Chapter Two-Hundred and Forty-Three
Jacob smiled as John limped his way into the tiny living room, noticing that he was favoring his right side. "You've got a tell showing." He smirked, opening a beer and offering it to his champion. "Here, drink it away."
John shook his head, pushing the bottle away as he watched a lizard scurry across the wall. "I don't drink anymore." He rasped, his voice nearly gone from the air that seemed to burn his throat.
Jacob shook his head pouring a shot of tequila and sliding it across the coffee table to him. "You used to down more tequila and vodka than I'd ever seen any man do in one sitting." He grinned as John looked away from the drink, moving to sit beside him on the sofa. "Take it, Son. You'll fight better without the pain." He placed the glass in John's hand, lifting the shot to just below his nose. "Just one drink…"
John inhaled the sweet scent of the drink, swallowing as he thought of Claire and their future passed through his mind. "I don't want it." He croaked, forcing himself to stay strong.
Jacob chuckled, able to see the tint of blue in his eyes that always showed that his son wanted something. "I can see you want it. That demon inside of you screams it with every blink of your eyes." He gripped John's jaw in his hand, forcing him to open his mouth and pouring half of what was left in the bottle down his throat. "I want you to be at your best tonight. That means you can't have a tell."
Amelia pushed John's bedroom door open, crawling under his weighted blanket and burying herself in what she could of him. She let Chance cuddle up to her, scratching her ear as Pop Tart the kitten laid on her shoulder and began to purr in her ear. "I miss him…" She whimpered, wiping a tear from her cheek.
John wrapped his hands for the second time that week, glaring at Jacob as he shoved Beverly against the wall and ripped her pants off of her hips to force himself on her.
Ben moved toward John, yanking John's hair back as he began to play with himself. "How about a little orgy?" He grinned, forcing John to kiss him until John's teeth sank into his lip. "You fucking dick!" He screamed, wiping the blood from his lips as John growled like a dog.
"Chico Demonio!" Cheered the MC of the fights, giving John the signal to fight. "Demon of the United States! Blood fighter! Killer of Giants!"
John growled, he hated the names they'd given him. They were everything he'd run from since finding Claire, and now, they were making them a part of him. He rolled his shoulders, loosening the muscles to get maximum power from his swings.
Timothy smirked, closing in on the redhead at her locker. "Claire." He leaned on John's locker, nodding to the writing on the blue metal. "You really think he's still alive?" He asked, noticing that the t-shirt she was wearing used to be one of the singer's favorites. "I mean, if the cops can't find him after a week, he's probably dead in a ditch."
She glared at him, shoving him away from her and turning to go to her class. "He's alive. I can feel it." Her heart ached, but it wasn't the ache of death, but the ache of loneliness. John had once told her, that the Greek god of death Thanatos would change that feeling if your loved one died, and if your love was strong enough, that he would take you as well. "I'll never give up on him. He can fight his way back to me."