The King Collapses
A man with shelved black hair, looking extremely thin was dragged by two men down a dark concrete hallway. They quickly opened a door and sat the man down in a chair, chaining him both to the chair and the table. Both of which were bolted to the ground. The room was completely dark as the two men left until a single light turned on above the man at the chair, barely giving off enough light for the man to see the other side of the table.
The man had gotten used to this life now. Everyday was the same, eat what little food they provided then dragged to this room for a few hours then back to his cell to eat again. That was his existence for the past week. No one answered his questions. No one talked to him. No one here seemed to be able to talk. As the man sat there in the chair he finally noticed something different about the room. Today there seemed to be another chair at the table. As he began to ponder what was going to happen he heard the sound of a match lighting. Looking in the direction of the sound he barely saw a face in the match light as it lit a cigarette.
Time passed slowly as the lit end of the cigarette moved every so often to the owners face to take a drag then drop back down. The owner seemed to even smoke silently. Finally the cigarette fell to the ground then he heard the sound of shoes on the floor as the mysterious person sat down in the chair across from him. The light seemed to turn brighter as the person's face came into view.
The man sat down across from him wearing a ruby colored shirt with a black jacket and slacks. Giving off an air of superiority and of a born King. The perfectly maintained beard, his smooth brown hair combed slightly to the side. His brown eyes so dark that they could've been mistaken for black when suddenly the man realized who had sat down across from him. The king of the business world: Sean McAlester.
Sean looked at the chained man with a cold face devoid of all emotion as he saw the look of wondering and sudden astonishment at who he was sitting with. Pulling out a paper from his coat he began to read the foreign business paper in complete silence. Time passed as the only sound coming from the room was the rustling of the paper when Sean turned the paper over. Finally when he was finished reading he folded the paper neatly setting it on the table. Reaching into a drawer on his side of the table he pulled a file out. To those that could actually understand the code it was written in the title of the file said' "Project Phoenix" however to this man sitting across from him it was just a jumble mess of symbols and letters and numbers.
As Sean flipped through the file in-front of the man he suddenly paused on a page. Reading it carefully he looked up at the man before uttering, "April 16th… bruises covering the back and chest area, bruised wrist, concussion, black eye." Then he kept flipping through the document pausing every now and then to write some notes into it. "May 26th.… three broken ribs bruising on the arms, deep cut with glass shards on the chest." He suddenly exclaimed as he continued to flip through his file. As he reached the end of the file right before he closed it he looked at the man across from him before stating, "June 12th.… patient collapsed in the waiting room from severe internal bleeding caused by external injuries. 3 broken ribs not yet healed with a further 2 breaking. Hairline fracture along the clavicle, dislocated shoulder, deep cut found on head." As he closed the file returning it to the drawer he looked at the man before talking, "do these dates or injuries mean anything to you?"
The man shook his head before responding, "I have no recollection of this." The words caused Sean to smile his demon smile when suddenly the sound of someone banging on the metal door sounded. Scowling Sean stood up and walked to the door. The man whispered something to him before he turned around, "Tell Jaime that he has a visitor with memory problems." Sean suddenly exclaimed before turning around and walking down the corridor.
Descending some stairs Sean entered a large training room. Inside were about one hundred people sparring and training. These were Pack Initiates and Pack Members, anyone in the Pack or Higher could recommend someone for this elite group of men and women and they would go through up to three years of intense physical, mental, and psychological training. However at the far end of the wall was the ultimate challenge for these people. The Tribulation, a custom made obstacle course designed by Sean himself. Even special forces from around the world had attempted it and failed, however they did leave words of advice for improvements which Sean would implement from time to time. The Tribulation was the second step on entering the Claw, Sean's personally led group of fighters. The first step was the candidates would be left in remote places of the world and left to fend for themselves for three months, with only a large knife and an one way radio to contact a team to extract them if they wished to end the trial.
Suddenly everyone was alerted to his presence, as the all watched him walk through the training room to the beginning of the obstacle course. Looking at the three people standing there he looked at his watch and then nodded his head. Then a group of four walked up. Everyone in the room recognized the emblem on their polo shirts, these were members of the Claw and leading the three woman was the general Berkowski. The four looked at Sean who only nodded at them before one of the ladies held up a stop watch, "you have ten minutes. Number one go in 3 …2 …1!"
The first person, slim and tall man took off through the course. As he expertly navigated obstacles some noticed that Sean didn't seem to be watching the man. When the man ended up failing on the course, a man came up with a file open and showed it to Sean, who had closed his eyes immediately after the man failed. Those close enough to hear him were astonished to hear him recite every movement that the man made and how long each obstacle took. The man holding the file looked at it before editing it a little which everyone assumed was a report of how the candidate did. The next candidate ended up completing the course but failed at the strictest point of the Tribulation: the marksmen challenge at the very end. Sean implemented this to ensure those near him, when they are at the point of near collapse would still be accurate with all types of firearms. The last candidate, a slender woman went through the course and completed the course. She was immediately grabbed after they scored her targets and led one of the boxing rings.
Sean walked over and entered the ring carrying a sword with him. He tossed it at the woman who caught it before uttering the words, "draw my blood." The woman looked at him hesitantly before walking over, drawing the sword only to be thrown back by Sean. "You little fool DRAW MY BLOOD." The woman came forward again only to be thrown the the side. Sean spoke again, this time his voice deeper and seemingly darker than before sending chills down everyone's, even Berkowski's, back, "you will never draw blood attacking like that." The woman seemed to finally understand and went all out on her next assault. Sean deftly pulled his 9 inch dagger out parrying her move before kicking her to the ground. As the woman stood up Sean held his hand up in a stopping motion.
Looking around the room he unbuttoned his shirt showing his chest. Everyone gasped as the overlapping scars and bullet wounds were revealed. Sean looked at the group with sternness, "This is what awaits you. This is not an easy choice. Everyone in this room, should they complete this training will have some to compare to mine. However you..." he turned back to the woman, "will hopefully never receive any should we train you well enough. Berkowski, take her to the Mountain." Then Sean buttoned his shirt back up before climbing out of the ring and walking straight out the training room. He immediately ducked into a bedroom locking the door behind him and suddenly collapsed on the floor.