"You ready for this?"
No one had asked her that yet. Suddenly Abby Kyle felt her stomach clench. Was she truly ready? Was anyone ever ready back here their first time?
She was born into the generation that learned to smell what the Rock was cooking and to raise hell with Stone Cold Steve Austin. She wanted to be Lita and Trish and Chyna; they were tough, they stood with the boys. In them Abby saw her own tough exterior mean something other than countless jokes and disapproving glances from her mother. Pro Wrestling taught her that there were no rules in this life and so there was no reason that could stop her from being a wrestler.
There was of course more to it: a crappy gym tucked on a New York side street, her father tending to her first broken nose while her mother fretted from the corner, spending money on scalped tickets and seats in the nosebleed section. The years before were a collage. Some of it was blurred and mixed, a jumbled jigsaw with forgotten names; other bits were as vivid to her as if they'd happened that very day. The travel, the people, the work, the blood, the sweat, had it all been enough?
Abby focused back on the backstage tech who looked at her expectantly; she clenched her clammy hands and nodded slightly.
"I…I think so…"
He chuckled a bit and then went over what would be happening for her entrance. It faded into white noise as she'd heard it all for close to a year now on NXT. They'd play the RAW theme as they came back from commercial with some fact of the night, the commentating team would chat and welcome the TV audience back, and then her theme would hit. It wasn't all that different from her time on the other program but this…this was RAW. This was so much more.
As her music hit Abby's heart jumped up into her throat and she forced a smile on her face before stepping through the black curtain. The crowd roared to life as she headed down to the ring, slapping held out hands and taking in the energy. The huge New York arena dwarfed the NXT training center. Here you felt every person's gaze on you, felt everyone's excitement. It was infectious.
"How you doing, New York?!" A cheap pop sounded from the crowd. "It is fantastic for me to be back in my city and here on RAW with all of you! But I'm out here now to talk to one very specific person: Paige. Like it or not, Paige, we have unfinished business. I earned my shot at the NXT Women's championship before you ran over here to claim your spotlight and man. It was a smart move. It was brilliant, to be honest! But it doesn't erase the fact that I want my shot…and if you're feeling really daring, it won't be for that NXT belt."
The crowd cheered behind her, eager to see action, and for a shining minute she felt untouchable.
It was quick. The Titantron flickered as though someone had knocked a button in the back and then the lights went out. The audience was deafening now. The noise discombobulated her in the darkness and her nerves were on high alert. Something wasn't right. Her gut told her she had walked into a very dangerous place. Abby felt like caged animal suddenly.
A face flickered to life on the screen and her pulse quickened, fear pulling at her stomach.
"New York…we're here."
The low bass twang of the song unnerved her all the more as the trio walked down to the ring. Bray's face was illuminated by the garish light from the lantern and every so often it trickled back enough to show the dead stares of Luke Harper, the plastic baby blues of Erick Rowan's mask.
She couldn't run. The arena was pitch black. Fighting was out as well. A few kicks might connect, maybe a punch, but the three men would tower over her small frame. The sinking realization only grew as they got closer and closer to the ring: she would have to stay right where she was.
When the lights came back on, she tensed as though ready to run, and only found that the two large men had flanked either side of her in the now waited for their leader to enter the ring. Abby trembled as she watched him, their scent of pine and tobacco invading her senses. Still she kept a stoic face on, her brow only furrowed slightly in confusion. Would they be above hurting her? To be honest as much as she knew of the Wyatt's from their weekly appearances she had no idea their morals at all. Perhaps the uncertainty was the worst part.
Bray's face had that smile on it. It was part friend and part fiend. It was impossible to tell how the man would react until he did and by then you were just another victim. Abby avoided stepping back as he stepped toward her; instead she held her ground though some of it had to do with the fact that her legs felt like jelly. She was sure that if she took a step she'd collapse.
The leader reached his hands forward and took the mic she had been holding in a white-knuckled grip. Bray's free hand then brushed a piece of hair from Abby's face softly; it jarred her how caring his look seemed, how open and knowing he gazed at her.
"Look at you…you have been missed. You have been missed by us all but I never doubted. I never doubted, not once that you would follow the buzzards and find your way home. Welcome back to us, Sister Abigail." At that Bray dropped to his knees in front of her, praising her like some messiah, and Abby's eyes widened in shock. She felt nauseous with his pining gaze on her. The heat from the lights felt like it was melting her, the crowd too loud and the men too close. It was all too much.
Abby bolted forward desperate to take advantage of the moment and get out but she had only taken a few steps past Bray's form when she felt herself yanked back. She stumbled backwards and into Luke Harper's large frame with her back pressed against his chest; he smelled of sweat and oil, and he smiled manically down at her as his fist held a large chunk of her hair.
When she looked forward again, still tight in Harper's grasp, Bray stepped forward once more. He now look disappointed, some type of honest sadness in his eyes. She might have taken pity if it weren't for the fact that she was directly in his line of fire.
"And now you run? You run from us—you run from your family…I watched you die and now I watch you rise again like a phoenix from her ashes. Beautiful, young and yet so lost…lost lamb, I am your shepherd as you were once mine so many years ago and it is my promise that I will bring you back where you belong…"
Abby let out a yell as he yanked her forward, bending her back over his knee for his devastating finisher. She squirmed desperately to get out of his hold, but he held her in an iron-like grip, staring down at her. His loving gaze had now turned cold and empty. All she could do was brace herself.
Sierra, Hotel, India, Echo, Lima, Delta. SHIELD.
Bray's body tensed at the theme music and he pulled her back up so Abby now stood in front of him like a barricade. She watched as the 'hounds of justice' made their way through the sold out crowd and into the ring; the masks made them look more like monsters than men but she would have much rather been in their corner than the Wyatts. Still, staring at them now did nothing to calm her nerves. For all she knew they would let this continue, from the frying pan straight into the fire.
Dean Ambrose bent slightly and picked up the mic Bray had dropped when he grabbed her moments before. He spoke very little but his words were firm and flooded her with an odd sense of relief.
"Give us the girl."
Bray chuckled, his chest vibrating against her back; it froze the blood in her veins. For a moment she doubted he'd comply. Then he loosened his grip on her slightly before shoving her forward. Abby stumbled into Seth Rollins who steadied her, keeping her at his side as the two groups glared daggers at one another.
"This is the beginning of the end, my friends! Our sister shall rise and you will all burn!"
Bray's manic laughter reverberated inside of her, gripping her insides even as the Wyatt's stepped back and headed up the ramp. She couldn't stop shaking, pressing herself against Seth in an attempt to fade away. He glanced back at her but her eyes were glued on the man at the top of the ramp who simply blew her a kiss.
Author's Note:
Though probably assumed, I own nothing you recognize as WWE. Abby Kyle, however, is a creation of my own imagination and is therefore mine. It's been a while since I've written anything let alone published anything wrestling related so bear with me. The Wyatts and the SHIELD are two of the best things the company has going for it so I couldn't resist. I do hope you guys enjoyed it and would love some feedback!