“MASON! DRAKE!” I scream, “ROSS! CHASE! ALEC!”
The pain in my side makes it hard for me to stand, so I slide down the wall to my knees and keep pounding. I go to scream again, but I cough instead. Something wet flies from my lips, and I wipe at it. Blood. I’m spitting up blood. This isn’t good.
Moving around, I sit my butt on my heels, trying to get in the most painless position. I cough some more, and blood splatters the floor. Breathing is getting harder, and coughing doesn’t help.
“LET ME OUT OF HERE! PLEASE!!” I scream more frantically this time, pounding my fist against the door. I whimper. Every time I cry, blood flies from my mouth. I remember reading somewhere that if you cough up blood, it could mean you’re bleeding internally. I should’ve let Mason take me to the hospital.
No one’s coming. Maybe Lucas was right. No one cares where I am. I thought Mason would’ve found me by now. Slumping into the door, I whimper. I’m in severe pain, locked in this closet, in the building that nobody thinks about anymore, and I might die from internal bleeding.
“Please.”
Tears stream down my face as the pain in my ribs increases to unbearable. I let out a scream and put everything into it for the loudest and longest scream I can make.
As my scream dies out, I crumble to the floor, letting the pain engulf me. I always thought I’d die in the ring or as an old woman with a bunch of cats, but no... I’m going to die in an empty janitor’s closet.
Chapter 8
Drake
“Keep your phones on and call me if you find anything,” Mason orders as we split up. Chase is with me. Ross and Alec went together. Mason went off on his own, saying something about checking Athena’s spot. We search the girl’s bathrooms-when we can sneak in-, the hallways, and the field, but she isn’t there. We search throughout History class and then the third period, with no luck.
Patrolling teachers slow our search because some of our search areas, like the girls' bathroom, aren’t allowed.
Slamming my fists into the lockers, I curse. Where are you, Athena?
“Hey, man, calm down. We’ll find her,” Chase tells me, making me stop pacing. I curl my hands into fists, push off the wall, and let out a deep breath. This is frustrating and worrying. I should’ve found her earlier to ‘bother’ her and make sure she got to class okay. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
“Let’s keep looking,” he tells me. We walk through the school, peeking into classrooms and going through closets and supply rooms. We even go to the nurse’s office, but no luck. I can’t think of anywhere else she’d be. We’ve checked everywhere.
The bell rings for lunch, but Chase and I ignore it. I can’t eat or do anything until we find her. So, while I’m passing the main hall, I stop when I see Lucas laughing with his friends. “Yeah, she looked so freaked when I shoved her in. It was hilarious. I haven’t seen the nerd since then,” he tells his friends, laughing. My ears catch the word ‘nerd.’ I glare at him. Chase glances at me, pulls out his phone, and nods.
Without a word, I storm over to Lucas, grab him and throw him against the lockers. “Where is she?!” I demand, and Lucas dares to smirk. The little brat. He did something to her.
“Who?” He asks innocently. My anger flares, and I raise my fist, punching the locker right beside his head.
“You know. Where is she?” I demand, my voice deeper and my anger boiling over. My mind is yelling at me to rip his head off, but I keep my bearings. I can’t get an answer if I hurt him so much that he literally can’t tell me.
“Oh, the nerd,” he muses. “Your little pet? Well, she’s locked away in her cage where she can’t bother anyone,” he laughs. I throw my arm out without thinking, and my fist connects with his face, causing blood to spray from his nose. He shouts in pain, clutching at his nose. It only makes me angrier.
“One last time, where is she?” I growl, picking him up and slamming him into the lockers again. My guys hold back Lucas’s friends as I stare him down. Lucas looks up at me with fear in his eyes.
“New wing of the school. Janitor’s closet,” he points at the double doors at the end of the hallway. I don’t even bother with anything else. I take off running to the part of the school that was always empty. The sound of people running behind me makes me glance back. Mason and the guys are following, which I expected.
We reach the empty wing doors, and I tear away the “DO NOT ENTER” signs, shoving the door open. A loud, pain-filled scream runs through the air, and the hairs on my arms and neck stand up.
“ATHENA!” Mason yells, pushing past me. I run after Mason, and we stop when the scream dies down. There are several doors along the hallway, just like the other school hallways. Why didn’t we think of this earlier?
“Search each one!” I order, taking the first door as they pull open others. My heart thumps wildly in my chest as I run to a door. I turn the handle, and it’s unlocked, but no Athena. I see the guys have no luck either, and they move to another door.
I move to the next door I can find. It’s locked, and the handle won’t budge. I put my ear against the door. Heavy breathing and sobs filter through the wood. The sound of her cries makes my chest tighten as I shove at the door. “She’s over here, guys!” I yell, and they immediately crowd around me. “Athena, can you hear me?” I yell through the door.
Silence.
I pull and turn the doorknob again, but it doesn’t budge.
“Athena, it’s Mason. Can you hear us?” He calls through the door. It’s silent again for a few minutes, the breathing or the sobs gone. Maybe it wasn’t this door. Perhaps it was my imagination desperate to find her. God, I hope not.
“Mase?” A rough yet weak voice asks, and relief washes over me.
“We’re here,” he calls, pushing at the door.
As if realizing that we’re here, she cries out, “Get me out!” Everyone moves back and looks at the door. The only way to open it is to kick it open.
“Athena, move back if you can. I’m going to kick it in!” I call out. When I think she’s had enough time to move, I kick in the door. It shakes but doesn’t budge. I kick three more times before it flies open and light filters into the small room. There’s Athena, lying on the ground with tear stains on her cheeks, no shirt, and spattered blood around her. Did Lucas hurt her?
“Athena!” Mason pushes me aside and scoops his sister into his arms.
She curls into his arms and sobs. “M-Mase, my r-ribs. I think... b-bleeding int-ternally,” she whispers through her sobs, but it’s loud enough that I can hear it.
“No, no, no, no. We need a hospital,” Mason panics and picks her up, making her shriek in pain. Mason carefully holds her to his chest and runs out of the closet. He runs right past us and out to the parking lot. We follow behind him and see him looking around. I’ve noticed they always come to school on foot. Later, I’ll have to fix that.
“Get in!” I yell, pointing at my car. Mason lays Athena in the back seat before climbing into the passenger seat.
The guys all climb into Chase’s car as I pull out of the parking lot. The hospital is ten minutes away, but I make it in five by flying down the roads and speeding through lights. I swing into the Emergency Room parking lot and screech to a stop in front of the doors. Mason picks up an unconscious Athena and runs into the ER.
“Help! I need help!” Several nurses leave their stations and bring a gurney.
“What happened?” One nurse asks, looking at Mason as he lays Athena down. Mason holds onto his sister’s hand and looks at the nurse.
“Someone mugged her on her way home from the store last night. We thought her injuries weren’t severe, but she was spitting up blood,” he tells the nurse, who looks horrified. Jumped? I watch the nurse unwrap Athena’s ribs. A large purple, red, and black bruises run along the left side of her stomach.
“Did she report it to the police?” The nurse asks, writing this all down.
Mason shakes his head. “I asked her, but she said that it was
too dark to see them so that it wouldn’t matter,” he tells her, and she writes it down. Worry washes over me as I stare at the fragile angel in front of me. I reach out and brush hair from her face, wishing this had never happened to her. If I find the people who did this, they’ll wish they’d never laid eyes or hands on her.
“Dude, isn’t that where you hit Cinder Wolf last night?” Alec whispers in my ear. I glance down, and my eyes widen. It is. She couldn’t be Cinder Wolf, could she? I look down at Athena again, noticing she and Cinder Wolf are about the same height, have the same body type, and have a similar facial structure. But the CW has blue eyes and different hair; also, she’s more confident and feisty. Well, Athena has brief glimpses of feistiness.
Before I can respond, the nurses wheel Athena away, and I turn to Mason. “So?” I ask, not knowing what to say. He closes his tear-filled eyes and drags his hand through his hair.
“She needs surgery, but they- they d-don’t know,” he stutters, fear in his voice. He walks to the waiting area and slumps down into a seat. When I look at Mason, I see a man who’s losing everything. I walk over and sit down in the chair next to Mason, gripping his shoulder.
“Was she really jumped?” I ask, the words tumbling out of my mouth before I can stop them. His head snaps up.
“W-what do you mean?” He asks. I look back at Alec, silently asking if I should question Mason. If I can find those responsible, I can help, but you need to tell me if it was something other than what you said.
“You know that I’m an underground fighter, and I was in a fight last night with our mutual friend. My opponent knows you and Athena, and I hit the girl exactly where Athena got hurt,” I tell him, speaking softly so that no one hears. If she is Athena, I’m going to feel terrible.
Guilt washes over me at the idea this could be my fault. Mason sighs and lays his head back. By now, all the guys are waiting for Mason’s response. “Our stepmother won’t buy either of us a car, so we have to walk everywhere,” he says. “Alisha and Lexi forced me to stay home last night, so I couldn’t go get groceries with Athena,” he sighs, putting his head in his hands. He takes a few deep breaths before continuing, guilt heavy in his voice, “It was getting late, so I went out to look for her. She was in an alley near the store, and she was all beat up when I found her.”
Sighing, I run my hand through my hair. “It wasn’t your fault, Mason. I’m sure she’ll be fine,” I encourage, making him lift his head. Something in his eyes tells me he’s relieved, but there’s still a glint of fear. Fear for his sister or of something else?
Leaning back, I look at the guys. They still look unsure, too, just the way I feel. I don’t want to doubt Mason, so I put it aside for now. What matters is Athena. I wish we weren’t just sitting here, though. I peer at Alec, who’s mulling over something, probably the connections between Athena and Cinder Wolf. Ross bites at his fingernails, his leg bouncing quickly. Chase paces back and forth in front of us, anger tightening his body and fists. I probably look a mixture of all three.
My mind races, thinking of all the possibilities. My hands itch to hit something, so I clench them into fists. My teeth grind into my bottom lip. My leg bounces up and down.
Waiting is the worst.
~*~
“Athena Hale?” A nurse calls after hours of us sitting, pacing, and praying. We all stand, and the nurse looks at us with surprise, her eyes flicking between us.
Mason steps forward. “Is my sister okay?”
The nurse looks down at her clipboard and back up. “She’s responding well to the surgery. She’s fortunate you brought her in when you did, or else she wouldn’t have made it,” the nurse says. Mason groans, then sighs in relief. My body relaxes a bit before it tightens up again. I could’ve lost her. We all could’ve lost her.
The nurse flips the sheet on her clipboard. “She’ll have to stay a few days for monitoring. She’s asleep now, but she can have visitors,” she tells us and points down the hallway. “Go straight down, then take the first right, and you’ll find the elevator. She’s on the third floor. Room 224,” she instructs, and we thank her. We follow her directions and file into the elevator.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mason fidgeting. He wrings his hands, his feet shuffling and his body practically vibrating. “Hey, it’s okay. They said she’s fine,” I tell him, grabbing his shoulder. He shakes his head.
“I know. I just need to see her- need eyes on her.” I know what he means. Sitting in that waiting room for hours was driving me crazy. I wanted to yell at the nurses for taking so long, but I tried to stay calm by hiding my worry, pushing it down. At one point, it got so bad that I went to the bathroom and punched the stall door twice, creating a fist-sized crater.
The elevator dings, letting us know that we’ve reached the third floor. We spill out of the elevator and follow the sign telling us to go left. 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, 222, 224. We stop in front of the door, and Mason pauses, too, surprisingly. I thought he’d walk right in. He just stares at the door for a minute, muttering something before finally pushing it open and peeking in. When he waves his hand, I follow him in with the guy’s right behind me.
Athena is lying unconscious, on the white bed with an IV in her arm. Mason pulls a chair up to the bed and sits down. I do the same, and the guys sit on the couch by the far wall.
“Please, wake up,” Mason whispers, kissing her hand. No one says anything after that, just silent wishes for her to wake up and tell us herself that she’s okay. We just sit here, watching her. Her chest rises and falls slowly but smoothly, unlike it had earlier. The machines next to her beeps steadily. Her body lays there, silent and still.
It’s driving me crazy- sitting here, not able to do anything. Nothing at all but stare.
A couple of hours later, I stand, and Mason looks over at me when the time comes. “We have to head out,” I tell him as I glance at Athena. He stands too, not as fidgety as before. Maybe just seeing his sister has helped. It helped me if only a little. Fighting tonight will do more for me than it’s ever done before. I have worry and anger to burn off.
“I’m going to stay here. Thanks for helping. I’ll put in a good word for you,” Mason tells me, and I smile for the first time since they told us she was okay.
“Thanks, man, I hope she gets better. We’ll stop by tomorrow,” I tell him, pulling him into a bro hug, then pulling away. He nods and sits back down. I don’t want to leave until I know for sure that she’s okay, but we’ve already scheduled a fight tonight, and we can’t back out.
Time to fight.
Chapter 9
Drake
“Dude, where’s your head?” Ross asks, slapping the back of my neck. I shake out of my trance and climb out of the car. My fight went well, but it didn’t help as much as I would’ve liked. I beat the poor guy senseless. I can’t stop thinking about Athena lying in that hospital bed. One question runs through my head. Did I put her there?
“Sorry, I was just thinking,” I say and walk up to the house. I pull out my keys and unlock the front door. The guys follow as I walk in and go straight to my room. Once I’m in my room, I close the door and sit on the edge of my bed, keeping them out. I drop my face in my hands.
When’s she going to wake?
I need to talk to her and get answers. I feel that Mason wasn’t honest, but I can’t ask him. I need to ask her. Will she freak out if I asked her? Will she get mad? What if she isn’t Cinder Wolf? Then what? Then the real Cinder Wolf would probably kill me for ‘messing with’ Athena. However, I don’t see her stepping up to protect Athena now.
Flopping back on my bed, I groan in frustration. I turn my head and look through my window to Athena’s room. The memory of her dancing in her room makes me smile. She’s so... cute and innocent looking, but is that who she is? Or is she more? I want to find out what she’s hiding but not hurt her like she thinks I will. The need to help her, to protect her, builds inside my chest, but I can’t do that if I’m in the dark.
> I’m pulled from my thoughts by a knock at my door. “Come in,” I call out, and Chase walks in. He’s no longer in his fighting clothes, but now he’s in a shirt and sweatpants. I sit up.
“What’s up, D?” He asks, seeing right through my facade. He takes a seat at my desk and watches me.
“How do you always do that?” I groan, falling back and running my hand through my hair out of habit. I pull at the strands and stare at the ceiling. He always knows when there’s something wrong.
He chuckles. “I’ve known you for fourteen years, man. I know when you’re trying to hide your feelings,” he tells me, and I nod, sitting back up.
I explain my thoughts and the connections I see between Athena and Cinder Wolf. I tell him about my worry for her and Mason’s fidgety behavior, then look up at him. “His excuse sounded too rehearsed like he’d practiced it a million times. It’s just- Chase, what if I’m right?” I blurt out, and he raises his eyebrows. I don’t think I could live with that on my conscience.
He thinks about it for a bit, rubbing his chin before realization crosses his face, and he looks at me. “Well, the Cinder Wolf wasn’t at the fights tonight,” he relays, and I remember not seeing her either. That’s not what I want to hear. Chase rested his elbows on his thighs. “But that doesn’t mean she and Athena are the same person,” he reminds me with a shrug. It proves nothing, though.
“But what if they are?” I ask, panicked. “She’ll hate me for hurting her!” I’ve never hurt a girl before, and when I fought Cinder Wolf, I thought it’d be okay since she fights many people. Now, I think it was a bad idea since she’s likely Athena. Ugh. This possible double life is making my head hurt.
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