Page 58 of Faithless
I heard more yelling, thuds that sounded like kicks and punches, and began sliding from my barstool. “The hell is going on?”
Andie’s head snapped around. “Don’t get involved.”
I heard an electric crackling sound, like a taser or cattle prod, then a yelp of pain.
My feet carried me toward the dark corridor, not wanting to believe what I was hearing but too horrified to stop. “Are they beating up a gladiator in there?”
“Sir, please!” A maid jumped in front of me, then lowered her eyes meekly. “You are an esteemed guest here, please do not bother yourself with the staff’s disciplinary actions—”
“Excuse me.” I went around her in a wide circle, fearing I’d be too rough if I’d touched her, because I was already seeing red.
It wasn’t her or Andie’s voice I heard anymore, yelling at me to stop and not get involved. It was teachers at school and other sixteen-year-olds like me, trying to pull me back from a defenseless kid getting ganged up on by bullies.
This situation wasn’t any different. I’d gotten too many black eyes, broken noses, and bruised ribs of my own to let that kind of humiliation happen to someone else, no matter who they were. From the moment Shadow put a dumbbell in my hand and told me to pick it up and put it down over and over again, I knew I’d use the strength I’d gained for those who couldn’t defend themselves.
The lighting was dim in the colosseum’s underbelly, so I followed the sounds to a dark corner. Sure enough, four of the male colosseum staff stood in a circle, surrounding someone crumpled on the floor. One had his taser out in his hand.
“Can’t believe this little bitch killed the Animal,” one of them sneered, then spit on the man on the ground. “You call yourself a fucking gladiator?”
Another one kicked the guy who, to his credit, didn’t scream or beg. Come to think of it, he hadn’t said a peep except for when he got tased.
All four shitbags were so preoccupied with the guy on the ground, they didn’t even notice me walk up to them. Most bullies were like that, as I’d found out over the years. Pea-brained and single-minded.
I snatched the one asshole’s taser first. He barely had a moment to look up in surprise before my fist crashed into his jaw. He whirled away like a spinning top, and only then did his friends get the memo.
The next guy that came for me got his buddy’s taser right to his fucking gut. I kicked his knee so it bent in the wrong direction with a satisfying crunch. His scream gave me wicked tinnitus, but I still had two of the gang to deal with.
They tried to arrange themselves in front and behind me, typical dumbass bully behavior that I’d seen a thousand times. I backed up to a wall and lifted my hands, feigning surrender. As I expected, the dumbfucks thought they had me cornered and lowered their fists.
“You’re a guest?” one of them said, gawking at my clothes. “Why are you getting involved? This doesn’t concern—”
My left hand snapped out with the taser while my right fist connected with the other guy’s nose. Both guys went down, one convulsing from electricity, the other groaning as blood spurted from his face.
None of the four dickbags were mortally injured, though they were in a world of pain. I stood in front of the gladiator they’d been beating up, blocking their path to him while they watched me with wary, confused eyes.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” asked the first guy I’d hit, rubbing his swollen jaw.
“Could ask you fuckers the same thing.” I dropped the taser and shook out my fists, resuming a fighting stance. “You want more? I got all fucking night.”
“You’re gonna get kicked out of the resort,” hissed the one whose knee I fucked up, listing heavily to one side. Okay that might be semi-permanent damage, but I wasn’t sorry. “And you’ll be blacklisted from ever coming here again,” he went on.
“Aw, damn. Can’t wait to go up to my room and cry about it.”
“You really have no idea what you’ve done.” The four of them started edging toward the doorway, keeping their eyes on me like I’d pummel them again if they turned their backs.
“You’re gonna regret this,” another one of them echoed.
“Oh no, I’m fucking shaking.”
They weren’t amused by my deadpanning and slunk out the door like the slimy pieces of shit they were. Only after I no longer heard their footsteps scurrying away did I turn to see how their victim was faring.
“Hey. You alright?” I held my hand out to the guy, but he ignored it.
Rather than accept my help, he scooted back to use the wall as a support. One hand pressed to his ribs while he slowly stood to full height, his face grimacing, although he still didn’t make any sounds of pain.
“They were right, you know,” he growled at me in a low voice. “You made a big fucking mistake jumping on them.”
“Well, you’re fucking welcome, I guess. Didn’t know you liked having your ribcage used as a soccer ball, but I’ll remember that next time.” I turned to leave, not offended or entirely surprised by his reaction. The sad thing was, some victims of bullies didn’t always believe they deserved help.
