Dusk & Dawn

10- shadows of the arena

By the time Naomi drew the curtains, I was back to my senses. I knew not to speak about the splitting headache ruining me from inside because I knew that I brought it upon myself.

I glanced at the clock realizing that I had slept all through the morning, missed my first class and about to miss the second one. Harper was still sprawled on the floor, covered by a blanket which she had yanked almost off her body.

Once Naomi walked into my view, I closed my eyes immediately to avoid the questions that would follow my confession from last night.

"Don't do that, I saw you." She sighed as she sat on the chair across me, pressing on the remote to put on a movie. I faked a yawn and then stood up slowly. When I saw that she wasn't looking at me, I stood up from the couch, stretching my bones which hurt before I made my way for the kitchen.

Once I used the Advil in the cabinet, I headed back to my room limping my way across, Naomi still not mentioning anything. I was confused at that, was she intentional? Yeah, I didn't want to have to answer her questions but it still felt so out of place that she didn't bother to ask. I wondered if she was frustrated to that extent.

Anyways, I stepped into the hot bath recoiling at the way my muscles reacted to that temperature. I hated it, but I had to live with it. Once I got ready for my class and shift at once, I headed out of my room.

I found Harper sitting on the couch, now fully awake, although about to die from a bad headache, with her head dug in both hands.

"Hi Raine?" She asked snapping me out of my thoughts about yesterday night. I only studied her for a few more minutes before returning her greetings.

"What? Did I do something really bad yesterday?" She asked, tensing up as she checked under the blanket to see if she still had her clothes on. I exchanged glances with Naomi and then turned back to Harper.

"You don't remember anything from last night?" I asked her again.

"No. I am blacked out right now, I'm not sure of my middle name," she answered me and I only nodded.

"I'm off to class, see you later." I waved at them before heading out of the apartment.

Harper didn't remember and I was very thankful that she didn't.

Even as my shift ended, I couldn't find Ezra anywhere. Once the door pulls open, I'm disappointed every time a different person walks in through that door.

When the clock finally ticked, I clocked out of my shift and changed into my casual clothing. I checked my phone again hoping to find a text or anything from him but there was nothing like that on my screen.

As I drove towards my apartment, I had a change of mind. I wanted to see Ezra, I couldn't understand the feeling that gnawed in my chest. So I parked my car at Wings Haven and walked towards the underground bash.

I stood in front of the building for another minute, staring at the design logo of the bar parlor that housed the fighting ring as its basement. I walked to the entrance and found a different bouncer from the other day.

"ID?" He asked me and I struggled to get my phone out of my pocket. The other guy from that day comes out in time and allows me into the building. I passed through the corridor as I remembered Harper doing that day before I followed the noise to where the ring was.

I shifted myself through the crowd of angry and enthusiastic people, jumping and cheering for who was about to beat their opponent. I found my way to the front and found Ezra in the ring. I looked at his opponent and found the guy from the party yesterday.

He looked bigger than Ezra and Ezra already had more cuts than his opponent. The referee announced what seemed like a little break as Ezra headed to his coach. He nodded at everything the coach explained even though I could only watch their mouths move.

The referee blew the whistle and Ezra headed back to the center of the ring. I flinched the moment we locked gazes and my eyes widened on reflex. He looked surprised to see me. He kept on staring at me as he nodded to the referee that he was ready.

I could tell that he was unsettled by the way that he stole glances at me while trying to remain undefeated in his game.

"And Triple A lands a fast punch to Thunderbolt getting him by surprise. It's got me wondering if thunder has his luck on today, he looks out of the game already."

"Look out!" I yelled for him to look away from me and focus on his fight.

I took my eyes away watching Ezra's face collide with his opponent's fist. He went down immediately and lost to his opponent this time.

"Triple A gets crowned winner of the tournament beating a once glorious Thunderbolt. I wonder where all of his charm went."

As they helped Ezra up to the backstage, I wandered through the crowd trying to follow them into wherever they went. As soon as I found them, Ezra turned to me from the mirror immediately, the corner of his lips dripping blood as it got busted.

"You aren't supposed to be here," he turned back to the mirror, his voice strained from the whole stress.

"Why did you let him hit you?" I asked him, leaning on the wall as I crossed my arms.

"How'd you find this place?" He asked me again, whimpering at the contact of methylated spirit with his injury.

"That's not important right now, you could have easily beat that guy,"

"You heard the commentators, I lost my charm."

"Ezra, not the jokes," I asked of him as I headed to him, holding out my hand to collect the gauze from him.

"That must have hurt to watch," he smiled as he looked at me. His hot breath tingled on my skin as I leaned it to plaster the gauze on the bridge of his nose.

"This isn't funny."

Nov 14th