by H. T. Night
“How old is he?” I asked.
“Like 200 years old,” Romero answered.
I chuckled. “Oh yeah, he must have turned into a vampire young. He looks like a tween.”
“He’s young in body, but not in heart.”
“Still,” I said, “Tommy is going to mop the floor with that kid.”
“That’s the whole point, Josiah.”
I looked back out into the arena and once again, all the lights went out. Then I saw something that gave me chills. It was one of the coolest things I had ever witnessed. The entire crowd stood on their feet and exploded in applause when they heard the sound of speed metal beginning to play over the loudspeaker.
The crowd chanted, “Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!”
I looked over at Romero and he had a giant grin on his face. “I told you, your boy is loved.”
“Where’s the cage?” I asked.
“Tommy doesn’t need one. He can control himself, so there is no need for a cage. It’s actually quite nice.”
Then lights and lasers shot across the arena in every direction. Oh, this was a show for the ages. A huge spot of light from the spotlight appeared in front of the double doors. I hadn’t seen that before in one of Romero’s entrances. They were giving the crowd their money’s worth. Tommy was about to enter at any moment. This was insane. I had to admit, my adrenaline was going.
This was pretty damn cool.
Suddenly both doors flew open. And a shirtless Tommy appeared, walking in barefooted, wearing just a pair of tiny white shorts. The crowd went berserk, shouting and chanting his name. Tommy looked up into the crowd and just pointed straight ahead toward the ring. As he walked, the entire arena was thumping.
Oh, he was eating this up! Tommy was completely in his element!
Suddenly Tommy began to jog toward the stage, then his jog became a full sprint and as he jumped into the ring he transitioned from man to werewolf. The Mani boy jumped out of the ring. The crowd absolutely went berserk. Tommy circled the ring as the great gray werewolf. He howled at the top of his lungs. He owned the crowd and this was his moment of absolute glory.
Then I remembered that I could communicate with him telepathically when he is in his werewolf form. So that was exactly what I did. “Tommy!” I yelled, in my mind.
“Josiah?” he answered and looked around the crowd.
“I’m in your head!” I said.
“Where are you?”
“I’m with Romero in his suite. Hey, you never told Romero we can communicate like this, have you?” I asked. I definitely did not want Romero to have any idea Tommy and I had this ability.
“No, you?”
“Nope. I did some good negotiating up here tonight for you. I’ll tell you later. Kick this kid’s ass and we’ll talk when you’re done.”
“Sounds good to me.” Tommy motioned with his paw for the Mani to enter the ring. Tommy let the kid in and they circled each other.
“Don’t hurt him too bad,” I said.
“I never do,” Tommy answered.
The Mani leaped on Tommy and they rolled around the ring. Tommy was playing with him. It was like watching someone trying to wrestle a washing machine. That kid was not moving Tommy in any direction.
Tommy grabbed the kid and threw him out of the ring onto the concrete floor. He crashed onto the floor into a table and just crumpled. Tommy jumped on top of him from the inside of the ring and bit down onto his neck to grip him but didn’t hurt him. Tommy was dragging him around the outside of the ring like a play toy.
The crowd laughed and cheered. Tommy could do no wrong. Tommy held the kid up with one paw and backhanded him with his other. The kid flew face first back inside the ring. He tried to get up but he was in a lot of pain. He was a cream puff. He gave Tommy no challenge at all.
Tommy climbed up on top of the ropes on the corner turnbuckle. He then turned and faced the audience. He raised both his paws.
“This is his big moment,” Romero said to me. “He calls it the ‘Tommy Twizzler.’ He spins in the air and smashes his opponent on the mat.”
And that was exactly what Tommy did. With his back to the kid, he dove backward, spinning like a propeller and landed on the kid, completely knocking the wind out of him. Tommy quickly transitioned back into his human form. Well, so much for it being a secret that he could transition whenever he felt like it. He just did it in front of the world, twice.
Tommy motioned for the paramedics to attend to his knocked-out opponent. Tommy stepped out of the ring to the enjoyment of the crowd.
I looked at Romero. “That was pretty awesome.”
“You’re telling me. Tommy is gold,” Romero said, shaking his head at the spectacle Tommy just delivered.
“Remember that,” I said, reminding Romero of the hot commodity he had in Tommy. “I’ll keep in touch with you. I’m going to let Tommy know about the new deal. I’m going to tell him everything, except that I’m going to have to fight. So I’d appreciate it if you don’t tell him.”
“Whatever floats your boat, Josiah.” Romero turned and looked into the crowd. I could almost see dollar signs in his eyeballs like you can in a cartoon. Tommy was making him rich and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
I left Romero’s suite and headed out to where the fights adjourn. I spotted Tommy and went over to him. “Nice fight, Tom!”
Tommy wasn’t too impressed with himself. “He was a fish,” Tommy said, playing it down.
“He was definitely a flounder, but hell, at least they don’t make you bust your ass twice in a night.”
“True.” Tommy barely looked like he even broke a sweat.
“Just to let you know, Tom. I reduced your fights from a hundred to a little more than forty.”
“Seriously? How the hell did you pull that off?”
“There’s a catch,” I said.
“What’s the catch?” Tommy asked.
“You can’t lose.”
“Not ever?”
“Not even once. Think about it, you have never lost in the ring. You could even beat me back in the day.”
“Could even beat you? That’s cute, Josiah.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re just a little full of yourself as of late,” Tommy said, looking at me the way an older brother does.
“Look, dude, if you don’t appreciate what I worked out for you, I’m pretty sure Romero would be more than happy to go back to your old deal.”
Tommy grinned at me with his classic cocky smile and said, “Nah, I appreciate it, Josiah. You’re a good man.”
I nodded. “Nice entrance out there. All it was missing was fireworks!”
“We’re working on mixing some in for future matches,” Tommy grinned. “You liked that?”
“It’s a little over the top, but I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you. You have some following with the crowd. They seem to love you.”
“At least someone does. I know I’m just the flavor of the month,” Tommy snickered. He couldn’t fool me. I knew he loved the adoration.
“I do have a question for you,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“Do you think it’s safe that you exposed your ability to transition from man to werewolf?”
“Does it matter? How could anyone ever use it against me? Plus, it shows the crowd that I’m for real.”
Tommy did have a point. If anyone knew anything about Carni, they would know he couldn’t possibly transition without a full moon. They probably thought it was just some great make-up job. Doing the transition in front of the crowd gave credibility to it. I guess there wasn’t any way to use the move against him. It just made him more lethal.
“Well, Tom, you did great tonight, amazing. You put on a hell of a show.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it, coming from you.”
I nodded my head and said, “I’m going to take off.”
“You’re not going to see my next fight?” Tommy seemed disappo
inted.
“I need to take care of some other things.” I had nothing else to do. I just didn’t want to be in this place longer than I had to. There was something about the arena that didn’t sit right with me. “I figure you should be released from your debt in two months,” I said, changing the subject. “Just don’t lose.”
“I don’t know how that’s even possible when you’re as gifted as I am,” Tommy said with his Hollywood smile.
“Keep thinking that way. It’s what is going to save your ass.” I looked at Tommy. I wanted to give him a hug or at least a handshake, but I couldn’t. We just nodded at each other. I turned around and left the arena.
Chapter Eighteen
A few weeks went by and I hadn’t had any word from Tommy, so I figured he must have kept winning. He had a couple weeks left and he should have a clean slate with Romero. For that to happen in its entirety, I was going to have to have my ‘super fight.’
During the last few weeks, I had been piecing together my Mani army. I read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. I downloaded the book onto my Kindle. I also read a book written by General Patton on leadership during a crisis. Both books put my mind in the right I needed to be in.
I knew a Mani war wouldn’t be anything like a military one. But there was a psychological mindset about leading a group of people into a battle that could potentially kill them that weighs on your soul. We had over 250 Mani committed to our cause. Cyrus told me that Krull’s army was over a thousand. We had a long way to go in the recruitment process. All we had from this point was word of mouth. I heard that there was close to five thousand Mani who were believed to be roaming the earth. Finding Mani willing to fight for a cause bigger than themselves was a tough task. Once a week, we would throw a giant party that always turned into a weird vampire pep rally and every week, our numbers grew. I was becoming quite the motivational speaker for the cause. I wasn’t sure when Krull was going to strike and I just needed to make sure these guys were ready. I was having a lot of misgivings about the caliber of fighter that was showing up. I had my work cut out for me in the training department, to say the very least.
It was a Saturday night, a night after one of our huge Mani parties. I had felt pretty overwhelmed by this whole process and it was obviously weighing on my mind. Lena and I tried cuddling up and watching a romantic comedy on the couch in the living room, but I was too restless. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan just weren’t going to cut it on this evening.
“What’s wrong, Josiah? Lena asked.
“I have a lot on my mind.”
“About what?”
“I have a feeling something is about to go down.”
“You mean with Krull?”
“Yeah, sometimes I feel like he’s watching me and he’s laughing at how puny my army is. He’s amused that all I could recruit are out-of-shape Mani misfits who had a better chance of winning a dance contest than a street fight.”
“You’re doing all you can,” Lena said, trying to give me the encouragement I so desperately needed. “There isn’t a manual for all of this.”
“Trust me, I know.” I stood up from the couch. “I think I just need to go for a fly and clear my head.”
Lena smiled and said, “Go for it, babe. Just promise me we’ll finish the movie when you come back?”
“I promise. Spoiler alert,” I said. “I’m pretty sure Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan get together by the end of the movie.” I kissed Lena goodbye and went back to my room.
I took a quick shower and then jumped out of the trap door in my bedroom, transitioned into the eagle and darted across the sky. It felt good to just glide and not have to fly with any purpose. I headed north and made my way toward Orange County.
As I peacefully flew across the night, a sudden terror came over my body. I looked to my left and about twenty black ravens were coming at me. I looked to my right and there were another twenty or so black ravens coming at me. It was Krull and his minion army.
CRAP! Seriously? Right here? Right now? This wasn’t how this was supposed to go down.
I dropped my elevation and flew toward the ground. I looked behind me and all forty birds were hot on my trail.
“Help!” I said, in my head as loud as I could. “Anyone there?” I repeated.
I knew I could telepathically talk to both Helen and Tommy if need be, as long as they were being receptive to it. In Tommy’s case, he needed to be in his werewolf form.
I could see the beach up ahead and the Huntington Beach Pier. I bolted toward it.
“Help!” I repeated, again in my head.
Then I heard, “Josiah.”
It was Helen!
“Helen! Where are you? I’m being attacked!”
“Near Los Angeles,” she answered.
“I’m near the Huntington Beach Pier and Krull and his guys are after me.”
“Hold them off! I’ll get there as fast as I can,” Helen said.
“I’ll try.” I flew up the coast and circled back. “Tommy!” I yelled in my head. “Help!”
“Josiah?” It was Tommy.
Thank God.
“I’m being attacked by Krull,” I screamed.
“I’m about to fight at the arena,” Tommy said. “Where are you?”
“I’m in Huntington Beach,” I answered.
“How am I supposed to get there? I can’t fly.”
Dammit! Tommy was right. I forgot he was grounded. I always seemed to forget that.
“Helen,” I yelled, again in my head.
“Yes.”
“Change of plans. I’m heading for Tijuana. There’s a gang of vampires down there that might help me.”
“Why not fly back to your house?” Helen asked.
“There’s not enough help,” I answered. “All my friends will be slaughtered by these guys.”
“Okay, Josiah,” Helen said. “I’ll get there as fast as I can.”
“Tommy,” I said. “Gather up anyone you can! Tell them it’s an old-school street fight and meet me up the way in the open field.”
“I have to fight first,” Tommy said. “I’m actually fighting the guy as we speak.”
“Well, kick his ass and meet me about half a mile up in the fields by the main city.”
“All right, brother.” Tommy was gone. He must have transitioned to his human form.
I switched my flight direction and was now bolting south toward Mexico. I was flying at a velocity that I had yet to endure. The wind was slamming into my face. I was having a hard time outrunning the ravens who were hot on my tail. I wondered if transitioning to my human form would give me a boost. I looked behind me and I had a good 500 yards on the nearest black raven that was gunning for me.
I decided to transition to my Mani form. Boy, was that a mistake—it was as if I hit the brakes! My flight speed nearly cut in half. Within seconds, all the ravens were on my tail. Some even rammed their beaks into my legs and arms.
This was not good.
I quickly transitioned back to the eagle and this time I hauled ass as if my wings were on fire.
“I’m gaining on you,” Helen’s voice said, in my head.
“Huh?” Where are you?” I asked.
“I’m five minutes from San Diego.”
“Well, I just passed San Diego. At the speed you’re going, Helen, in a few minutes you’re going to come up on Krull and his crew. Be careful.”
“This isn’t my first rodeo, sexy.”
“I’m sure it isn’t.” In a few minutes, I flew over the border. “Tommy, you done?” I asked in my head.
“Just about. I’m trying to knock him out without hurting him too bad.”
“Just choke him out,” I said.
“It’s hard to do a safe choke hold when you have claws like daggers.”
“I’m going to be just east of the arena. Get yourself there and bring anyone who wants to help.”
“I know a few guys who think of a good fight as a good time. Are wolves okay?”
“If they’r
e down to fight... I don’t care if you bring fucking fairies.”
“Oh, these boys will be down, Josiah. No worries about that.
“Just knock the guy out and please hurry,” I pleaded.
“I’m done, Josiah. I just knocked him out with the ‘Twizzler.’ I’ll be there in five.”
Once I hit the area that I figured was as good as place as any to fight in, I decided I needed to buy more time. So, with all the ravens still coming at me, I ascended up as high as I could. I needed a few more minutes for Helen and Tommy and whomever he was able to grab to arrive.
I flew as high as I could. I kept ascending higher and higher. I looked below me and I only had a handful of ravens still following me. One of them was Krull. He was bigger than the rest, and he was leading the charge.
After about five minutes, I decided to change my flight direction and completely do a 180-degree reversal of flight and go south in the direction that the birds were chasing me in. I torpedoed downward and spiked into the ravens like a bowling ball. As I came up on the ravens, they didn’t know what to make of me. Instead of me drilling them like a bunch of bowling pins, they scattered out of the way like a bunch of cockroaches.
They actually made it easy to fly past them. As I continued my way toward the ground, I could see Tommy coming up in the distance with about twenty-five men, who appeared to be both Mani and Carni.
This should be interesting.
I landed on the dirt area that was flat for a good 1,000 yards. This would be as good a spot as any to ‘throw down.’ I looked up and a beautiful white hawk came toward me. It was Helen. She landed next to me. She transitioned and stood there in her beautiful Mani form. She looked incredible, like something from the cover of a romance novel. Her blond hair flowed in the wind.
“Thanks, Helen,” I said.
“It looks like you have a good crew behind you, Josiah.”
I looked at Helen and I knew I didn’t want her to fight in this battle. I might have been sexist, but I was also being protective. She was, in her own right, Mani royalty, as far as I was concerned, and this was something I didn’t want her to get hurt doing.
