Survivor

Chapter 1

For everyone who became their own hero.

A loud growl left Nikita's throat.

Echoing through the large room, it was thrown back by the metal walls of the warehouse. Any sane person would have instantly turned around at the deadly warning.

The short man who was walking towards Nikita's cage however wasn't impressed in the slightest. Wiping his hands on his shirt, he pulled on his cigarette. A grin spread on his face as he looked at the big cat. Her gold-colored body pressed against the metal rods as she paced up and down in the cage. The whiteness of her eyes shone in the bright light. He could see how fast her chest was rising. How her stomach tensed with a hiss when she looked at him. The jaguars ears laid flat against her skull, deadly canines on display as she bared her teeth. He knew the big cat long enough by now to know that she wasn't threatening him out of fear. She acted like this because she was livid and knew exactly what was about to happen.

Nikita could practically feel the adrenaline flowing through her body. The energy was thrilling, and her muscles trembled with tension. Her senses heightened even more, making her able to sense even the smallest detail if she focused on it. At the moment, however, only one thought filled her mind.

Killing.

Leaning forward the man threw the glowing cigarette butt between the bars. Nikita jumped back before hitting the iron bars with her paws, claws clicking against the metal. A hiss rose in her throat, causing the man to turn around with a spiteful grin. He loved provoking her. Especially when she was already so aggressive. The man walked over to the control panel of the overhead crane and pressed some buttons. With a metallic crunch, the machine which was used to pull up the iron gates of the cages, came to life. It made it possible for the handlers to open the gates without having to go near them, risking injury.

The man latched the crane hook into the gate with a long rod before reaching for the remote control, pressing down on it. Nikita could feel her heart racing, the blood rushing in her ears, as she paced up and down the entrance, her tail whipping behind her, staring at the iron gate as it slowly moved upwards.

Suddenly she stilled. It was as if someone had flipped a switch in her head. An almost eerie calm cursed through her as she waited for the gate to be pulled up. The coldness in her head was as familiar to her as the fire that had burned in her just a few moments ago. The aggressiveness that came first was destructive and murderous, but it took away her focus. The chaos caused by blind hatred was nothing but suicide when you got the wrong opponent. Chaos was haphazard, imprecise. After years of fighting, she had learned to survive through precision. Those who fought and killed precisely needed less energy than someone who attacked blindly. And only those who still had energy left after a fight, healed.

The coldness that wrapped around her mind was like an icy embrace, it erased the destructive heat of anger. She had played this game of fire and ice longer than she could remember. As soon as it was clear that she had to fight burning anger poisoned her mind, devouring every rational thought and leaving only sheer hatred for the people who had damned her to this life. Then, suddenly, everything came to halt and she became what this place had forged her into.

A killer.

Nikitas eyes snapped over to the man as he brock into a coughing fit. Now that her head was clear, she noticed the stench of the disease that slowly ate through his lungs. Satisfaction filled her when she breathed in the disgusting smell of cancer.

Karma is a bitch.

She entered the tunnel that was connected to the cages and anchored in the ground. Before she even set food into the arena, she could sense that her opponent wasn't in there yet. As soon as Nikita stood on the sandy ground, the iron gate crashed to the ground behind, blocking the way back into the tunnel. The arena was built of concrete walls about three meters high and had a diameter of about seven meters. On the inner sides of the walls was a wire mesh, which was put under high current during the fighting. For a jaguar, three meters weren't a serious obstacle, even without a run-up. The electricity prevented them from jumping over the walls. Two cameras were attached to the top edge of the walls on opposite sides. It had taken a while, but after some time Nikita had figured out what they were used for. Two handlers had once talked about it, while refilling the freezer in the warehouse with meat. Through the cameras, the fights were broadcasted live in the Darknet where people could place bets on them. Like dog fights but with jaguars.