Chapter 5 - I Might Need New Friends

~Peyton~

"Hey, Peyton! Cooper! There you are! Here I got drinks," Lucy smiled handing us our cups.

I gave a fake smile, I couldn't shake this bad feeling, But there was also something else stirring in me. Like a tingling sensation of familiarity.

"Okay guys, seriously where the hell are we?" I asked.

Cooper wrapped an arm around me and gave me a squeeze.

"It's like wrestling, but's it's real and there's no costumes or weird names," Cooper explained.

"And there are some serious bets," Lucy added.

"You took me to a street fight for my birthday?" I asked appalled, gapping at them.

"It was more for the drinking and adrenaline," Lucy brushed off like it was no big thing.

"Can we please leave, this isn't where I want to be," I pleaded looking behind me at the plastic-covered entrance.

"Yeah, sure baby," Cooper sighed, hinting at disappointment.

We turned to leave when someone started to speak on the mic.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Wow, what a great turn out! We have the two best fighters for you tonight! Just so you know the doors are locked and bidding ends in ten minutes. The fight will begin shortly!" the announcer bellowed happily into the mic.

Lucy turned to me with a smile.

"I guess we have to stay!"

I rolled my eyes, a shudder rolling down my spine

~Jade~

I felt uneasy about the fact that we were locked in. I kept looking around for Caleb. I prayed that he wasn't one of the fighters. I mean he couldn't be. I knew everything about him, I think I'd know if we were out street fighting. God, I just wanted out of here.

I rocked back and forth on my feet nervously.

My stomach fluttered, My nerves were on hyperdrive like when a magnet has a slight pull on metal, My eyes kept shifting around, looking, but not sure what for.

"Alright! Who's ready for a fight!" the man boomed into the mic. The crowd roared.

My heart plummeted and my face fell as I saw Caleb make his way to the ring. My breath caught, stuck in my throat. He instantly spotted me, he shook his hair out of his eyes and gave me a wide smile, But all I could do was stare horrorstruck.

- Ryker -

Fight? I turned and glared at Ethan.

"You said this was an underground club!" I hissed at him.

"Yeah, well, I didn't know!" Ethan replied almost panicked.

I sucked in an angry breath and watched the stage.

A guy around my age made his way up, something shifty in his eyes, something that made my insides twist ups in distrust.

"Please give it up to our guests from out of town! Caleb Willin!"

There were some cheers and a few whistles. The guy, Caleb, pumped his fist in the air.

"And from our own ring, A fan favorite, Hale!"

A woman with dark hair and sharp features approached the pit.

I stared at the girl, she looked too familiar, her outline so foggy in the back of my brain. Then it clicked. She was the silhouette in my painting, the one surrounded in darkness.

~Hale~

I loved the fight. It was hard and ruthless, hearing the crowd cheer. But I also secretly loved the two minutes before the fight. When Mickey introduced me and I heard the crowd cheer for me and how one yell from me could get them going. It was a short amount of time where people wanted me, they came to see me. For ten minutes a group of people cared about me.

I tucked a few baby hairs behind my ear and took a sip from my water bottle, it tasted bland and I cleared my throat and capped the bottle.

I gave myself a deep breath before turning back to the crowd, a battle-ready cry and raised my hands up, the crowd joined in, Mickey had to shush them down.

Tonight was a special night for a reason. Mikey was using me and my skills to prove a point to his out of town friend, who had a better fighting ring. So to settle their little debate they picked their best fighters and but them in a ring, to fight to the death.

Death wasn't new to me, this wasn't going to be the first time some blood got on my hands. And with all the money that was up tonight, it was all worth it.

But the money wasn't the only reason I got in the pit, I fought because it made me something, I had something. A winning streak, one I wasn't going to lose.

~Peyton~

I squeezed Cooper's hand tight. Someone was going to get hurt, I just didn't know who. The guy, Caleb, was tall and muscular. The girl, Hale, was small and tiny compared to him. Yet she seemed so confident and somewhat barbaric. He was a bull and she was a snake.

"Peyton, calm down. You might even enjoy yourself," Lucy smiled getting caught in the intensity.

"I highly doubt that," I muttered.

I dropped Cooper's hand and wrapped my arms around myself, rethinking my choices of who I allowed into my life, and how I missed this side of them.

~ Jade ~

My stomach was tearing it's self apart. I'd never seen a violent bone in Caleb's body and in a matter of seconds, this girl had shown her every attention to beat the living hell out of my best friend.

"Alright! Before we start I'd like to share the bets that have been placed. On Caleb our foreign fighter, we have a total bet of one thousand five hundred dollars! And on our homegirl, a bet of," The man stopped and smile at the number in front of him. "Two thousand three hundred!"

The crowd gave solace and slowly calmed down.

"Alright! Alright. Let the fight begin,"

I gave a shuttering breath, and watch the girl's eyes narrow on Caleb and I watched Caleb smirk at her.

~Ryker~

What the hell did Ethan get us into? Was this a trick? A prank?

I looked over to him, he was completely invested in the fight, everyone was. What was wrong with these people? How did they find this amusing? It's sick and messed up. One of them was going to die.

Ethan tapped my shoulder.

"Hey, so I've been asking around. So I guess this fight is a big deal, as an ultimate fight. so like the two heads of the fighting pits are proving whos the best between their fights, it's to the death. Lots of people are saying the girl is going to win, but I don't know. She seems like a punching bag to him,"

"She must be good with the amount of money on her," I didn't know why I was trying to defend her, Ethan's logic was pretty clear. But something inside me really cared about her, the same part of me that was able to draw her silhouette.

"I don't think so, she seems all bark and no bite to me,"

I don' t know why, but I hoped not.

~Hale~

Defense or offense? That was always the first thing that I looked for in my opponent when a fight started. I have fought people who have just rushed me with no thought or plan.

Caleb was a lot taller than my 5'5 height by a lot. He has some massive muscles, he was basically one big brick wall. Stealth was not my friend here. Moving fast and flexible were my allies.

Caleb went off the offensive and came at me with a punch ready to go. I quickly slid under him and he swung at air. I turned and used both feet to kick his backside causing him to stumble forward. I used the time to get back to my feet.

Caleb turned back to me seething, I smile and gave him a daring glare. He rushed me again, I waited till the last second till I turned my shoulders just out of his way. As I turned I felt dizzy, the world swayed. I shook my head and blinked hard as if I were hitting a reset button. I brought my focus back to Caleb, his back was turned to me. I took the chance and hopped on his back, I held onto his neck letting my feet dangle. I felt his neck fight for air, his throat straining for oxygen. Before I knew it we were tilting back, I hit the ground then felt Caleb crush me. The blow of him falling on me forced the breath out of my lungs, leaving me struggling to breathe. As I sucked life back into my body, Caleb had gotten on top of me and his hands around my neck. I made some sort of croaking sound and tears burned my eyes. I rammed my legs into his soft spot, Caleb released me and kneeled over. I crawled away from him, my body felt weak and heavy. My vision still convinced that the word was turning in circles. I'd been knocked around in the ring before and always kept a straight head, this was different. I blocked rapidly trying to make everything still, but it did nothing, leaving me completely screwed.