I braced myself, knowing another punch was being launched my way. I was too exhausted to even attempt at a dodge, knowing it would be unsuccessful and I would just get knocked down again. Why did I even sign up for this? Oh yeah, I had no money and this was the only thing I really could do besides prostitution. The large, built man in front of me had this smirk on his face, one I wanted to punch off but couldn't.
I didn't know what made me think that going for triples was a good idea. I would get more money in less time, but I wasn't used to fighting continuously without pausing. As soon as I finished off the first guy, they sent in another, and then this last one. Surprisingly enough, the last guy was the weakest, but I was just too tired from getting beaten to move around much. This guy knew a lot of moves that I had mastered.
I attempted to pull a lock on his heel but before I could fully bring my foot out, he swung his foot out and caught my heel, applying pressure to the tendon and twisting my knee, causing me to fall flat on my back. I held my arms in front of my face and waited for the incoming blow. To my surprise though, nothing came. I slowly moved my arms to look and saw a hand reaching for mine.
In the crowd all I heard were variations of "what are you doing?" and "take that bitch down!". He was still holding out his hand and I took it. He pulled me up to my feet and backed up across the ring.
"I'd never hit a lady that's down. Don't take it to heart, girly!" An uncomfortable blush settled on my face when I did take it to heart. Before he could try anything, I steadied myself again and held up my fists, bitterly thankful that he didn't bash my face in. This made me look weak although I was internally satisfied by his hospitality. I pulled myself back towards the other side of the ring to mimic the man that had just helped me.
The crowd outside the cage roared and pushed against the metal chain of the cage. Money was being handed around and joints were being shared. I observed my surroundings, noticing that my situational awareness was particularly low at the moment. I was still somewhat winded from the fall but quickly shook it off. The man started a slow jog towards me, hands still guarding his face. I pulled up my fists as well and slowly started towards him.
There was this nervous look in his eye, I could see it. It must have been guilt for fighting a girl that was smaller than him. I gave him a weary smirk and threw a punch right at his nose. His hands, of course, blocked it and grabbed my fist, pulling me towards him. With my free hand, I grabbed his shoulder to steady myself and kneed him in the stomach. He released my fist and fell, clutching his stomach. The man didn't get up, but he was still wriggling. I looked at my knee and wondered what I must've hit to cause that much damage.
"AND HE'S DOWN!" The voice roared over the speakers and two, much larger men, came in to retrieve the man from the ring. Another man, dressed in a blue dress shirt with dark, ripped jeans, came and held my hand up.
"AND OUR WINNER IS- MARCELINE THE VAMPIRE QUEEN!" I squeezed his hand and he gave me a sweet look, which I returned with a smug smile. He knew that I was only doing this because I had no other means of making money. He waited to let me recieve a mixture of sighs and cheers from the crowd, all based on who made what bets.
"Alright, Marce, lets go get you your pay." With that, he led me out of the cage to a room I always had vaguely recognized. There was a safe in the wall, clearly cracking off at the edges but too heavy to actually pull out. He opened it quickly and handed me a stack of cash. I stared down at it with a smile.
"You know, I think you're overpaying me." I told him with a wide grin.
"You know I am making well enough profit from entrance fees every night." He held out his arms and gave me a hug. Oh how I loved Simon. He was an aging man, and was even a little 'out of it', but sweet as candy. He ran this place, but didn't promote violence. Pretty ironic, right? So many times he had offered me a room in the apartment building he owned, but I always declined. I didn't want to be dependent on him forever and keep sucking the money out of his pockets.
"Thanks Simon." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and started to leave before I remembered something. "Hey do you know where my last opponent went to?" He stood there for a moment with a hand on his chin before what looked like a breakthrough struck his mind. "First door to the right." I nodded and waved to him one last time before leaving and shutting the door behind me.
I opened the rickety old door that had 'infirmary' scribbled onto a plaque with sharpie marker. Inside, I saw the boy lying on an undoubtedly old table with an aged woman at his side. She smiled up at me and motioned for me to sit next to her.
"You must've kneed him pretty hard, Marceline. He's been throwing up quite a bit but can't really say anything. I think he might've had an ulcer or something." She put a hand on my arm. "He's really a sweet boy. You should talk to him when he wakes up."
"I don't like to make friends with my opponents, Betty." I reminded her. "But he did give me a fair fight and I returned the favor with this." Betty patted my back. "Marceline, you didn't know that this would happen, I can assume." I gave her a smile and watched her as she walked out of the room.
The man didn't look like that much of a man with all the sweat, dirt, and blood wiped off his face. He looked to only be seventeen or eighteen. His features were soft, with cheeks that were somewhat puffy. Tucked under his white beanie were some scrappily cut blonde locks. I sighed and wiped an eyelash from under his eye. He grabbed my wrist. I realized that he had been awake, watching me observe him. His eyes were a sweet blue, something I didn't notice under the heavy set cage lights. He sat up and let go of my wrist.
"Why are you here, Marceline?" The way he said it made me feel so upset.
"To fuck you up some more buddy!" I held up my fists in mock-defense. He chuckled and held out his fist. "I'm Finn." Since he already knew my name, I just bumped his fist with my own. He slowly pulled it away and made a nerdy explosion noise as he did so.
"Alright well I gotta go, Finn." I told him. He nodded and stood to hold the door as I left. What a gentleman, I thought. He must be fighting just for the same reasons as me.
As I left the cage room, I started to walk up the stairs to exit into the alley. Little did I know, there were about four men waiting for me in the alley. They look innocent enough, sitting against the wall smoking some joints together. I gave a somewhat nervous cheeky grin and waved to them when I got closer, but one grabbed my arm. As reflex, I sent my other fist to hit his face but it was caught by another one of the men.
"The fuck are you doing?" I half-screamed at them. I started to flail and kick, but they just lowered me onto my knees, still holding my upper arms. The two other men neared me, one had long blonde hair that fell to the middle of his back. He had blonde stubble just above his lip. The other was bald except for a horridly cut mohawk in the middle with hair dyed white above dark brown roots. He smiled down at me.
"Marceline the Whore Queen." The blonde man next to him giggled. And by giggled, I mean giggled like a little stereotypical schoolgirl.
"Go fuck yourself." I paused. "Or better yet, go fuck each other." The guy with the mohawk nodded and one of the men punched me square in the back. I grunted and attempted to shove them off, but they were huge. Like bigger than ninety percent of the cage fighters. My back started to ache and I knew a bruise would form later.
"You've been fucking with my betting, Ms. Abadeer. I've lost a pretty penny because of you." He walked closer to me and kneeled down to be at my height. "I think I should just get my payback here and now. If you know what I mean." His breath reeked. It wasn't the nice smoky smell of a joint either, it was pure torture. My heart sank when he said that. He wouldn't.
Unluckily for me, I was wearing incredibly accessible clothing due to fighting. Just some skinny track pants and a sports bra. My hair was tied in a ponytail, which he yanked upward to make me look at him. One of his eyes was somewhat squeezed shut, but I didn't think he meant to do it. It must've been something that happened to him, I thought.
He moved closer to me, putting his lips on mine. I would've thrown up in his mouth, if I had eaten anything today. He motioned for his men to pull me up onto my feet and he pressed himself against me. I couldn't do anything and he just kept advancing on me.
"You know," He paused to undo his belt. "You're a very fine young woman. Bet you're still pure, aren't you?" He ran his calloused hand down my stomach to the hem of my track pants. I could feel silent tears falling down my face as the rest of his men watched in horror. I don't think that they expected this to happen. He removed his belt completely and I closed my eyes, fear of what was to come.
But what I was expecting didn't happen. He kissed my cheek and whipped where he kissed with the belt. It stung so much, but I heard it more than I felt it. I could feel the tears pouring now as his men dropped me onto my stomach, one was obviously being more gentle, trying to make sure I didn't fall too hard.
"Now, if you don't stop winning your fights, I'll make sure you receive exactly what you were expecting." He snapped his fingers and his men followed behind him to his car. I laid there, crying for what seemed like hours. I could call the police. No, that would make things worse, I thought.
I was nearly asleep, curled up in a ball, when I heard someone walking closer to me behind me. The footsteps were light, nothing like the manly footsteps of that guy's men. My body ached too much to even turn around. The next thing I noticed was a soft touch on my cheek and the look of perfectly manicured nails. The woman's hand turned me to face her and an extreme look of worry was on her face. She helped me up and put an arm around me to support me.
"I'll take you back to my place." She said, but it was so quiet I barely heard it. I nodded slowly, not even caring who she was.