Young Writers Society

Blade POV
Caitlin dropped Max and me off a block away from Dave’s place, and then we walked the rest of the way. He had a tiny, crummy apartment where he entertained his fighters—his better places were for his guests. I saw Dave as soon as we turned onto his street: he was standing on the sidewalk, towering at least half a foot over most everyone else.
Dave was a big, burly man, and he looked intimidating. People walked carefully around him, as they should—I’d once seen Dave in a rage, and it had been one of the scariest moments of my life. “Blade.” He greeted me quietly with a firm handshake. I let go of his hand as soon as possible, just wanting to get to the hotel where Max and I were staying.
Dave turned to Max, a false warm smile spreading across his face. I nearly laughed, knowing that Max would never fall for that. Her gaze was cold as he introduced himself as ‘Brian’. “You must be Max. May I say that you’re far more beautiful than I’d expected? Blade never did describe you too me, though. I’m Brian.” My eyes narrowed at Dave, daring him to make another comment about Max’s looks.
I should have known Max would take care of it herself, though. She raised an eyebrow at him and coolly ignored the hand he extended until he pulled it back. “I understand you’ve booked a hotel room for Blade and me? Can you take us there, or give us directions?” She asked, icicles dripping from her words. I had to bite back a smile at Dave’s surprised expression—normally no one dared stand up to him.
“Of course. Blade, I printed out the directions for you. Just say my name and they’ll let you in. They know me.” I’m sure they do. I thought bitterly, but I didn’t say anything, just nodded and turned, walking the way his directions indicated.
“Nice friend.” Max commented, heavily sarcastic.
I grimaced, forcing myself to lie to her. “Yeah, sorry about that. He likes to flirt, but he’s a good guy.” For a moment I contemplated telling her the truth about why I was here, but that would only get a bad reaction, so I kept silent.
The ‘hotel’ was actually a cheap motel. As Dave had promised, the drop of his name got us into a small room with two beds. I dropped my bag down on one bed and Max claimed the other one. “Do you know somewhere we can get good, cheap food around here?” Max asked casually, scanning the room without a trace of disgust, even when she spotted a huge cockroach and a spider spinning it’s web in the corner.
Even though I knew she wouldn’t care, I was still surprised. I reminded myself of the orphanages Max had described to me, the conditions of the last one. Of course she didn’t care about a few bugs. “Let’s just go by the 7-11 down the street and get something.” I suggested as my stomach rumbled.
We walked slowly to the 7-11 and back, just talking. Being around Max always had a calming affect on me, so I didn’t feel the normal nerves I felt before a fight. Just wait a couple hours. I told myself, grimacing slightly. I was to meet Dave at the place at ten, something I was not looking forward too.
Time passed quickly. To my surprise Max was tired and went to bed early, around nine thirty. I felt a twinge of guilt as I looked at her, peacefully sleeping with her hair splayed out on her pillow, but I quickly pushed it back. She’d never even know—hopefully.
As I walked to the place Dave had told me about, though, the same nagging fears tugged at me. What if something goes wrong and I get badly hurt? What if I get killed? What if I’m knocked out and Max wakes up? How would Angel or Zach take the news of my severe injury or possible death?
I got to the warehouse ten minutes before Dave was due to show up, so I started my stretches, looking around. The warehouse was big and completely empty—I’d been here before, in another fight. Soon enough I knew that the other fighter would come, and so would the people paying him. Word would have spread through Dave’s channel that there was a fight going on, and people would come to see me because they knew my name.
I was Blade, the teenage fighter who consistently won. Dave would collect money from people who would come to see, and soon the warehouse would be filled with people all pressed together and shouting, making bets and shouting out their fighter’s name. I’d walk in through one door, the other fighter through another, and people would reach out their hands to touch my bare chest or my arms or face. The drunker ones would ask for an autograph to show off to their buddies.
Because the warehouse was out of the way, no one who wasn’t supposed to come would come. There would be a fight, or a couple fights, in the burning heat of all the bodies. Afterwards I’d retire, Dave would pay me, and I’d go back to Max. It was simple…supposedly.
“Blade!” I turned quickly to see Dave stride into the warehouse. With him were three men who were obviously his guests, and behind them were three other people—I could tell that these were the fighters. All of them were male, all of them were adults in their twenties or thirties. They nodded to me and went off to their corner to stretch while I talked to Dave.
“This is wonderful. It’s been a while since you fought, so a lot of people are coming tonight. Where’s your beautiful Max?” He asked, knowing he was pushing my buttons. I swallowed an angry response.
“That’s good. She’s not coming.” I told him curtly instead. I didn’t bother telling him that Max wasn’t mine or anyone else’s.
“Ah.” Dave nodded, smirking a little. “Well, come outside. The people are starting to come.” I left the warehouse with him and we stood at the back. Dave was right about the amount of people—there were almost a hundred who showed up. Nerves roiled in my stomach suddenly, but I repressed them. I was going to be fine. It was just an entertainment fight, that was all.
All too soon, it was time for me to go in. I took a breath before walking through the warehouse door, bracing myself for the heat and the hands all over me. I took a careful step forward—and the effect was instantaneous.
“Blade! Blade!” A huge wave of people were calling my name. Most people’s fingers brushed at my chest, arms or head, just trying to touch the fighter himself, but there were people who swatted hard or raked across my back with their nails, trying to hurt me. I ignored all the people asking for me to sign their bodies or their papers, walking forward without looking into the crowd. The heat here was overwhelming, with over a hundred bodies pressing together in excitement. Already sweat was forming on my forehead.
When I walked into the center, the first fighter was waiting for me. Because this was entertainment, there had to be a dramatic show. He did his part, glaring hard at me and making threatening gestures. I could tell that for now, at least, this was just as act to him. I did the same, making my gaze ice cold and getting into a fighting position.
“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have three fights for you—if Blade can keep up.” A roar went up in the audience, making Dave smile. “I know you’ve all missed the famous teenage fighter, but he’s back tonight to entertain you. Enjoy the fight!” Those words were our cue to start fighting.
The man and I circled each other for a moment, building up the dramatic tension. Then he came at me—and he was fast. I just barely moved out of the way in time, but I managed to send a hard kick into his stomach. And from there, it wasn’t the clean, dance like fighting that was seen in movies. It was no holds barred, down in the dirt fighting. We kept it simple, letting each other get up so that we could each execute a few moves to excite the crowd.
Then, things got more intense. It was two minutes into the fight and the crowd wanted a victory. My opponent and I nodded to each other, and then we really went at it, trying to get the other one down. My head felt like it’d been slammed into a wall when the man’s fist connected with it, so I pretended to falter, regaining my balance at the same time.
When the man went in for the win I moved quickly, going under and up. My punch caught him in the chin and my follow up kick right in the neck. When the man fell to his knees and gagged, the crowd went wild, screaming my name. I did what they wanted, putting my hands up and letting out an animal roar of victory as my opponent slunk away. My head hurt like hell, but one out of the three fights was over. I could do this.
I sensed a difference in the second fighter instantly, and so did the crowd. This man was serious about the fight—and from the look he gave me, he’d been paid a lot of money to make sure I lost. Shit. I really didn’t need this right now. The crowd was quieter, intently watching us as Dave gave the order to fight from somewhere in the crowd.
The man jumped at me, feinting to my stomach and then delivering a hard blow to my head. I felt my nose give as blood burst out all over my face. I staggered back but didn’t fall, knowing better than that. The crowd was going wild, shouting both for me and for the opponent now. Before I was recovered, the man came at me again. This time, though, I was ready. My kick met his chest as he launched himself at me.
I spat out some blood and then moved fast, going for a hard punch to this guy’s throat. This fight was getting out of control quickly, and I needed to stop it. Already I was going to have to explain my broken face, and I wasn’t looking forward to that. As the man reeled back from my punch, I heard a horribly familiar voice. “Blade, watch out!” Max yelled from somewhere in the crowd. Shit, shit, shit!
I spun around to see what she was warning me about: the third man had come into the ring, and he was carrying a knife. He lunged at me at the same time that Max jumped in front of me, her arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me to the ground. From there, all hell broke loose.

~~~

Max POV
I entered the warehouse with the rest of the crowd. I’d managed to escape paying by moving into the middle of the throng and looking like I was part of a bunch of older kids group. Inside, the warehouse was hot and crowded, stuffed with overexcited people. I shoved, elbowed, and pushed my way to the center of the room just as the door opened. A shout went up: “Blade! Blade!” and I craned my neck.
Blade was wearing a pair of basketball shorts over his boxers, but he was shirtless. His face was blank as he walked down a human aisle, but I felt myself getting sick. People were stroking his hair and his chest, moving their hands up and down his arms, screaming for autographs…even from here I could tell that Blade hated every second of it.
Fury made my blood boil when I saw a couple people hitting him on the arms and back or scratching him—trying to hurt him. I wanted nothing more than to go over and beat the daylights out of those people, but I made myself stay still watching as Blade passed me without looking to the side once.
“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have three fights for you—if Blade can keep up.” The man who’d introduced himself to me earlier as Brian announced. Dave. “I know you’ve all missed the famous teenage fighter, but he’s back tonight to entertain you. Enjoy the fight!” Nausea rose in me as the crowd screamed and swayed. How could people be so sadistic? Suddenly, Blade and the man he was fighting were fighting hard.
I tried to pay attention, but the nausea was making it hard to concentrate. I snapped back to attention when Blade literally roared with triumph, holding his hands up in the air. His body was shiny with sweat, but his gaze was fierce, scary. Who was this person? For a moment the Blade I knew—the one who was quiet and intense yet loving and deep at the same time—was gone, and in his place was this person who thrived off of fighting.
But then his mask slipped for a spilt second as the second fighter came up, and I saw that this was all an act, that Blade wasn’t really this person. The crowd seemed to quiet and tense, looking intently at Blade and the second man, and suddenly I caught the tense atmosphere—this fight was a real one, not just for show. I looked from the second fighter’s strong, angry, angular face to Blade’s, and suddenly I was scared for him.
“Fight!” Dave’s shout was heard over the crowd, and suddenly Blade and the man were moving so fast it was hard to see—it was like that day in the orphanage when Blade had been lying on his bed one second and the next he’d been right in my face. I let out a small, involuntary scream when the man’s punch connected with Blade’s face.
Suddenly I flashed back to cowering on the ground as Margaret’s hand smashed down on me, but I shoved those memories back. I was stronger—better—than that now. In the next second blood was pouring down Blade’s face, but he ignored it as it mingled with his sweat and dripped onto his chest and the dirt floor.
“What the hell?” Dave was near me, so I was the only one who heard his angry question. I tore my eyes from the fight to see that Dave was looking in the direction of the third person Blade was supposed to fight. I spotted the knife in his hand just as he pushed his way into the circle. Suddenly, adrenaline like I’d never felt before was pumping through my veins.
I shoved as hard as I could, knocking two people in front of me to the side. “Blade, watch out!” I screamed, trying to be heard over the crowd. Blade whipped around at my warning and spotted the man, but I could already tell that it was too late. The man was in mid lunge towards Blade. I did the only thing I could: taking a huge leap, I threw myself at Blade. My arms wrapped around his blood splattered torso as I slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.
Stinging pain slashed across my side as we landed on the hard packed dirt, but I ignored it. In the next second, the world went crazy. The spectators were panicked now, realizing that this was turning into more than just a show. In their mad rush to escape, they were cutting each other off. At the same time, Blade rolled over me.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He shouted, blood dripping from his face and all over me. His breath went out in an ‘oomph’ as someone tripped over him in an effort to escape, but he stayed over me, shielding me.
“What do you think?” I shouted back at him, all my emotions coalescing into one un-definable one in that moment. I saw that the man who’d tried to kill Blade was fighting his way through the crowd toward us. “Shit, the idiot with the knife is coming! Come on, let’s get out of here!” I twisted under Blade’s body, trying to escape.
He pulled me up quickly, taking my hand. “Don’t let go! If we get separated we’ll never find each other in this mess!” Blade warned, yelling to be heard. I gave a nod, and then we were running. I felt oddly short of breath, with a sharp, cramp-like pain in my side, but I ignored it, shoving as hard as I could while still holding on to Blade’s warm, strong hand.
We were shoving, pushing, fighting, and so close that there wasn’t any space to breathe. The world was starting to spin, probably from the heat and panic. I kept pushing, and suddenly, we were free. “Come on!” Blade tugged me after him, running as fast as he could down to the motel. I tried to follow, but the cramp in my side was on fire. I was running slowly, but I couldn’t help it. “What’s wrong?” Blade had stopped running and was at my side, looking anxiously over his shoulder.
I shook my head. “Cramp. Let’s go.” Blade didn’t question it, keeping pace with me as I moved as fast as I could. When we finally got to the motel, I collapsed on my bed. “Crap, it really hurts.” I muttered, touching my finger to my side. That was when I realized my shirt was soaked with blood.
Blade was staring at me in horror. “What the hell happened? Where are you hurt?”
I shook my head. “It’s your blood, from your nose.” I tried for a smile, but the pain in my side made it come out more as a grimace. “You sound really weird.”
Blade didn’t smile. “My nose stopped bleeding, and it definitely didn’t bleed that much.” He moved closer to me. “Did that man touch you with the knife?” I thought hard, trying to catch my breath. I couldn’t concentrate.
“I don’t know.” I murmured, but the words sounded far off to me. Blade took my hand from my side and lifted my shirt. Whatever he saw had him cursing and running over to his bed. He grabbed his shirt from there and pressed it hard to my side.
“Max? Max, stay awake, please stay awake! Count, okay? Just keep talking.” Blade ordered. He was white faced, and his hands on my side hurt.
I blinked against the incoming darkness, but I had trouble reopening my eyes. “Count? Okay…why?” I asked blearily, unsure of what was going on. I didn’t wait for an answer. “One…two…three…” The darkness closed in and I decided that whatever reason Blade had me counting for, it could wait till later.