5. The Reaper

Later that evening we left my house telling my parents that I was going to sleep over at Rylee's. Since we frequently sleepover at each other's houses, my parents didn't even question it. We stopped by Rylee's room before heading over to meet Ace. I had told Rylee not to come with me. I didn't know what to expect, so I didn't want to put her in harm's way.

"You need to get changed." She remarks, throwing clothes at me. 

"What? Why? What's wrong with what I have on?" I ask, looking down at my outfit.

"Nothing. But you need to go in disguise, or did you forget who your father is?"

"No. But what kind of disguise are we talking about? Or did you forget that I'm going to a secret club to fight people, not to look pretty." I state, with my arms crossed.

"Who do you take me for? Of course, I'm aware. But you can't just show your face there like that." She remarks.

"I still don't know what's wrong."

"Nothing. But the point of going is to make sure no one knows who you are. If you show up like that, everyone will know, and you definitely won't be safe if they find out that you're the stone princess."

"Don't call me that."

"You know it's true. Or did you think the people at that club were just going to invite you in with open arms? Once they learn you're the stone princess, they won't hesitate to kidnap you or worse."

"You're being dramatic. That won't happen." 

"No. You're not seeing reality. You're meeting with criminals! None of them would bat an eye to hurt you. Don't you understand that? Don't you realize that if they were to kidnap you, they could hold you for ransom, a large one at that." 

I wasn't not aware of this possibility. It was a fate I had been prepared for, ever since I was a little girl. Ever since my parents' ordeal with the Cobras, my security has always been tight-knit. As Rylee mentioned, to society I was the Stone Princess. To everyone else, they saw a life of luxury. But to me, it was a life sentence. I always found myself fighting for my independence. I hated being treated as though I was just a weak and defenceless girl. I wanted to be respected for the woman I was. But because of my condition, no one ever treated me like that. I was always the fragile person with a lung condition. But after tonight, that will all change. 

"Fine. Whatever. What do you want me to do?" I ask, giving up. I know she has some valid points. Though I begin to wonder will this affect Ace's impression of me? Or will he be suspicious when I meet him looking completely different?

"Not much. I figured it would be best to keep it simple. Just a wig, some clothes, and a pair of contacts." She says, digging through her closet.

Instead of fighting her on it. I just accept whatever it is she plans on giving me. I'm running out of time, I have to meet Ace in just under thirty minutes.

Rylee helps me with the wig, changing my hair from my natural white-blond to a deep black. Rylee wears wigs all the time, so she knows how to secure the wig to my head without the risk of it falling off. She then handed me the contacts to put in. When I looked in the mirror, my eyes had changed from their blue hue to an amber one. Lastly, the clothes she had given me gave me more of a grunge vibe. They were different from the normal brand-name clothing I typically wore. 

Once Rylee was satisfied with my new look I ran outside to my car and headed to the pub. I was nervous as Billie Bones pub was located on the dark side of the city. Crime was really high in that area. But this was something I really wanted to do. So in the meantime, I decided to put my big girl pants on and focused on getting there on time. I parked my car in an overnight parking garage not too far away, hoping for the best. 

I walked down the back alleyway behind the pub and looked around to see if I could make out where Ace was. Only to realize he wasn't here yet. I checked my watch and saw that it was a couple of minutes to 7 PM, so I was still early. Perhaps he was on his way?

I heard a bang coming from down the dark alleyway followed by a crash and a cat screaming. I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise. I gripped the keys in my hand, planning on using them as a weapon should I need to.

I heard a shuffle come from behind me, only to run smack into a chest. I raised my hand in defence allowing my keys to poke out from my fingers in an attempt to puncture the person's throat. The person, however, seemed to have expected my move and grabbed my wrist before the metal of my keys could puncture his skin.

"Woah. Calm down firecracker. I'm not here to hurt you." The familiar voice remarks, making me drop my hand to notice it was none other than Ace standing before me.

"How did you know it was me?" I ask, fully aware that I didn't even look remotely similar from the first time I'd seen him.

"Lucky guess?" He replies, shrugging.

I raise my brows in distrust, knowing that wasn't the reason. I cross my arms over my chest, waiting for him to respond.

"You don't need to try to intimidate me. Last time I checked, that was my job." Ace comments stepping closer to me.

"How did you know it was me?" I ask again, not dropping my arms.

"Uh, have you looked around? This isn't exactly the place people willingly visit, especially this time at night. Sure you may have made some changes to your appearance, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it was you waiting for me." He comments.

Ok. He kinda had a point.

"So what's with the look, anyways?" He asks, raising his hand to gesture toward me.

"Isn't the point of an underground fight club to be kept secret? So is it really that hard to believe that those in attendance would also like to remain anonymous?" I challenge.

"Touche." He remarks, tipping his head towards me, however, I take a step back away from him.

"So are we going or what?" I ask.

"Sure. But on one condition." He remarks unmoving.

"What?" I ask annoyed.

"Wow. You're not really a people person are you?" He comments.

"Nope." Is all I reply, making him roll his eyes.

"So what's the condition now?" I ask, changing topics.

"You need to be my date." He comments.

"What? No! We've been over this already." I state, frustrated.

"Well good luck getting in then. Cause only those on the list are able to enter. You know with it being a secret and all." He remarks sarcastically.

"Whatever. Fine. But don't consider this to be an actual date. I have a boyfriend." I lie. I don't have a boyfriend, but he doesn't need to know that.

"No, you don't." He remarks, surprising me.

"What? Of course, I do." I counter.

"No. You don't. Cause if you did have a boyfriend, he would be here with you right now. So tell me. Where's this fictional boyfriend of yours?" He asks, surprising me. I didn't take him as the intuitive type of person.

"So what? So I don't have a boyfriend. That doesn't mean I'm letting you anywhere near me." I counter.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Firecracker." He replies walking closer to me.

I find myself rendered speechless as he takes slow steps toward me, closing the distance between us.

"For the record. I won't make a move until you beg me to." He whispers in my ear.

"Wha-?" I mouth, barely able to get the word out of my mouth. 

I feel his arm wrap around my waist pulling me into him. My eyes are drawn to his as he pulls me within an inch of his face. I feel myself frozen in place, anxiously awaiting his next move. My fingers grip tight to my keys ready to react should he come closer. However, before I have a chance to react, he spins me around as his arm remains on my lower back as he guides me deeper down the alley.

"You can put the keys away. If I was going to hurt you, I would've done it already." He remarks as he pulls me along with him. He walks over to a door and knocks on it three times.

"Brewster." Ace comments.

I look at him weirdly, only to hear a lock click, and soon the door in front of us opens.

"Who's the side piece?" A man states.

"My girl. What's it to ya?" Ace comments smoothly.

"She can't enter." The man states.

"I vouch for her." Ace comments, pulling me closer to him.

I decide to keep up the act and lean into Ace, smiling, knowing the man in front of us is skeptical.

"Boss won't be happy about this." The man remarks, however Ace simply shrugs as if it's no big deal.

"Tell him to talk to me then." Ace remarks, pushing past the man, and pulling me alongside him.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Will you get in trouble?" I ask, biting my lip. I hadn't thought of that. To be honest, I hadn't thought about much of this entire situation.

"Probably, but nothing I can't handle." Ace confidently replies, smirking at me.

"So are you going to tell me why you wanted to come here in the first place?" He asks.

"I'm more of a show than tell kind of person." I remark, stepping away from him to further explore. Only to be stopped in my tracks as he pulls me by my arm, back towards him.

"What are you up to, Firecracker?" He asks, leaning down to look into my eyes.

"I guess you're about to find out." I remark, twisting myself out of his hold to walk away from him. I study my surroundings, making sense of everything around me.

In the center of the room is a giant cage, and I can see two men going at it. I stare at it, studying their moves. They both appear to be amateurs, as they randomly throw around hits, in an attempt to connect. None of their movements are precise or practiced. This wouldn't do. I needed someone that knew what they were doing. Someone that could predict my movements. Someone that could challenge me. I scan the crowd to see any potential contestants. The two men from earlier have already left the stage and were replaced by two more men. These two looked a bit more promising. I stood in my spot watching the fights, analyzing them until I found my opponent. 

One of the challengers reminded me a lot of the twins. He stood tall and looked well composed, while also bored. He must've also noticed the lack of training amongst the contestants, and seemed to be waiting for a worthy opponent, just like me. Once I had my eye on my target, I approached the entrance of the cage. A man was standing nearby taking bids.

"I want to fight him." I state matter-of-factly, nodding to the man that stood out to me.

The man in front of me stopped what he was doing to see where I was looking. When his eyes landed on the man, he turned his attention back to me.

"Are you sure? You really want to challenge the Reaper?" The man asks. However, from the moment I noticed him, I knew it had to be him. I don't know why. But something about him drew me to him.

"Yup. Is that a problem?" I ask.

"Your death wish." The man responds, making me raise a brow at him. Confident much? I guess I'll just have to show him whose death wish it was really going to be, and unfortunately for him, it wasn't mine.

"You're on next." The man responds. He waves to someone in the crowd, and before I know what's happening, the fight in the cage is immediately stopped. Everyone looks around in confusion, before turning their attention to the man before me. He grabs a microphone from the stand and steps away from me.

"Everyone, I hope you haven't fallen asleep from that pathetic fight, but I have something that may pique your interest." The man pauses for effect before continuing.

"We have a newcomer to the ring." The man shouted, and like that the crowd grew silent. Clearly, newcomers weren't common around here.

"Not only that. But our newcomer has requested a challenge." Once again the crowd grows silent as they wait to hear who was challenged. I can hear whispers around me as they try to figure out who was called out in the challenge.

I watch as Ace steps toward the man and whispers something in his ear. The man nods then continues.

"Our challenger, Firecracker, has requested to challenge none other than THE REAPER!" The man shouts, instantly silencing the crowd. The crowd had gone so silent that you could hear a pin drop. This was exactly the reaction I was looking for. Making me realize I chose the right person.