Fighting For Life

by Kylie Alyssa Forte

  “So, like I said yesterday when you were fighting B, there is no biting, hair pulling, or scratching, and no cheap shots. If you step off the mats during a fight at the underground, you forfeit.” He paused as I winced and glanced at Tommy as he examined my body.

  I turned my attention back to Aiden and he continued, “The money we get paid with is from the bets that are placed on the fights. The more people who bet, then obviously, the more money you get paid. There’s also a tournament that starts sometime in April and lasts until sometime in May. The cash price is quite hefty; it was fifteen thousand last year.”

  He paused as I whimpered at the sore spot that Tommy grazed.

  “Sorry, Aubry,” Tom said and placed an ice pack on the spot gently. He guided me backwards and helped me lay down. “I’ll be back.”

  My attention returned to Aiden. “Um . . . so yeah, the tournament is by invitation only. Trey only lets the best compete for that prize.”

  I nodded in understanding just as Tommy came back into the room and stood behind Aiden’s chair.

  “You have to be accepted to get added to the fighting pool as well. If he doesn’t think you’ll do good, or bring in enough revenue, he won’t let you fight. Though, since I’m training you, he’ll probably give you at least one shot. That means that you have to win your first fight though. If you don’t win and impress him, then you won’t get accepted into the pool.”

  I thought over his words as we all sat in silence.

  Tommy then stood in front of me and gave me a head evaluation. I wish that he could tell me what was wrong mentally, and not just physically.

  Finally, Tommy stepped up and held out a pill for me. “This is an oxy,” he spoke slowly. “It will work better for the pain that I’m sure you’re having. We don’t usually give people pills, but you need it.”

  I took the pill gratefully and swallowed it with the bottle of water he gave me. “Aubry, you need to go to the hospital. This is awful.”

  “Thank you for the pill,” I said, ignoring his advice.

  “Well, that was obviously a pointless statement then,” he commented aloud. I shrugged in response. “You really should go to a doctor; I can’t stress that enough. I’m pretty sure that you have a mild concussion. Plus, there are several ribs that are absolutely broken, and there’s not much I can do other than hope they’re healing correctly.”

  I nodded in understanding; obviously, I’m not going to a doctor.

  “This is all falling on deaf ears.” He sighed exasperatedly.

  “Look, I appreciate your advice, but I can’t go to a doctor,” I said slowly. “I can’t afford it, and they’ll start asking questions. So, I really appreciate your concern, but I can’t.”

  He groaned, “Okay.” He shook his head. “Can I offer you the advice of no strenuous activity then?”

  I looked at him like he was crazy. “Do you think I’m here just because I enjoy gyms? I’m here because I need to train. I need the money from the pool. So, I’m really sorry that I’m being annoying and stubborn, but I can’t follow that advice either.”

  Tommy rolled his eyes and turned to Aiden. “Look. Whatever this is, is stupid; but whatever she is involved in is obviously fucked up and she needs the money.” Tommy looked at me over and cringed. “However, she has a concussion. Do not let her get hit! Aiden, I’m serious. No sparring with her for at least five days. I’ll reevaluate her each day, but concussions are serious.” He then turned to me. “Do you hear that Aubry? They’re serious, so you will listen to that advice.”

  “Yes sir,” I replied with a goofy grin, making him fail at hiding his laugh.

  “Keep the ice on for twenty minutes, and be sure to ice them before you leave too.” He looked at me and shook his head. “How you’re even walking around is beyond me. You must be one tough girl.”

  I smiled at his statement and laid back to get comfortable.

  “I’ll come get you in twenty minutes. You’ll learn blocking and dodging today. Even if you could spar, you aren’t nearly ready to do so. This week will be dedicated to the fundamentals. You seem to pick up things pretty quickly, so if you catch on quick enough, by next week you’ll be ready to spar. If you need the money that badly, sparring is going to be the best and quickest thing to get you ready for the Underground. Rest up, I’ll be back in a bit,” Aiden said with a hard face.

  I didn’t have to be told twice. My eyes immediately shut, and I was out like a light.

  Chapter Eleven

  Livid

  “Okay class, your homework over the Thanksgiving break is to read chapters seven and eight,” the teacher said, making everyone groan loudly.

  I, however, didn’t. In fact, I barely even heard the woman speak. I had other things on my mind such as the miniscule amount of sleep I had been running on over the long week, the little bits of food that I had to scrounge around daily, and the fact that my ribs felt like they were practically shattered.

  Oh, and let’s not forget that I had a ruthless drug lord and his psychotic brother keeping their tabs on me.

  But yeah, homework was definitely on the top of my list. I rolled my eyes at my thoughts.

  The bell rang, signaling that it was officially Thanksgiving break. I was happy to not have to go back to school until the next Monday. However, it was barely Tuesday.

  What was I supposed to do for the days that I was supposed to be in school? Especially over a damn holiday? Everything was going to be closed, everyone was going to be busy, and I was going to wander around aimlessly in the chilling weather because I had no home or family to be with.

  That’s lovely.

  I gathered up my stuff and felt a sharp pain in my left side. My ribs were slowly starting to get better, and I was sure I wasn’t helping with how much physical activity I was participating in—not that I could really help that.

  I grunted at the pain and made my way out of the classroom.

  I did not, however, expect some idiot to be posted up right outside of the door. Since I wasn’t paying any attention to what I was doing as I exited the classroom, I ran smack into them, and they pushed me to the floor.

  I groaned in pain when I fell. I looked up with a heated glare directed at the idiot.

  Of course, it had to be the psycho girl that I had been avoiding all week long: Bridget.

  “Oh, just the girl I’ve been looking for all week,” the blonde-haired demon in front of me said.

  I sighed as I finally began gathering my stuff back up, much to my ribs’s disapproval.

  “What do you want Bridget? I’m late, so make it quick,” I stated and stood up. I was quickly pushed down again by a short redheaded girl who was dressed similarly to Bridget.

  I looked up at the girl, about to twist her arm into an arm lock before I was interrupted.

  “No, you stay down there below me; it’s where you belong,” Bridget said, pushing me down harder with her shoe.

  I cringed slightly because of the pain in my ribs as she did it, but I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of seeing the pain she caused me. I really wanted to try the new leg sweeper move that Aiden had taught me just a few days before, but I knew if I did anything to the girl, then I’d be the one in trouble, not her. Even with all the witnesses gathering around to see what was going on, I was clearly the lower class, while she was the pretty princess.

  I caught sight of Brandon in the crowd. His face was stern as he looked on, he seemed like he wanted to jump in and stop the girl. I simply shook my head at him to make him stand down. She had been stalking me all week. I figured if I let whatever she wanted to say to me out, then she’d finally leave me alone.

  “I don’t know what you said to Aiden to make him quit talking to me, but whatever it is, you need to un-say it to him. You had no business even talking to him, much less ruining our relationship. Fix this, or I will make your life a living hell.”

  “Oh sweetheart,” I said quietly, making her look at me in confusion. “It’s a little too l
ate for that one.” I shrugged at that fact.

  Bridget huffed at me and dug her heel further down into my torso before she strutted away from me. I wanted to laugh hysterically at her. She was trying so hard to be scary, but after my run-in with Daniel, that interaction was simply comical.

  I heaved a sigh and slowly got up from the floor. Some people were still watching me, but most had dispersed when Bridget left. I avoided everyone’s gazes and practically ran the whole way to the gym to make up for lost time caused by the stupid blonde monster.

  When I finally made it to the gym, I stuffed all of my crap in there and rushed to the training room.

  Aiden was already there, waiting for me to arrive. He raised a questioning eyebrow, probably because I was a complete mess, and I was late.

  Over the week, we had developed a nice little routine each day. I’d arrive, he’d help ice my ribs, let me sleep while it thaws, then get straight to work. It was like clockwork, and the bit of sleep I was allowed to have made me not so strung out and cranky.

  It had been a long, hard, grueling week. It was full of physically-demanding things, mentally-draining days, and lots and lots of pain. I was damn proud of myself though. I made so much progress in just a small week that Aiden had been training me. My experience in getting hit and seeing different techniques throughout my life—combined with my desperation and determination—seemed to really work well for me.

  Plus, it had officially been a week since Tom said I couldn’t spar. My concussion symptoms had disappeared, and I was finally allowed to start fighting other people! I was excited yet very nervous. My pain was still real and obviously present, and I was nervous to get even more hurt.

  Still, I just used that as a motivation factor to not let myself get hit. I couldn’t let myself get hit.

  After Aiden placed the ice packs, he sat on the chair in front of me which was very unusual. “So, I think that this Saturday will be a good time to take you to the Underground and introduce you to Trey.”

  My eyes widened in shock at that statement.

  “Usually after he assesses you, he’ll schedule you for the next weekend. That gives us a week and a half to get you ready for your first fight.”

  I nodded slowly, suddenly feeling very nervous.

  “That is why when I’m gone these next few days for Thanksgiving, Brandon and Tommy will be training you from eight in the morning until three in the afternoon. I’ll be back Thursday night, so that means on Friday, depending upon how well you’re doing, you’ll start sparring the more advanced fighters. Today, you’ll start off with the beginners.”

  “Alright . . .” I said, feeling a little bit unsure of myself, but I knew that I needed this.

  As soon as our conversation was done, I let my eyes close. I was about to drift off to sleep when I heard a loud voice booming through the room.

  I groaned and opened my eyes in frustration.

  “Aubry, just beat the shit out of that girl! Just one hit from you and I’m sure she’ll go down,” Brandon said excitedly.

  “Brandon, what the hell are you talking about?” Aiden asked in exasperation.

  “Bridget! She is a psycho bitch that someone needs to knock down a few pegs. She was all over Aubry today because you aren’t talking to her. She’s going to turn into another Amber if this doesn’t get taken care of,” Brandon said really fast.

  “Brandon!” Aiden yelled at Brandon harshly, making the latter look sheepish.

  “Sorry, that wasn’t supposed to come out,” Brandon said, looking actually mournful for his words. “Anyways, Aubry . . . just knock her out. I’m telling you, one hit, and she’ll be done.”

  “Brandon, use your brain. If a girl like me hits a girl like her, I’d surely be thrown in jail for assault or something. Besides, isn’t her dad like some hotshot businessman or something? I’d be done for before I even touch her,” I told him with a shrug. “Besides, I can take whatever she gives. She doesn’t scare me. So, she can push me around, hit me, talk shit to me, it doesn’t matter.”

  “Wait, she hit you?” Aiden asked with his eyes widened.

  “No, she basically just stood on me for whatever dumb reason.” I once again shrugged. “Look, I’m not worried about it, so you don’t have to be either. She’ll get bored eventually. Besides, if she’s fixated on me, then she’ll leave everyone else that she usually terrorizes alone, including you, Aiden.”

  “It’s not okay, but I’ll figure something out about it. She’s insane.”

  We all agreed on that.

  Because of the stupid Bridget situation, I missed my nap. I didn’t ever get much sleep, so the sparse time I got was extremely cherished. As a result, I was also cranky that I missed my nap. No sleep equals a very unpleasant Aubry.

  Using my frustration from my lack of sleep, I beat the girl that Aiden had paired me up with within moments. I was quick and she was not, so when she went in for a punch, I very easily swept her feet and kicked her stomach. She tapped out after my only kick.

  The next sparring match wasn’t quite as easy, but it was still a piece of cake. The girl that he had me up against that time was much bigger than me, but once again, I was faster. She got one hit on me in my face. That certainly didn’t feel good, so to keep it from happening again, I continuously kept punching her over and over again, unrelenting until she was down. Thankfully, it only took about half a dozen hits for that to happen, otherwise, I might have felt badly for hurting her too badly. She wasn’t one of the Underground fighters; she was just someone who was training at the gym.

  The next and final sparring match was with a boy. He was only sixteen, but he was massive. He was a few inches taller than me, and at least over a hundred pounds heavier. This fight was supposed to be tougher—Aiden let me know that. He was already impressed by my other fights, so he wanted to see what I could do in a totally uneven match.

  As soon as the boy got up to the mats that I was already standing on, he was aggressive. He made rude gestures towards me and said offensive things. I wasn’t really paying any attention to it though because I was focused on the fight, not the extras.

  However, before Aiden even called out for us to start, I was still stretching when the boy rushed me and slammed me to the ground harshly.

  As soon as I hit the ground, I yelped and could no longer breathe. My vision blurred, and I felt like my whole body was on fire.

  That fucker just body slammed me before the fight even began.

  I was suddenly livid.

  ***

  Aiden

  Aubry was doing amazing. Honestly, it was like this girl was a natural-born fighter. She was making some of the people who had been training for even a couple years look awful in comparison.

  When I decided to put her up against Owen, a big sixteen-year-old guy, it was purely to see what she could do. Owen wasn’t the best fighter, but he was strong as hell. I wanted to see what she could do up against someone with pure strength. She’d have to play it smart.

  Tommy and Brandon walked up and stood next to me as Owen was making his way to the mats. They were incredibly impressed by Aubry too. Someone who was picking up techniques and skills as fast as she was, was completely unheard of. It usually would take at least a few months to get to the point where she was.

  I looked at both of them for a moment, acknowledging their presence. Then I turned my attention back to the fighters to begin the match. However, when I looked back up, I got angry. Not just angry, but Hulk-super-smash-angry.

  Owen had run up on Aubry, who was completely unsuspecting and slammed her small body right into the mats. I immediately saw red. Aubry was little, and this was a big guy. For him to throw cheap shots like that was completely and totally uncalled for and messed up.

  “What the hell?!” I screamed at the boy as he stood over Aubry, who had yet to move. As soon as I stepped one foot onto the mats, Aubry pushed herself up with a groan. She gave me a look that made me stop in my tracks and then turned a menacing glare at the
boy.

  With no words, not a single one, she threw her fist at the boy’s face with a power that I had never seen before from her. She hit him four times in the face. When he doubled over in pain from her hits, she began kneeing him in the stomach. As his body hit the floor, she stomped on his chest.

  My eyes widened at her brutality. He deserved it though.

  She stood over him waiting for him to get up, but he didn’t. He was out cold from her savage attack. I didn’t feel even the least bit sorry for the fucker.

  “Oh my God! That was incredible!” Brandon said as Tommy gave her a fist bump when she walked over to where we were standing. They were obviously just as impressed as I was.

  Aubry, however, was still frowning deeply and breathing hard. She wore a deep look of disdain and anger on her face.

  I still couldn’t believe that he had done that. I also couldn’t believe that she had done that either.

  “Aubry?” I asked, feeling concerned over her silence. “Are you okay? He slammed you pretty hard, your ribs must be killing you.”

  She nodded but didn’t utter a single word. She inhaled deeply and made a strangled noise in the back of her throat. I wasn’t sure if the noise was in pain or anger, maybe both.

  We were all worried about her. Over the past week, we had all gotten to know her personality a little bit better. She was shy, awkward, compassionate, blunt, honest, and feisty as hell. The way she was right then was certainly not her usual self; it was a side that I had yet to see.

  She finally turned away from all our stares, not answering any of our questions. She walked over to the closest punching bag and hit it with a glower. The bag swung violently, but she didn’t relent; she just continued to hit the bag over and over again.

  My eyes stayed glued to her form. She was fundamentally correct in her stance and techniques, and I could see right then that she had that natural ability in her. She was a beast; I had never seen her hit so hard in all the times that we were training. It was amazing to see how far she had come in only a week.