The Parasite

Chapter 15: A Hope in Hell

That evening Henry and Jack found themselves walking down the street discussing what they would do next. "So who exactly is this person that's going to help us?" Henry asked, wondering why Jack was being so cagy with his details. "She's the owner of an underground fight club, and if we're lucky she might just help us." Jack said as he limped down the street on his makeshift crutch. "How is a fight club owner supposed to help us?" Henry asked.

Coming up to a street corner Jack hastened his pace. "I'm not sure how she does it or how it even works, but the way she explains it is that she's got some sort of clairvoyance." After crossing the street Jack resumed explaining. "If she agrees to help us, she might be able to find us a way into the mansion." Henry adjusted his cap and wearily said. "I really don't like that 'if' you just used, Jack."

"You're not the only one having to pull favors here, and besides this woman doesn't do anything for free." As Jack spoke a carriage pulled over next to him and Henry and opened its side door, and as Henry stood perplexed both him and Jack were unceremoniously knocked out, with Henry receiving a dart to the neck and Jack simply being bashed over the head with a blackjack before the both of them were dragged into the carriage.

Waking up, Henry found himself tied down to an ornate wooden chair in a dimly lit dining room. Next to him was Jack whose hands were free to move about, having flopped off the arms of the chair to dangle by its sides. Henry struggled in his chair as Jack slowly woke up, and rubbed the back of his head. "Jack, help me out here." Henry whispered while fruitlessly trying to free his arms. Jack sat back in his chair and stretched his arms out, draping them over the back of it. "Eh, calm down, you'll be fine."

"How am I supposed to be calm here!?" Henry snapped as he continued to violently struggle in his chair. Underneath the sounds of Henry struggling, Jack heard footsteps approaching the dining room. Tapping Henry's shoulder to get his attention, Jack pointed to the dining room entrance once he settled down, and as Henry heard the footsteps a well dressed blond woman entered the room "Galina, how's it going? It's been ages." Jack said, waving to the woman. In response she reached into the fur coat she wore and flung out a knife which lodged itself into the table in front of Jack. "Теперь ты действительно облажалась, дорогая." She said, hanging up her coat and taking a seat across from the two boys.

As she sat down, Galina drew a small metal case from her pocket and placed it down on the table alongside a small key. "Under normal circumstances I'd be overjoyed to see you here, but these aren't normal circumstances, are they?" As Jack fiddled with the knife Galina threw, Henry continued to struggle in his chair before shouting. "Why am I the only one tied down here!?" Galina looked at Henry squirming and spoke sternly. "Because you are the only one here who cannot be trusted, Henry." Galina refocused on both Henry and Jack. "It is against my better judgment that I have brought the two of you here. So if you want something from me, you will have to provide me with something in return."

Henry finally calmed down, his chair now resting with all four feet on the floor. "Alright fine, name your price." he said, leaning forward. Galina snapped her fingers and right on que a burly man wearing a black suit rounded the corner and untied Henry from his chair. "As I am aware of the fact that you have no money to pay me, instead I'll have you participate in a fight to prove your grit." Galina said as Henry rubbed his sore wrists. Galina gestured to the man standing behind Henry. "My man here will take you down to the pit, and in the meantime, me and Jack have some catching up to do."

As Galina finished speaking, the man behind Henry grabbed his shoulder, forcing him out of the room. Moving through the well decorated interior, Henry and the man came up to a blank patch of wall which the man slid to one side, revealing a metal lift hidden within the wall. Marching into the lift with Henry in tow, the man wasted no time in closing the wall behind him and pressing the bottom button on the board next to the lift's entrance. After the lift began moving down the man finally released his grip on Henry's shoulder which now ached as if it had been put in a vice.

Regaining his composure, Henry asked. "So, what's the deal with this fight I'm about to go into?" The man continued to look forward as he spoke. "Just win, aside from that there are no rules, so just win if you want to get what you came here for." Henry thought for a moment, but before he could finish the lift had arrived at its destination at which point he was shoved out by the man who closed the lift doors and rode it back up without another word.

Looking around the room he'd been dumped into, Henry noticed a large timer with the words NEXT FIGHT IN 1:17, under the sign a large metal door stood shut with yellow light streaming through the cracks with the chatter of the crowd just outside barely audible through the heavy metal doors.

Turning back to the room, Henry noticed various pieces of equipment strewn about, and using a set of bandages he found, Henry wrapped his hands, unbuttoned his jacket and turned back to face the timer as it ticked down.

As the timer ticked down to zero an alarm blared as the steel doors swung open to greet Henry with the crowd that had gathered around the pit. Marching into the pit, Henry looked to his right, seeing Jack and Galina in a balcony seat high above the other spectators. As Henry came to a stop Galina lifted a microphone to her mouth and enthusiastically announced. "And next, our challenger, coming from the countryside of the deep south, the hulking behemoth of Alabama, BUCK!" As Galina said this the door opposite Henry's opened and out emerged a giant man who easily towered over Henry even at a distance. And as the giant stepped in and the crowd cheered, any hope of a simple fight ran away through the closing doors behind Buck.