Little Dead Monsters (17 page)

Chapter Forty.

Allegra watched as Tiberius strolled into her chambers, Dog’s lifeless body cradled in his arms.

Dog looked so tiny and frail now, no longer the physical force he once was. Allegra longed to hear his breathing again.

She turned to Tiberius and noticed his wounds. “We need to go to the infirmary,” Allegra ordered. “You’re seriously hurt.”

His chest wounds were superficial and she mended those with ease. However the wound on his face was severe. Allegra did her best to patch it up and slow the bleeding. The gash was deep though and a chunk of cartilage had been torn out, forever scarring Tiberius’s once handsome features.

When the bleeding finally stopped, Allegra wrapped a bandage around the lower part of his face, carving out an opening at the mouth so he could speak and breath.

“I’m sorry,” Allegra said. “Your face—it will be permanent.”

Tiberius surrendered to the fact. “It’s fine,” he said. “It’s another scar added to my body. I’ve never had much use for my looks.”

“That man, Damien, he seemed to know you,” Allegra pointed out.

“Strange if he did,” Tiberius replied. “I don’t remember ever meeting him.”

He wandered over to one of the free beds in the infirmary and laid down. “If you don’t mind, I will rest here for a bit.”

While Tiberius slept, Allegra tended to Dog’s body, cleaning the blood off of him with both water and tears. She dressed the fatal wound around his neck, cleaning it first and then wrapping a cloth around it; hiding the injury from sight. 

It was hard to imagine that the body lying on the operating table once held Allegra in his arms, comforting her when she needed it.

“Perhaps I could have loved you,” she said. “Given more time.” But now, she would never know.

He was dead.

“I regret what I said to you,” Allegra whispered. “I should have never blamed Maria’s death on you and I lied when I said I couldn’t stand to look at you. It was a horrible thing to do. The world goes to hell and I spend my time taking it out on the person who loves me most.  You did your best. Please forgive me if you can.”

She wiped the last bit of sand off his hands and held them in her own while she stood and watched him with vigilance. Almost an hour passed before Tiberius’s voice interrupted her, waking from his sleep.

“He was stronger than all of us.” Tiberius said. “He was stronger than me in the end.”

Allegra nodded. “Sometimes, I feel so ashamed when I’m with Dog. I compare myself to him and realize how weak I really am.”

“There is no shame in being weak,” Tiberius said.

“Dog loved me you know.”

“I could tell.”

“I used him. I needed someone to protect me and I used his love for my benefit. He gave me physical comfort when I needed it, but when it came down to loving him back, I couldn’t do it,” she said. “Now he’s dead and I’m asking him why he loved me in the first place. I’m just a slave girl who’s a leech and incapable of giving someone the love they deserve. Everything seems so surreal. Some days Ty, I feel like I’m being punished.” She shook her head and laughed in exasperation.

“Please Allegra. His death had nothing to do with you. Don’t take it out on yourself.”

“Dog refused to look at his own reflection. He was afraid that the person looking back at him was a monster. But you know what? He was beautiful, inside and out. And now he’s gone. Another victim of this horrible place.”

She looked at Tiberius and clenched her fist and suddenly began shaking. “I had him Ty,” she said. “For once I had the courage to do something and I could have killed Ryker. It would have ended all this madness and maybe Dog would still be alive. Why did you stop me?”

Tiberius shook his head. “Ryker holds something over me and I’ve always been too much of a coward to confront him.”

“What does he have over you?”

“He has my sister,” Tiberius replied. And then Allegra understood.

She thought of her own brother and how one time, he had protected her from being bullied by four other boys in school. She was five at the time, he, seven. He stood against them all. They beat him silly, giving him a black eye and a bloody nose, but finally they grew bored and ran off to play handball with some of the older kids.

“You’re hurt,” Allegra had said.

“It’s nothing,” her brother replied, his pride clearly broken.

“What are we going to tell Mom and Dad?” she asked.

“You pushed me down the stairs.”

“But I didn’t,” Allegra had protested.

“Fine. I fell down the stairs.”

“How do you get a black eye from falling down the stairs?”

“My face hit a doorknob, okay? Can we go home now?”

“Thanks.”

“I get your dessert for a week,” he had bargained. Allegra had given him her desert for a month.

She smiled at the memory.

“You’re…happy?” Tiberius asked confused.

Allegra was aware of the inappropriateness of her smile. “It’s nothing Ty. I’m just remembering my own brother. That’s all.”

“I see.”

“I’m sorry. It’s not your fault, I shouldn’t have blamed you,” she said. “I have this bad habit of blowing up at people. The last thing I told Dog was how I can’t stand to look at him anymore. It was such an awful thing to say.”

“I’m sure he knew you cared about him.”

“I can only hope,” she said as she glanced over at Dog’s body. “Do you think he was afraid just before he died?”

“All men are afraid to die,” Tiberius said. “But some find courage in those final moments before their life ends. I remember this older man from my first fight. He was physically stronger than me. When the match started, he condemned Ryker to hell and then laid down his weapon and said, ‘My life is not worth more than yours. Do it so it doesn’t hurt.’ He got down on his knees and waited for me to kill him. He was terrified, I could see that, but when I held his head in between my hands, he seemed at peace. His eyes were closed and he was smiling. I snapped his neck, and just like that, I took the life of one of the bravest people I’ve ever seen. He was at peace when he died and just before Dog’s death, I saw the same look on his face as I did on that man.”

“He did seem at peace,” Allegra said. She paused. “I wonder if there’s a place in heaven for him.”

“Maybe.”

“Do you ever pray?”

“I’m not on good terms with God.”

“I’ll pray for him,” Allegra said. “And hope that everything he’s done in the Arena is forgiven. God must have seen how loving he was to me — that should be good enough. He deserves that happiness and peace.”

“I hope you are right.”

Allegra held Dog’s hands again and sighed. “What about Ryker?” she asked.

“He’s finished. The crowd’s turned on him, and so has his benefactor. They’re both unforgiving. The Arena can’t survive, not after this.”

Allegra disagreed. “Ryker’s not done yet,” she said. “He’s desperate for money. He’s going to try and sell me.”

Tiberius’s silence confirmed her theory. She was the fast and easy cash that Ryker needed to pay off his debts.

“I have one more chance to strike at Ryker,” Allegra said, her eyes never leaving Dog’s body. “Find out when he’ll sell me. I’m going to make sure Ryker pays. I’m going to put the final nail in the coffin.”

Tiberius nodded. 

“One more thing Ty,” she said. “Please don’t try and stop me this time.”

Tiberius agreed. “Never again.”

Chapter Forty-One.

The auction was scheduled sooner than Allegra had expected.

“I thought I would have more time,” she said when Tiberius gave her the news.

“Ryker is desperate for the money,” he said. “He’s a dead man if he can’t pay back his loan to Damien.”

“Tomorrow?” Allegra asked.

“Yes,” Tiberius confirmed. “Ryker has given me instructions to prepare the viewing room. He has four people interested: two Romanian slavers, a Japanese Yakuza boss, and one local from America.”

Allegra was beginning to doubt herself. “Can I really do this?”

“Yes, you can.” Tiberius said. “If only I wasn’t scared to act sooner, things might have been different. My weakness was my failure. Don’t let it be yours as well.”

“I would never think to call you scared,” Allegra said. “You were always so dominant in the fights.”

“It was never my life I feared for,” Tiberius said. “Sometimes love weakens a man, no matter how physically strong he is.”

“Not just man,” Allegra said. “Woman as well.”

The hallways, once filled with guards and slaves, were now at half capacity. Many of Ryker’s men were injured or killed during the riots and the lack of their presence was noticeable. Allegra felt the tiny, and invigorating, taste of freedom. She could now roam the corridors without having someone watching her every footstep.

Allegra knocked on Jacob’s door and took a deep breath. It was time.

Jacob greeted her with sympathy and offered her his condolences. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know Dog was important to you.”

“Thanks Jacob,” Allegra said. She paused. “I need your help.”

“Yes of course. Anything, Allegra, anything.”

She filled him in on her plan and how he fit into it. However when she was done, Jacob protested. He clearly was not comfortable with the idea.

“Allegra, think about what you’re doing,” he said. “You can’t. You simply can’t.”

“It’s the only way,” she said. “I’m going to be sold tonight Jacob. I can stop it, and I can stop Ryker.”

“It’ll be permanent,” he said. “Please, reconsider.”

She rested a hand on his shoulder in order to calm him. “Dog sacrificed his life and set the wheels in motion. I need to do the same and finish this. We all dreamed of putting an end to Ryker, and this is the way to do it.”

Jacob lamented for a moment before finally conceding. “I’m going to miss that pretty face of yours.”

“What do you care?” she laughed. “I’m not your type.”

“I still enjoy beauty,” he replied. “In a place so ugly as this, I take it where I can get it.”

Jacob had her lie down on his table and like a skilled surgeon, he set to work with complete focus. Allegra closed her eyes and remained motionless, her breath held for most of the time. This was Jacob’s last tattoo, she knew. In a way she was honoured, but sad as well.

It was to be his masterpiece, the one piece of art that would make it all come to an end. 

Chapter Forty-Two.

Hideo Yoshida was the first to arrive. For the most part, he kept silent though when he did speak, it was in his mother tongue, despite the well-known fact that he was fluent in English. Tiberius greeted him at the entrance and led them down the winding tunnels of the Arena. Ryker usually welcomed guests himself, but with recent events, he had grown paranoid of leaving his quarters unless absolutely necessary. He left the task of escorting Allegra’s potential buyers to a few trusted guards above the surface and to Tiberius down below.

“Mr. Yoshida would like to thank you for your hospitalities,” Yoshida’s translator said. “He has seen many of your matches and hopes to bring you back to Tokyo one day and fight in one of his underground events.”

“My time for fighting is done,” Tiberius said. If Yoshida took offence to the rejection, he kept it well hidden. Instead the Yakuza boss whispered into the translator’s ear and then respectfully nodded at Tiberius.

“Perhaps you will reconsider one day. Mr. Yoshida can make you a very wealthy man.”

“There’s only one thing in this world I want, and it’s not money,” Tiberius replied. The translator nodded.

“With respect.”

Yoshida grunted and stroked his thin bony chin with the tip of his thumb. He was dressed in a pure white business suit that hugged his thin frame. Just above the collar, Tiberius could see the blue and red inks. The Yakuza decorated their bodies with tattoos as well, though for different reasons than the slaves of the fighting pits. Trailing behind him were six men in black suits, Yoshida’s personal security.

Tiberius led them to the viewing room where four large leather chairs were set up in front of a panoramic viewing window. Beyond the glass was a circular stage hidden away behind a red curtain.

“Please, sit,” Tiberius gestured towards one of the leather seats. “The auction will begin shortly.”

Yoshida grunted again and whispered into the translator’s ear.

“Mr. Yoshida would like to know what happened to your face,” the translator said. Tiberius nearly forgot about the bandages covering the gaping hole in his cheek. He lifted his hand and gently brushed against it. The wrappings, changed only hours ago, were still clean.

“Cut myself shaving,” Tiberius replied which seemed to amuse Yoshida. He howled and slapped his leg.

“You fight for me one day,” Yoshida said, breaking into English for the first time. “I’ll give you money, women, and power.”

“I’ll consider it,” Tiberius said. “Now if you excuse me, there are several other guests I need to attend to.”

The Romanian twins were the next to arrive. Unlike Yoshida, they needed no security to escort them. They were dangerous enough on their own. They owned the largest slave trafficking ring in Romania and their rise to the top of their empire was filled with a body count comparable to a mass genocide. Rumours had it that they did all the killing themselves.

They were both enormous in size, similar to Tiberius in mass and height, and the scars on their arms and faces were a strong indication that they were well experienced in combat.

Tiberius seated the twins next to Yoshida, who glanced at them, and turned his attention back to his translator and grunted.

The burly American man, Overbrook, was the last to arrive. He entered into the viewing room smacking his lips and barking orders to his large entourage of men. Overbrook wore a powder blue suit that was two sizes too small for him and a dress shirt that was buttoned up to his chest, exposing coarse hair from his neck down which was the same shade of brown as his grizzly beard and patches of hair on his predominantly bald head.

“Those headshots that Ryker sent me of the girl gave me the sweats,” he giggled. “When I win this auction, oh the things I’ll do to her.”

He started listing off some phrases and slangs that Tiberius never heard of, but they sounded vulgar nonetheless. He immediately disliked the fat man and felt the urge to drive his fist through his obese belly and tear out his insides.

“So when does this thing get started?” Overbrook asked as he wiped the sweat off his brow with a sleeve. “By the way, your face is quite a site. You look like some kind of mummy.”

Tiberius ignored the man and guided him to the fourth and final seat, which was far too small for him. His fat spilt over the armrests like overflowing lard dribbling out of a cramped container. Overbrook’s congregation stood behind him, each one armed with a gun buried in their shoulder holsters.

Ryker finally entered into the room and glanced nervously at everyone. He walked over to Tiberius and whispered into his ear.

“If there is a problem, you and the guards are able to take care of it?” Ryker asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. I’m counting on you. Once this auction is done, I can pay back Damien and get the hell out of here.”

Ryker walked over to the viewing room’s console and began playing with the settings. Suddenly the lights dimmed in the room and the focus was on the illuminated red curtained stage behind the glass.

He greeted the bidders.

“Gentlemen, let me be the first to congratulate you on receiving this wonderful opportunity.”

Overbrook was impatient. “Get on with it already,” he shouted. “I want to see some tits.”

Ryker looked annoyed. He didn’t like being interrupted.

“The anticipation is the best part. Where’s your sense of mystery and drama?” Ryker said. “What you’re bidding on is no ordinary whore. I’ve kept her beautiful for years. She’s as pure as a baby coming out of a mother’s womb. You’ve seen her photos so I don’t need to tell you that she’s a stunning beauty.”

“Images can be airbrushed,” Overbrook said. “In fact, I do that to enhance all the photos of my ladies.”

Ryker gave him an irritated look. “Do I look like a man who spends time in front of a computer airbrushing images? Now please, let me go on with this auction. I know your time is valuable, all of you, and I don’t want to waste it another second longer.”

The translator whispered into Yoshida’s ear and he nodded in approval as he continued to stroke his chin. The two Romanians sat in silence with an ambivalent look on their faces. Overbrook leaned over to one of twins and smacked his lips. “I love an untouched piece of ass, don’t you?” he asked.

The Romanian looked at the fat American and then scoffed at him with disgust.

“Just trying to start a conversation,” Overbrook said. “No harm meant from it.”

Ryker fiddled around with the console and after a couple of seconds, the red curtain began to rise. Everyone’s interest was piqued. Yoshida had a crooked smile on his face while Overbrook smacked his lips and chewed them as if they were gum. Even the Romanians leaned forward slightly in their chairs, the first signs of interest they had shown since their arrival.

Allegra’s plan was falling into place. Dallas was the guard who was originally assigned to deliver her to the viewing room, but Tiberius made sure that never happened.

Dallas had put up a struggle at first but Tiberius’s strength was overpowering and he broke the guard’s spine with an abrupt knee to his back. Dallas tried to scream but Tiberius’s large hands muffled his mouth and nose and carried him away into the arms of death. He hid the body in the underground dumps where the rats and flies lived.

With Dallas out of the way, Tiberius escorted Allegra to the viewing room. Her head was covered in a black veil that hid her face and she was silent for the entire walk, which Tiberius found eerie. It was only when he unlocked the stage side entrance that she spoke. “This is it,” she said. “The end.”

Tiberius tried to say something but she disappeared into the darkness of the stage before he could. Instead, Tiberius closed the door behind and headed for the Arena’s entrance to greet the potential buyers.

And now, they all sat before the curtain, like chess pieces strategically positioned for Allegra’s grand finale. What she had in store for Ryker, Tiberius could only guess.

  When the red curtain was fully lifted, Allegra stood at the center of the light, veil still covering her face.

Overbrook was impatient. “Take off that thing already and let’s see that pretty face of yours.”

She complied, slowly lifting the veil for all to see. A wave of shock took everyone, even Tiberius found himself gasping.

“Christ,” Tiberius said. “What did you do Allegra? What did you do?”