by Joe Fowler
I don’t have the words to convey her sadness.
The next few fights went by in a blur. I continued to hold the sobbing Beth. I now knew why Anthony had been so frightened. She had made Anthony see his mother’s face on a deformed, horribly twisted, giant dog. The dog was chasing Anthony around the arena yelling at him for being a monster.
Trog seemed almost disgusted by Beth’s sadness. Penny was getting more and more upset at Trog. I could see it even though she was trying to hide it.
“…Our next fight will be between Lance and Titan, two second level fighters! Let’s hear it for our combatants!”
I pulled my arm away from Beth and made my way into the arena. I went to the X and knelt when the betting started. I looked over at Lance and saw that his gift was avoidance. He could evade any attack.
“We’ll see.” I said, in my head.
“Lance, Titan, Please stand and face your opponent…Let the game begin!”
I timed it perfectly. As the announcer disappeared, I struck Lance. He collapsed in a heap. I guess I was too fast for him to avoid. I drank from him until I felt the added gift. I ripped his head off and waited until I could go back to the holding pen.
I retook my seat next to Beth as the others were asking what his gift was.
“Evasion was his gift. He could avoid any attack.” I told them.
“Obviously not!” Speedy said and laughed. The others joined in the laughter.
The fights continued.
It was a seemingly long time before Justin’s new name was called. He stood and made his way to the arena with our encouragements trying to build him up. He did the kneeling and stood as the announcer started the fight.
They circled warily. Apollo, I still prefer Justin, made a few hesitant attacks and was rewarded when one of them hit home. He followed up on his advantage over the much bigger male he was fighting. Apollo was able to take the man’s head.
We cheered for him when he came back to the pen. His was still in shock over winning. He looked at me with the obvious question on his mind.
“He was a daywalker, just like you.” I told him. He nodded and returned to his seat.
I took a nap after that. This sleep thing was nice at first but I needed to stay awake right now and couldn’t. The fights were going on and I was snoring!
They woke me when it was time for Hercules to enter the arena. I tried to refocus my mind on what was happening. I looked at Hercules’s opponent and was encouraged. I had been asleep and didn’t hear when Vlad was announced with Hercules. They were an even match.
They traded a few shots early on. They really were an even match. Their fight seemed like it lasted twice as long as any fight I had seen up to this point. It only ended because Hercules made a mistake and Vlad took his head.
Our group all hung our heads. Hercules was a great guy. I would miss him. We knew this was a likely possibility for him but it still hurt to lose a friend.
I did manage to stay awake after that, though the following fights were boring enough to put me into a coma. It didn’t pick up until it became Penny’s time to fight. She took her place and we all watched nervously.
I looked at her opponent and saw the gift of invisibility. Luckily, as a mind reader, Penny would have a better chance than most. She would be able to see the thoughts and know where her opponent was even without being able to see him with her eyes.
They started to circle when the other one disappeared. Penny did what she knew was best. She acted like she didn’t know where her opponent was until he was in a good position for her to attack. She hit him with a huge punch that staggered him into visibility. She smiled and pressed her attack, not letting him recover. She won easily.
We congratulated her when she rejoined us.
Trog’s fight came soon after. He won easily against a teleporter. We congratulated him.
It took a while, somewhere between four seconds and three days, for Ghost’s fight to come around. He faced a female mind reader. He attacked her a few times and saw how she anticipated each attack. It didn’t take him long to figure out she was reading his mind. Ghost smiled and put his mind into the overdrive mode that gave me headaches. Since his mind was too fast for her to read well, he confused the hell out of her to the point that she couldn’t fight back. She seemed to do the right thing in that situation. Her style changed as it looked like she stopped reading his mind. Ghost saw this and went forward with a normal attack. He won.
I was smiling as he reentered the holding pen. Trog was shaking his head.
“You are one scary bastard!” Trog said, smiling now as well. He knew enough to tell what was happening. He had experienced it all before during sparring.
Ghost just shrugged and took his seat.
Since we didn’t have a ninth rounder, we had a longer wait for a fight we were interested in. Speedy was bouncing both legs as he tried to remain seated. He was impatient at the best of times. Now he was waiting on his chance at freedom. I smiled at the continuous “Come on, come on, come on…” that was going through his head.
Loki got his wish. He faced Scorpion. They made a few normal passes where Loki proved to be a much more skilled fighter. Scorpion looked like he tried to call on his ability but nothing happened. Loki smiled at him and finished Scorpion off.
Ghost looked at me funny for a moment as Loki returned to his holding pen. His thoughts were too fast to read. He looked over at Trog who seemed deep in mental discussion with Penny. I smiled inwardly.
Through all of the fights, Beth had remained in her seat and hadn’t spoken. I was trying to keep an eye on her thoughts to make sure she was okay. She was coming to terms with what she had done and was getting a stronger viewpoint on what the future held for her. She resolved herself to being what she needed to be. An exterminator. She couldn’t describe herself in any other way. She would fight her fights. What happened afterwards when she was free, she didn’t know, but she made up her mind to fight her fights until she was either free or dead.
“We will now start the tenth and final level fights! Our next fight will be between Speedy and Schizoid! Give it up for our fighters!”
Speedy was ready to jump out of his skin. He headed into the arena and took his place on the X. He had been told what Schizoid’s ability was. He would be as prepared as he could be. They knelt and waited for the betting period to end. Once they were standing, my own nerves were standing on end.
Speedy made his normal lightening attack and landed a good hit. Schizoid multiplied to his max. There were five of him standing in a circle around Speedy. Instead of being worried, Speedy smiled. He had anticipated this. He darted around the arena hitting one then another of the Schizoid drones randomly. He was hitting each and moving on to the next before the real Schizoid could see where Speedy even was. Once Speedy had beaten the real Schizoid down enough, the drones began to disappear, one by one, as Schizoid lost his control. Speedy took Schizoid’s head and cried out in joy.
We were all clapping for him as he was led up the stairs into the crowd.
The remaining fights went by in a blur. I was so happy for Speedy. We had lost Hercules tonight but we knew that was a real possibility before we entered. Overall, we had to be pleased with the way things turned out.
Beth was both a sad and happy thought for me. I wanted her to survive but I hated what she had been forced to do. She would never have the same innocence she had before.
Chapter 9
We were led to the donor area before we headed back to our own rooms. I fed some but didn’t drink too much. I didn’t really need it. I waited on the others to finish.
Our group, even Beth, all gathered in my room again. Cerrus had informed us of our departure in the morning, well, when we woke up. We would be flying directly to another facility for our next fights. He advised us to sleep as much as we could.
“Hate that Hercules lost. It was the matchup he needed but Vlad beat him.” Justin said.
“He knew how hard it would be
to keep going. At least he was the only one we lost. That’s something to be thankful for.” Penny added. She was hiding almost all of her thoughts. It had my curiosity peaked but I didn’t let it show enough for her or Trog to pick up on it.
“Speedy will be missed but this should be better for him. I wish we knew more about what our freedom really means.” I said.
That was the thought that preoccupied much of my time that wasn’t spent thinking and overthinking about spies and my gift. How free would we be? Would we exchange the fights for a different set of chains for the old ones to put on us?
I wanted to speak to Arria again to find out if she had any answers. I didn’t know when we would have another chance for that though. This constant guarding against Trog and Penny was worrisome and tiring.
“You know there will be strings attached. The old ones will have ways of keeping us under their thumbs.” Trog stated. His thoughts were calm. I had a sudden urge and followed up with it before I could change my mind.
“That’s part of what I’m worried about. What limitations can they place on us? Will we still be forced to play some kind of role in their little world or would we really be able to live freely?” I asked. I wanted to see if Trog had a reaction but he remained calm. “If they are going to continuously try to rule over us, I might do the Ares thing.”
That got the reaction I wanted! Trog’s mind lit up like a Christmas tree. He hid most everything, but it was his reaction I wanted most. I made sure my own thoughts were hidden while all this occurred.
“It would serve them right. If they can’t let us be free, then they should die.” Trog said. He was firmly back in control of his thoughts.
This told me a lot. Trog wanted to end the council’s rule or at least expand on what they would allow. That led me to think of the ‘public’ facilities Arria said some vampires wanted. I needed to keep my eyes open for more chances to probe Trog like this.
Penny was such a question mark but I couldn’t let myself dwell on her. I had too many thoughts to keep hidden comfortably already. No need to add more right now.
Our talking lightened up after that. One by one, everyone left to get some sleep. I sat up for a while going over what I had seen. I needed alone time with Ghost, Penny, and especially, Arria. There wasn’t much further I could go with my current information.
The banging on my door woke me up before I was ready to be awake. I opened the door to see Justin, I didn’t want to call him Apollo, smiling.
“We’ve got about five minutes to pack and be ready to leave. I thought you might want to get up now.” Justin was laughing at me. “We’ve been banging on this door off and on for the past hour and a half. How can you sleep so deeply? One sound and I’m instantly alert.”
“I don’t know why I am like this now. I couldn’t sleep well as a human but now I have trouble staying awake sometimes.” I told him. His thoughts were amused. Mostly, he was just happy to be alive, well still existing.
I left the door open and turned to start packing. I decided I should at least change shirts. I didn’t have time for a shower. I was tying my shoes when Cerrus appeared to lead us to the hangar.
As I took my seat, Beth sat beside me. She appeared to need my nearness. I didn’t mind. Her thoughts were usually so pleasant that she was refreshing for me to be around. She suffered bouts of depression when she thought of her fight but she was getting over it a little at a time. I was proud of her.
I fell asleep again during the flight. They had to wake me up when we landed.
We followed Cerrus down yellow painted hallways. The scuffed floors brought a smile to my face. It seems that all of these facilities are very similar in layout. We entered a waiting room that differed only by wall color and furniture patterns from the facility we were just at.
I was given the chance to sit in this waiting room though. I would rather have been taken to see Arria again but it is what it is.
I sat on a couch and Beth took her place right by my side. She never seemed to speak unless you asked her a direct question. I watched her thoughts when others were talking and she usually had witty retorts but she never said them. The others of our group all thought her insane or at the very least, troubled. I chose to let them think what they would since I knew from Beth’s thoughts that she didn’t want to talk to them anyway. It worked out for everyone.
We were sitting for about an hour, or maybe two days, before Cerrus returned saying our rooms were ready. I listened to his thoughts but knew he would have prepared himself for any time spent around me. Nothing was gained but it was worth the effort.
“Everyone, pick a room quickly and I will show you to the training room.” Cerrus ordered.
I opened the first available door and threw my bag on the bed. I wanted a shower but figured it would be better to wait until after the training room. We didn’t sweat but we did smell better after a shower. The longer we went without bathing, the duller our smell became. Each of us bore the scent of one type of flower or another. The flower scent was much sharper after a shower.
We followed Cerrus to the training room. It was a shorter trip this time.
“The fights will be tomorrow night. I will come by later and show you where the showers and donor rooms are.” Cerrus was about to walk away when I remembered something.
“Cerrus,” I called. He had an instant of pure hatred before wiping it from his mind. “I was told you could get me a toothbrush. I’m dying to brush my teeth. Can you help?”
“I will see what I can do.” Cerrus said, coldly. He wanted to help me with the dying part. He turned and walked away.
“Why does he hate you so much?” Beth asked. I felt Trog’s interest at Beth’s question.
“There’s a lot that goes into it, Beth. Don’t worry about it.” I smiled at her to ease her mind. I couldn’t tell her that I had matched Cerrus in a fight. I definitely couldn’t tell her the rest.
The training room was full to overflowing. We were lucky to find two empty mats side by side. This would be a huge fight night. If there were nine teams at our last fight, then there must be thirteen or more teams at this one.
I stood by as Trog and Ghost sparred on one mat, while Penny and Apollo sparred on the other. Beth, of course, was standing by my side watching Trog and Ghost.
I wasn’t watching them. I was searching the room for Cindy. Three times I saw a familiar vampire group from the fights but Cindy wasn’t among them. I was about to give up when I saw her. She was smiling at me. I felt my own smile spread across my face. We still wouldn’t be able to talk but it was nice to see that she had survived. I didn’t know if she had even fought again or not. One of her group’s vampires got her attention and she gave a small wave before she turned away.
“Who was that?” Beth asked. She had good natured thoughts since I was obviously happy to see Cindy. It made me feel good when Beth was in a better mood like this.
“I worked in a diner as a human. That woman was a waitress there. She was a good friend of mine. We were both turned on the same night. She is a part of one of the other old ones’ fighters. As a matter of fact, her old one is the one who reads minds that we were so afraid might be there the last time.” As I said this, I looked into Trog and Ghost’s minds. I wanted to see their reactions.
Trog’s reaction was guarded and worried at the same time. Ghost was confusing. I needed to speak to him to find out anything. His mind was too much for me. I knew it was better that way though. Trog wouldn’t be able to understand him either.
Since there wasn’t anything we could do about it right now, we continued our sparring. Well, they sparred while Beth and I watched.
“Why don’t you spar? It isn’t because of me is it?” Beth asked. In her mind she felt like the neediest person ever. She was only calm when she was near me. She figured I was staying out of the sparring just to keep her happy.
“No. There’s no need for me to spar. I am too fast for any of the fighters here. I can end any of my matches as
easily as I did the one last night.” I assured her.
“Good. I didn’t want you to fall behind because of me.”
“I would suggest that you spar some but I think it is better for you to just stay relaxed when you can. You can practice your illusions anytime.”
“Was I wrong for what I did to that man?” Beth was desperate for the answer to this question. If I had seen it before now, I would have told her right away.
“No, Beth. He was a monster and you did the right thing. He got exactly what he deserved. Never doubt that.”
She took a deep breath and sighed with relief. She felt much better.
The sparring went on for some stretch of time. I no longer have a damn clue about how long something takes. I thought I would get better at judging time but I keep getting more lost. I really doubted if I could tell ten seconds from an hour anymore.
Trog had to stop in his sparring to laugh at me. Penny heard and after reliving my thoughts in Trog’s mind, she laughed just as hard. The others all looked at me wondering what the hell was so funny.
“I can’t judge the passing of time anymore. Five minutes or five hours feels the same to me. Trog heard me thinking about it and started laughing. Penny had her reading ability turned off for her sparring but when she heard Trog laughing, she read his mind and thought it was funny too.” I told them.
Beth and Apollo smiled. Ghost averted his face and tried to think of anything else. He was the one getting the headache now. Trog and Penny were still laughing and didn’t see what Ghost was going through. His mind was coming back under control but he looked at me with a serious look on his face. It was a scared warning.
I made sure to hide his reaction and facial expression in my mind so Trog wouldn’t see but all I wanted to think about was, ‘What now? What is so bad that Ghost is afraid?’
My mind and Trog’s laughter slowly regained control of themselves and the sparring began again. They switched sparring partners regularly so each could face the different gifts. I added any help I could while watching.
