My bruises didn’t heal as quickly as I wished they would but thankfully, it didn’t hurt as much anymore. I prayed that the adrenaline that I get every time I’m in the ring would be enough to numb the pain that came with any abrupt movements I make.
I was doing the semi-finals today. The roaring crowds threatened to burst my eardrums as I shuffled from foot to foot and shook my hands to shake the nerves away. I was so close to the finals and ending this once and for all. I was so close to a life where I could be free from all this violence.
Just two more fights and I can close this chapter once and for all.
When my nickname was called, I climbed the steps to enter the ring. This time, I took the decency to glance at my opponent. What I saw was definitely not what I was expecting.
There, standing a few feet away from me, at the other end of the ring, was Cole.
He had a murderous glint in his eyes as he watched me like a hawk.
I had to do a double take when I saw him. I was expecting a stranger.
I took the time that was given to assess his state.
He looked as beat up as I felt, no doubt from the previous fight he was in. But he was standing here nonetheless, right in front of me, so that spoke volumes of how capable he was.
He narrowed his eyes at me.
“What kind of name is Pixie?” He sneered at me. I shrugged, trying to pull off an unflinching reaction to his attempt at insulting me.
I decided not to answer him and simply tried to gather my thoughts instead. Nothing changed in my plan.
I’m going to beat him and win this competition, giving him the prize to help him support the kids financially.
I got into position, facing Cole.
When the bell rang, I felt like I was in a cage with a bull. Cole charged at me without holding back. Anyone watching probably thought that he was simply an aggressive fighter but I knew that he was making this personal.
I felt the adrenaline running in my veins and I steeled myself. I’ve learnt from the fight I was previously in that it was better to stay detached, to be of from any emotions when I’m fighting.
Feelings would only cloud your judgment and give you a disadvantage.
I narrowed my eyes at Cole as I sidestepped him before he could grab me and tackle me to the ground. He stumbled as he regained his balance and turned towards me.
He let an enraged cry as he ran towards me again and this time I mimicked his movements and charged towards him. I slightly bent my body as I ran, and my significantly shorter height did me a favor as I barreled into his lower half, catching him off balance and sending him tumbling onto the ground.
I didn’t give him a chance to regain his balance as I started kicking his ribs and then his face. I didn’t want to get on top and start punching since his built would undoubtedly give him the upper hand. He’d easily flip us over. I kept kicking until his hand shot out and grabbed my leg, pulling it from under me. I landed on my back on the floor, a grunt escaping my lips as I struggled to retain the breath that got knocked out of me.
Cole raised his foot and as soon as I saw it coming down on my face, I quickly rolled over and got onto my feet.
That was way too close.
He was quick for a guy his size. I backed up a few steps and we started circling each other. I narrowed my eyes at every movement that he made and I tried to pinpoint his weak spot.
The good news was that he was human and therefore, he was bound to have a flaw.
The bad news was that I couldn’t spot any.
I scowled at him, angry at myself for not being able to detect any faltering steps or odd movements. Not even the couple of kicks I landed on his midriff seemed to affect him.
What is this guy? The bloody Hulk?
My eyes flitted over his bloody nose, bruised cheekbone, slight smirk and the glint in his eyes. I immediately knew I was in trouble when I caught sight of his eyes. They were darting over my body, stopping at my midriff where an ugly bruise that was slowly healing, covered by my black tank top.
He probably noticed my slightly hunched posture to cover the vulnerable area.
I had to think quick, I didn’t have anything on him and he was already jabbing away at my midriff like his life depended on it. I kept on trying to dodge his hits as I moved further away from his advancing form.
“You die tonight, Pixie,” he sneered at me as I saw his fist flying from my peripheral vision. I quickly ducked to dodge the left hook and started landing punches as quick and as hard as I could on his abdomen.
I got a few punches in. Although his abdomen felt like it was made out of rocks, his form was slightly hunched over and pain was evident on his face for a fleeting second.
I made quick work of grabbing him by the back of his neck below his hairline and tugged as hard as I could while raising my knee, using my weight to pull him down.
I heard the sickening crack as his face collided with my knee. I let him go as he stumbled backwards.
I needed to end this quick without killing anyone.
I ran towards him and let my leg fly under me as I kicked him on his side. He let out a pained yell as he clutched his side.
Bingo.
I gave him a right hook to the temple to divert his attention from his side so that I could land another blow on it and it worked.
When he was no longer covering the spot I kicked him on, I bent down and swung my fist on to the same spot again.
I was so focused on hitting the right spot that I didn’t see his foot flying towards my abdomen.
“You bitch!” He roared as his foot connected straight to my throbbing midriff and I went flying backwards, sliding against the ring’s floor as I curled myself onto a ball to nurse my bruise.
Fuck that hurt!
When I heard him coming, I immediately tried to get up as quick as I could but I was too slow. He took hold of me dragged me up by my hair that was tied into a ponytail.
“You’re going to pay,” Cole seethed as his fist landed on my abdomen once again, causing me to gasp for air violently. The pain was blinding and I could feel myself get lightheaded from it.
On instinct, my feet kicked around violently when he continued to pull on my hair to get me on my feet. It connected with his shin and he cursed loudly, his grip on my hair loosening.
I took the chance to land another hit to his bruised side.
“Screw you,” I spat as I ran towards him and jumped as high as I could, landing on his shoulders and bringing him down with me, my feet wounding up around his neck and I tightened the lock my legs had on me as he gasped for air and started scratching my legs.
I gritted my teeth against the stinging pain that came with Cole raking my legs with his nails it only fueled my determination further as I strengthened my choke on his neck.
The second I felt Cole go limp, I immediately let go and scrambled away.
A man ran into the ring and quickly checked Cole’s pulse. When he nodded to the host, I let go of the breath I was holding.
He’s alive.
It was a risky move to start choking him like that but he gave me no choice.
I was certainly not the Black Widow to his Hulk, that’s for sure.
The host rushed to announce me the winner as Cole was taken away on stretchers. That was when I finally tuned into the crowd. I barely noticed it but it had gone deadly silent when there was a possibility that I might have killed Cole with that finishing move.
When the host finished announcing that I was tonight’s winner, I rushed down the stairs, away from the ring.
I moved away from the ring until the cheering from the crowds was faint enough and I could hear my thoughts.
My senses came rushing back to me as I went to the changing room where I left my duffel bag. I started limping lightly as my leg throbbed from where I kneed Cole on the face and kicked him for what seemed to be 20 times.
My midriff throbbed even worse after the abuse and strain it endured. I could feel tears gathering in the back of my eyes as the pain started to overwhelm me after the effects of the adrenaline wore off.
How the hell was I supposed to survive the finals?
But I had to. For Cole’s family.
It was odd that I almost killed the guy no longer than a few minutes ago and now here I was thinking about how I should win this competition for him.
I must’ve gotten a huge blow on the head in one of my early fights.
I sighed to myself as I bent down to pick up my duffle bag and winced as I straightened back up. I set the bag on the bench and took out my water bottle, drinking all of it in one go.
I started taking out the first aid kit that I brought from my bag. The blood that oozed from my wounds have already dried up but I wanted to make sure that it didn’t get infected.
An infected wound will not help my case right now. My next fight was probably next weekend.
These competitions may be dangerous but they wanted entertainment for the spectators. They weren’t sensible enough to not give their fighters time to heal from their previous beating session.
I wiped my sweat off with the towel I brought and started cleaning up my wounds from the scratches before changing into a shirt, a leather jacket and some jeans. I stored my dirty clothes in a plastic bag and put them back into my duffel bag.
I was still sorting my things out, trying to find the keys to my bike when I heard the door open and quickly turned to face it.
No matter how many times I’ve been here to fight, I didn't think I’d ever be able to feel comfortable or secure with all these dangerous strangers strolling around the place.
However, the person I saw on the door was someone I very familiar with.
“Adam?” I asked in disbelief.