by Joe Fowler
We reached the donor room and set Henry up with a donor. I watched and listened to his thoughts as he worried about the man he drank from. His worry left him as he drank. I could feel him knowingly reach the breaking point and keep feeding hungrily. He wasn’t sorry for the now dead human.
I knew I couldn’t act too sanctimoniously. I had killed two donors myself. My old boss whose cruelty warranted the killing in my mind, and the old woman who was living her life through constant pain that I took away from her. I tried to justify their deaths but I knew it was self-delusion. I was a killer now.
“He’s not much like you were, is he?” Trog said, sadly.
“No, but I don’t want to judge him too harshly. I’ve killed two donors since.” I replied.
“Now that you’ve fed, it’s time to take you to train. You have to learn how to fight.” Trog spoke as we walked back down the yellow hallway. I kept my head down watching the scuffed floors as I followed along.
“I know how to fight.” He sneered.
“You’ve never had to face a vampire before though.” Trog told him.
“Sorry about all the spying and prying. Penny had me convinced that the group she set me up with was trying for what was best. I’m still not convinced they aren’t right. Penny has been getting more and more upset with me over my questioning. Bottom line, the money was the key. I was told that newly free vampires had it really rough. I wanted to get a head start on getting paid.” Trog confessed.
“I understand. I was tired of all the hiding and the deceptions myself. I do need to still keep some of Arria’s secrets. Sorry, but I can’t betray her. If you had the insight into her the way I do, you would understand more of what is going on. I never held any of this against you and still considered you a friend. What was going on behind the scenes wasn’t personal.” I was glad to finally tell him these things.
“Thanks for that. I feel the same way.” I felt the truth behind Trog’s statement.
We entered the overly crowded training room. Henry’s eyes grew huge as he took it all in. We received quite a few stares as Henry’s massive form drew everyone’s attention.
“Wow, he’s a big one!” Ghost laughed as we reached our mats.
“Damn, I thought Hercules was huge. He was nowhere near that big.” Justin added.
“Everyone, this is Henry, our newbie. Henry, this is Ghost, Penny, Beth, and Apollo.” I pointed each out as I introduced them. They all said a greeting and returned to their sparring.
“I still don’t have a clue what all this is about.” Henry said.
“The old ones, like Arria, like to make wagers. They have set up a system of ten fights. If you survive your ten fights, you will be granted your freedom. Tonight will be your first fight. You will face another vampire making his first fight. If you win tonight, then your second fight with be against another second rounder, and so on through the tenth. I am on my eighth fight tonight, Titan is on his third. Now come over here and we will see what you can do.” Trog told him as he walked to the empty mat.
“What do I need to do? Is this like a normal fight? How do I win?” Henry wasn’t even nervous really. He was so confident in his size that he didn’t think it would be too hard to win. Trog read the same thing and smiled.
“You win by tearing off your opponents head. What makes these fights different from what you’ve ever seen before, is that each vampire has a gift. It may be speed, strength, mind reading, invisibility, or a hundred other things. Once we get into the sparring, we should be able to learn your gift. Now, you and Titan will face each other so we can see how tough you will be.”
Henry and I took our places across from each other. I got into a fighting stance and he did the same. I made a fast attack and hit him. I made sure not to hurt him too much but he went down from my punch.
“Holy shit! How am I supposed to fight against that?” He asked, astonished.
“You won’t face anyone as fast as I am. You won’t face anyone as strong as me either. That’s my gift, strength and speed. What you need to realize is that you might face any one of a hundred different gifts tonight. Your size is meaningless here, Henry.” I told him. I watched his mind try to come to terms with that fact. I saw the regret that his bullying days were over. He liked being bigger and stronger than those around him. “Now, I will let you attack me and I will slow down enough to see what you can do.”
We resumed our places and he tried the quick attack like I had done. Only, his attack was overly slow. Too slow. Trog saw it as well. I let him take a few swings but they were useless. Any vampire in this room could have dodged them.
It was only after I countered a few times, pulling way back on my punches that his gift came into focus in his mind. His feet lifted off the floor and he was so happy that he almost flew around the room. I grabbed him and pulled him back down.
“You don’t want to show everyone what you can do. You need to hide your flying until you need it in your fight.” I informed him. He was disappointed but understood. He still didn’t think there was much chance in losing. He thought it was only because of my gift that I could beat him. I looked to Trog and he nodded.
“I will spar with you now, Henry.” Trog said as he walked onto the mat.
I watched Trog try and knock some sense into Henry. While I watched them, Beth walked over and leaned against my side. She was getting nervous. I put my arm around her and held her close.
Trog and I had each of our fighters, other than Beth, face off against Henry. It wasn’t until Justin, the last one, had beat the crap out of him that he started to realize he might lose. We continued to work with him to try and give him a chance.
About an hour or eight later, Cerrus walked up. The other groups were gathering now too. Beth started her inner illusion so she wouldn’t be nervous. Her rope held her to me as we followed Cerrus to be paraded for the old ones.
I looked to Lorac first. He showed the same interest as he did that first night. There wasn’t a way to show him the new information without Trog and Penny knowing about it. I thought about telling him anyway. I decided against it.
I then looked to Arria. I couldn’t stop my smile. I was rewarded with a slight smile in return. While I did this, I took a moment to send my mind around the room to see if there were any interesting thoughts for me to see. I couldn’t read a damn thing. I guess they had been alerted to the mind readers in our group. Maybe it was because of Lorac, he was a known mind reader.
Once Cerrus had announced each of our names and levels, we were dismissed. Cerrus then led us to the holding pen. Once we were there, Trog pointed Henry to the spot opposite of the arena door. Trog would be over the explanations this time. I squeezed Beth’s hand to let her know we were through. I led her to a seat on the bench.
They woke me when the announcer appeared in the arena.
“Damn, I didn’t even know I was sleepy.” I muttered.
I watched as the announcer got the crowd going. The first fight was over quickly. A male gifted with speed killed a woman who could teleport. The second fight was a hilariously funny battle between two males, one was invisible and the other was incorporeal. One couldn’t be seen and the other couldn’t be touched. It went on for a while before the incorporeal got his hands on the invisible one and won. Henry’s fight was next.
Henry went out and took his spot. He knelt as Trog had told him to do. He stood to face his opponent and lost his head as soon as the announcer disappeared. His opponent had speed.
“Knew that was going to happen. Maybe not that fast but we knew he would lose.” Trog said. We all nodded in agreement.
Beth was getting nervous but nowhere near as bad as I expected her to be. When she was called, she stood and walked out to the arena without faltering. When I saw that her opponent was a mind reader, I became worried. A mind reader was the most likely to overcome the illusions. As they faced off and the announcer disappeared, Beth’s opponent went nuts. She started screaming wildly. Beth calmly walked over an
d ripped her head off.
As she took her seat beside me, I saw the illusion. I almost screamed.
Beth was sad but not destroyed like she was the first night. She shed a tear but she was controlled. She had a cause and was following it through.
I sat through a few more fights knowing what I was going to face. I kept my thoughts hidden since the knowledge was of Arria. The gift that stopped Ares was emotional control. Arria’s gift. The fighter that warned our group had said it plainly enough for me to know what I would see in my fight.
This brought some insight for me about something else. Lorac had known I would not be fighting Cindy. That meant the old ones knew ahead of time. That other fighter knew who I would be facing. I would need to ask Lorac or Arria how many know of the fight card beforehand. If it was an old one who told, the list of suspects might get whittled down. I didn’t have enough steam to power that train of thought.
Cindy’s match was an easy one for her. Her gift of evasion worked well against the flying vampire she faced. She took his head without ever being struck.
When my name was finally called, I took my spot on the X and looked at the woman I was about to fight. She was hiding her thoughts fairly well. I saw her gift was emotional control, as expected. We knelt during the betting and I was planning my usual move of a quick strike victory. The announcer reappeared and had us to stand. As he spoke he gave a quick motion to the woman. Before I could figure out what that was about, I was beset with fear.
It was crippling.
“…Let the game begin!” The announcer said as he disappeared.
I felt her strike me, repeatedly. With my strength, her fists couldn’t do much damage. I was all but rooted to the spot where I stood. I was too afraid and becoming so confused I couldn’t even remember what I was afraid of or what I needed to be doing right then. I heard my name being screamed and I recognized Arria’s voice. I regained enough control over my mind to turn off the woman’s gift.
I was instantly free. It was just in time to catch her fist as she charged in for another strike. I hit her, knocking her unconscious. I shook off the shock of what had happened and drank from her until I felt her gift added. Then I took her head.
The crowd’s cheers were relegated to the back of my mind. I made my way back to our holding pen when the door was opened.
“What the hell happened?” Was asked in one form or another by each of our group. I held up my hand for them to wait a second.
“She used her power early. The announcer gave her a signal and she filled me with fear and confusion. By the time the fight was officially under way, I couldn’t function from the fear. I got lucky when part of my mind snapped out of it enough for me to catch her fist and hit her. Once she was unconscious, the fear and confusion left me.” I finally told them after I had made my changes to the story.
“They cheated.” Penny muttered. Her mind was so filled with rage that both Trog and I moved to protect the others if she started swinging. “Those sniveling bastards stooped to cheating! How could I have been so wrong?”
We were quiet while Penny recovered. The next fight was starting. I tried to watch it but my mind was too preoccupied.
At least one of the groups wanted me dead badly enough to risk cheating in a match. I needed to speak to Lorac. I wasn’t sure if I should tell Arria unless Lorac was there. I was afraid of what Arria would do.
The fights continued. There were a lot of fights between mine and Justin’s matches. With fourteen groups, we expected that. It gave me plenty of time to calm down.
“Our next fight will be between fourth rounders, Apollo and Goliath. Let’s hear it for our fighters!”
Justin made his way into the arena. I looked at his opponent and saw the strength. Goliath was as you would expect someone with that name to be. He was at least twice Justin’s size. I hoped Justin would have enough quickness to beat him. This was bringing Penny’s fight with Colossus to mind. I hoped Justin would remember her strategy.
“Apollo, Goliath, please stand and face your opponent…Let the game begin!”
As soon as the announcer disappeared, Justin attacked. He faked his attack for Goliath’s head but dove into his knee instead. We all heard the bones breaking. Justin moved away before Goliath could get his hands on him. Justin then attacked in a series of hit and run tactics. It took a great many of these attacks to wear down Goliath enough for Justin to take his head. Justin looked around, amazed once again that he had survived.
“You were incredible, Apollo! That was the perfect way to fight him!” Penny led the congratulations off right.
“That was awesome!” Trog patted Justin on the back.
Justin sat down with a smile as the rest of us told him how great he had done. His smile didn’t fade for some period of time. By this point, I don’t want to estimate a length of time any more.
There were two rounds between Justin and Penny. We sat through fight after fight. I felt the drowsiness and stood up to try and stay awake. The others all looked at me wondering what was going on. I shook them off trying to act like I was just stretching my legs. Ghost was the only one to realize what was happening. I didn’t bother to try and read his mind. If I had, I would have known to pay more attention.
“Your mind is unraveling. Time is a simple construct in the human brain. It is one of the first things that will go when your mind loses cohesiveness. One other thing that would happen is the sleep. Your brain is fighting the unraveling and it wears you down. Sleep is also used as a natural defense. I had the thought when you were just sleeping too much. When I heard you couldn’t judge the passing of time, I knew the worst was happening to you.”
I stared at him. I didn’t know what to say to that. The others were as stunned as I was. I sat down with a thud.
“Is there a way to fix it?” Trog asked.
“No. At least not that I know of.” Ghost put his head down. I felt the sadness coming from his mind.
The fights passed by unnoticed. None of us knew what to say.
“Tell Arria. Maybe the old ones know a way to fix this.” Beth suggested. She had a single tear falling down her cheek.
“How long does he have?” Trog asked.
“There’s no way of knowing. From what I have seen, Titan is still functioning at a high level intellectually. Maybe it will take years, maybe days, who knows.” Ghost replied.
“Our next fight is a seventh level bout between Moray and Penny. Let’s give it up for our fighters!”
Penny shook off her worry and made her way into the arena. I looked to Moray to figure out how he earned that name. His gift was an electric shock.
“Damn, that’s new.” I said, offhandedly.
“What?” Trog asked.
“Moray can shock his opponent through his hands. He’s named after the eel.” I told them.
“I saw one like that on my second round. He was easy for me but my gift is the best defense against that attack.” Ghost told us.
“Penny will know. She will read his mind and see it coming.” Justin, not Apollo, offered. He was focused on the fight. I felt his renewed hope.
When the fight started, Penny and Moray circled warily. Penny would move away just as Moray would attack. He was very quick as well. He was dodging most of Penny’s counters. She watched for any openings while making sure to stay away from the shocks his hands would cause. I’m not going to ask one of the others how long the fight lasted and I have no clue. Eventually, Penny’s counters added up enough to wear Moray down.
“Great job, Penny! He was a tough one.” I told her when she rejoined us.
The others complimented her skill as well.
More fights to sit through. I was getting too sleepy to stay awake but I didn’t want to miss watching Trog and Ghost’s fights. I began pacing the room.
I was really struggling when Trog was called. I looked to his opponent and saw mind reading. I figured Trog had an even match if nothing else. Trog won quickly and easily.
&nbs
p; “How did you beat him so easy?” I asked Trog when he sat back down.
“He wasn’t good at hiding his thoughts. Unfortunately, I’ve had more practice with that than I would want.” Trog had a rueful smile when he said that.
It worked out for me somewhat. Trog was one of the last fights of his round and Ghost led off the ninth level fights. I might be able to stop fighting sleep soon.
Ghost faced the gift of speed. We all knew this was the hardest gift to defend. I had watched Speedy and knew how my own matches were won. Speed could nullify most any gift.
The only good thing I could be happy about was the name Bullet. Ghost would know the gift of speed from the name. Since he had sparred repeatedly with Speedy, he might be able to figure out a defense.
It was try to hit and miss for a while, I don’t know how long. Bullet would attack but Ghost was staying incorporeal so no contact was made. Ghost couldn’t counter attack because of the speed.
I was watching with complete attention when Trog shook me awake. I jerked my head around trying to orientate myself. I saw Ghost smiling at me sadly. At least he survived.
The fights were over now. I had slept through the last of the ninth and the entire tenth round. Our group began standing to leave.
“This is getting ridiculous. I had my full focus on Ghost in his fight. How could I fall asleep?” I asked them. They didn’t have an answer.
Cerrus opened the door and motioned for us to follow. I probed his mind to see if he had been aware of the cheating but he was hiding his thoughts well.
We made our way down the yellow hallways to the donor room.
“Drain your donor completely, Titan. Even if you aren’t thirsty.” Ghost ordered. “The more blood you have in you, the better chance you have to fight this.”
“I will.” I hung my head. Beth looked at me sadly as she bit into her donor. Beth refused to drain a donor completely.
After the feeding we returned to our rooms.
“We will be leaving soon after you wake. Be packed and ready to go.” Cerrus told us. He promptly turned and walked away.
