EVO Shift: EVO Nation Series: Book Two (14 page)

“Watch yourself, Pyrokin,” Goatee sneers. “You’ll still have to fight the Energy Aura… even without knee caps.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The four of us are huddled into a box room. The sound of music carries in from outside, and a couple of random people have popped their heads around the door, desperate for a glimpse at the ‘freaks’, as I heard one woman call us. A chain connects our collars to thick, metal hoops on the wall. We’re literally their dogs.

One of the men, the Energy Aura, stares straight ahead, zoning out, or zoning in depending on how you look at it. The other man sobs into his hands.

He catches me watching him. “This isn’t right. How can human beings do this to other human beings? EVO or Non- EVO shouldn’t matter. How can they make us do this? How can they watch us do this?” He is seriously distressed, ranting like a crazed man. “I have a wife and kids depending on me. I never got to say goodbye.”

“Shut it,” Cooper snaps at him. The man cowers away from his outburst, burying his face in his hands once more.

“What was that?” I hiss at Cooper.

“You don’t need to hear his sob story. It’ll affect your fight. Don’t go easy on him, Teds. You need to kill him.”

“He doesn’t deserve this. He has kids, Coop,” I whisper.

“And don’t be fooled into thinking they’re his weakness. They’re the only thing keeping him alive.” Cooper grabs my chin, roughly pulling my face to his. “Do you hear me? He will kill you for them. He smashed another man’s head in, Teds.”

I pull out of his grip, but take his hand. “I can’t do this.”

Boss enters the room, thrusting a lead into my collar. I choke from the force against my wipe pipe, and he tugs that little bit harder as he unleashes me from the wall chains. He drags me to my feet, and Goatee enters to retrieve my opponent.

I grab at Cooper’s hand. “I can’t do this,” I cry. This is really happening. “Cooper, I can’t do this.”

Cooper grips onto my wrists, his fingers pinching my skin as Boss pulls at me. “You can and you will.”

The door slams closed behind me. Boss holds both a handful of my hair and the lead to march me down a damp corridor with the crying man right on my heels. His sobs are now hysterics, and I have to stop myself looking back at him. I can’t see his face; the face of a father, a husband, a man who just happened to be born EVO.

Boss stops shy of some doors and allows Goatee to take the crying man ahead of us. “Take him through. I’ll just be a minute.” Goatee gives him a confused look. “English is your first language, yes?” Boss asks him, shoving him through the doors.

Pushing me up against the wall, he brings his mouth just centimetres from mine. “I know who you are, Theyda,” he whispers, his breath hot on my face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply, desperately trying to keep the fear from my voice.

“Rumour has it, that an E.N.C group have been bragging about finding the infamous Theyda Woodman, but lost her to a Tagging group. The government have been telling us that Theyda Woodman is one of the most dangerous EVO in the world, and not only that, she looks the spit of you… only, she’s a red head.” He lets a handful of my hair run through his fingers. “So, what do we know? We know that Theyda Woodman is in the hands of Taggers- she looks like you- the government want her as badly as my men want in your pants- and your brain activity is off the scale.”

“So, if you’ve concluded this, shouldn’t you have taken me to the government? If they find out that you have risked—”

“I have a funny feeling that you will survive tonight. I’m sure they won’t mind if we have a little fun with you first.” He drags me from the wall, pulling hard on the lead to choke me.

I bump straight into Cooper. “He knows who I am,” I whisper.

Boss grins at him, and then shoves me on.

***

I’m exposed to strobe lighting, cheers, and house music. Many faces ogle me, twisted with sadistic glee. Boss forces me on through the parting crowd. Someone spits on me, and another pours beer on my head. I try to protect myself from the cups and bits of food being thrown at me, but the alcohol is stinging my eyes and making it hard to see clearly.

The cage stands proudly in the middle of the floor. A transparent cube of plastic material, smeared with blood and god knows what else. The stark spotlights illuminating it show up every dent and scratch. This cage has seen a lot of bloodshed.

There has to be two hundred, if not more, Non-EVO here. Both men and women cheer, chant, and shout every derogatory name they can think up in their tiny, little minds. They gather around the cage like cats around a mouse hole.  I’m sick of being the damn mouse.

My opponent stands in the cell with Goatee. His whole body trembles as he glances around at all the eager faces. His eyes meet mine, pleading with me.

“EVO Scum!” Someone shouts from beside me, and a hand swats me around the back of my head. I slip on the burger sauce that has splattered on my leg and on the steps. The crowd roars with laughter, and Boss makes a display of hoisting me up by the lead.

Goatee opens the door, and I’m thrown in, followed by Cooper and his opponent. Five black guns swivel on runners attached to the top of the cage. The barrels point down at us, every movement we make is matched by theirs. They’re not taking chances.

The lights dim, so I can no longer see much save jostling bodies.

“Who’s ready for a fight?” shouts Boss’ voice. He sounds like a WWE commentator with stupid, pumping music accompanying his exaggerated words. “Tonight’s a special night. It’s a double whammy match.”

The crowd goes wild.

“What the hell does that mean?” I ask Cooper.

He shrugs, taking a protective stance in front of me. “It’s not good, whatever it is.”

“It’s Cry-Baby and The Mute against Fire Boy and Little Miss Freak. Are you ready?” The crowd cheer him. “I can’t hear you. Are you ready?”

The noise is deafening. Pyrotechnics alight from outside the glass and the four of us jump away from the sides. I grip Cooper’s shirt, and he reaches back to me. Our opponents huddle together, eyeing us just as we eye them.

“Are you ready for this?” Cooper asks.

I shake my head. “I’ll never be ready.”

Boss counts down from three, the collars deactivate, and a claxon sounds. I’m instantly hit with a blast to the chest. I cartwheel through the air, smashing into the side of the cage, and slumping to the ground winded. The Mute, as Boss dubbed him, aims another blast, but I roll aside, narrowly escaping his wrath. So, that’s what an Energy Aura does. A cloud of colour surrounds his frame much like that of an aura.

Cooper’s hand ignites with flames. He throws a ball of fire at my attacker, but it does little save disperse as soon as it hits his aura. The colour falters a little, so Cooper launches another fire ball, setting his arm alight. The crowd cheers and boos for whatever side they’re rooting for. It’s like something out of a twisted pantomime. The Mute pats out his arm, grabbing his cowering opponent from the corner and shoving him into the midst of the fight.

“Fight, Teddie,” Cooper shouts at me. “He can’t maintain his aura. Get him when the colour fades.”

Another blast hits me, lifting me off the floor. I slam into Cooper, knocking our heads together. I desperately try to blink away the spots that dot my vision.

“Fight back, Telekin,” Cooper growls at me again. He throws another blast of fire at both men. They both drop to the floor, missing it by mere inches. Cry-Baby still weeps, but he prepares himself to attack.

“Help me get him out of the way, and then she’ll be easy,” The Mute says to Cry-Baby. His voice is deeper than I’d have thought and authoritative with it. Cry- Baby wipes his face on his sleeve, steeling his expression.

They both attack Cooper. He’s pinned to the wall by an invisible force on his throat. Cry-Baby has his hand outstretched, and then The Mute takes over. He throws Cooper into the ceiling with such force that he slams into the runner. Cooper screams out, and blood pours on me from above. Two of his fingers land on the floor at my feet. The razor sharp runner has sliced clean through his pinky and ring finger. The crowd go wild at the first spill of blood.  Cry-Baby recoils from the fingers, looking to The Mute in disgust.

“Us or them,” The Mute shouts at him. “Do it for your kids.”

Cooper hovers above us, grasping at his mutilated hand. A small hatch opens in front of The Mute, and Boss shoves a tray full of weapons into the cage: knives, metal chain, even knuckle dusters. I race for it, extending my telekinesis to knock the tray away from his feet, but he is too fast. He has the knife in his hand; I can only imagine what he plans to do with it. I throw him back into the wall, but Cry-Baby tackles me to the ground with another blast. He appears to apologise with his eyes, but it’s too late. The knife is air borne and heading straight for Cooper.

I can’t watch him die. It’s just inches from him. I close my eyes, wrap my hands over my head and scream. I know my telekinesis bursts from me; I hear the shatter and feel the floor shake under my feet. Screams fill the air, and I open my eyes to carnage. The cage is no more. Shards of plastic have splintered all over the floor and some are embedded in corpses around the cage. Non-EVO run for the exits, clambering over each other, and screaming in fear- fear of me.

Cooper lies at my feet- alive- and very much ‘unstabbed’. “The collars,” he shouts. I grab his collar and bend the metal until it snaps open. I do my own, and then The Mute and Cry-Baby scramble from the floor in shock.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” The Mute shouts, taking my hand.

He makes a grab for Cry-Baby’s vest, but a gunshot rings out, and a bullet hits him in the chest. He falls to the ground at our feet. Another gunshot sounds out, and Cry-Baby grasps at his throat before falling on top of The Mute. Boss raises his weapon one last time.

An explosion resounds from below. The floor beneath us shakes violently, and Boss falls before he can fire again. More screams emit from the fleeing Non-EVO. I use the distraction to duck behind a table. A hand grabs my elbow, and I whip the blade from my boot. Cooper catches my wrist with his mutilated hand before I jab it in his face. Shit the bed. I nearly stabbed the stupid idiot.

Conjuring a ball of flames in his palm, he heats a piece of broken metal until it glows orange. He takes a few gulping breaths, and then places his severed finger stumps to the hot metal. He bites down on his other hand to muffle his cries. The smell of burning skin catches in my throat, but I ignore it. Cooper has never failed to impress me of late. It takes some balls to cauterise your own wounds.

“Bo’s downstairs,” I say to him.

“We’re getting out of here.” His grip tightens on my top. “Follow me.”

I pull from his grip. “I’m not going to leave her down there. She could be hurt.”

“Do you reckon she’d come back for you?”

“That’s not the point,” I hiss at him. “I’ll distract Boss, and you get out. I’ll find another way.” I jump to my feet, and Boss fires at me from somewhere in the dark. I race toward the corridor that leads to the cells, bullets hitting the walls and furniture in my wake. Cooper’s right- Bo probably wouldn’t come back for me, but I’m clinging onto whatever decent piece of myself I have left. I have to go back for my own sake.

The corridor is thick with darkness. No light seeps in at all, and I half run, half bumble my way in a blind, fumbling state. Feeling for the swing door, I notice the cold, gust of wind before I even descend the stairs. A large hole has been blasted in the wall, and the cells are all open.

Bo ushers men out through the hole, taking charge, and barking orders. She sees me and shakes her head in disbelief. A grin spreads over her face. “You’re one lucky cow, Leason. Why the hell have you come back down here?”

“I came to find you. I heard the explosion.”

She stops briefly, her brow furrowing. A dawning realisation graces her face, but she quickly shakes it off and replaces it with her stern, Bo face. However, I don’t miss her side glance or the sincere smile of thanks for coming back for her.

“You definitely have a death wish, Leason. Get your ass outside.” She slaps my shoulder and follows me out.

I scan the faces in the chaos. Where’s Cooper? “Cooper should be out here,” I scream at her.

She too scans the crowd. “Well, he isn’t.”

I left him and he was hurt. I thought he could look after himself better than Bo could. I feel sick to my stomach. Darting back into the cells with Bo’s shouts following me, I ascend the stairs once more and speed through the black corridor. Bursting through the doors into the fight room, I careen straight into Boss.

He grips my hair as I struggle, clipping a collar back into place before I can react. Dread fills every inch of me. He drags me along behind him, launching me across an open stretch of floor. “Don’t try any EVO shit with me.”

He back hands me across the face, and I stagger away with lights dotting my vision. He grabs a piece of chain and charges me, wrapping it around my neck before I can counteract.

‘Don’t panic, Teddie,’ I say under my breath, desperately grappling for my boot.

Boss’ twisted face looms over me, his arms straining from the force of strangling me. I feel the smooth handle of the blade and stab it into his thigh. The pressure on my neck releases. He shrieks out, giving me enough time to find my footing, raise my hands, and jab cross. I do as Cooper said- I aim for his throat and bingo- he tilts his head, and I smash his jaw with a satisfying thump. He stumbles backward, and I round on him again. I swing another jab cross to his ribs and chest. The shock on his face is satisfying, but short lived. I stumble over a piece of wood, and he uses my distraction to his advantage. Swinging his leg, his boot meets with the side of the head, and then he tackles me to the ground.