Alek

Chapter 31: Mae Kazimi

Chapter 31: Mae Kazimi

Broken promises are like cracks and lies are sharp stings of a wound.

And I've given many of both to my family this past month since the ordeal began with the Russo family and everything began to spiral out of control.

I like to think that it was all in my control, but it wasn't. None of it was.

"Haven't seen your face around here in a while," says a grumpy voice from behind me. I turn around to meet one of Hale's fighters strapping gloves onto his hands with a grunt.

I take in the change room and the men in it as they prepare for their upcoming fight. Some already hold bruises on their sweaty arms and torsos, but they are weeks old and will do nothing to withhold them from this fight.

I give the fighter a shrug and make for the door. The man I was looking for is nowhere to be seen.

"I was busy," I say.

The change room has hardly changed since I last came. It's still the same old weird greyish blue, the paint peeling from long seats along the walls and the hooks still hardly fit into their holes, bits of concrete crumbs below on the seats. The wooden racks above might be whole, but they are deteriorating and I'm pretty sure mold covers the top.

I walk slowly out of the change rooms and down the dark halls of Hale's underground arena. My promise to show up to Kai's many fighting matches have been broken and this is the only way I can make up for it.

I join the large rearing crowd that surrounds the fighting ring in the center. The ring is quite large, a metal fence surrounding it up and forming almost a box much below the ceiling. It's high enough it doesn't touch the fighters heads, but low enough that they can reach for it if they jumped high enough.

I've discarded my Shadow gear (except for my pants) long before anyone could've seen me, slipping quietly into Avery's old room and stealing her black thin strapped shirt that I've tucked into my black pants. My black hair tickles my bare shoulders as I watch the fighters line up in their respective areas, the black walls of the fighting arena blinking with life as the lights go on.

"Cobra versus Dragon!" Hale yells into the microphone, standing amongst the crowd. The people's bobbing head hides my face and the stomping of their feet sounds like the rapid beat of my drum.

As Cobra enters the fighting arena, his fans jump in to support him. He wears a green mask that covers his top face, green like the skin of a snake. But my eyes are not on him. Instead, I watch in anticipation as Kai, Dragon, walks into the ring, and the shouts get loud and the stomping turns into thunder. He wears a fire mask like the one of a dragon, each scale strong as metal and bright like the sun and it covers the top of his face like Cobra's.

"Dragon! Dragon! Dragon!"

I join the chant, the sound rumbling in my chest.

"Dragon! Dragon! Dragon!"

I move closer to the ring to get a better look as Hale blows the whistle and Kai's fight begins. The bets have already been set and everyone holds money in their hands in anticipation and excitement to see whether their chosen fighter has won.

The fight starts with Cobra taking offence, attacking Kai head-on and shoving him into the metal bars that surround the arena. Kai raises his arms to protect his face against Cobra's right fist. Cobra brings up his left fist instead, but Kai uses his right hand to block and land a punch onto his face, sending him backwards.

The crowd jeers and I push forward to get a closer look.

The two fighters circle each other, connecting in the middle and exchanging deliberate and hard blows that leave both breathless and angry. Kai seems out of focus and Cobra seems as if anger is eating him inside out.