November 14th 2014. Italy.| Jacquelyn.
The sound of bells rang through the cold, silent night as I walked through the doors of the small, deserted bookstore.
Normal individuals would be scanning the shelves for a good read, except I couldn't do that anymore. During the last four years, I hadn't gotten the chance to curl up in a cozy blanket with a good book while sipping on a warm cup of coffee. During those last 48 months I hadn't smiled once, unless it was to laugh at my own fate. During those last 1440 days, I remained at the disposition of a monster, helplessly acting as its puppet. During those last 34,560 hours I wondered if he remembered me. During those last 2, 073, 600 minutes I wondered that if ever he remembered me, whether it was only because of how much he despised me. And during those last 124, 416, 000 seconds, I hated myself for everything I had done and everything I was doing. Today was another one of the days where I helplessly followed orders, knowing that the purpose I was contributing to was evil... the evil my mother had tried to shield me from, knowing that they were against the principles my mother had taught me, knowing that they were against what I believed in or what I once believed in, knowing that it was wrong... but I had no choice.
To the far- off corner of the store, stood a lone man with his back facing me as he scanned through the shelves. Meanwhile, Diego the owner of the bookshop (or should I say the bookshop that masked several illegal transactions including the one I was currently fulfilling) was seated behind the counter reading the newspaper. As per usual, I had no clue what the money I was meant to collect came from, all I was told was where to collect the money and how much money was meant to be collected. Yet I could tell it was another amount that was probably extracted from the misery of others, for this is how the corrupt world I was trapped in worked.
I headed in the direction of the counter and faked a smile at Diego, uttering the usual code, "Hello, do you have any new book recommendations?".
He sleepily looked up and immediately sobered up upon recognizing me, "Yes- Yes. We have a couple of new arrivals this week. You should definitely check out Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K Rowling. It's on the second level of the fourth bookshelf, it's the very first one."
"Thanks!", I said cheerfully, keeping up the facade considering we weren't alone and walked towards the shelf in question.
Just as I pulled out the 'novel', it was swiftly taken. I looked up to see the unknown man who had been going through the bookshelves earlier and soon realized that he was not so unknown. He analyzed the 'book' before looking at me and I recognized his stormy grey eyes in a heartbeat.
April 6th 2010. USA| Zachary.
I wrapped the soft hand wrap around my knuckles, securing its ends, as I prepared for the next round.
Twisting my body towards one of the punching bags in the warehouse's locker rooms/warm up areas, I started throwing punches at it, imagining his face. After all, it was the loath I felt for him that fueled my will to continue participating in these fights, until I manage to maintain the streak, top the hierarchy and earn a meeting with him, only he wouldn't know who I am. In my mind, pictures of his wretched face flashed in front of me, while pure rage and disgust flooded in my veins. Perhaps those emotions weren't only directed to him... perhaps I hatedmyself for letting it happen. That night was still engraved in my mind, each day reminding me of my duty. My oath.
My breathing became heavy, as I focused on the punching bag and felt a drops of sweat slithering across my face, while I furiously continued the punching. Part of me wished he was here, so I could make him suffer. However, I also knew that I wasn't ready. Not yet.
I continued blindly throwing my fists at the item continuously, while my knuckles stung , but I didn't care, because it was nothing compared to the dread that had paralyzed my whole body that night, while I hid in the cupboard, watching the scene unveil in front of me, without moving a finger or peeping a sound. It was nothing compared to her suffering. Nothing compared to the shame that filled me each time I thought about how I had stayed immobile.
A wave of melancholy crashed on me as his heinous face flashed in my mind.
Suddenly, my punches were interrupted when a certain person, stopped the punching bag in the middle of the air, snapping me back into reality.
"Dude, go easy on the poor punching bag", Tyler joked, making me clench my jaw while I sent him a glare.
"Chill, Zac. And you're wasting your energy. You're going against newbie tonight, remember?!", he said seriously, making me roll my eyes.
The 'newbie', I had heard so much about was named Jack.He was "some skinny average height dude ". The exact words of Tyler Adams, my best friend. According to what Tyler had told me, he didn't sound very intimidating, but apparently he had defeated several fighters because he knew how to control his strength and actually used the brain he was born with, unlike the bulky idiots I had faced.
Tyler had shown me a picture of the guy. As the image depicted, he wore clothing that were several sizes too large, hiding his tiny figure and his face was entirely hidden with a jet black scarf, except for his eyes. Although the guy wore baggy clothing, anyone could tell the guy needed some exercise if he wanted to be in this business.
While wearing baggy clothing was weird as many fighters preferred exposing their physical strength to intimidate their foes, him covering his face with a scarf was not a step from the definition of 'weird', it was a leap.
"Ty, do you seriously think that some rookie, who had some beginner's luck, will defeat me?", I asked with a smirk.
"Yes, you conceited ass. He even defeated Minotaur.", he retorted.
At his words, my smirk faltered. 'Minotaur' was the underground fighting name of Mino. He had been named like so in the business, after the Greek mythological creature, because of his built form and the wild rage that glimmered in his eyes... They said he was just like the 'half-human half-bull' creature.
You know how in sports they call those exceptional players MVP s, that is Most Valuable Players. Here we have MVFs, Most Valuable Fighters. And being one of the best fighters of the warehouse, Mino was one of them.
Over years, Mino had built his prestigious streak... Never had he been defeated- until now. All battles against him were over in less than 30 seconds, because the guy made it look like all his rivals were annoying flies destined to be swatted away. But it looks like his streak is broken and whoever defeated him must be some kind of giant which -judging by descriptions given, the newbie wasn't.
"Y-You're kidding right? But you sai-", I began protesting, but was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a bullhorn, announcing that the battle was about to begin.
"Good luck. You're gonna need it!", Tyler called out with a cheeky grin, while I walked towards the entrance to the ring.
I hate my life.
Once I came in the vision of the crowd, the crowd roared, screaming out one word, "Steele".
Since my surname was Steele, I had chosen it as my fighter name. I liked it. At the same time, it was one of the only things I had left from her.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. To my right... please welcome, Steele!", exclaimed the host, while announcing my arrival.
As I stepped in the ring, deafening cheers filled the air. But I was impatient, to know who this famous newbie was.
"And to my left... our new member, who has beaten the unbeatable... Jack!", the host announced, as a roar erupted from the audience.
Then, from the other side of the ring, a guy walked-in. Looking exactly as Tyler had described, it was hard to believe that he had been the one who had defeated Minotaur. His face was hidden by his signature black scarf, covering all facial features except for his icy blue eyes.
Did I just describe a guy's eyes?! What the-?!
I shook my head in the aim of discarding those weird eye descriptions I was creating.
"May the best fighter win", said the announcer walking out of the ring.
Another bullhorn was blown, and the fight began.
I waited for the guy to attack but he didn't, he was waiting for me to attack, so that he can dodge my attack and hit me- hang on, that is my technique. Turns out, little newbie actually has a brain.
Looks like this fight will take more than just a minute to get over with.
Since it seemed like Jack wasn't going to attack until I do, I decided to attack first. Just a fraction of a second before my fist would collide with the guy's face, he threw a punch at in my rib cage, making me inhale sharply in pain.
I sure hadn't expected the guy who looked like a 'dude who hasn't reached puberty yet' to actually be able to punch like that.
Looks like someone should take the quote 'don't judge a book by its cover' seriously.
Shut up.
Wincing, I retrieved my hand to clutch my ribs in pain. When I opened my eyes, a piece of black cloth hung off my little finger. I had probably pulled Jack's scarf off when retrieving my hand. Inhaling sharply, I tried to ignore the burning sensation spreading from my rib cage to the rest of my torso. Then, I looked up to face him-or maybe her... because I saw a her- I mean a girl. The whole area was quiet, but nearly immediately erupted in series of gasps and whisper-yells.
Once I saw her, one word rang through my mind, beautiful. Her brown hair was pulled away from her face and hidden under her hoodie but a couple of wavy strands had escaped, which contrasted with her piercing blue eyes that were currently icily glaring at me.
Well at least you know that its not weird that you were describing her eyes earlier because its your manly instincts.
My what?! You know what never mind, I don't want to know. Just shut up.
"I-uh. Hi," she said, looking like a deer caught in headlights.
"What the hell?! You're a-a girl?", I spluttered.
"No shit, Sherlock. Yes, so?!", she tried to sound confident, but she knew the answer.
"Do you really want me to answer that? And are you here to replace your brother or something?! The Jack guy?", I asked concluding that it was obviously impossible for her to have defeated Mino.
"That's me."
"Yup and I'm the Queen of Eng-", before I got the chance to finish my sentence, she punched me square in the face, making me double over and hold my bleeding nose.
Hissing a long trail of swear words, I whipped back up: "What the hell was that-", this time Jack punched me in the same spot as earlier in my rib, before her fist collided into my face once again, making a crack sound resonate in my ear.
I swear, if she broke my nose...
What will you do, huh? You won't even lay a finger on her.
I muttered a colorful trail of words under my breath, and at that moment, she punched me on the ribs.
Yup, you guessed right. Same spot as earlier.
I can't hit her. She's a girl.
Dude, you were about to hit her before she punched your rib cage.
Yeah, but that's because I didn't know she was a girl.
That sounds sexist.
But it's against my principles.
Still sounds sexist.
Shut up, brain.
While I was mentally talking to myself, Jack took the advantage to send another punch, before swiftly sliding her foot behind mine, making me buckle backwards.
I was lying on the floor, rolling in pain, when Jack decided to kick me in the ribs. AND-drum roll please- yup, lucky guess. Again. Same spot. An unbearable pain shot through my whole body, and soon I was rolling on the ground, groaning in pain.
The bullhorn blew, signaling the end of fight since I hadn't gotten back on my feet.
A roar of applause and cheers rang across the room and before I passed out I heard one thing:
"It was an honor meeting you, Queen of England."
Great. Just great.
November 14th 2014. Italy.| Zachary.
As I stared into the same icy blue eyes that I had once described as blue topaz gems, that I had once loved, I smirked and said:
"Aren't you going to salute the Queen of England, Jackie?".
Comments (0)
See all