Baron was still in pain, although it seemed to be slowly going away, as he walked down the corridors in the arena. He turned a corner and stared as someone he remembered all too well came walking towards him. She stopped and stared back, looking so remorseful.
"Kendra," he smiled. "I didn't know you were back here."
"I'm not. Not really," she said. "How are you?"
"My hand hurts," he said.
He looked down at her hands, seeing she was pressing some leaves between them. Banana leaves. He knew it without getting a close look at them. He looked around to see the corridor was empty before grabbing her arm and pulling her into the nearest room.
"You did that to me?" He asked.
"Did what?" She took a step backwards.
He grabbed her hands and tore the banana leaves out of them. There was a small wound left. He shook his head and sighed before putting the leaves back down so she could heal up the rest of the way.
"I thought we were friends. I never thought you would do that to me," he said.
"Do what?" She asked.
"Stop it, Kendra!" He demanded. "I know you're a bloodie."
That surprised her since she had never told anybody besides Vince. No one had ever heard of bloodies. That's how they managed to survive and fly under the radar for all these years. No one knew they existed. Up until yesterday she thought only Vince knew but apparently Paul and Brock did too.
"How... How do you know?" She asked.
"I grew up around a bloodies family. I used to play with the daughter as a kid and you know how kids are. They're not too good at keeping secrets although I kept their secret after she told me," he said. "Her father threatened to use his powers on me if I ever told anybody. That scared the shit out of me even though I now know he never would have."
"But how did you know I was one too?" She asked.
"I recognized the stone," he pointed at her neck. "Where is it?"
He looked worried, more worried than he needed to be. Clearly he knew all about what that stone meant to a bloodie.
"Brock has it," she answered. "I didn't want to do that to you, Baron. You're the kindest man I ever met in this arena and probably also outside of it. If you knew all along what I really was, you amaze me even more by all those times you sat down with me. You weren't afraid of me."
"And I'll never be, not even after what you did tonight. So they're blackmailing you with your stone?" He asked.
"Yes," she threw her arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Baron."
He wrapped his arms around her too, stroking her dove grey hair and kissing the top of her head. She tilted her head back and he caught those teal blue eyes that were filled with so much pain and ruefulness.
"They're not gonna stop. They got a vial of your blood," she said.
It all made sense now why he suddenly had to have his blood taken the night before.
"I'm gonna help you," he said.
"How?" She asked.
"You do whatever you gotta do tomorrow and I'll do the same," he answered. "Trust me, Kendra. I'm gonna get your stone back and get you the fuck out of here before anyone catches you."
