Little Dead Monsters (11 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four.

Now that Garret wasn’t there anymore, Dog felt alone in the gym. He almost lost his drive to come here at all. It was then that Dog realized this fact: as much as he used the weight room to strengthen his body, he also used it to impress Garret. He wanted the old man’s approval.

The new guard they posted at the doorway seemed more interested in his phone than Dog’s workout routine, but that suited Dog just fine. He wasn’t in a mood to speak to anyone anyway.

The gym was one of the few places in the building that had a mirror but Dog always avoided looking at it. The truth of it was this: he was afraid of the man who would look back at him.

Dog was a monster in the Arena, slaughtering everyone they tossed his way. They called him many things in the pits: a demon, an animal, a barbarian, a destroyer, the list went on and on. What terrified Dog the most was that if he looked at his own reflection, he would see those very things. He finally had something to be afraid of — himself.

Some days, he was tempted to have a glance at the mirror, but he never did. Instead, he focused on the weights and the machines to strengthen him and train the monster inside to be faster and stronger, to be a more efficient killing machine.

Garret’s absence in the gym was glaring. 

“You did good kid,”
Garret had said. But did he? Dog got Garret, his only friend, killed, by asking him to save the boy...and it was all for naught.

Dog wanted to scream, but he held himself together. He couldn’t risk having the guard, who was well distracted by his phone, take notice him now. He came to the gym today for one thing, and one thing only.

“I’ll leave something for you taped underneath the bench press.”

He walked over to the flat bench and sat down on it. To avoid any suspicion, he did a set of bench presses first, performing his usual routine of ten reps with two heavy cast-iron plates strung onto each side of the bar. As he set the bar back on its resting place and returned to an upright position, he glanced at the guard, who completely ignored him.

Dog reached underneath the bench and felt a fabric pouch. He ran his fingers along its surface and made note of the packing tape holding it in place in two spots, which he slowly peeled off — doing his best not to make any apparent sounds — while watching the guard closely. When the pouch was finally free, he shoved it into his old sweaty towel and rolled it up. He completed another rep on the bench, and then walked over to the guard, calm and composed.

“I’m done here,” Dog said, clutching the smelly towel firmly in his hands.

The guard nodded, his eyes still fixated on his phone. “Let’s get you back then.”

Only when he was in the solitude of his private room did Dog open up the pouch. Inside were three items: A key, a handheld GPS device, and a note. Dog read it:

A final parting gift. The first is a key to the room where they put all the dead kids in body bags. On Monday morning after every event, they bring the bags up to the surface to burn in a giant fire pit. The second is a GPS that has the co-ordinates of every mine surrounding the city. If it’s beeping red, steer clear of it.

Good luck kid, and hopefully I can see you on the outside one day. I’ve always dreamed of starting a boxing gym. We can be the second coming of Angelo Dundee and Muhammad Ali.

— Garret

Dog read the note over and over again and only when the tears began smearing the black ink on the paper did he put it away.

“Thanks,” he said aloud, in case Garret’s spirit was still lingering around. However deep down inside, Dog hoped that the old man had already moved on from this terrible place.

Chapter Twenty-Five.

Ryker sighed and polished off the last of the whiskey. Allegra picked up the empty cup and set it on the tray for washing later.

“You know how much money I’m making from the bets Ty?” Ryker asked as he shuffled through his papers, calculator in hand. Tiberius shook his head.

“Pennies,” Ryker spat. “Dirty copper pennies.”

“Is that any different from when I won all my matches?” Tiberius said. “I’m sure you took a hit from those bets as well.”

“I adapted,” Ryker said. “I no longer betted on your wins. Instead I started odds on how long your fights would last or how many hits you’d take before the fight ended.”

“And you can’t do the same for Dog?”

“Think about it Ty. Since his first fight he’s taken only two hits, one single blow on the shoulder and a claw to the chest. With those exceptions, the matches went under a minute. I’m getting killed on these bets here,” Ryker said.

“You still make enough money from admission and there are more than just his fights to run bets on,” Tiberius pointed out. “I still fail to see why you’re so upset.”

“You’re right. The truth of the matter is, I hate his guts. His smugness and arrogance makes me want to tear his spine out and feed it to him.”

Allegra listened from the corner, doing her best to hide her concern. Ryker was unpredictable and his mind worked on such a sadistic level. She was positive that Ryker had an endgame in place for Dog already. She needed to discover what that was.

“Dog is surviving,” Tiberius said. “You can’t fault him for it.”

“I don’t care about his wins,” Ryker spat. “He’s disrespected me twice in front of everyone. Since when does an animal undermine its master?”

“You’re working yourself up in a frenzy,” Tiberius said. “Maybe you want another drink to calm the nerves.”

“I’ve had enough,” Ryker said. “It’s women I want tonight.” He turned around and stared at Allegra as he smacked his lips.

“So clean and so fresh,” the Goblin grinned.

“I’ll bring you a few tonight,” Tiberius said, trying to draw Ryker’s attention away from Allegra. “It’s better when they don’t resist anyway.”

Ryker turned his attention back to Tiberius and placed a talon-like hand on his shoulder.

“Do you miss the fighting?” he asked.

“No. That part’s behind me now.”

“You’re lying to me. I know you miss being in those pits, squeezing the life out of some worthless boy. You’re a warrior and you were born to fight.”

“There’s only one thing I miss, and it’s not the pits Ryker.”

“Always with the girl again,” Ryker sighed. “You’ll get to see her in time. I promised haven’t I? Now stop talking about her. Your pathetic feelings are such a drag.”

The look on Tiberius’s face was unmistakable. He was hurting. There was someone in his life that had imprisoned his heart in chains.

Tiberius had always treated Allegra with kindness and protected her from Ryker’s wild rampages. He deserved to be happy. They all did.

“I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a fitting end to Dog,” Ryker said. “There’s only one man I can think of that can stand up to that mongrel and win.”

Allegra bit her lip and steadied herself as Ryker slowly unfolded his plan.

“Imagine a fight between yourself and Dog,” he boasted. “A monumental clash of the champions. The payoffs in both bets and seats would be ludicrous.”

“My time in the Arena is done,” Tiberius said. Ryker grinned.

“We’ll see,” Ryker said. “We’ll see.”

Chapter Twenty-Six.

Dog saw the fright hidden behind Allegra’s tired eyes. Did Ryker attempt to rape her again? He gently nudged her inside his chamber and closed the door behind him.

She sat down at the edge of his bed and chewed on her lip, a habit Allegra did when she was deep in thought, Dog noticed.

“What’s wrong,” he asked as he took a seat next to her. “Is it Ryker?”

She rested her head on his broad shoulders and closed her eyes. Dog remained still and listened to her soft and rhythmic breathing. He wondered if years down the road, he would relive this moment in nostalgia as well.

Allegra finally broke the silence.

“Ryker is going to have you fight Tiberius,” she said. “One of you will die.”

Dog shrugged. “Then I’ll fight him and win.”

“Tiberius isn’t like the other boys you’ve faced,” she said. “He’s a killer and a champion.”

“He still bleeds.”

Allegra pounded her fist into the bed and it startled Dog. “I’ve watched Tiberius since the beginning,” she said. “He’s calculating, methodical, and patient. He spots weakness and finds ways to win. He’s killed more than you have.”

“Are you saying I can’t win?”

“No.”

Dog took in her response and weighed it. He had heard stories of Tiberius’s fights. During training sessions, Garret often used Tiberius as a reference and showed him what tactics he used and his combat techniques. A lot of Dog’s skills had the same strands of DNA as Tiberius’s. Dog was confident in his abilities, but he was also realistic as well. He found no shame if he were to fight Tiberius and lose. Luckily, if all went according to his plan, it wouldn’t come to that.

He just needed to be patient and wait for the opportune time to make his escape with Allegra, though he kept this information to himself; not because he didn’t trust her, but rather he didn’t want Allegra on the receiving end of any punishments should Ryker suspect anything.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dog said. “We’ll take it one day at a time.”

Allegra seemed reluctant to end the subject in such a manner, but she finally agreed. “I’m going out again on Monday to salvage more junk from the houses,” she said, changing the topic of conversation.

Suddenly the final pieces of his plan fell into place. Dog wasn’t scheduled to fight this weekend and most of the guards would be preoccupied manning the pits, maintaining order in the Arena during the matches. If Dog planned a visit to the gym during that time, he could take out the lone guard and escape to the surface before Ryker even knew he was missing. He would find Allegra outside and as long as he had the coordinates of all the mines, they could make their escape from Bimini.

“That sounds nice,” Dog replied.

“It’ll be good to get outside of this disgusting place for some fresh air. It’s been so long,” Allegra said. “I wish I could take you with me, to see the sunshine and the sky.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t doubt that I’ll see it again someday,” Dog said, doing his best to hide his smile. Soon the two of them would be free from this underground dungeon, and if there was a more pleasant thought in the world, he certainly didn’t know what it was.

BOOK FOUR: ESCAPE

Interlude:

From the Journal of Edmund Glaber:

December 10, 2007

Tonight, while everyone sleeps, I’ll leave the Arena and never come back. I’m taking only a few essential items with me so I don’t draw any suspicion onto myself: the GPS, a stack of bills, and a bottle of water. Everything else is expendable. The first thing I’m going to do once I’m far away from this place is head straight for a police station and expose the Arena. I’ve helped Ryker create a hell on earth, and my conscience can’t take it anymore.

My last meal with Ryker was an odd one. Earlier on in the night we were in his office and he was drinking a lot heavier than normal and for the first time, our conversation almost had a sentimental tone, which surprised me. Usually Ryker talked about business or a fight that was noteworthy and I’ve seen him exhibit a wide range of emotions with the exception of one: sorrow. That changed tonight.

“Do you think I’m immoral?” Ryker had asked me.

“No, of course not,” I lied. “You’re providing for all of us here.”

Ryker responded with a stiff nod and continued to pound away at his whiskey. “You know Edmund, you’re the only friend I’ve got in this world.”

“Of course. We’ll always be friends. You looked out for me when we were in Red Gate together, I’ll never forget that.” I meant those words as well. Ryker had created a business inside Red Gate, one that preyed on the ultimate desire of everyone in that prison: violence. He told me once that deep down in the heart of every man existed a primitive thirst for savagery that was unquenchable. I couldn’t disagree with him. I loved watching a good fight as much as any other.

Ryker exploited this and created his own empire behind those prison walls. He lined the guards pockets with money, gave all the prisoners an addictive form of entertainment, and created a separate justice system between the inmates. Any disputes and vendettas amongst the various factions in the prison could be handled during the fights, bringing a twisted sense of order within Red Gate that seemed to keep the guards happy — less work for them.

The strongest stood at the top of the food chain and the weakest…well the weakest were the ones that suffered in Ryker’s system. Ryker was a king sitting atop his pile of riches and I sat there next to him.

I felt bad betraying him. I owed him a lot. He was the single reason why I survived Red Gate Prison, and he has provided for me on the outside. But the kids…it crossed a line that was too far out of bounds, even for a scumbag like me.

Ryker had handed me an empty glass and filled it with a shot worth of whiskey. He raised the glass and looked at me with glossy eyes. I thought he was going to cry.

“A toast then,” Ryker had said. “To our friendship and whatever mysteries tomorrow brings.”

“Salute,” I replied as I downed the shot.

When we were both finished, Ryker stood up, gave me a pat on the shoulder, and then left room. He hadn’t touched his food.

My next entry will mostly be behind bars, if they’re kind of enough to leave me with my journal and a pen that is. I find that reading through the past entries, I can relive all the horrible things I’ve done. I’m always overwhelmed with such regret. In some ways, it is my confession.