DANE'S GIRL

CHAPTER SEVEN

I glanced at the fork that laid on my plate, and back at the man who smiled at me. His face was a few inches away from mine, his hot heavy breath on my face. His eyes searched mine, as if they held the answers to all his questions. He moved even closer, and my face flushed in anger. A chill crept up my spine as his fingers slightly brushed my face. 

"Fascinating," he stared at me with wonder. 

I grabbed the fork and stabbed him in the eye, my chest heaving. He stumbled back and groaned in pain just as I was pushed to the ground by two Terrors. He cried out in pain and yanked the fork out forcefully. I smiled when I saw the blood gush out. He crashed the table beside us, sending the trays of food clattering to the floor.

"Princess," the voice drowned out my thoughts and I blinked. 

The grey eyes came into my vision as he stared at me curiously. It wasn't real. It was a scenario I'd built up in my head. I squeezed the plastic fork in my hand and snapped it into two. His gaze shifted to the broken fork, and he smiled. 

He caressed my face softly. "The look on your face tells me how much you wanna kill me."

I took in deep breaths to calm myself. It would all be over if I took a swing at the leader right then in the cafeteria. I had Melo to think about. It would hurt him if I was taken away from him. I needed to come up with a plan, one that wouldn't put him in danger. Melo's frail fingers wrapped around mine and I turned to him. He looked terrified. I clasped my hand around his to keep him from shaking and gave a little smile. 

"Dane, what brings you here?" Rae asked after a few seconds, breaking the silence. 

He glanced at her. "It's my kingdom." 

His voice was harsh and menacing, as if wondering how she had the audacity to question him. 

"I'm sorry," she caught the subtle change. "It's just, you're rarely down here." 

"Nothing worth my presence was here," his gaze turned to me. "Until now." 

I ignored the stares around me, my gaze solely on Melo as I tried to calm him down. 

"Really?" I could feel Rae's smirk. 

Dane's weird interest in me was tethering on my last nerve. The last thing I needed people finding out my real identity before I had my revenge. It was too dangerous. 

I turned to him with a smile. "Well, if the king would kindly go back to his throne so we can get back to our garbage food, that would be highly appreciated."

"Outland bitch," Topper fumed and raised his hand. I threw my body over Melo's, as I waited for the impact. 

I popped an eye open after a few seconds to see Dane's eyes filled with fury as he held Topper's hand. Topper looked scared and bowed his head slightly. 

"What did I say about touching what's mine?" he said through gritted teeth. 

That right there was the Dane Arkkan I had heard so much about, the monster that led the Terrors, killed and enslaved hundreds of people. The monster who had no human emotion and killed anyone that stood in his path. The man who killed my mom.

"I'm sorry," Topper said, his head hanging low. 

He released Topper and exhaled slowly. His hand ran through his hair and I couldn't help but follow the movement. His black hair fell across his face as he ruffled it. It reminded me of the first time I met him in the truck. I gritted my teeth, if only I'd known.

His gaze landed on the table. "Carla," he called.

His voice was low but because the room was deadly silent, the cafeteria lady heard him and rushed to him. He grabbed my tray of food, emptied it and swung the tray across Topper's face. I gasped loudly in shock, as the whispers started around us. 

Topper groaned loudly, hitting the floor, as the blood oozed from his temple. I shielded Melo from the sight quickly. Dane dropped the tray loudly and turned to Carla who trembled slightly. 

"Carla," he wrapped his arms around the poor woman's neck.

"Why do you serve food even dogs wouldn't eat?" his tone was low, deadly. 

"It was Mr. T-Topper's orders. He said that was the food fit for slaves," she mumbled. 

"If we feed them, they rebel Dane. We can't have a rebellion on our hands during such important times," Topper stood up slowly, his hand on his head.

Dane looked at me quickly, and in that brief moment, I saw something in his eyes; anxiety. Dane Arrkan, leader of the Terrors was anxious. But it was gone in the next second, leaving me wondering if I imagined it. 

He walked towards Topper, his eyes burning with fury. "I give the orders around here, not you. Me!" 

Topper bit his lip tightly, his fingers folding into fists as he heaved. He looked like he wanted to say something but held back. Nobody dared breathe, the air went till as silence filled the room. 

"I apologize," he said, after a few seconds.

Dane turned to Carla. "Change the menu," he glanced at me. "Give them something dogs wouldn't reject." 

"Yes, sir," she muttered. 

With that, he turned and walked out the room without looking back. 

"Fuck!" Topper yelled in anger.

He gaze met mine as he stalked towards me. He banged his fists on the table as he glared at me.

He touched his temple. "This happened because of you. I'm going to make you regret the day you met me, Outland bitch," he paused and glanced at Melo who shook like a leaf behind me. 

"Look forward to it."

My heart dropped to my stomach. I didn't like the way he looked at Melo. I held onto him tightly as he walked away.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" he yelled at a prisoner, hitting him across the face, sending him crashing into a nearby table. 

"Oh. My. Gosh," Zapphire said, breaking the silence. 

Zirconia shook her head. "I knew she was bad news." 

Rae stared at me with... pity. I couldn't understand it, and for the umpteenth time, it felt like she knew something I didn't. Could that have been why Dane was nervous earlier? I tried to ignore the stares around me and focus on the only person I cared about; Melo.

"It's okay," I said softly, hugging him tightly.

The chatters slowly resumed in the room, only this time, I felt their eyes on me, as they whispered furiously amongst themselves. A pair of feet came into my view, and I looked up. Amora's gaze bored into mine. She held up her tray over my head as the food slid down my face, dripping down my shirt and jeans. She threw the tray away and folded her arms. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I gasped.

"You have brought nothing but trouble since you stepped feet here," she said. 

I wanted nothing more than to smack her right across the face, wiping the stupid smirk off but I felt the stares on me, Melo crying behind me and I knew nothing good would come out of dropping to her level. It would only make Melo more of a target.

So, I turned to Alijah. "Take care of Melo."

I didn't wait for a reply before walking towards the exit. 

"Where do you think you are going?" a Terror asked, blocking my path. 

He was a huge guy and easily towered over me. He cocked his gun loudly and I took a step back. 

"Bathroom," I pointed at the porridge on my body.

"No bathroom breaks allowed," he said and pointed back to the room. "Go eat." 

A Terror rushed up to him in that moment and whispered something in his ear. 

"Alright, you can go," he said, stepping out of the way and motioning for the other Terror to follow me. 

I cussed under my breath clutching my hair, when something caught my attention. In the middle of the arena was a huge stage surrounded by a tall cage. I paused and crouched, pretending I was tying my shoelaces as I took in the scene. On the far end of the arena, I noticed several weapons, arranged according by their sizes and types and was under lock and key. Guarding the weapons were two Terrors, weapons on their sides.

Weapons. I needed weapons. 

If there was any chance of me making it out alive, I had to get my hands on those.

"Are you done?" the Terror asked. 

"Almost," I fiddled with my shoe as I stared at the cage, trying to come up with a plan. 

"Okay, we're late," he said, and I stood up. 

We walked in silence after that. 

"That's a big stage," I brought it up cautiously. 

He stared at it and nodded. "It's used every month for a tournament." 

My ears sprang up in curiosity, but I was careful not to let it show. 

"Tournament?" the liquid was starting to slide in uncomfortable places. 

"Yes, a death tournament."

"Death tournament?" I asked. 

 "Yeah. People challenge each other and fight to the death."

He stared at the stage wistfully. I could see a twinge of guilt in his eyes, and I moved closer. 

"Why would anyone want to do that?" I asked.

"Cause the winner gets to go out to scavenge or be a guard," his expression fell. "Like me." 

"Scavenge?" my voice rose to an octave. It was impossible for me to hide my curiosity in that moment. 

Was it the scavenging team Rae mentioned? 

"Yeah," he shook his head, as if getting rid of the bad thoughts and turned to me.

"Let's get a move on, otherwise the Terror back there is going to be mad." 

I paused. "Aren't you a Terror?" 

He laughed. "Hell no."

"Is there a difference?" I asked. 

His gaze hardened, and I knew I'd struck a nerve.

"Well for starters, a Terror wouldn't have this conversation with you."

"Yeah, sorry."

It would be stupid of me to burn bridges with the only person who was willing to give me some information. We walked in silence for a few seconds. 

"You participated in the tournament, didn't you?" I asked.

His face fell, and I saw the guilt in his eyes.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry," I could tell the guilt was eating him up from the inside.

"I was challenged by someone to fight to the death during the tournament. I couldn't turn it down," he looked away.

"It was either to kill or be killed."

"It wasn't your fault," I said.

"Yeah, right," he laughed without any emotion. 

"Being a guard was not something I wanted to do," he paused and stared at me.

His eyes shook and his lips trembled slightly. Guilt. They were clearly there, and I could tell he felt bad about taking a life. 

He shook his head and turned away, wiping his cheek. "I did what I had to do to survive." 

I nodded. Survival, that was something I understood more than anything. It was either him or his opponent, and he chose to live. I couldn't blame him for that, not that I was in any position to. 

"We've all done terrible things to survive, it doesn't mean we're monsters," I paused. 

"It just means we have what it takes to live in this awful world we find ourselves in." 

His eyes searched mine carefully and I smiled.

"Besides, if you feel that guilty about it, it means your humanity is still intact," I said. 

Deep down, I knew I was telling myself those words, and I wanted so badly to believe it too. 

"Thank you," he said. 

I nodded. If he believed it, maybe I could try to believe it too. 

"I've wanted someone to tell me that," he smiled sadly. 

"Better late than never," I turned and started walking. 

I bit my lips and considered if I could ask the important questions without him being suspicious at that moment. He seemed receptive and I was willing to take the risk. 

"You are Dane's girl, aren't you?" he asked before I could open my mouth. 

"Fuck no," I said, a little bit loudly, attracting the attention of two Terrors smoking on the bridge. 

I cleared my throat and lowered my voice. "No, I am not Dane's girl," I said through gritted teeth. 

"Everyone seems to think so, especially since he killed a Terror for you, and you know, announced to the entire Inlands that you are his," his eyes scanned me slowly. 

I muttered a series of cuss words under my breath and took in a deep breath. Time was running out, the bathroom was in view and I still had no answers to the questions I was dying to ask. 

"Have you been assigned a group?" he changed the subject, cutting off what I wanted to say. 

"A group?" I asked. 

He stared at me in surprise. "Nobody told you?" 

I looked at him blankly and he sighed. "Listen up, we don't have much time." 

"There are five groups in here; the kitchen, disposal, chores, guards and scavengers," he whispered. 

"How do I get join the scavenge team?" I interrupted. I was running out of time. 

He paused and stared at me. "You don't wanna do that." 

"Why?" I fiddled my hands. "I heard it was the best." 

"The scavenging team is the last group you wanna join, trust me," he said. 

"Why?"

A loud horn blared out and he sighed. 

"It's time for bed," he said, just as people trailed out of the cafeteria. 

"The scavenging team-." 

"Look, if you want my advice, pray you get assigned to the kitchen. It's the best team you could join that doesn't involve sacrificing your morals, friends, dignity," he paused. "Or your life." 

It was a warning. 

"You need to go." 

 A friendly warning. 

"Wait-."

"Now."