I let out a grunt at the impact of the punch. My cheek started to throb like a bitch. Tears sprung at the back of my eyes my eyes and blurred my vision for a second before I tried regulating my breathing pattern.
Okay, you got this. You got this.
I caught sight of Levy’s frown and spat at the ground when I tasted the metallic and bitter taste of blood in my mouth. I decided not to overanalyze Levy's expression and focused on the fight.
I quickly moved forward quickly while he was distracted and threw a quick jab to his jaw. It hurt my knuckles but did a lot to satisfy the burning frustration.
The fight has only been going on for a few minutes now and somehow, I’ve already ran out of ideas on how to manipulate this whole situation to gain an advantage.
I’ve gotta get a grip of myself. I have received way more hits than he did. I could practically feel the tension radiating off Mr. Huang.
No, I can’t fail him. I came to him for help and if I fail to win this fight, he might think that I wasn’t improving and that he’s wasting his time in trying to teach me anything.
I fixed my stance again, this time staying aware of every move I make.
Levy delayed a few seconds for me and stood back, pretending that he was trying to catch his breath too even though it was obvious he could do this for the next half an hour.
This apparently enraged Mr. Klovski. He started screaming his head off on how Levy missed the window.
“You idiot! Don’t stall! What are you doing?!” Levy didn’t seem to care enough to heed the yelling though. He simply bent over, shoulders hunched and hands resting on his knees.
I raised an eyebrow after I've regained my composure and he immediately straightened up.
The idiot. Always so horrible in acting it was as if he wasn’t even trying to be convincing.
He came as me again, his fist aiming for my face and I quickly dodged it with a quick side step to my left. I deflected the hit and quickly grabbed a hold of it and hooked my other arm onto his inner elbow. I ran around him and used the hand tangled with his arm to grab a fistful of his shirt to hold on to. I tackled his foot to make him fall to his knees and pushed him to the ground until he had his cheek pressed against the ground, holding on to the lock I have on him the entire time.
I gave myself a mental pat on the back. Bryant would’ve been proud. He taught me this move when I was only 14.
When he tapped out and started wincing in pain, I immediately let go and stepped back. Levy stood up slowly, rolling his shoulders. I wished I could say that I was sorry but I think we’re pretty even now considering the blow he landed on me.
Mr. Klovski looked furious but I decided not to rile him up any further, no matter how fun it would be.
“I’m going to take a walk, Shī Fú.”
Mr. Huang gave me his permission with a nod and turned to Mr. Klovski while I turned around to start my walk.
I could hear the shouts behind me that was accusing Levy on holding back because I was a girl. I vaguely heard how he demanded a rematch but by then, I was too far to hear anything he was saying.
Suddenly, there were heavy footsteps behind me and when I turned around, I saw Levy.
“Hey, Pix! Wait up!” I slowed my pace but didn't stop walking and waited for him to catch up with me without stopping. I felt his presence right beside me before I got straight to business.
“What do you want?”
“Come on dude, don’t be mad at me. It isn’t my fault Klovski happens to have some weird grudge against your- well, whoever that old man is to you.” I scoffed at his bullshit.
“We both know that’s not why I’m ‘mad’. Hell, that’s an understatement. I’m beyond pissed and it’s certainly not because of something as simple as that.”
Lev made an exasperated sound and I rolled my eyes. Oh, he’s exasperated?
“You guys discussed about killing me yesterday! I thought we were fucking friends, you bastard!” I yelled. I couldn’t suppress it anymore. It’s gone too far and if I didn’t let it out, I might’ve ended up blowing up on someone else that didn’t deserve it.
I know that they didn’t exactly say that they were planning to kill me yesterday. But I felt threatened enough to make that assumption and Levy didn’t deny it.
“Hey, you’re the one who knocked me out and tied me up like a fucking animal so don’t give me that bullshit, Case!”
I stopped walking and turned to him. I was blinded by the anger and my mind was clouded and all I could do was breathe heavily from my nose. I stopped for a second to mull over what he said something's I continued walking towards a tree in front of us. Something's terribly wrong.
He called me by my real name.
When I got close enough to the tree, I spun quickly behind Lev, taking his arm and twisting it behind him and drove him into the tree. A grunt of pain emitted from him and I kept my hold on him tight.
“What the fuck dude?!” He yelled, outraged I tightened my hold once again and he let out a small scream.
“You said my name.” I said slowly in his ear.
“I’ve never told you my real name. How do you know my name?” I yelled at him, my anger long forgotten. Replacing it was a flurry of panic.
There’s no way he could’ve gotten my real name from Klovski. It couldn’t be connected with Klovski. I’ve never seen the dude in my life.
There’s something not adding up and I don’t like it at all.
He knew that I was in that cabin, but still claimed that he was searching for me before Klovski even entered the picture. Why would he need to lie if he could just come with Klovski and demand a match between us? Then out of nowhere, he knows my name?
The more that I thought about it, a lot of things started to appear questionable. How did he even know that I went to Nana’s? I didn’t tell anyone except for my parents and Preston. No one else knew. How did he know where Nana lived?
I didn’t want to believe anything was off about him. He’s been my friend for too long. Simply the thought of him being a traitor was painful enough to suck the breath out of me. I trusted him.
“How do you know my name, Lev?! Is that even your name? Or is that another thing that you hid from me? I bet you have another story on how you came up with ‘Levy’, haven’t you?” I taunted him, trying to conceal the hurt underneath the challenging tone. He wasn't a friend or even an ally anymore and no pain that could be used against you should be shown to the enemy.
“Case, it’s not what you think. I’m your friend, if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have helped you all these years now, would I?” He coaxed me with a soft tone but I wasn’t buying it. So deceitful and cunning; how could anyone live like he did? It couldn’t be healthy.
“Oh yeah? How have you helped me? Suggesting the dangerous competition right when I needed the money? Luring me to sign up and gamble with my life on the line?” I barked at him. I haven’t even thought of it before but the mere idea made my stomach churn. How can someone be so sickening?
“That was your choice! I did nothing to influence the choices that you made" He yelled.
“Oh, don’t play coy, you son of a bitch!” I dug in my nails into his arm, causing him to let out a sharp yelp as I felt blood trickling past my nails.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, you psycho bitch?!” He snapped, his voice a bit muffled by the way his face was probably pressed against the tree.
“Oh don’t you psycho bitch me you sick bastard. How do you know my name?!” I screamed at him.
He gave a choked laugh then, seemingly having decided to drop the act.
“It was by due time you realized something was off. I never thought I was such a good actor.”
I screamed in frustration and betrayal, swinging my balled-up fist down onto his head and knocking him out, his head bouncing off the ground with a nasty echo.
That’s enough. No more. I can’t stand this shit anymore; friends turning out to be foes, it’s messing with my head.
I took out my pocket knife I had slipped into the side of my shoe for safety reasons and tore the bottom of his shirt after dragging him up to the tree.
I couldn’t trust Levy enough to not be extra prepared for today’s match. After everything Mr. Huang had told me and after being up until late last night, the only comfort I could find was in the feeling of the pocket knife pressed against my foot. The knowledge that I had a weapon within reach anytime I needed it was the only thing that kept me from running away from Levy. If everything Mr. Huang suspected was true, then the man that was lying unconscious by my feet was a very dangerous man indeed. He acted so flawlessly as my friend for years now and he had never given himself away.
I bounded his hands behind the tree and tied it up with the piece of cloth. What? Did you think I was gonna tear up my perfectly comfortable top for this piece of filth? Ha.
After letting out a loud piercing scream to try to get everything off my chest, I felt my legs give out under me and I fell onto the forest floor with a thud. Tears were streaming down my face A few minutes later, Mr. Huang appeared, jogging his way towards me.
When he saw Levy tied up against the tree, he went back the way he came from. The sight made me inhale a sharp breath as the thought of Mr. Huang being one of them infiltrated my thoughts. I didn’t know what to make of anything anymore. It was starting to give me a migraine. I let out a sob as I saw Mr. Huang jog back to where I was minutes later with a rope in his hands.
‘Bryant trusted him, you can trust him. Come on Case, that’s not fair to those who are genuine.’ I soothed myself. But then my bitchy conscience seemed to have woken up from whatever hibernation it went through.
Yeah, like how Bry trusted Dom, no?
Fuck you, conscience. Fuck you.
I helped Mr. Huang hold Levy’s hands in place as Mr. Huang tied a good knot with the rope to keep Levy in place. After he was done, he finally turned to me and took a good look at me. His eyes lingered on the edge of my lip and he gave me a look. I figured from the throbbing pain that there must be a bruise there.
I shook my head. “It was from the match.” He nodded in understanding and didn't say anything in return. When he helped me to my feet I accepted it, shutting out my conscience. For that split second, I didn’t care if he was a spy or a traitor because even if he wasn’t doing this genuinely, I still needed someone to lean on; even if it was just for a short moment.
I felt the waterworks switching on after a few moments of silence walking.
“Why is life so difficult on me?” I sobbed out I felt a hand patting my back.
“If life was as easy as you wanted it to be, Xiăo Fú, it wouldn’t be worth living.”
Although I didn’t understand whatever he was saying, I didn’t try to question his logic. I simply shook my head and let him guide me back to the cabin.
I was exhausted and I wanted to just take a break from the mishap that was my life. Like pausing a movie and never playing again.