Dark Horse (22 page)

Chapter 24 - Lanea

The murmuring among the crowd continued. I looked down into The Pit and decided that both men had enough time to prepare. I stood up from my throne and held my hands up.

“
Ladies and gentlemen,” I said. “If I can have your attention, please.”

The crowd settled down. All of the noise ceased. Henry and Anderson stood their calmly as they waited for me to continue.

“It is a pleasure to have you all here this evening. Tonight is a very special night in The Pit. And that’s why you’re all here. You’re here to see two combatants, two gladiators, two champions among men, give it their all. Let’s celebrate this clash between these men and show them our support for everything they’re doing. Henry. Anderson. We are very grateful for everything you’ve done for us. Nothing else needs to be said. Gentlemen, whenever you’re ready.”

The crowd began to cheer. I smiled at the spectacle in front of me and slowly took my seat back upon my thr
one. I glanced over at Maxwell for just a moment and saw that he was still locked on everything that was happening down beneath him. Everybody was focused. I looked down and watched as the two men held their fists up.

The fight began. They circled around o
ne another. Despite everything they said they had done to him, Henry managed to hide signs of any injury. He threw several left hands at Anderson, who dodged away from them with ease. The crowd roared their approval at the display in front of them.

Anderso
n continued to dance around the ring as Henry flailed at him. His attempts were futile and they resulted in nothing more than making him look like a fool.

“
This is in the bag, Ms. Zara,” Octavio whispered to me. “He’s toying with him.”

“
I know,” I replied. “But I won’t be happy until I see some blood spilled.”

Henry jabbed at Anderson with his left fist. Anderson looked bored as he moved out of the way. He almost seemed confused as to why Henry seemed so lackluster up to this point.

Anderson decided to do something about it. The next punch Henry through, Anderson was able to parry it to the side. Henry failed to recover in time and was met with a blow across the top of his head. The crowd cheered as the first punch was landed.

Anderson danced away from him. Henry stumbled back into his stance and began stalking his opponent once again. Another missed punch resulted in another violent counter from Anderson. Henry hesitated with his right hand. Anderson was able to see everything
that was coming.

I tapped my heel across the ground with anxiety. Despite Henry
’s inability to do anything effective, I didn’t feel completely comfortable that I had ten million dollars riding on this. I was waiting for the moment when Anderson would finally put the man out of his misery.

Anderson wasn
’t intent on just winning the fight though. He was adamant about putting on a show. The man who stood toe-to-toe with Henry was now moving around the ring on his tiptoes. He was notably lighter on his feet as he peppered Henry with punches to the face. It was almost reminiscent of the fight between Henry and Fabian. The only difference was that this time Henry was actually trying.

Instead of counterattacking, Anderson suddenly threw a right hand at Henry from o
ut of nowhere. Henry managed to duck out of the way. He spun around and landed a roundhouse kick against Anderson’s head. Anderson stumbled back but quickly regained his composure. I held back a gasp as the crowd started to cheer.

Lucky shot.

Anderson rubbed the spot where he had been hit then stretched his arms out again. Another punch was thrown and Henry countered with another kick. The crowd roared their approval even though I had felt the opposite.

“
Why didn’t you have them break his foot, too?” I muttered to Octavio.

“
I apologize, Ms. Zara.”

Henry was able to get Anderson to focus once again. Both of them had been struck several times. Anderson was no longer in the mood to entertain. I found myself getting excited as the intimidating man was no longer
dancing around the ring.

Anderson threw several punches and kicks at Henry in a flurry. Henry was unable to get out of the way of all of them. Anderson
’s fist and feet collided with Henry’s body. Soon enough, the wounds re-opened on Henry and the blood was beginning to paint his face. I grew more excited and leaned forward in my seat.

Henry remained determined. Anderson had to cease his aggressive attack when Henry began countering him. Anderson was still landing the more significant blows but Henry was abl
e to get his hands upon him. Anderson threw a kick and Henry grabbed his leg. He swept his foot underneath Anderson’s other leg and knocked him down to the ground. The crowd gasped as Henry and Anderson began to struggle on the ground.

The two of them wres
tled to try and get on top of the other. They grunted and shouted like a couple of wild dogs to the delight of the audience. I leaned my head forward to try and get a better look at what was happening.

Henry got on top of Anderson and started raining down heavy punches on his face. I could feel my heart starting to race as Henry held the advantage. The crowd screamed louder in approval.

“Next time, break both of his hands,” I said to Octavio.

“
Yes, Ms. Zara.”

Henry punched Anderson until they both had matching faces. The blood was streaming from the cuts on both of their faces. I feared that this would be the end of Anderson. I looked over at Maxwell for a moment and saw that he was just as excited as the
rest of the crowd over what was happening.

Get out of this, damn it!

As if he had heard me, Anderson shoved Henry off of him. Henry stumbled to the ground and Anderson pushed himself back up to his feet. With his face half-painted in blood, he started to stalk Henry. There was a look of anger on Anderson’s face that was a stark contrast to the look of distress on Henry’s.

Henry suddenly swung his right arm. Anderson raised his forearm to block the punch. When Henry
’s fist collided, Henry let out a screech of pain and fell backward. Anderson squinted his eyes and suddenly looked curiously at Henry. Henry grabbed his wrist then shook his hand like he was trying to make the pain go away.

Henry flailed at Anderson with his left hand but Anderson easily caught i
t. He tossed it to the side and suddenly gripped Henry’s other hand. Henry screamed in pain as Anderson squeezed it with both of his hands. The crowd groaned as Henry fell to his knees. I breathed a sigh of relief as Anderson regained control of the fight.

“
This is it,” I said. “Now that he knows Henry is injured, there is no stopping Anderson. Henry can’t win this fight with one hand. And not with the amount of pain he’s feeling.”

“
Well done, Ms. Zara.”

I started to smile as Anderson proceeded to play with
Henry. Anderson squeezed the life out of Henry’s injured hand before letting him go in an act of mercy. He held his arms up and enjoyed the adoration of the crowd. There was a mixture of cheers and boos but it all added up to a massive amount noise louder than anything I’d ever heard in The Pit.

Henry kneeled on one knee and tried to regain his composure. He finally stumbled back to his feet in obvious pain. Anderson turned away from the crowd and back to his opponent. Henry swung with his left hand but wa
s quickly met with a vicious counter. Henry kicked and punched in a futile attempt to get back into the fight. It was no use. Anderson was able to avoid every single one of Henry’s strikes and reply with three of his own. Henry was getting beaten down and bloodied. The blood poured down his face and onto his shirt like red paint. Henry held his mouth and gasped for breath as Anderson continued to punish him.

“
Well, it looks like you got what you wanted, Ms. Zara,” Octavio whispered to me. “Anderson is going to win the fight and pretty soon he’ll put Henry out of his misery. It’s a shame. Henry probably had a few more fights left in him.”

“
Yes, it is a shame but what must be done will be done.”

I smiled at the sight of Henry getting battered around The Pit. T
he crowd continued to cheer and try and urge him on. None of it worked. It was only a matter of time before Henry would finally be put to an end.

I leaned back in my chair and did my best to celebrate the inevitable victory. For some reason, I glanced over
at Maxwell. He was no longer paying attention to the fight. He was staring back at me with the same look of disdain and disgust he had earlier. It did something to me I couldn’t describe. There was a strange feeling building in my stomach. It was almost haunting. I found myself unable to look back at him. I turned and looked around at the crowd as they cheered for the fight in front of them.

I swallowed to try and make the odd feeling go away but it remained. I looked down and saw that Henry was out of it.
After everything he had been through, I didn’t understand why he was still standing. Anderson landed a heavy punch that sent Henry reeling. Henry fell with his back upon the steps. Then he turned onto his stomach and looked up at me.

Henry stared at me, h
is face covered with blood. The whites of his eyes were looking back at me like something out of a nightmare. I started to grow numb to the sound of the cheering crowd. Anderson held his arms up in premature celebration.

I watched as the blood dripped down
from Henry’s face onto the steps just underneath him. He was using every ounce of strength to try and push himself up but it didn’t look like had anything left in him. I stared at him and gulped again, trying to make the feeling I had go away. My heart was racing. My chest was heaving as I failed to regain my composure. I looked down at Henry and suddenly found myself struggling to hold back.

I stood up from my throne and started to walk forward.

“Ms. Zara? Ms. Zara, what are you doing?”

I ignored my assis
tant’s attempts to try and get me to calm down. Henry continued to stare at me. I felt like I was in a dream. The crowd was gone. Maxwell was no longer glaring at me. Anderson wasn’t celebrating. Octavio wasn’t calling out to me.

I walked forward and for t
he first time ever, I began to descend the stairs into The Pit.

Chapter 25 - Henry

I looked down at the steps. The red spots appeared on the concrete one by one. I was barely able to make out the blood that was dripping off of my face. My head was ringing. The sound of the crowd was like a murmur, replaced by a numbness I thought I’d escaped when I was discharged from the service. My mouth hung open as I tried to catch my breath. The pain in my right hand was accompanied by all of the damage Anderson had inflicted upon me. I didn’t know if it were blood or sweat or tears that were coming out of my eyes.

“
Henry!”

The sound of the voice seemed distant. I felt like I was in a dream. Or a nightmare. My body was struggling to figure out what to do next. Everything was still blurry to me.

“Henry!”

The voice called out to me again. It was like someone who was awake was t
rying to wake me up. I closed my eyes and tried to end all of this.

Wake up. This is all just a nightmare. It
’s not real.

When I opened my eyes, the amount of red on the canvas in front of me told me that I was still stuck in my dream. There was no point i
n trying to pinch myself. The amount of pain I was in was enough to wake any man from even the worst nightmare.

“
Henry!”

I slowly turned my head up. Through the fog of blood and sweat I could barely make out the image moving toward me. A green silhouette w
ith a spotlight just behind it. She slowly came into view and I could see her more clearly. Lanea looked down at me, distress on her face. I was able to put myself back together.

I
’m in The Pit. Lanea… Maxwell… The crowd… Anderson…

Everything became cleare
r. The crowd cheered and chanted louder than ever. The sound they were making rumbled the entire room we were standing in with a tremor. I tried to push myself up and off of the steps when I felt a gloved hand fall against my face. I closed my eyes for just a moment to enjoy the feeling of it. The silk managed to make me forget everything I was going through, even if it was for only a moment.

“
Henry, just stay down. You’re going to be okay.”

I opened my eyes and looked up at the figure in front of me. I saw
a pair of green eyes looking back at me. They were glazed over.

Lanea…

“No,” I muttered. “This fight isn’t over yet. I can still beat him.”

“
He’s already hurt you too much. Please, Henry. Don’t do this to me. If you keep going he’s… he’s going to kill you.”

“
I… I have to. I have to beat him. Everything is on the line.”

“
I bet on him. I put the money on Anderson.”

“
What?”

I finally managed to regain my senses. After Lanea told me what she did, it was like something went off inside of me. I was suddenly cons
cious of all of my surroundings.

“
You bet on
him
? Why?”

“
What does it matter, Henry? If you just let him win, we all win. You’ll get your cut. You’ll never have to worry about money for the rest of your life. Please, Henry. Your daughter needs you.”

The me
tallic taste of the blood was bitter on my tongue. I swallowed it down unknowingly as Lanea continued to plead to me.

Elsa…

“I can do this,” I said to her. “Maxwell put all of the money on me.”

“
Henry—”

“
No! Get away from me!”

With all of my strength, I pu
shed myself up off of the steps. I looked up at Lanea as she knelt down, her dress and gloves splattered with my blood. Tears were beginning to well in her eyes. The mascara ran down the sides of her cheeks as she looked at me.

“
He’s going to kill you, Henry. Please!”

I turned my back to Lanea. I was barely able to stand on my feet. I looked across the ring at the man who had beaten me half to death. He held his arms up in victory while the crowd cheered him on. The look of triumph o
n his face was suddenly replaced with confusion as he looked at me. He shook his head at me in some kind of pity. The sound of the crowd started to grow louder as I lurched forward to him.

You can do this, Henry. Remember your training. Remember what King
said to you. Remember Elsa…

The blood was dripping from the cut over my eye. I wiped it away but could still feel it throbbing on my head. He slowly started to walk forward to me. He thought that he had me. I knew this was my chance.

He lazily reached forward to try and grab me. I quickly raised my right hand and slammed it across his face. The pain surged through my fist and reverberated through my arm. I didn’t let it stop me though. I gritted my teeth and before Anderson could recover, I threw a left hand as hard as I could. He stumbled back again. He managed to remain standing on his feet. The anger on his face was clear.

The blood was rushing through my entire body and pumping from the cuts on my face. I didn
’t know how much longer I had. He put his hands up. We began circling one another just like it was the start of the fight. I looked at his face and imagined it was the same set of pads that King held up. Before he could react, I threw two punches at him, a left and a right. He did his best to try and shake it off while I ignored the pain in my hand.

“
Henry!”

Lanea
’s voice became more distinct from the sound of the crowd but I continued to ignore her. I couldn’t allow myself to be distracted. Anderson threw another punch to try and catch me off-guard. I ducked out of the way and instinctively threw my right hand at his face. It collided with his nose and sent him stumbling back. His head was pointed toward the ground and I could see the blood pouring onto the concrete. When he looked up at me, I could see that his nose was twisted to the side with lines of red streaming from his nostrils.

The crowd cheered louder. Anderson was furious. He was beginning to lose his composure. When he did, I found it easier to avoid everything he was throwing at me. I was
able to duck and dodge out of the way and counter. Punches, kicks, elbows, knees. I delivered an assortment of blows to punish him for his over-aggressive attack. Before I knew it, Anderson was beginning to slow down. He no longer had as much energy as he had just moments ago. His punches were slow and I could see him struggling to breathe from his mouth. It was time to go on the offensive.

I walked forward and began battering him with punches. I didn
’t care that my right hand was getting mangled even worse than it already was. It didn’t matter that I might never be able to use it again. This was the last time I ever needed it like this.

Anderson fell to his knees after one final right hand. He knelt before me with his arms drooped at his sides. The once int
imidating man looked defeated. The noise coming from the crowd was deafening. I looked up at all of them as they cheered me on.

“
Finish him off, Henry!”

“
Put him out of his misery!”

“
End it now!”

I looked down at Anderson and he stared back at me with a de
feated look in his eyes. He was completely defenseless. There was nothing else he could do. I turned and looked at Lanea, who was still kneeling upon the steps. There was a look of distress on her face. I didn’t know what she was thinking but it didn’t matter. This was over. There was no need to do anything else.

I turned back to Anderson and he looked down at the ground in complete defeat. I slowly walked away from him and he didn
’t move from his spot. I headed back to the stairs to finally get out of here.

“
That’s it! It’s over! Henry did it!”

The crowd cheered my victory but I didn
’t have nearly the same amount of enthusiasm. I slowly began to walk up the stairs. Every bone and muscle in my body was aching. I looked over at Lanea and she continued to stare at me, streaks of mascara streaming down the sides of her cheeks.

“
I knew you could do it!”

Maxwell suddenly rushed up to me and wrapped his arms around me. For the first time in
a long time, I was able to work a smile onto my face. He picked me up and helped me ascend the stairs. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and gingerly walked forward. Octavio was staring at me when I finally got to the top.

“
Henry! Wait!”

I heard the so
und of Lanea’s voice behind me. Maxwell and I both turned to look at her. Her green dress was smeared with blood. She looked like a mess, completely different from the elegant woman I saw when I first got here.

“
Please, you need a doctor,” she said to me. “Let me get you some help.”

“
He doesn’t need any more of your help,” Maxwell said to her. “Don’t worry, Henry. I’ll take care of you.”

“
Henry! Please!”

Lanea was suddenly pleading with me. I didn
’t know where it had come from but I had never seen her like this. I wasn’t sure what to think any longer. I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. I looked over at Maxwell and he shook his head to me. I nodded to him and together, we ignored Lanea and proceeded to make our way out of the arena.

“
Come on,” he said to me. “Let’s go get our winnings and get the hell out of this place. You’ll never have to come back here again.”

I drooped over Maxwell
’s shoulder as he carried me through the crowd. All of them looked at me with some kind of reverence. A man would usually appreciate this kind of attention. But I wasn’t proud of what I just did. I was only smiling now because I knew that it was over and finally, I could get away.