Chapter 63
I stand on a table in the middle of a dining hall. A huge room with multiple dining tables. My wrists and
ankles are in shackles.
Kanda, Sheril and the other
contestants that won stand
with me also shakled. They took us here directly after the fight. I can tell Kanda is having a hard time standing
since she is hurt but she does
her best.
We are displayed like
trophies for Zao’s
amusement. There are all
manner of people here.
Some look–and act― like
savages, others look like well–established people.
They told us not to speak or we would be punished
but…since when has
punishment stopped me from speaking my mind?
The people here come
around to our table to get a
good look at us.
“Not a scratch on him…” One
of the spectators mutters
looking at one of the men
that stands with us.
A big chunky round fellow steps in front of Kanda with a big smile. His big round rosy ch*eks pucker up. “My Nubian goddess! You made me so much money today!”
The man is excited and in a
very good mood. He holds cup up and nods at Kanda,
and then he drinks.
“I was not expecting a double team. It was quite exciting.”
Two men speak looking at
Sheril and then at me.
“How long do we have to stay
like this?” I whisper to the
girls.
“They will get us back soon, especially because Kanda and one of the guys are hurt. Just hold on a bit longer.”
I am not sure I can hold on, I
am about to explode on
these people. They are disgusting for what they are doing here.
“At least we are not them.”
Sheril says looking at the poor women who were brought to entertain the men in a more s**ual way—also prisoners and among them is
Lia, the girl from our cell.
Two men suddenly stand in
front of me. They look up at
me, studying me.
“What a curious sight.”
“Indeed. The mask makes
her…mysterious. She looks dangerous. I like it.”
“You like it?” I ask.
“Oh yes…” He responds. “I wonder what those eyes look
like.”
“Why don’t you come closer? End your curiosity.” I slowly
lean down. Tempted, the
man gets closer.
“Can you see?” I ask him.
“No. It is just dark.”
“Get closer.”
The moment he does, I
swing my head down and hit
him with the metal mask
right on the nose.
Oh, it hurts me too but not
as much as it does him. He
pulls back with his hand on his bloody nose.
“How mysterious am I now?!”
I shout.
One of the guards swings a
stick that looks like a baton
and hits me on the back. It
hurts but it is not the worst
that I have taken.
I hear Zao laugh along with a
few men near him.
“I told you all not to get too close. They bite.”
“Dumb ass. Sticking his hand in a cage filled with rabid dogs.” The voice is familiar
and quickly brings my blood
to a boil.
Oliver stands in front of me.
He holds a cup up with a stupid smile. “That look is
good on you.”
He is right…I suddenly feel
like a rabid animal.
“So you are back?” I ask with
clenched teeth.
“I am. Couldn’t resist to
watch you fight.”
This man has no idea how
much in danger he is. If I were loose, I’d kill him on the spot. I suppose I can still hurt him though.
Without giving it a second thought, I jump on him. My shackled hands go around
his neck where I hold him in
place and sink my teeth into the first thing I can find. As I do this, he turns his head
and I bite his ear off.
Literally, when I am pulled away by the guards, half of his ear is in my mouth. He screams and holds his side, watching me spit the chunk of meat on the ground.
“I WILL KILL YOU!” I
scream.
Zao claps and laughs.
“You need to cage her!”
Oliver shouts at him and the
people around him that also laugh.
“What did you expect would happen?” Zao asks. “You
spoke of that man sticking
his hand in a cage filled with rabid dogs but you entered the cage that you put her in.” Zao claps again. “Take them
back.”
Unlike the others, I have to be pulled and carried away because all I want to do is get my hands on Oliver.
I don’t calm down until we
are taken to the barrack
rooms to change back into our white rags, and then we
are taken back to our cells.
“This can’t stand. We need to
get out of here!” I start to feel a desperate need to escape. It
has just been a few days but I
feel like Colt and the others
will never find me.
This makes me feel sick to
my stomach.
And how am I going to survive another fight? I was
lucky in this one. If Sheril
hadn’t shown up when she did, I would have been dead.
“We’ve all tried. It is nearly
impossible.”
“There has to be a way.”
“You are just going to make them angry.” Kanda says
resting on a piece of rag on
the floor.
“Let them be angry.” I
mutter.
Sheril leans on the bars of
the cell next to ours. “Mike
Tyson over here doesn’t give
a shit. You can tell that much
and I’m with her.”
Kanda laughs and then I think bout it and laugh too.
“Dude, your kind can heal but you can’t regrow b*dy
parts. He’s going to be
walking around with half an
ear for the rest of his life.”
Sheril says and starts
laughing.
That night, I sleep just a tiny bit better knowing that Oliver is going to remember
me for the rest of his life
every time he looks in a
mirror.
In the morning I am filled
with sadness. I miss Colt. I
miss waking up with him.
We are not mates but I have
a bond with him
nonetheless. I love that man
and I miss him so much.
My thoughts start going to a dark place, wondering if I’ll ever see him again. If I never
do, will he ever know what happened to me? Will he look for me until he gives up hope? Will he miss me?
I quietly cry in the corner hoping no one notices.
The next two days are filled with mostly rest and
sickness. The food here is
horrendous. And rest is all
we can do in these cages. I guess you could say that we are a bit lucky to be in this particular cell because from
where we are, I can see the market so it is just a bit
entertaining. It is always
filled with people, even at
night. Many of the people
also come to see us. It is like
we are animals in a zoo.
I still can’t get used to the food they give us. I am always feeling sick. It tastes disgusting.
“What are they doing?” I ask
Kanda, watching two guards
going around the cells with a
clipboard in hand.
“They are choosing who is
fighting again tonight.”
“Again?! So soon?!”
My stomach turns.
When they get to our cell, one of the guards points to
the girl who sleeps in the corner. All she does is sleep,
eat, and shit. She doesn’t
converse with us and I don’t
even know her name.
“That one has done nothing
for weeks. Put her on the
list.” The guard then looks at Kanda and then at me. “They will fight too.”
“What?!” I shout. “Me too?!”
“Yes!” The guard yells and
walks off.
No…not again…I suddenly
visualized the fight I was in. I
start to feel hot and shaky.
“I…I don’t…I…” I turn around
and run to the latrine where
I empty the contents of my
stomach.
Lia pats my back. “It’s okay. Breath. You did it once, you can do it again.”
“That was luck. If Sheril
hadn’t been thrown in, I
would have been dead.”
Victor’s lessons also saved
my life. I sit against the wall and wonder how they are all
doing. My life suddenly did
a one–eighty and completely changed again after I had gotten used to my father and his pack. Now I’m here.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
I survived all these years. I survived a raging river as a child that killed my mother. I survived a pack that hated me and nearly killed me many times. I survived my father and stood up to him
and his cruelty. I can survive
this too, I must.
I touch the sides of my head.
The bolt wounds have
healed. They don’t hurt anymore. I can’t even feel it and I have gotten used to the
mask and my limited vision.
“Kanda, where are you from anyway?” I ask her, looking for conversation.
“Kenya. I was part of a pack near a city called Nairobi.”
“Pack…what… are you?”
“A werecat. We are very
different you and I…our
kind. All we have in
common is that we can shift
and heal fast. Our packs
consist of only five to ten
people. We are not as strong as your kind–though we are still strong—but we are very fast and agile. Our bodies
can twist in ways that yours can’t.”
I nod. This is all very
interesting.
“How did you end up here?”
“Our pack was attacked by poacher hunters.”
“Poacher?”
She nods.
“Hunters who hunt
supernatural beings for the
sport of it and what they can
gain. I was brought here and
sold. I don’t know what
happened to the rest of my pack.”
“Don’t confuse them with us.”
Sheril says. “Our hunter
society is there to preserve peace between all of us.
When we hunt, it is usually those who have gone crazy on a killing spree. At least that’s what usually happens.”
The guards suddenly stand in front of us again but this
time with Zao.
“This one?” The guard points
at Kanda.
“Yes.” Zao says. He leans in to speak to Kanda. “I will be taking your metal collar off during the fight so that you
can shift. Your kind is rare
but I want to give them a
taste of wonder. I have
powerful people coming to
see the fight tonight. We are putting on a show on this one. If you all play your rolls right, you’ll get to dine with us tonight instead of just being displayed.”
I roll my eyes watching them
leave.
As if that was a reward.
We all decide to rest. I sit
leaning on the wall from the latrine watching people
come and go, waiting for tonight.
A while later, we are taken to the cages in the middle of the market just like before.
There are so many more prisoners than before. So many of us are fighting.
I am scared, I really am. I don’t want to fight someone who knows how to fight because they will probably
kill me and I also don’t want
to fight someone who
doesn’t because I don’t want
to kill them. What if is
someone like Musa? Her
screams still haunt me. I am
sure she did nothing to
defend herself. She most
likely didn’t know what to
do.
I almost gasp myself out of existence when I see a
familiar face in the crowd of
the market.
“What the hell? What is it?”
Kanda asks startled.
“I know her!” I squeeze my ch*eks through the cell bars.
The mask won’t let me go
any further but these bars
are not silver so they don’t
hurt me.
“Honora!” I scream.
The closest guard hits the bars with his baton causing
me to jump back. I lean back
to the bars and notice
Honora–the witch who
helped me with my dreams with Ezra–looking in my
direction. She heard me. She
looks at me with curiosity
but I don’t think she can
recognize me with this mask.
I wave at her but then she is
gone. A group of people gets
in the way.
“No…”
I desperately look for her but I can’t see her anywhere.
“No…” I move around trying to look through the crowd. “No, please…where are you?”
I hit the bars knowing that I lost my chance.
“Who…was it?” Kanda asks.
I turn and slide down the
bars, feeling defeated.
“Someone I know…” I
whisper.
“You know me?” Someone
suddenly whispers from
behind me.
I turn to see her.
“Honora!”
