Chapter Five

The cloaked girl and I are uncuffed and put in the same cell. I am given a luxurious thin sheet of straw as a bed and an esteemed wooden bucket in the corner. Nice. There's also a window with bars seeping in the light of dusk, lighting the cozy gravel room with hospitality and comfort. I sigh.

Then, the cloaked girl collapses onto the floor.

"Hey, you shouldn't sleep there," I say. But the girl is fast asleep. She is definitely exhausted from all that walking, and so am I. I let out a long sigh for a while, then push the girl over to the straw bed. Then, I take my hoodie off and give it to her as a pillow. Hopefully, she doesn't mind the stench of sweat, but there aren't any pillows here.

Finally, my legs give out, and I stumble onto the ground along the wall. My legs feel numb, and my feet are like rocks. My head still throbs and rattles as I shake. But just sitting down feels like it lifted a heavy weight off of me; my body goes limp as if it's shutting down after overheating. Dark clouds blur my vision as sleep creeps over me.

* * *

Screams echo. White light Flashing. Pools of blood. My dad, dead. My mom, dead. I can't move. More screams. I see her, my sister. I try to run. I'm stuck. Another flash. Her eyes, dull. Mom and Dad clutch their hands on me with blood running from their eyes.

I gasp. The concrete sealing says hello. I rub my head, feeling sweat. My heart pounds and slowly calms as I realize it was a dream.

"Awake now?"

I rise to see the cloaked girl sitting in the corner. "Yeah."

"I am surprised thee can still move about by thyself."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Thou art of my undead servant. I summon thee from death with my powers of necromancy."

Necromancy? So, I was brought back to life? Is that how it works?

"However, thou art not in my command. All of my summons followed except thee. I ponder why?"

"How did you summon me into this world? Because I didn't die here."

"I summoned thee from the void. I had required a powerful servant and called upon a king of the dead. But seemingly, my magic is far too weak to command thee."

"Huh." I nod. From the void, she says. I don't get any of it. Her words are confusing, but I think I got the gist of it. She said she summoned me through the unknown to be controlled by her, but for some reason, I wasn't. I shrug at her.

The cloaked girl places a finger on her chin like she's thinking. "Perhaps this matter will be resolved another time."

"So what's your name?"

The cloaked girl narrows her eyes at me. "Thou have no need for my name. Simply call me thy master."

Definitely not calling her that. I sigh. "Fine, I'll just give you a nickname then." I wonder what to call her. I'm tired of calling her "cloaked girl" as she complains to me about being her servant and whatnot. She is small. Huddling in the corner like a mouse with all that cloth on her. "Pipsqueak it is, or rather Pip for short."

Pip glares at me now, looking a lot more like a rat. I write it off with a fake smile and extend my hand out for a handshake. "I'm Luke, by the way, Pip."

Pip growls and hisses some scary words that I don't understand, then slaps my hand away. "Thou is my servant! Thou does not engage in physical contact with me!"

"It's just a handshake. Calm down."

"Nay! All I require is thy strength; however, thou is a nuisance!"

I fold my arms across my chest and let out a long sigh. "Can you be any more louder? You'll alert the guards and our jail cell neighbors."

"Death is upon us, and it does not concern thee?"

"Of course it does. But I'm more annoyed that you summoned me here, and thanks to you, I get to enjoy yet another gruesome death. So Hoorah. You get to die once, and I get to die twice. Gosh, I love my life."

Pip shoots up from the floor and stomps toward me, looking down at me from where I'm sitting. She glares at me and looks like she's about to burst.

"What?"

Pip quickly raises her leg up and stomps my face, crashing my head against the gravel wall; she pushes me down and pummels me with her little fists. "I will unhear such nonsense! Why can't Thou just heed my commands!"

Her punches hit like rocks being thrown into my face. I growl as I fluster with annoyance. I lurch up, grab Pip's wrists, and shout in her face. "Stop it!" Before I say anymore, I gape. Pip's eyes are wide with tears about to fall, and her face is pallid. Her arms tremble in my grasp. Actually, her whole body is shaking.

Pip flails and pushes me away. I catch myself and rapidly blink. She's scared. Of course, she is. In this world, death happens too frequently, and everyone's lives are being played by the golden king.

I sigh. Then rise up to my feet. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt and yell at you like that."

For a moment, Pip just glares at me then she finally replies. "Forget it. Thou is useless." She clutches her long robe and covers herself.

I sit back down and sigh again, then I look up at the barred window above. I can faintly hear what sounds like cheers and fireworks; it's probably that tournament of death or whatever is happening.

Death. Huh.

I turn back to Pip still avoiding me from sight. She's afraid to die. I've died once before, and that didn't feel good. I can still remember the pain, blood, and bones cracking, then getting hit by a car, and finally, nothing. Just pure darkness, like my eyes blinked and never opened again. So sudden and unknown.

Here is definitely worse. So many people were dead along the roads; There wasn't a single living thing except for this place. And Pip will eventually meet that same fate. Maybe even more cruel in this tournament of death.

I clench my fist. A king who puts people in shitty situations, taking their lives away for fun. I won't allow it. I won't let Pip go through a gruesome death. The thought of the golden king laughing at her corpse makes my blood boil. Kind of like how Cruz was laughing at my family's corpse.

I'll wipe that smirk off his face!

Clink!

"Get up, prisoners! It's your turn on the tournament of death!" a guard shouts.

My heart quickens and my throat goes dry. I see Top Knot is accompanied with his harem of angry boyfriends. He glares at me and I glare back. 

"Get up," Top Knot growls. 

I rise up to my feet, clenching my fists. "Oh, is it time for me to beat you into a pulp?" I ask him.

"You're not worthy of being my opponent."

"Last I check, your golden daddy said I was disappointed in you for getting hit by me."

Top Knot's expression flares. He steps forward meeting me face to face. "You will not insult the king, worm. If it wasn't for his orders, I would've killed you in our fight.

"Excuses. Excuses. Excuses." I take a step closer whispering. "You're weak that you couldn't kill me." I smirk. "I'll kill you next round."

Top Knot doesn't reply or retaliate. He just glares at me like any one of my opponents in the face offs. They always start throwing hands when they lose to the mind games. 

"Get him to the stage."