Page 31 of Tainted Essence
Unlike this bastard, I’m not here fighting for cash, I’m here to release my demons from their cage so I can focus and clear my mind until they pull me back under their blanket of darkness.
“You know the drill, fight until one taps or you knock the other out.” Riley looks between me and the fucker as he finishes speaking. “There are no kill shots, am I clear?”
“Clear,” I grit out through clenched teeth, not taking my eyes off the fucker who is clearly pinging on some shit right now.
“Yeah, sure thing.” The smug tone of his voice tells me he doesn’t plan to stop, he wants me dead. Taking out the underboss of the Re Della Strada would earn him a lot of points in the streets.
“Let’s make this a clean fight, Kevin,” he says while shooting the fucker a hard look. “On my mark,” Riley says as he steps back a few steps. “Fight!” he roars, sending the crowd into a chorus of screams and cheers. Kevin and I begin circling each other. The fucker stops moving and crouches down against the hard dirt. I stop and watch him closely expecting him to launch himself at me.
“Die, you Canadian scum,” he snarls, then the cunt throws a handful of dirt in my face blinding me temporarily. The wind is knocked out of me when he takes me to the ground, all I can do is cover my face and weather the blows right now. I know this is a no rules fight but no one fights dirty like he just did to win. Pain riddles me, my already tender ribs scream in pain when he lands a solid punch to my side, pulling a pained groan from me. I try to buck my hips to knock him off, knowing I can’t take too many hits with his fucking brass knuckles.
“Tag team!” I hear someone scream a second before Kevin grunts and flops to the ground beside me. I drop my guard and look up with wide eyes at the sight of Destiny standing there with her hands taped and no hoodie to hide her identity. Kevin’s growls forces me to clear my mind as I push to my feet and hide Destiny behind me, but it’s pointless as a jar head looking fucker comes to join Kevin.
“No mercy, bitch!” the cunt sneers at her.
“Touch her and die, motherfucker,” I vow.
“Fuck this,” the woman in question snaps before rushing forward, closing the space between her and them before I can stop her. Just before she is within reach of their hold she drops to her knees and slides along the dirt leaning back slightly. Before she can skid through the gap between them, she punches them both in the dick!
I cringe, both of them howl in pain and drop to their knees cupping their cocks. She’s quick on her feet and spins around landing a roundhouse kick to the side of Kevin's head before maneuvering the opposite direction and doing the same to his partner. I stare at her, utterly fucking stumped. Her gray-blue eyes are alight with hunger. She flips Kevin onto his back and leaps on top of him delivering blow after blow to his face. He grabs her waist, prepared to throw her off him.
I dart forward and lift my foot, stomping down on his face. I feel the bones of his nose crunch beneath my foot. His partner tackles me from the side, this time I manage to roll out from under him and jump back to my feet. There is no pause or hesitation when we both rush each other, delivering blow after blow to the other, my adrenaline keeping me from any type of pain as I release every ounce of pent up rage I have inside me on this cunt.
My demons have escaped their cage and are wreaking havoc.
Destiny
The bastard bucks his hips and sends me forward. I tuck and roll quickly jumping to my feet so I’m not at a disadvantage. His nose is fucked, blood is smeared over his face from my hits. I smirk at the size of the large lump on the side of his bald head from my kick.
“I’m gonna break your fucking neck,” he vows.
I lift my hand and wave him toward me mockingly. “Come at me, big boy,” I taunt. He releases an ear piercing roar before he runs at full speed toward me, there is no way I would be able to take a full-forced shoulder blast from him. I force myself to remain planted where I am, I can see the gleeful look in his eyes as he gets closer thinking he has this fight in the bag. A fraction of a second before he can make contact, I take a step to the side and drop down doing a leg sweep, taking his legs out from under him. He hits the ground hard with a loud grunt and skids along the dirt. I press forward and jump on his back but the fucker shifts at the last second. Panic thrums through me when he takes me to the ground.
I force all my fears to the back of my mind and allow my instincts to take over. I feel like I black out for a second when his fist clips me across the cheek. Before the pain has a chance to register, I shift beneath him and get my arm around the back of his neck and throw all my weight backward as I get him in a guillotine choke hold. It takes every ounce of my strength to keep this hold on him. He pushes up from his knees and uses his upper body to slam me back into the ground, using every ounce of strength he has.
They might not be paid fighters like you but these people have no choice but to win, learn from their determination and watch how they push the limits to win. They will sacrifice anything to win because their life depends on it. Yours doesn’t, keep that shit in mind.
Taylan’s words from earlier play out in my mind. This is life or death, if I slip or release him there is no doubt in my mind he will kill me. If the sacrifice I have to make is my humanity, then so be it, I will not allow this bastard the satisfaction of taking my life from me. I close my eyes and release a scream so feral a wild animal would be proud of me. My hold on him tightens. I can feel his strength depleting as I continue to cut off his oxygen supply. I see the faces of the men I killed flash behind my closed lids and pray to anyone who is listening that I don’t have to add this juice head’s face to the list I see when I close my eyes.
“Slayer!” Taylan’s voice sounds so far away, I can’t let him distract me. Another wild scream tears from me.
“Tap out!” I scream.
“He is! Let him go, baby.” I feel hands gripping my cheeks. I snap my arms open to see worried blue eyes peering down at me. “He’s tapping, baby, let him go.” I frown for a minute until I feel the weak tap of a hand on my back. My eyes widened in horror. I release him and crab crawl backward away from the juice head. He coughs and gasps for air as he flops forward against the ground. I sit here staring at him, I made him tap.
I made him tap out!
“Slayer?” I look at Taylan who is looking at me with worry in his eyes. “Come on,” he prompts. I look to his outstretched hand and hesitantly take it, letting him help me to my feet. I sway slightly. He pulls me against him wrapping his arms around me. “Deep breaths, take a second to ground yourself.”
I take his advice and breath in and out allowing the rush of the fight to work its way out of my system. I always get worked up when I fight but I have never in my life felt this powerful. Whenever I fight I always go in with a clear, level head but at some point through the fight I black out and this other person takes over. My dad says I have an alter ego and gave her a name.
The very name Taylan calls me.
“I’m okay,” I say after a minute and push back from him. He runs his gaze over me, then reaches up and brushes his fingertips over my cheek. His eyes darken, then he pulls back ready to go beat Kevin again but I reach out and pull him back by his arm. “Take me home,” I say quietly. I see him warring within himself, he wants to oblige me but that caveman part of him wants to beat the shit out of Kevin for laying his hands on me.
“You never come back here, am I clear?” He’s voiced it as a question but he and I both know he isn’t asking me, he’s telling me.
“Okay.” At my agreement he interlocks our fingers and walks us toward Riley. When I see all the phones with their flashlights on, I cringe. There is no doubt that they are posting that fight, I would guesstimate I have at least an hour tops before my dad is blowing up my phone. Taylan stops in front of Riley who hands us our things. Taylan never releases my hand.