Another fight.

It seemed as if Allistor grew even antsier as the days passed, each fight collecting me a decent sum of money that would always go to repaying his debt to the family. I made no complaint, since he would let me bum money from his family, but it was pretty frustrating; I soon began spending more time with Lili and Vash once again, stealing food from grocery stores and markets. One of my final matches was coming up soon, as the season was coming to end. If we hadn't paid back his debt, there was going to be a problem; I was certainly not becoming a whore for some old man and his lackeys. I sat on the bench inside my locker room, I could hear all of the obnoxious chatter going on outside in where the boxing ring was. I ignored it, though, as Allistor had Ludwig rubbing my shoulders. Berwald was sitting with me, the two of us playing a game of poker. We never really talked very much, but he was a great person.
"Royal flush." I said, throwing my cards down, his face not once breaking suit. He simply threw his hand, and I shook my head; he taught me how to play and I always beat his hands, no matter how often we played the game.
"Ludwig, where's Allistor?" I asked, taking a drink from my bottle of water. I was always nervous when he wasn't around, because he was my charm. He was my little bit of confidence that I always had standing by my side. It would be horrible if he didn't make it to my final match, wouldn't it? I pushed the thought from my head, though my nerves were suddenly acting up. I stopped them, though, staring at my hands lightly. There was a pretty diamond ring sitting on my left hand, the band white gold with "NAK" carved inside: Natalia Arlovskaya-Kirkland. I closed my eyes swiftly, taking a deep breath; jitters gone, Hell swirling in my stomach until I was ready shaking with small anticipation. Who was I going against once again?
Right, Ludwig's brother, Gilbert.
He was an albino about six to eight years my senior, and though he was not small like I, he was still in my weight class. I saw him once waiting outside the gym for Ludwig and talking about how awesome his little brother was for training. I was only looking out the window, but I did notice his odd hair and fancy eyes, red like strawberries, ripe in summer air. Berwald smacked my back, leaving a red mark in the shape of his large hand. I nodded my head, pulling my hair back into a ponytail with my favorite white ribbon, pulled on my gloves, and slipped on my jacket. It was a beautiful green, my name on the back- "ARLOVSKAYA N." in a text format I was not aware of. Allistor loved the color green, and that's why he bought me the robe in that color. I ignored it, though, and was thankful either way.

The crowd cheered obnoxiously, their screams making my ears ring as if they were full of bells. I climbed in; the announcer gave my stats, and then gave Gilbert's as well. We met together in the middle and shook hands- an odd act that most males never did with me- and he gave me a light punch to the shoulder.
"Kick some ass, girly." He chuckled, walking back to his corner. I only rolled my eyes; of course, through what I thought to be kindness and respect, he had to add something so idiotic to the end. How distasteful.
"Natalia, he won't go easy on you. Give it your all and be quick on your toes to dodge." Ludwig whispered quickly into my ear, earning a glare from the older brother. I simply nodded my head and shoved my bitepiece between my teeth and stood, waiting in the middle.
The bell rang and Gilbert's fist made connection to my jaw in that instant.
I stepped back, absolutely shocked by the sheer force he put into a first punch! I grit my teeth, my brow knitting together in absolute frustration, the crowd suddenly silent. Gilbert held a look that was almost apologetic on his face as I stood, stunned by the simple quickness of his strike- I shook my head before slamming my foot into his ribs, knocking his breath from his lungs and earning a gasp. He stumbled back as much as I had and his smirk flashed again, his feet twisting and turning into a swift forward step. I shuffled my own feet, keeping my weight forward in case it was necessary for me to go in or move quickly- he caught onto my plan, because soon he was top heavy and prepared to snatch me if I moved too suddenly.
It turned into a very strategic fight, and I had to get in close. I shifted no weight, but charged forward, raising my fist to strike. He raised his arms up to cover his face quickly, noticing too late that, as part of my plan, I slammed the heel of my foot into his stomach; moving his arms in instinct, I shoved my fist into his jaw and felt my knuckles cracking from the pressure applied. He stumbled further back, blinking his eyes before lurching forward, slamming his fists into my stomach- thank God he was avoiding my chest- and wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me in place as he slammed his fist again and again into the soon to be bruising flesh. I heard the announcers making their commentary, but the words fell on my now deaf ears. I wrapped an arm around his neck, bringing his head close to my chest and shoving my knee upwards in my deepest attempt to knock him from his brutal attack. He ceased momentarily, shoving my knee away- I grabbed his hand and pulled it back, bringing him to the ground with me. I messed up- I messed up, he was atop me, the jerking of my head and craning of my neck keeping his fists from smacking my face into the canv- no, no, he got me, and I felt the tearing of the skin on my lip from my gnawing teeth, the blood pouring from my gums. I glanced up at him, his eyes wide when he saw the blood pouring from my mouth.

"What, you can't handle your own fucking handiwork, little boy?" I spat, shoving my fist into the side of his head. He grunted, and taking that single opening I shoved him off of me and rolled him over, digging my knuckles into his cheekbone until there was blood.
That's what I really wanted- blood. I continued, pounding, pounding, and abusing this privilege to destroy another person until they were nothing but blood and bones and torn open flesh beneath me, but he not once surrendered. Not once. The referee snatched my hand, yanking me from atop the German boy before I truly hurt him. I looked around, the voices not registering in my ears at all until Gilbert stood; he wiped away the blood that had dripped from my lips on to his face, and I wiped away the blood as well. I wriggled my nose, yanking my gloves off and feeling my face. I pulled them back, realizing he had gotten me horribly. My nose was gushing blood and there was a cut on the side of my face, my ear dripping blood as well. I sat down on my corner, letting Ludwig and Berwald examine me closely. They poured water over my head and wiped away the dry blood in my nose, shoving a tissue up my nostril to keep it from bleeding. They cleaned up my lip and applied some sort of sealing paste to the cut on my cheekbone, and looked at my ear. Cleaning it free of blood they began speaking to me, and I nodded my head that I could hear them.
"Is there another round?" I asked, looking around to see if Allistor had shown up. He had not.
"Ja, I think so. The crowd is loving this exchange between you two. In the first five minutes more seats were being sold. You've made a ton of money, Natalia." He said, trying to reassure me of the contract I had made. I nodded my head at his answer, taking a drink from my water bottle and spitting it onto the floor outside the ring. He only sighed, fixing my ponytail and pushing me forward.
"See you've got some real bite in ya Nat!" Gilbert hollered, grinning at me in a way that made me frown. I shook his hand a second time and licked my lips, feeling the cracks filling with my tongue. I pondered how painful it would be to be kissed, though I went back to thinking about nothing more than blood.
Blood was good. Blood meant I could win; it meant I would win. And when that bell rang and went in for the kill- foot to his stomach, locking my hands together, slamming my fists into his face and forcing him back with a stumble.
My body aches so bad…
That fist against my face, busting my nose again, broke me from my thoughts and caused me to focus. The words of the screaming crowd were blurring into fuzzy images, and their faces mixing together like serpents.
Think about what you're winning tonight.
I stepped forward, swinging my foot down- missing, but just fast enough to slam my fist into his arm. I stepped back, his swing missing only inches from my face as I thrust my arm forward and slammed into his nose- saliva on my knuckles- and the blood beginning to ooze.
We were tired and worn, but we did not falter, wrapping an arm around his neck and shoving him to the ground, slamming my fists down onto his arms until the bell sang again. I looked up, my shoulders falling back.
This hurts.
"Natalia Arlovskaya, being the one who landed the most hits in this round, will be declared victor."
I looked over, seeing gilbert grimace and frown and slam his fists down onto the canvas. I saw Berwald clapping, I saw Ludwig give me a smile, I saw the people standing and clapping as my belt was buckled over my shoulder, since my waist was too small to fit it. I collapsed.

My eyes fluttered open, two pairs of worried blue eyes, one set stern and the other almost emotionless staring into my own violet-blue orbs. I took a breath, blinking, and then looking around. I was at the arena still, the people gone and the arena still splattered with my blood. I grabbed Ludwig's shoulder and tried to pull myself up, but my arms hurt too much. He pushed me back down and shook his head. "We tried to call Boss, but he didn't answer his phone, Natalia." He informed me, earning a grimace. "So Allistor is too busy to speak with me?" I asked, running a hand through my hair, pushing my bangs from my eyes. Ludwig bit his lip, shaking his head.
"I am sure he had reasons to not show up—"
"To avoid being beaten by her, of course." I flinched. I looked over, seeing the old man from before smiling down at me, his hair pulled back once again. "What are you doing here?" I sneered, managing then to pull myself up and lean against the Swede behind me. I found it odd how these men had grown to be brothers of different kinds to me in only such a short time.
"I came to tell you, you win. You beat my price by three thousand dollars-"
"Three thousand?" I asked, in disbelief looking back to Ludwig. The man only nodded his head at me, lighting a cigar and puffing on it a moment. He glanced back to me before letting out a sigh. "Allistor bailed town, Natalia. He skipped out. He didn't think you were going to win against that German." His voice lowered, the true intentions behind it. He wanted me against Allistor, on his side.
"You're lying." I hissed under my breath, my hand clinging to the ring on my finger in comfort. Allistor would not leave me after so much. I glared at him, my voice venomous as I spoke. "I will not tolerate you undermining my Allistor! He is a good man- you may not know him the way I know him! I have known him in ways you cannot fathom; when he is happy, when he is in full despair in pleasure in the most horrible pain imaginable!" I shouted, trying my hardest to stand, though my legs were telling me not to even attempt. The man only watched me, brow raised. He shook his head, turning from me.
"I see. I hope all goes well for you, Arlovskaya."


I sat outside his house, knocking on the door. No one answered, and no vehicles were in the driveway, but I had hoped someone had stayed behind their family trip to see me or explain to me what had happened. Much to my dismay no one did, and so I resorted to taking an hour picking the extremely picky lock that held shut the door to my dearest Scottish bastard of a future husband. When I heard the familiar click that indicated my entrance had been granted, I put the pin back in my hair and fixed my bow. I took a breath, filling my lungs and then releasing them from the torture. My body still ached, my cheek was bruised and my lip was scabbed lightly. They said there would be no scars, and if there were, it could easily be covered in make-up.
My modeling career was still secured.

I stepped inside, and my eyes widened.

Nothing at all littered the hallway; no coats on the coatrack, no hats on the table, no cigarette butts on the floor and no pictures in frames hanging on the walls. I stepped further into the house, slamming open each and every door with a might that made my bones ache in angst. No room had anything in it; wallpaper torn, beds taken out, there was no sign of life.
He was gone.