The Icarus To Your Certainty

chapter seven

The audience was screaming, waving money in the air and spilling booze from plastic cups with each swing. The jumps and claps made people bump into each other, but everyone seemed so out of it that no one picked a fight over it. Elaine was most definitely not in her element, but she was getting used to it by now.

Entirely unlike her brother, who seemed to be right at home, landing every punch brutally on his opponent. It was apparent why they called him the Mad Dog. He moved like a man possessed on the mat, his blows aggressive and brusque. He drew blood and smiled as he did so. Aaron was precisely where he was supposed to be.

The audience was his commoners, the mat was his throne, and Aaron was the king.

"Are you mad? Are you mad?" Aaron yelled with a wide grin on his face. He had blood running down his mouth, but it was nothing compared to Bertram Aubrey's bloodied state.

"Mad Dog! Mad Dog! Mad Dog!" the crowd chanted.

"Show-off," Elaine rolled her eyes at Teddy. He was the only one who had agreed to stay with her that night. Since she was now officially dating Vega publicly, they needed to show up together and it was only natural that she'd would want to stay close to her new girlfriend, meaning also close to the Pembrokes. So from across the mat Merida glared at her, with Evan and Eloise beside her.

"I told you so," Teddy said over the loud screams of the same students. "Intense," he said, watching Aaron continue to tease his rival.

Where Vega had a certain grace in fighting, Aaron had brutality; it was as if he put all his anger and intensity into every punch he landed. Elaine imagined that Vega could pursue a career in actual legal boxing and championships, but her brother seemed to enjoy and take pleasure in the dirty fighting of underground boxing.

That's what made Vega probably better than Sirius at this; she had precision and technique, and a lot of caution, while Aaron acted totally without rules, which made him better than all the other fighters, except Vega.

Her brother jumped up and down as if he were letting off excess energy, and when Aubrey tried to get closer, he punched him in the chin loudly, making the brown-haired boy stagger on his feet.

The noise immediately took her back to their teenage years. It was a night a week before Aaron had run away from home, and he'd had yet another huge row with their parents. Elaine couldn't even remember the reason-at that time, it was rare for her brother not to be getting shouted at by their parents. Elaine had heard the screaming match from her room, and even when she closed the door, the screams were so loud that it almost didn't matter. But then, suddenly, everything went quiet.

Her parents left for a fancy dinner as if nothing had happened, and Aaron had retreated to his own room. That scared Elaine.

Then she heard the sound of punches and cries. Her mind told her to stay where she was, but her body ran to her brother's room in an instant.

Aaron was punching and kicking his furniture, breaking objects, everything he could see. Elaine had never seen him so angry. He was scared, but his concern overcame his fear, and he grabbed Aaron, hugging him from behind as he listened to the sound of her brother repeatedly punching a painting from when he was a child.

"He's done," Teddy said, pulling Elaine out of her thoughts.

She saw Aaron laugh maniacally as a punch he landed sent Aubrey falling backwards. The crowd mostly erupted in excited screams, with only a few looking angry because they had bet on the fighter now lying on the ground.

Her phone vibrated, and she took it out to check a message from Eloise in the group chat she'd created for their little circle of friends. They were planning an after-party at the flat she and Evan shared.