by Night, H. T.
The double doors opened and Tommy walked out as serious as I had ever seen him. The crowd all rose to their feet, cheering. Tommy had a game face like no other. There wasn’t a hint of joy on his face; he didn’t even acknowledge the crowd. This was about his freedom. He had an intensity that even I hadn’t seen before from him. He looked like he was ready to tear off someone’s head. There was something else that was different about Tommy’s entrance. He seemed to be carrying a black bag with him into the ring. As he got up to the ring, he tossed the bag to the side of it.
“What’s in the bag?” I asked.
“Oh, you’ll soon find out soon enough,” Romero grinned.
I didn’t like the sound of that at all. Romero was up to something and it looked like Tommy was in on it.
“Which sin is first?” I asked.
“We thought we give him an easy one. Gluttony is first. We found ourselves the biggest, fattest, out-of-shape vampire that needed to make a buck.”
“Tommy will kill him,” I said.
“Possibly,” Romero smiled.
“What’s the order of the sins?”
Romero pulled out a list from his pocket that he had penciled on. “Okay,” he said. “We have Gluttony…then Greed.”
“Who’s playing the part of Greed?” I asked.
“Not playing. He is Greed. We offered the guy five million dollars if he wins.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“He has no chance of winning, Josiah. Remember, I’m a businessman. This guy can barely move, let alone fight. His greed was stronger than his sense of self-preservation. He knows he can’t win, but he is a slave to his own desire for money, no matter what the consequences.”
“Okay, then who?”
“Then we have Sloth. That will be a semi-tough one for our boy. He’s an ex-priest that has pretty much been living in apathy for the last 300 years.”
“A man of the cloth?” I asked. I didn’t really like the sound of that.
“He’s a bit backslidden,” Romero laughed. “After that, we have Lust.”
“Who did you grab for that?” I asked.
“One of the toughest Mani broads you have ever seen. Not to mention, she’s a whore. Hence, the whole lust part.”
I didn’t like the idea of Tommy fighting a woman and I knew he wouldn’t either. “Does Tommy know that his fourth opponent’s a woman?”
“We might have failed to mention that to him. Anyway, on the back nine there are three mega super fights. We have a returning fighter who promises he will not only beat Tommy but kill him inside five minutes. So he’s our Pride. Then there’s Wrath followed by Envy.”
“Who’s Wrath?” I asked.
“It’s another big surprise; at least it will be for Tommy.”
“Who is it?” I pressed. “It better be a fair match.”
“If by ‘fair’ you mean is he fighting a ‘one-on-one fight,’ then it’s very fair,” Romero laughed. “But, he will have his work cut out for him. You do remember Goliath, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I said. Goliath was the hugest creature I had ever fought. It took Tommy and I both to kill him.
“Well, he had a son. His son is bigger than his father. The thing is his son didn’t choose to go into the family Carni business. He chose to become a Mani. Biggest motherfucking vampire I have ever seen.”
Romero was enjoying this far too much. It felt like he didn’t care if Tommy died or got seriously hurt. He just wanted a good show.
Romero continued, “So, this kid wants to kill Tommy pretty bad after what the two of you did to his father. I’d be careful, Josiah. Because if he beats Tommy, no matter what, we will still have a seventh fight because he wants you next.”
“You have it all figured out, haven’t you?”
“Put it this way, Josiah. If at any point Tommy goes down, you’re my ace in the hole.”
“That wasn’t the deal,” I said. “If he gets hurt or, worse yet, dies, then he’s paid the ultimate price toward his debt. You’ll still have your money.”
“He might have, but you still will owe me at least one more fight. We’ll cross that road when we get there,” Romero smiled. “Shhh… the announcer is about to introduce Gluttony.”
I looked out as the announcer waited for Tommy to transition into the werewolf, to the delight of his adoring billionaire fans.
Tommy stood in the ring inside the steel cage. I decided to try to speak to him. “Tommy!” I said, in my mind. “Can you hear me above the noise?”
Tommy gave me no response. I wasn’t sure if he could hear me or if it was just too loud. Suddenly, the two black double doors opened.
The announcer took the microphone and just simply said, “Gluttony!”
And gluttony it was. Holy crap! The fattest vampire I had ever seen walked through the doors. He didn’t even really walk. He waddled. He weighed over 700 pounds and only stood barely six feet tall.
Why would this guy enter the ring with Tommy? Surely he knew he had no chance. This was the fattest person I had ever seen, vampire or otherwise. This was a very, very big boy. He huffed and puffed as he slowly made his way to the ring. I wasn’t even sure he could make it to the ring without giving himself a heart attack. He eventually got there. It seemed like it took the guy ten minutes to move 50 yards.
Tommy in his gray werewolf form just stood on one side, staring at the obese steak that was before him.
“Tommy,” I repeated. “Can you hear me?” Tommy twitched in the ring, as if to be shaking my voice out of his head. Now, I was beginning to wonder if Tommy was ignoring me on purpose for some reason. Maybe he knew he had his work cut out for him tonight, and just needed to focus and not have me talking into his ear. I decided to shut up and let him fight.
The bell went off. Tommy circled his opponent. And the guy was having a hard time even turning in circles.
Suddenly, Tommy leaped on the guy, knocking him straight to his back. The great wolf wasted no time. He bit the guy’s neck and he went completely limp. Then something happened that was as unexpected as anything I had ever seen in a ring. I couldn’t have imagined this happening, even in my wildest dreams.
Tommy transitioned back into his Carni form and stepped out of the ring.
What was he doing?
To the left of the ring was the black bag Tommy had brought with him. He reached in and grabbed a metal spike out of the bag and held it in his hand.
Oh no! What the hell was he doing?
The overweight man was flopping in the middle of the ring. Tommy had already seriously injured him by just chomping on his neck. Tommy walked back into the ring. The crowd had no idea what they were about to witness. Or did they?
Maybe that is why they all paid $500,000 for a ticket.
This was very out of character for a Tommy fight. He usually showboated and played up to the crowd. He fed off of it. Not right now. He was all business and I was afraid of what he was planning to do. Tommy, with metal stake in hand, jumped on top of his obese opponent while he was lying on his back in the ring. It looked like he had jumped on top of a bouncy house that kids play in at birthday parties. Tommy sat on top of his stomach. The man looked terrified.
Tommy then did the unspeakable. With a mighty thrust, he rammed the metal rod all the way through the giant vampire’s neck. Then poof. The giant vampire disappeared.
Tommy had killed him.
I was absolutely sick to my stomach.
The crowd cheered and groaned. They weren’t sure whether to celebrate or be horrified. Most were horrified, but there was a part of the crowd that loved every minute of it; it was exactly what they paid for. They were the ones who were getting louder and louder with their cheers.
Tommy looked up to Romero’s suite and stared at where Romero was sitting. He raised one finger up to show that he was one down and had six to go.
He sat on his hind end in the middle of the ring to catch his breath. Then he stood up to his feet as the crowd began chanting, �
��Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!’
“Tommy!” I yelled, in my head. “What the hell are you doing? You don’t have to kill them!”
Again, Tommy didn’t answer. He just shook his head in the ring, obviously shaking my voice out of his head. Something was going on. I looked at Romero and he seemed very pleased. He had specifically told me in a previous conversation that killing was not part of the spectacle he liked to put on. But then again, it appeared that he had lied about everything when it comes to this place.
Romero motioned to one of his bodyguards to come over to him. The man walked over and Romero whispered something in his ear and the man left. I tried to read Romero’s lips and his mind but he was a trained Tandra. He thought and spoke only in Spanish. He knew I had the ability to read minds, and he was aware, one slip up, and he would show whatever ‘hand’ he was trying to hide from me. He and Tommy were up to something and as far as I could tell Tommy was on board for whatever reason.
“How soon will the next fight be?” I asked Romero. I purposely did not mention the fact Tommy had just killed his opponent.
“His fight will start as soon as the ring announcer gets to the microphone,” Romero said.
Chapter Twenty-seven
The ring announcer made his way back to the middle of the ring and simply said, “Sloth,” into the microphone.
The black double doors opened and a man who was in pretty good shape entered the arena. He was wearing some kind of Friar Tuck outfit, I guess to demonstrate that he was an ex-priest. As he walked in, he ripped off his outfit and threw it to the ground.
Tommy was sweating in the middle of the ring, but he had a lot left in his tank. I was waiting for Tommy to transition back to the werewolf, but he didn’t. It appeared he was planning on starting the fight in his Carni form. The unpredictability of his actions just kept on coming. Tommy reached down and picked up the stake with which he had killed Gluttony.
Was he just planning on killing this guy right out of the gate?
The second bell rang.
Tommy charged the priest, and the priest transitioned into a black raven, slipping through Tommy’s fingers. The raven got to the other side of the ring and transitioned back to the priest.
Tommy again charged him and again the priest transitioned into the black raven and made his way to the opposite side.
I could tell this was annoying Tommy. Tommy hated when someone ran from him. The priest once again transitioned back to his Mani form.
I could see the wheels turning in Tommy’s head. Tommy had amazing instincts. He had a special rule that he lived by: Meaning, if someone made a move or action more than twice, the likelihood of them trying it a third time was very high.
Tommy grinned at the Mani and charged him. The priest transitioned to the raven, but this time Tommy held back, and with lightning-fast reflexes, he caught the bird in mid-flight as he tried to fly past him.
In a panic, the priest transitioned back into his Mani form as Tommy had a hold of him. It didn’t matter that Tommy had reached down with his right hand and grabbed the metal stake and jammed it through the priest’s neck. He disappeared instantly.
Inside of five minutes, Tommy had now killed two Mani.
Tommy wasn’t a guy who craved the kill. In fact, killing was against his nature as much as it was mine. This was not like him. He was killing for a reason.
I turned to Romero. “What the hell is he doing? Why is he fighting till the death?”
Romero smiled, “What can I say? Our boy puts on a great show,” Romero laughed.
Now I was pissed off. Something was up. “Did you offer him money to kill?”
“Not even Tommy would be influenced by that, you know that, Josiah.”
“Why is he killing his opponents?”
“Shhh, Josiah. Quiet, here comes some eye candy for both of us to enjoy.”
I looked out into the crowd and the announcer was already in the middle of the ring. Tommy had a crazed look in his eye.
“Tommy! Talk to me! Why are you doing this?” I pleaded to him in my mind.
This time he answered. “I have to, Josiah. That’s all I can say!”
I turned my head, and Romero’s greedy ass was standing up watching the ring announcer. The announcer took the microphone and said in a solemn voice, “Lust.” It seemed the deaths were also affecting the announcer in a bad way.
What was going on? I needed to piece this together.
The black double doors burst open. And the sexiest woman I had ever seen stepped out. She was an Amazon. She was six foot two with legs that stretched on for days. She was dressed in white lingerie, if you could even call that skimpy outfit that. She was carrying a white whip that matched her very revealing outfit. Her get up made WWE divas look like nuns.
“How does she represent Lust as a fighter?” I said, to Romero. “The only Lust that is going on is from the men in the crowd.”
“Oh, trust me,” Romero said. “She’s a nympho.” He turned to his body guards and they all smiled and laughed. Apparently, she had provided a group rate before the fight.
This wasn’t good. I hoped Tommy wasn’t planning on killing the woman. Tommy transitioned into the gray wolf. The woman immediately transitioned into a beautiful red hawk. The crowd booed. They apparently wanted to gawk at her body a little longer.
I looked at the audience; no one had left. This was what they had paid for. They paid a half a million a seat to watch death. And that was exactly what Tommy and Romero were giving them. What was making Tommy go along with it? I had no idea.
The third bell rang. For about two minutes, the fight looked like a bizarre episode of Wild Kingdom. It was a red hawk fighting a giant gray wolf.
Apparently, she had a game plan and she was sticking to it. She was not going to let Tommy get a hold of her.
The crowd began to boo at a deafening level. Romero didn’t like that. It was as if Tommy was unsure about what he wanted to do. He really wasn’t fighting back. The hawk would bolt into him like a spear and pull back. Tommy really wasn’t doing much of anything except standing there.
Her pattern was blatantly obvious. Every 11.5 seconds she bolted in. I could time it in my sleep. Tommy knew it, too. It was as if he was letting her get to him.
She finally gave up her strategy of strictly fighting as the red hawk. She transitioned into her womanly form to the absolute delight of the crowd. You would have thought they were watching a mud-wrestling match in Buenos Aires, not that they had just witnessed two individuals being killed before their eyes.
Tommy remained as the wolf. They circled one another for about another minute. I knew Tommy could easily leap on her and take her out, he was reluctant. It was obvious that the killings were affecting him.
Even though Lust was only wearing a G-string, complete with a revealing bra and sexy nylons, the audience was craving more bloodshed. They began to boo once again.
Then Tommy said to me in my head, “I’m sorry, Josiah.”
He then leaped on top of her and mauled her like a cat tearing into a bird. But she wasn’t a bird. She was in her womanly form and it was very hard to watch.
She tried fighting back, but she was no match for Tommy. She laid there, almost motionless. Tommy transitioned back to his Carni form and grabbed the steak that was still in the middle of the ring.
Then he did something that both surprised and disgusted me even more. He dragged the mangled Mani woman all the way up to the window in front of Romero’s suite. There was only a giant plate of glass separating Tommy and Romero. Tommy still had a hold of the woman, who was barely breathing.
“This is what you want to see?!” Tommy screamed at Romero. Tommy then whispered something in the woman’s ear and closed his eyes as if he said a prayer. Then he shoved the metal stake into her neck and she disappeared.
Tommy stood there staring through the window at Romero. I wasn’t sure what Romero was going to do. Then, he slowly stood up and began to clap, as did the crowd. It was the
sickest display of affection I had ever seen a crowd give. Romero wanted a night to remember and Tommy was sure giving it to them.
Chapter Twenty-eight
I sat back in my chair, totally overwhelmed at what I was witnessing, the downspiral of Tommy into the darkest emotional place I’d ever known him to inhabit. This was supposed to be a night of seven deadly sins, and the deadly part was as apparent as the sins themselves.
Tommy had three huge matches before I was supposed to step into the ring with him. He just took down Gluttony, Sloth, and Lust.
Next was “Greed.’ It should be an easier match. Romero made it sound like he offered an average fighter an insane amount of money to just get into the ring with Tommy. I guess the guy now knew what his life is worth because he would not leave this ring alive.
Tommy stood alone in the ring in his Carni form. I couldn’t communicate with him even if I wanted to. He needed to be the werewolf for us to be able to hear each other’s thoughts. I think he purposely was in his Carni form, so he wouldn’t have to hear an earful from me.
The fourth fight was taking longer to start, compared to the others. I looked at Romero and he was leaning back in his chair in a sea of his own blissful arrogance. I knew he and I weren’t going to have any kind of truthful conversation about what was happening in front of our eyes.
A feeling of uneasiness had now manifested inside of me. Something was going on and that was as obvious as Romero’s ego. Whatever Romero had worked out with Tommy had to be gigantic to have him kill his opponents. Romero had either offered something huge in return or was blackmailing Tommy.
“What’s taking this fight so long to start?” I asked Romero.
“That’s a good question.” Romero snapped his fingers and then whispered something into one of his bodyguard’s ears. His bodyguard then whispered something back to him.
Romero smiled and said something very stern in Spanish in his bodyguard’s ear and he promptly left the room. Romero looked at me and gave me a business smile that men do when a situation isn’t good.
