CHAPTER 8 — THE MYSTERIOUS CARD.

🦪 DORA 🦪

It came faster than we expected, the mysterious card.

I woke up that morning, and it was there, a black card, with a letter written on it, a letter that contained the time for the fight and the location for the pick-up.

The card trembles in my hand. “What time is it?” Dale asks from behind me.

“They know where… I live? I stammer.

Dale Lazarus nods, “The moment you signed that contract, you gave them the exclusive right to know everything about you.”

“You can't escape them, Dora; they are insane people, you shouldn't have signed it.”

I turn around abruptly, pushing him in the chest harshly, “Stop going backwards, it's signed… I'll fight! If I perish, I perish.”

“When is it?” He whispers.

Looking out the window, “Tonight.” I say without glancing at him. “10:00 pm tonight.”

A rough sigh left his lips, “That bastard didn't give you time to be ready.”

Without a word, I walk towards my room, shut the weird door that leads into the room, and secure it with a rod in the back.

“Dora,” his voice came yelling, “Get out, we need to make use of the little time to somehow get you ready.”

It is as though I lost my voice; aside from Dale Lazarus yelling my name and banging on the door, I sit right in front of it, hugging my knees and saying nothing.

“Dora, you don't know what you're getting yourself into,” he yells, his voice breaking.

Of course I do, I know what I got myself into, I read the contract before signing it.

“Dora!!!”

🦪

Night came very quickly, the deadly time for me to break my bones and tear off my skin. I slowly rose from the ground, pulled out the rod, and stepped outside.

Dale Lazarus is still there, gawking at the door so intensely when I walk out of it, then his eyes turn to face me.

“Do you want to have sex with me?” I blurt out. “I might not come back alive, since I didn't train… I'm not ready.”

Silence sat between us, refusing to leave. Dale Lazarus is ogling at me, like he isn't looking at me but inside me.

His eyes, wet with unshed tears, his lips pressed together, his jaws slammed shut, his body tense, his expression hopeless.

“This is goodbye…” I press into his ears

Silence stands up, but don't leave, determined to remain there with us, choking us.

Brushing past him, I walk towards the front door, with nothing but my body, soul, spirit, and the fear of dying that's clinging onto me like a coat of many colors.

“Dora?” he calls, and I turn around quickly.

In very little time, he eats the distance between us, and I'm drawn into his arms. He isn't hugging but squeezing, making me unable to shift in his arms.

I can hear his heart beating so fast, his body reacting to the contact, and I can feel him fighting every reaction.

“You… you are unbelievable…” I stammer sadly, “Dad.”

He didn't pull away until I began to feel like my body would melt in the heat of his embrace.

“Dad,” I whisper, “I have only a few minutes to get to the location.”

With his hands on my shoulders, he pulls back, leaving me at arm's length, then swallows hard. “Fight with every part of your body, do not be distracted, don't let fear crawl in. The moment you let fear take over, you lose.”

“Remember, only one of you will get to walk out of the ring alive. Don't pity your opponent, Fight for your life.”

“Noted,” I say, staring at him. “Now, kiss me…”

Silence strolls back in, and after a few seconds of saying nothing and staring, he whispers, “Dora…”

A sad scuff flew out of my lips, “I hate you… I swear, I honestly, really hate you. If I don't come back alive, you'll regret this.”

“Don't die, Dora, please don't die.”

I turn around to leave, walking towards the pickup location. The location written on the black card isn't the location of the fighting ring; it was a few blocks away from the house, where the pickup was to occur.

I stayed there for a few minutes, and at 10:00 pm sharp, a black van drove in at full speed and stopped in front of me.

Two men dressed in red uniforms and a red full-face mask walk out, and I smile at them.

“Hi,” I say, waving.

Getting to me, one of them jerked me from behind, and the other one hit me in the head with a bat.

Cruel.

Blood drips from my head. This is the last thing I know, as I drop to the stony ground, my sight blackened.