Chapter 6: Hurts More Then It Heals

Tori wondered all over Blue Bay Harbor, she didn't know where to begin to look. There was a very small chance that Dustin was even in Blue Bay at all. The odds were against her, she felt so helpless as the sun beat down on her. Emotionally tired, she dragged her feet across the side walk and sat down at a local café. Placing her light blue bag on the table, she leaned on her elbow and watched the citizens of the city walk up and down the sidewalk. Looking at her watch, it was almost mid afternoon. Cam had walked out of the café, he stopped and glanced at her.

"Tori? What are you doing here?"

She turned to him, "Cam!" She exclaimed, "The one person I wanted to see."

He walked over and sat down, "Something the matter?"

"You know how we tried to scan Blue Bay for Dustin? Do you think you can try like, the whole world?"

"I'd love to, but the console doesn't have that much power to do so. I can see if I can extend the scanning area but it wont be too far."

"He could be anywhere.." She grumbled, "Let's give it a try."

"Well." He stood up, holding his food, "I'll let you know. The console kind of died out on me last night. If you want, you can give me a hand."

She sighed and slumped back down, "No. Just give me a call. I'll search around Blue Bay. Maybe.. Just maybe he moved back.."

Cam nodded, "Alright. I'll leave you to it then. See ya." He quickly left.

Tori groaned and banged her head against the table. A waitress slowly walked by, stopping at her table and looking down at her. Tori covered her eyes from the sun, as she smiled and look back up at her.

"Can I help you dear?" The waitress spoke in a sweet voice, "Would you like me to get you a drink?"

She shook her head, "No.." She muttered, "I'm just resting. I'm trying to find a friend."

She pulled out a picture of Dustin on his motocross. The waitress took a step closer and glanced at the picture and then at her.

"He looks familiar." She tried to think, "Oh he must be that new guy everyone has been talking about recently."

"Really? Where can I find him?"

She shrugged, "I have no idea honey. I don't know much about him. The Fighting Arena is in the southern part of the city."

"Fighting? Arena?"

She nodded, "Yup. My husband was talking about all about this guy once. He showed me a picture. You'll have better luck down there."

"Thank you."

Tori quickly stuff the picture in her bag and dashed out and onto the streets. Heading into an alleyway, she bit her lips and ninja streaked off across the city. In a matter of minutes, she found herself in the south part of Blue Bay Harbor. Appearing out of the alleyway, she held tightly onto her bag and looked around. The southern part of Blue Bay was the slum of the city. The place where people who don't have a lot of money live. She glanced around, there were more criminal activities here then in any other part of the city. The place was dirty, and everything had graffiti and garbage.

"He wouldn't come here." She whispered, "This place is disgusting."

She took a step forward and walked down the sidewalk, passing rag clothed people and stray dogs running around. Stopping in front of a bar, she entered and looked around. The smell of filth and alcohol stung her nose. She wrinkled her forehead a bit and pushed forward towards the bar counter.

"Excuse me." She leaned over, "Can you help me find someone?"

The bartender turned around and smiled at the pretty lady, "Well, don't see much of you kind around here."

"Um yeah, I'm looking for someone." She showed him the picture, "Can you tell me where I can find him?"

"Ah. Rotciv." He stroked his dark black mustache, "One of the best fighters?"

"Did you say Roti what?"

"Some foreign name. It's pronounce Rot-C. The v is silent."

"Weird.."

"Yeah." He responded, "He's new in town. Sort of. From what I hear, he used to live in Blue Bay and left for 2 years. He came back cause of the Arena."

"Do you know where I can find this arena?"

"You'll have to go west from here, follow the street till you find a bunch of advertisement signs in front of a television store. Then take a left and you should see the building. It's not hard to miss."

"Thank you."

Tori turned and began to exit the bar. A bunch of rugged guys stood up from there table and whistled to her. She stopped and gave them a dirty look before proceeding. One of the guys ran up and stepped in front of her, grinning. Tori rolled her eyes as she felt another guy slap her ass.

"How you doing darling." He whispered in her ears.

Tori grinned and turned, bringing his head close, "Let me show you how I'm feeling."

She grabbed him by the shirt and threw him against the wall. She then ducked from an incoming punch and roundhouse kicked the guys down. Picking one of them up, she threw him out the door and grinned innocently at them all. Skipping out, she stepped on the guy she threw out and looked around. Clearing her bangs, she sighed. This place was giving her the creeps, she had to get out of here fast. Scurrying down the road, following the direction, she found the Arena. A large circular dome stood in front of her.

"When the heck did they build this place?" She glanced around, "I never heard of this."

She walked over to the gate, the place was closed and locked up. Kicking the bar gates, she spun around and muttered.

"Great.. Now what.."

Bolting forward, she stepped in front of a couple was walking by. Pulling out the picture quickly, she pointed at it.

"Do you know where I can find this guy? The arena is locked. Please, if you know anything."

"You can find him at the old apartments." The women responded, "I've seen him go in and out of there before."

"It's right down the street." The man added, "You can't miss it. It's the oldest building in the city."

Tori nodded and let them pass. Feeling one step closer, she walked down the street and noticed a man in a red sweater standing in front of the building. Realizing who it was, she was about to call it out to him, but he entered the building. Following, she entered the old building and looked around. The wood floors were rotting, the rails of the stairs were broken. She hesitated before walking up, hearing a pounding on the next level.

"Shane?" She called out as she made it to the next floor and looked down the hall, "Is that you?"

Shane took a step back and turned, "Tori. What are you doing here?"

She moved towards him, "I can ask you the same thing."

"Cam got his computer working. He tried calling you."

"Oh."

She moved her hand forward and placed it on the door nob. Shane placed his hand on hers, turning to her. She looked up at him with such concern.

"You do know, the moment we walk in here, we might see a totally different person." He informed her, "You sure you want to do this?"

"I missed him. I can't wait another second." She replied.

She turned the knob and the door slowly opened. The two of them walked inside the room, clothes were everywhere. The bed was half broken, the drawers were sticking out of the dresser and the mirror was smashed in. Garbage and needles were everywhere. Tori placed her hands on her mouth and stayed close to Shane.

"Who's there?"

Tori and Shane turned to see someone stumble out of the bathroom. Tori tried not to scream, as she watched him nearly fall. He used the side of the door as support, lifting up his head to look at them. Knowing it was Dustin, they stood idly as he ran his hand through his long curly hair. It seamed he hadn't cut it for weeks, or perhaps years. He was wearing beige shorts, with yellow briefs sticking out on the top. Wearing no shirt, they could see the scars and bruises all over.

"What are you doing here?" He muttered angrily, pushing himself up and walking towards the bed, "Better yet, how did you find me?"

"Dustin." Tori took a step forward, "Oh..my.." She was so speechless.

Dustin brushed his hair out of his face, rubbing his hands across his face. Blood shot and heavy eyes, it was hard to look at him. Not even Shane could say anything, he stayed close to Tori and remained silent.

"You left College and all that for this?" Tori took up the courage to speak once more, "Why?"

"It's just how things turned up." He began to pick up some of the mess, "You just deal."

"Dustin. Come back home." Shane pleaded, "This isn't your life."

Dustin picked up the lamp on the table and threw it at the wall. The glass shattered and echoed in the room, he turned and glared at them, "This isn't my life!?" He screamed, "Look around, it sure hell looks like it."

"You can do better then this." He did the best to keep his voice from cracking, "Just come on. You been gone long enough."

"Dustin I missed you!" Tori screamed, moving towards him, "I waited 2 years for you, you promised you'd come back! Here you are, let's pick up where we left off."

He grabbed her arm and sneered at her, "I hate to tell you, but Dustin died along time ago. Along with that promise."

"Back off." Shane pushed him back, pulling Tori close, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"What is the matter with me?" He restated the question sarcastically, "You're the ones who are barging back into my life. I was doing fine without you!"

Tori picked up a bunch of needles on the table, "Yeah you sure hell are doing fine." She threw them at him, her tears began to fall, "You've changed so much. Why are you doing this to yourself!? Why Dustin!? Why!?"

"Cause I want to!" He screamed, pulling at his hair, "What I do, is none of your concern. I fight to make money, I like the feeling of what these drugs do." He picked up a needle and pointed at her, "And no one in the goddamn world is going to stop me."

"What is this Rotciv, people been calling you? Rotciv? Victor? Are you trying to prove something?" Shane was getting more irritated, "Do you think this is what your mom or Dad wants?"

"There dead." He turned, "We'll never know how they really felt. My Mom's dead. My sister's Dead. My Father. And that fucking murderer." He cringed, clenching his fist, "There all dead. Nothing much to do with my life."

Tori took a step forward, she couldn't keep the tears back, she slapped Dustin across the face hard, the sound echoed, "I don't know you anymore. You had so much going for you, I can't believe your throwing it all away. Us away. Your friends away."

She turned and bolted out in tears. Shane closed his eyes, cringing at the emotional pain that Tori was feeling.

"Get the hell out of here." Dustin crossed his arm.

Shane kept his anger calm, he took a step forward till he's inches away from him and with the most calm and sincere voice, he began to speak, "You're my best friend. I'm not giving up on you, not by a long shot."

"You know, you don't seam to get it!" Dustin leaned forward, screaming in his face.

"NO!" Shane roared, "You don't get it." He pushed him back, "You're too caught up in your pain to realize that your hurting everyone around you. Snap out of it before you kill yourself!"

"Or what!?" Dustin sneered, "You going to drag me away and lock me up!?"

"If I have no choice. I will." He responded, "I will bring you down. I will go that far."

"Of course. That's your answer to everything. If Dustin goes crazy, lock him up!" He turned and spoke sarcastically, "Who gives a crap!? As long as its out of my hands. Right Shane?"

"You know why we did that in the first place. You needed help. And obviously, you haven't learned one bit. How are we suppose to help you, if you don't let us!?"

"I don't want you to! I don't want anything to do with you! Go away! Leave!" He began screaming, "Get the hell of my life! Go! Now!"

Shane began to breath heavily, he slowly turned and began to leave. Closing the door, he walked over to Tori who was leaning against the wall crying. Pulling her close, he hugged her tightly. Dustin pulled at his hair, screaming at the top of his lungs. He bent down and picked up whatever he could and threw it across the room. Stumbling around, he crept screaming. The sound could be heard all around, catching everyone's attention near the building. Dustin fell to the ground, and crawled against the wall, curling himself in a ball and burying himself in his knees.

Tori broke away from Shane and looked up at him, "Oh Shane, why is this happening?"

"I'm sorry."

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End Chapter. Hope you enjoying it so far.