new workout gym to train. It’s just in men’s nature to size another up. It’s was as primal as men’s innate need to want to provide for their families.
We made our way to the other side of the room and there were two black double doors. Apparently, the fighters had to walk through the holding area to get inside the main arena area. Romero opened the two black double doors and the three of us walked into the arena. The inside of the arena was smoky and dark. There were a lot of well-dressed people in the crowd. They were all seated at tables looking toward the center of the ring.
I looked in the ring and saw a cage. Inside the cage, there appeared to be a Mani fighting a Carni. As far as I could tell, the Mani was winning. The Carni seemed badly injured and confused in the ring. It made me a bit nauseous watching it, knowing that Carni are no better than dogs when they turn. That werewolf in the ring was disoriented and no matter what Romero said, he was definitely exploiting them.
We exited through a side door of the arena and Romero led us up a small stairway that was only a few steps. I could tell we were still on the first floor, but we were just elevated a tad. We walked up to a set of doors in a small hallway that I assumed led to a couple of luxury suites. Then Romero turned to Wyatt and said, “With all due respect, do you mind if I watch the fights with Josiah privately? I’ll have you in the suite next to us, and I’ll make sure women keep you company and make your stay one you’ll always remember.”
Wyatt looked at me. I nodded at him and assured him I’d be all right. He was then led into the suite next to ours by a bodacious blonde that looked like she was ‘a party ready to happen’ all by herself.
Wyatt walked over and then stopped at the doorway. “There is no need for any female companionship.” He made a gesture to the woman that basically told her to hit the road.
“What would you like, Wyatt?” Romero asked. “We don’t judge here.”
“It’s nothing like that. I just might want to take a power nap before all is said and done.”
“Oh, trust me; you won’t sleep watching what’s out there,” Romero said confidently.
Wyatt looked at Romero and said, “I’ve seen Josiah kick a lot of ass over the past six months. I doubt I’ll be too impressed.”
Romero nodded his head, seemingly pleased by Wyatt’s statement. Wyatt went into the suite and shut the door. Romero led me to his own private suite.
Romero’s suite was much larger than the one Wyatt was in. Inside the suite was a feast laid out that was fit for a king. There were also three of the most gorgeous women serving us. Something told me that serving food wasn’t the only duty they had in their job description.
“I know you can’t eat,” Romero said, “but there might be something you can gnaw on.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, I said. “I can still eat whatever I want.”
“A vampire that can eat regular food? This I need to see.”
I made myself a plate; I packed on ribs, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and corn. I took five or six helpings of cornbread. I was pretty hungry. It had been hours since I had eaten last.
Romero, shocked, looked at me and said, “This is a first, even for me, and I have seen everything.”
I grinned at Romero. “Why are you so certain I’m a vampire?” I asked.
“Because I saw you fly across the sky holding the girl. I’m pretty sure you’re not Superman. I had only seen one other Mani ever do that, so I knew you were something special.”
I looked around the room and I wasn’t sure how we were going to watch the fights. The room was covered by walls on all four sides of the room. Romero snapped his fingers, and that question was quickly answered for me. The wall directly in front of us lifted up and there was a large piece of what I assumed was bulletproof glass separating us. I could see right into the ring. This was an amazing spot to watch the fight. I was almost eye level with the ring. Why was I surprised? This guy owned the damn place.
“So, are the fights pretty gruesome?” I asked.
“Oh, you’re in for a show, Josiah. Trust me on that one.”
The women in the suite were so hot they could have all been swimsuit models, and their hostess outfits might as well have been bathing suits. That might have been less revealing. They did plenty of bending over and were extremely flirtatious when offering me napkins and condiments. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a man’s man through and through, but there is something about a woman who is on the clock that’s a big turn off to me.
Romero said something in Spanish to the ladies and all three smiled at me and then left the room. I’m not sure what he said, but the girls left in a hurry.
“You sure know how to clear a room,” I said.
“They know the drill.”
“Do you entertain potential clients here a lot?”
“Only the best ones,” Romero winked at me. Romero walked over and sat in the seat right next to me. He had a giant bottle of tequila with him and two double shot glasses that he had grabbed from the counter.
“Are you planning on getting me drunk, so I sign on?” I asked, with a mixture of sarcasm and truth in my voice.
“We don’t do contracts here. If I tell you that you will be paid a certain amount, that’s what you will be paid. My word is better than ink.”
“Doing business that way must save you a fortune in lawyer fees.”
Romero poured his top-shelf tequila into the two giant shot glasses and handed me one. “To good health,” Romero said.
“To health,” I agreed, clicking his glass. I downed the shot like it was water.
Damn!
It might have gone down like water, but the aftertaste was lethal.
“Put a little hair on that chest, did it?” Romero chuckled.
“I’m kind of a lightweight,” I said.
“Seriously? That surprises me.”
“I’m just not a big drinker,” I said. “Don’t get me wrong, I like to party with the best of them, I just don’t prefer to have my judgment altered by outside forces.”
“One thing I learned a long time ago, Josiah. I’m at my best with a little alcohol in me.” Romero then poured himself a second shot.
“It doesn’t make for impaired judgment?” I asked.
“All a person’s best decisions are made with his judgment impaired. It’s called liquid courage. Some people need it to be able to fight, hit on girls, or to just get the balls to do something you never thought you could do sober. I use it to make business decisions. So far, it’s been a pretty good method.”
I looked around at Romero’s gigantic arena. One thing Romero had was material things, so if that’s what makes a guy like this feel and be successful, he was definitely doing okay. As I looked out into the arena, I could see a giant spotlight that shined right smack into the middle of the ring. The fight I had seen earlier was obviously over and I could only imagine that the vampire won.
“A cage over the ring,” I said. “Is that for effect?”
“Have you been around a werewolf, Josiah? They are savages. Werewolves have no idea they’re even fighting in a ring or in front of a crowd, for that matter. The Carni that fight for me make the decision to go in there and fight. No one twists their arms to be here. As a matter of fact, I have a waiting list a mile long for Carni to fight here.”
“You don’t need to explain it to me,” I said.
“I have heard that you are one of the rare Mani who has a soft spot for the werewolf.”
“I have a good friend who’s a Carni.”
“I have heard that,” Romero said.
“I guess there’s not much you don’t already know.”
“It’s how you grow to be as r
ich as me. You need to do your research. To be honest, Carni are a lot easier to deal with than Mani, no offense.”
“No offense taken.”
“When these werewolves are in their human forms, they are the ones who ask for the cages. They understand that once they switch into their werewolf form, they have zero cognitive thought of deciding between right and wrong. They just know to kill.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Some can.”
Romero laughed. “I’d like to see that. A werewolf with cognitive thought would be the most lethal entity on this planet.”
What Romero didn’t know was I knew of such a werewolf. I decided not to say anything to him about my knowledge of Tommy’s abilities.
“Have another shot with me, Josiah?” Romero said, as he poured me another.
“Okay, but like I said, I’m a lightweight.”
“I promise I won’t take advantage of you.” Romero winked at me. “Unless you’re into that kind of thing?”
“Sorry, I’m all about the ladies,” I said with certainty.
“So am I. But to close a deal, I might be up for anything,” Romero laughed.
“You want me to fight for you, don’t you?”
“Josiah, you’re a blonde, blue-eyed vampire that is as tough as nails and when you transition, you become a freaking white eagle. What’s there not to love about you? You’re a promoter’s dream. Trust me, together you and I would become very rich.”
Very rich had a nice ring to it. I was no different than anybody else. Money is attractive. In another world, and under other circumstances, I might have jumped at this opportunity. But, I knew I had a bigger calling. I had just had everything explained to me by the Deity. The last thing I needed to be doing was getting caught up in some underground, insane fighting league that exploits Carni and Mani to billionaires. I had to admit, I was fascinated by it all. Perhaps it was the alpha male in me that liked to always know who the toughest person or thing on the planet was, but this scene wasn’t going to be for me as a fighter.
“When’s the next fight?” I asked, opening a bottle of beer that Romero brought over from the refrigerator.
“Right now. They will be bringing the ‘wolf’ in any second.”
This should be interesting. I enjoyed my beer and looked out into the crowd. It was the classiest-looking fight club I had ever seen. All the men were sitting at tables instead of stands. It looked like the Golden Globes does on television. All the men were dressed in top of the line Armani suits, smoking cigars and with gorgeous women on their arms.
“How many people are here tonight?” I asked.
“Maybe five hundred,” Romero answered. “At fifty grand a head, it’s a nice bit of change.”
I did the math in my drunken state of mind. “That’s $25 million,” I said, nearly spitting out my beer. I had already downed my second double shot and was now enjoying a Coors Light chaser.
“That’s just tonight. On the third night of the full moon is when we have our super-bouts. We charge $200,000 a head on those nights. We usually pack this place at about a thousand people.”
My head was spinning doing the math. This guy was making $250 million every month. Now I knew where this guy got off. He was freaking loaded. Money is so intoxicating when you think about those kinds of numbers.
“What do you pay your fighters?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter what I pay the fighters,” Romero answered. “All that would matter is what I would be paying you.”
“And that would be?”
“Anywhere between five hundred thousand to a million a fight,” Romero answered plainly.
“What if I wanted five million?” I said, pushing the envelope.
“There’s always room for negotiation.” Again, Romero winked at me. This guy sure liked to wink. There’s something a tad untrustworthy about a winker.
I nodded my head and looked out into the arena. I tried to play it off like I wasn’t just offered a million dollars to do something I usually do for free on any given night. Fighting was in my blood and with the buzz I was sporting, a million dollars sounded pretty damn good.
Suddenly, music started to play over the loudspeakers and the lights inside the arena began spinning like it was the beginning to an NBA basketball game.
“The fighters have theme music and a light show?” I asked, laughing.
“I’m all about entertainment, baby,” Romero said, proud of his product.
Then a ring announcer came into the ring. He had one of those great ring voices for this kind of an event. “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,” he said in an extremely deep, roaring voice. “The third fight on tonight’s card is a fight between two fan favorites. First, in this corner, we have Vengeance.” The crowd went nuts with both cheers and boos. Then the two black double doors opened and a dark-haired fellow came running out like he was on speed. I assumed he was a Mani, because he sure wasn’t a wolf. This guy was as hyperactive as a four-year-old on a trip to Disneyland. He sprinted and dove into the ring.
“Who’s Vengeance?” I asked Romero.
“He’s a Brazilian vampire that is rumored to have killed a hundred Carni in one night in some Brazilian nightclub, just for the hell of it.”
“Just for the hell of it; that sounds like a nice little marketing tool.”
“You’re catching on, Josiah.”
“He does have a lot of energy, I will give you that,” I said.
“That’s an understatement,” Romero laughed, in agreement.
The ring announcer continued. “And, for all you werewolf lovers out there, do we have a treat for you!” The crowd erupted in a flurry of applause.
What the hell was going on?
Everyone stood and began chanting, “Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!”
“Holy shit!” I said. “This is a Carni-friendly crowd!”
“You bet it is,” Romero answered.
“Why?”
“Vampires are considered demonic and inherently evil to most of these people. A wolf represents everything that is pure about man and beast.”
“That’s bullshit!” I said.
“Is it?” Romero looked at me in a way I didn’t like. He was trying to egg me on. I had a feeling this was part of his ploy; to upset and manipulate me in to fighting for him. But that tactic was definitely not going to work on me.
“Do you believe that?” I asked. I poured myself another double shot and downed it. Now I was feeling it. Oh boy, was I feeling it. I was drunk.
Romero smiled from the corner of his mouth. “Just continue watching.”
The black double doors opened once again and four men entered the arena holding long ropes. They were pulling a giant cage on wheels with the ropes. Inside the cage, was one of the most beautiful white werewolves I had ever seen.
“What’s the white wolf’s name?” I asked.
“Wolf,” Romero answered.
“That’s it?” I said. “The other guy has a cool American Gladiator name like Vengeance, and the werewolf’s name is just Wolf?”
“When we asked her what her name was that was all she told us.”
“The wolf is a girl?” I asked, surprised.
“Not just any girl. She’s gorgeous. She is one tough motherfucker, though. She makes ‘Xena’ look like a ballerina.”
I sat up. Now things were becoming interesting. The four men wheeled the cage up to the main cage in the middle of the arena. They connected the two cages together with locks and bolts. The cages were specially designed to exchange animals from one side to another, but, in this case, it was a vicious female werewolf. The cages were now linked together with the two still separated by a cage door. Then the lights in the arena went out. All you could hear was the howling of the white wolf. I had to admit, this was pretty badass!
The lights turned on and the front cage door to the wolf’s cage lifted up. And the white wolf charged the vampire Vengeance and leaped on top of him. Vengeance didn’t know what had hit him. The wolf wa
s tearing him apart. Vengeance transitioned into a raven and began flying above the wolf inside the cage. In midflight, he transitioned back into his human form and power-kicked the wolf in the face.
“That isn’t fair,” I said.
“What’s fair, Josiah? Anything goes except for weapons. The only weapon that can be used is the cage itself.” Romero watched on like a weird Little League father who was pleased with his son’s bullish behavior.
The wolf somersaulted backward and Vengeance continued to kick and punch the wolf as it rolled.
“Get up!” I yelled, rooting on the wolf.
“Are you cheering on the werewolf?” Romero laughed.
“I’m definitely not rooting for Vengeance!” I said.
“Wow, you really are a Carni apologist.”
“Is that what you heard?” I asked, as I poured myself another double shot and downed it. I was royally drunk.
“I know all about you and your friend Tommy.”
“Oh, you must not know all about Tommy, or he’d be here.” I was drunk and not even aware of what I was saying.
“Why is that?” Romero asked.
“He can change into a werewolf whenever he wants.”
“What?” Romero asked, completely surprised.
“I trained him to do so.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Not to you, I’m not.”
I didn’t realize the information I was offering up, and I was too drunk to care. Then I looked out into the arena; by now the wolf and the vampire were trading blows to the pleasure of the crowd.
“WOLF! WOLF! WOLF!” the crowd shouted. Then the great, white wolf grabbed a hold of Vengeance and bit into his neck and shoulder. Vengeance’s body went completely limp.
Suddenly, the four original men who led the wolf into the cage began lassoing the wolf’s legs like it was a rodeo. Once they had a hold of her, they yanked and pulled her back into her original cage. She resisted and broke the rope. One of the guys had a gun and shot the wolf and she fell over instantly. I looked at Romero, shocked.
