Chapter Twenty-Eight

We found ourselves inside the arena where Zoi and I fought. We didn't know how we came to it. We just did. And when we tried to leave, we couldn't find the door. And every time James would try to punch it down, a force would push him back.

"What do we do now?" Tash asked as James flew back once more.

James stood up from the ground and dusted himself before walking towards me and Tash. He held on to Tash's hand and my heart constricted in pain as I remembered Zoi. But I shook my head and forced myself to assess our surroundings. The cameras were still in place and I squinted my eyes. One moved and focused on us.

"Damn," I cursed and the two looked at me. "They have fixed the techs. That's how they managed to corral us here,"

No sooner than the words left my mouth, the door of the arena opened; revealing my dad, Zeke, and three more soldiers. One was a female. She was taller than me and Tash. She had red curly hair that cascaded to her back. Her eyes were shining green. The middle one was a tanned man. He was a mammoth; taller than any of us in the room. His eyes, a scary dark pit, looked at each of us. The last one was a man of normal build. But he had a killing aura. His brown eyes had shadows of death.

And they were all coming towards us.

The two older guys stayed back as their three minions made their way to each of us. The woman rushed towards Tash but I tackled her from the side with my speed. We both rolled to the ground. But I was much faster than her. Even before she could recover, I had straddled her and rained punches on her face and body.

Behind me, I could hear Tash and James clashed with the other two. I heard Tash screamed for help and I delivered a blow to the woman's face harder than the first ones and her eyes rolled at the back of her head. The man, the normal built, had conjured daggers out of thin air. I quickly stood up and dashed towards Tash and got her out of the way just in time. The daggers flew straight to the wall and were thrown back by the force protecting it.

Tash thank me and I nodded at her. Then, I turned to face the man and ran straight for him. I tackled him to the ground. But he kicked me from below and I flew away from him. I rolled in mid-air and managed to land on my left foot and right knee as if readying myself for a dash. Then, with a puff of air, I kicked off the ground. Dust and dirt flew at the air made by my speed and I seemingly vanished from naked eyes.

I appeared in front of the man and I gave him a spinning kick and he flew towards the wall. But he managed to conjure up a chain and tied my left. He pulled at the chain and he took me with him. Then, he pulled at the chains hard and he used me as a shield from the force of the wall.

"Katra!" I heard Tash's screamed my name as she ran towards me.

"No!" I shouted back, "Help James!"

Tash turned around to look at James and I could imagine the anger and horror in her eyes. James was down on his knees. The mammoth had him with his electric whip wrapped around his neck. Electrifying and strangling him at the same time.

Tash screamed in horror as she ran towards him. He gave the man a run-about kick in the head that produced a loud thud in the closed room. But the man barely felt the pain. He shook his head, let go of James who quickly fell to the floor catching his breath. The mammoth turned his attention to Tash, who stood tall at his unnerving stare. Though, with his structure, Natasha seemed small.

But I didn't have the time to see what happened next because my own opponent blocked my eyesight and he conjured three daggers, all of which were floating in the air in front of him. Gritting my teeth, I jumped up and made a move to tackle him once more. But he saw my move and flicked his wrist a little. The daggers rushed towards me with a speed I hadn't expected and all three buried themselves in me. One on my left shoulder blade. Another on my stomach. And the last one on my waist.

I sucked in a breath when they made contact and I staggered back. My eyes sight blurred as I continue to stagger away from him. I faintly hear the sound of fighting. But I clearly heard a laugh that echoed in my ears. My eyes wandered to my dad who was still laughing. He smirked at me and raised a finger and pointed his eyes, taunting me to use it.

But I refused to do so. I refused to be the monster he made me.

Suddenly, I coughed hard. Blood came out of my mouth and I dropped to my knees; coughing more. When it stopped, I wiped my lips with the back of my palm. Suddenly, I heard an anguished scream, and my eyes huge with shock as my heart skipped a beat.

It can't be.

I saw in slow motion as Tash dropped to the ground. James tried to run towards her but the mammoth had stopped him. Adrenaline pulsed through my vein. Anger and only anger was all I could think. It took control of my body and all wounds had been forgotten as I jumped up and slammed my opponent down to the ground by pushing him in the face. The force and momentum that my speed built were so hard that it splintered the concrete. Blood pooled by his head as life left his eyes.

I ran towards James and pushed him out of the mammoth's way. He rolled to the ground away from us as the man pulled his whip back again to attack me. Though, I evaded at the last second. Instead of my neck, the whip caught my right hand, twisting around it. But I didn't try to break free. I pulled on the whip with all my might. Then, I also used my left hand to pull. The mammoth took his stand firmly but I could see that I was managing to pull him. The smell of burning skin filled the air and I continued to hold tight in his electric whip. James stood up and started to run towards me but I stopped him.

"Get Natasha!" I ordered. And I could see the indecision in his eyes between on helping me or checking on Natasha who lay limped on the ground far behind me. "Go!"

He nodded at me and ran towards Tash. He knelt beside her and checked her pulse. Then, with a faint smile, he turned to me to say that she was still alive. Then, he lifted her to put her as far away as the arena allowed me and the mammoth guy.

Then, with one forceful pull, I managed to subdue the guy. He fell to the ground face first and his whip vanished into thin air. Both of my hands continued to shake as smoke danced up from my palm. A straight burned line was buried deep in my palm as well as my fingers.

The man made a move to stand up but he was tackled by James who had an angry fire in his eyes. Both of them rolled to the ground as James continued to rain punches on him and had his hands trapped under his knees to avoid him conjuring another whip.

I threw James his dagger and he swiftly took it. Then, with one swift move, he stabbed him straight in the heart. Blood burst out of the man's chest; coloring Jame's hands red and red spots on his face. With shaky hands and legs, he stood up and turned to look at me. A shadow of anger vanished from his eyes and in its place was determination.

A determination to stay alive.

Suddenly, a scream filled the air; echoing in the close arena. I sucked in my breath as the voice assailed my ears, shocking my eardrums to the point of hurting. I quickly covered my ears and realized James did the same. We both slowly made our way to Tash to cover hers but the voice grew louder and started to fell on my knees.

Weak from blood loss and lack of energy, I fell faster than James did. He managed to reach Tash and covered her ears and left his wide open. I saw his ears started to bleed as his face contorted in pain. Gasping, I turned around and saw the woman. She was wide-awake and screaming.

I felt a warm liquid oozed out of my ears as I dropped fully to my knees. Suddenly, the screaming felt far away as a loud beeping replaced it. My eyesight started to blur as I tried to look for the source of the beeping and realized that the sound was made by my ears as my eardrums popped.

Then, as if a miracle, the west wall of the arena exploded. The woman was caught by the explosion and vanished beneath a huge stone slab. The screaming stopped but the beeping grew louder. My surroundings started to spin as I slowly met the ground.