Chapter 10

Eleven hours forty-three minutes

…..

"Wake up!" A loud commanding voice came with a solid kick to my stomach. I grunted, opening my eyes. What the fuck? My sight met the emotionless mask of my tormentor. I gasped loudly, hurriedly getting up on my feet like a scared kitten. My mind grew blank, forgetting where I was. Memories of stocked nightmares flashed before me. Beads of cold sweat trickled down my back, drawing a fine line on my spine. I inhaled deeply, calming my raising heart. "Jumpy aren't we kid?" asked the raspy voice of the masked man. I ignored him. A beeping sound came somewhere adding to my paranoia. I looked for the source of it and found it on my wrist. "Do you like your new jewelry?" A weird-looking metal bracelet was fastened on my wrist. Beeping as the time in it dragged down. Eleven hours forty-three minutes, it said.

"What the fuck is this?" I questioned, hiding the fear in my voice.

"Collateral," the guy simply answered. "Now, you better get your ass moving out there. The sponsors are coming any moment now." I ignored him once more. I was sure, I was supposed to be in a prison and I was still in the orange jumpsuit but something weird was happening. I surveyed my surroundings; the whiteness of the room gave me hives and I stiffened; it couldn't be happening to me. It was a cruel joke like all the gods worked together putting the hideous prank on a lowly mundane so just they could laugh up there, somewhere above the horizon. I kicked the wall as the beeping in my wrist continued. Time; what the fuck it means? "Are you suddenly gone deaf, kid? Huh?" I was pushed by the guy to the wall. My body was crushed and my brain shouted pain to me. "When I said the move, you move." The comment rang a certain bell in my head that made the blood inside me boil. I spat in the black mask, butted my head to it, and aim for the guy's elbow. I twisted it hard on his back, he yelped in pain and I only hissed with his suffering. "Get off me! You’re a fucking fucktard!" His hand raised for a button in the wall. A blaring alarm wailed.

Not any moment longer, the door in my back opened. Electricity traveled through my body and I convulsed down the floor making me release the guy. Kicks were given to me. I crumpled in a circle, protecting my face. Then, everything stopped; I was raised to my feet by a new guy, also wearing the same mask. "Behave or your time will run faster." Defiance coursing in my blood, I tried to use my leg only to be restrained. A fist connected in my stomach. "Do not die before you could even fight. It will be no fun." The guy who has me in his grip whispered in my ears. He grabbed my wrist and connected some kind of a chip to it. The eleven hours before was magically cut into half. "There, suit you." He released me with a push to the other masked men.

I was dragged outside the white tiny room into series of hallways. Every person I passed by wore a mask. Face hidden away from my view. My mind couldn't stop thinking about the horrors it was bringing me. I balled my fist trying hard to keep all the nightmares at bay; they were nearing the surface that I could feel their nails clawing to my skin for escape. I inhaled deeply letting my body feel nothing, as I was a lifeless doll, just like it was before.

We came to a stop in front of a wooden door. I was pushed inside a vast hall, meeting a dozen pairs of eyes from prisoners like me. Their wrists were all adorned by the same metal. Blood. Murder. Kill. All their faces shouted at once.

I was put in line beside a gruffly looking guy about thrice my age. He didn't even bother glancing at me. I looked like an ant in comparison to their muscled bodies. And the idea of standing next to bloodhound killers made my skin crawl.

"Be ready! Up! Up!" shouted the one who talked to me before, I could tell his voice from others; raspy with an Irish accent. No one was questioning his authority, with all the alpha male inside the hall. It was another addition to the strange things that were happening. "They are here!" With the shout, a set of feet marched inside the hall. Ten men in suits but the face was hidden behind masked entered at once.

I grabbed the man beside me, "What is happening?"

"New one?" The man asked and I nodded. "We got to have some fun."

"Fun? What kind of fun?"

"Killing," he answered. I let go of him, stunned.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. One by one, we were scrutinized by the suited man. Two passed me and I didn't care, I got no idea what was going on but my mind knew there was something wrong, definitely wrong. Soon, the guy beside me was chosen. Six in all left the hall.

"Fuck it! I should have been chosen; I could have given my wife a new start!" grumbled a man.

"There'll be another round, don't worry," answered another.

I was having hindsight to the kind of fighting they were talking about. But it still did not include the meaning of the metal in my hand. Fuck, all the thinking was hurting my head. I shook my head and dismissed the nuisance talking of the inmates. I headed to a corner, leaned my back to the wall, and sat.

I closed my eyes as faint shouting came from somewhere outside the hall. The fighting was starting. Blood danced behind my lids, the dozen different colors of dead eyes greeted me. The nightmares had gone amok, they escaped, I couldn't stop them.

Hours passed; the shouting silenced to nothing. The prisoners were growing agitated for waiting for the next round. Their eyes showed the hunger for blood that if there was a pit of lions in front of them, they would gladly want to jump. I too couldn't sit still, my mind kept running to the scenarios of how the fight would be. If I still could leave the place alive and breathing.

A sudden gust of wind entered the room.

The door flew open with a loud bang. Another set of ten suited men entered, they were different from the previous group. Their body built was different from the first set. I didn't bother to stand up from my spot. If they didn't pick me, I wouldn't fight. A win-win, right?

"You!" a voice said, a finger pointed in my direction. "I want you," the man added. “You’ll be mine.”