Lost

Chapter 9 - Taut

Ace and Caleb, once again, sat together at the back of a dark room, surveying some people. Mostly, the people around the room were sparing with each other on the mats, talking in hushed whispers with wondering eyes, or walking in and out quickly as if they were on some sort of mission. It was quite a busy place and one many people of many different backgrounds and purposes would walk through all in one second. 

Although, it was busy, no one really wanted to be there — at least not in the way it counts. You may want to kill someone for revenge, but you don't really want to take a human life. You may want to break something out of rage, but it's really not the object that is wanting to be broken, rather something a lot deeper than your brain can't even process. There are many different levels and ranges of wants in need in this world — it's up to you to decide which one you're going to listen to and how much you really want it or are willing to go to get it. 

The two kids knew most of the people walking around the area as they've been adept to this sort of thing for a couple years now. Most people are young — probably between 15 and 28 — but that's as this is the juvenile sector. It requires very little clearance and no reason for needing to be there. Compared to some of other places Ace and Caleb King need to go, this is fairly safe. 

From their knowledge, if you are in the illegal world, you more or less phase out by the time you're 38 (and that's a stretch). Luckily for Ace and Caleb they were right in the range of everything. Perfect age, perfect size/build, perfect home life to not have parents breathing down your neck, etc. That is why things that are just below the law seem to fit the two friends like a glove.

When Ace and Caleb started doing illegal things (aged 11 to 12, about) they just did random odd jobs — for people or for themselves. That ranged from eavesdropping, stealing, pickpocketing, and more. They had no clue how to get to the top of the food chain or if they even wanted to get to the top. The only thing they were focused on was not dying or getting seriously injured and making sure their pay check came in well. But that quickly changed in just a couple of years.

May 17, 2010  is the day everything changed.

That was one of the only days that everything had gone wrong in a job for Ace and Caleb. They were simply supposed to eavesdrop and collect information and steal one little hardrive with downloaded materials from a computer. But everything that had the possibility of going wrong did go wrong. Guns were drawn and they didn't know what to do. It was Ace who found the courage to step up and do what needed to be done. He had gotten in a couple of school fights before, but nothing bigger than that and he sure as hell wasn't trained. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or his body choosing fight over flight. No one knew. But Ace managed to get himself and his friend out of there safely with the harddrive and all the information they could ever need.

From that day, Mick told Ace that he should fight in the underground fighting rinks. He did. Caleb soon followed after. Then Caleb started racing, Ace soon followed after.

Going down a bad path is like slipping down a waterfall. You get thrown in faster than you could ever imagine and held under the water until you have no choice but to swim. It's a downward spiral — one no one can ever get out of.

Ace and Caleb spent their short time waiting for Mick in silence. Caleb was messing around on his phone, texting a girl is what Ace figured, and Ace was surveying the room — Ace was always alert, always tense and ready for any situation that may come to him. He was never bored as there was always stress that occupied his mind and things to think of and plan. So having silence or being by himself with his thoughts never really affected Ace all that much. 

"Ace, Caleb!" A deep voice boomed as a short man with dark hair came striding over to where the two friends sat. "Glad you could make it — follow me." Mick ordered, and they obeyed.