Every Shot Cuts The Deepest Skin

Chapter Ten

"Kable's gone

Kable's gone

Kable's gone."

Those two words echoed my mind every time I breathed.

The thought of him either beaten up or lying dead somewhere haunted my dreams.

I would awake screaming in the early hours of the night, tears running down my eyes.

But no-one would comfort or hold me tight.

I had to rock myself backwards and forwards to get back to sleep.

Others could see the dark rings under my eyes.

They noticed my lack of eating or talking to anyone.

I would normally sit in the corner where we sat, watching life go by in a slow and painful pace.

Ben decided to pull me away from the battles for a bit until I felt ready enough to go through it.

But I overheard the angry phone calls from Ken Castle, demanding I should be out there not moping about.

Finally having enough, I decided to get back in the action.

My thirteeth battle has arrived on a warm sunny Friday morning.

After having yet a another rough night without proper sleep, I had a quick wash and got dressed.

Studying myself in the mirror, I imaged the figure of Kable coming towards me.

That sexy smile, the feel of his arms wrapping me against his broad body.

Flashes of our love-making appeared in my mind, I could never forget the way he touched me.

Placing a hand on the mirror, I whispered his name under my breath.

"Crystal..."

I gasped, reopening my eyes.

Did I hear his voice just now?

Or was I imagining things?

There wasn't time to think it through as the buzzer sound came.

I dashed outside to get inside the truck and sit down.

Alone this time, I could feel the nerves bubble in my stomach.

I took out the little note Kable wrote for me on my first battle.

Rereading the words over and over, my heart ached for him.

Suddenly arriving at the battle scene, I folded the note and got out of the truck.

A different buzzer sound came, it was time to fight.

Ten minutes I had to surrive through.

My shooting was calm, I felt easy do this.

It was only when my eyes fell on a motorbike that everything went out of control.

Running towards it, a pair of keys lay on the seat.

Grabbing them, I turned the engine on and drove in a another direction.

Any enemy that came by me I would shoot them without pause.

My heart began to thunder, could I really escape from this nightmare and find Kable?

Warning alarms echoed all around me but I igorned them until I broke free from the barriers.

Screaming of pure joy lasted briefly as two very large trucks came out of nowhere.

Frightened but determined to outrun them, I pushed down the petal gathering more speed.

I looked back at them, they were close but not enough to get me.

Turning around to focus on the road, my eyes widened in horror as the road was closed off from anyone driving down there.

Thinking quickly, I swayed the bike in angle so that I avoided the signs but it was unlucky for the two trucks.

They pushed down their petals too fast that they crashed through and fell down the wide hole.

With all my might, I drove it at a alarming speed to escape from the rising flames that went up the sky.

At a distance, I stopped and looked behind me.

No-one at the prison would know where I am now, I was dead to them.

"Thank you, Ben. For everything." I said to myself.

Then, I carried on driving.

Arriving at a grim and damp town, I turned off the engine and got off the bike.

My eyes wandered around the sights before me: buildings were in a terrible condition and people looked even worse.

"What is this place?" I muttered.

"You're with the Humanz now." Said a woman's voice.

But before I turned around, someone punched me across my face.

My world went black as my head made contact with the ground.

Awaking slowly, I was blinded by very bright lights up above the celing.

"Good, you're up." A male voice spoke.

I turned to my side to a coloured man who was folding his arms and staring mysteriously at me.

"Who are you?" I asked, crockly.

"I'm part of Humanz, a group of people who wants to stop Ken Castle's evil games." He replied.

A few others inculding a woman came towards us, their eyes burning right at me.

Rising up from the chair, a bout of pain came on my cheek.

"Sorry about that, she thought you were dangerous." He pointed at the woman.

"Don't worry, I'll live." I uttered.

He laughed out loud, I looked at him strangely.

"I like your firey spirit, no wonder Kable spoke so much of you."

That grabbed my attention.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Oh, he's here but if you came here he refused to see you." He replied.

Tears began to form in my eyes, the never ending hurt was building up once more.

"Why?" I barely said without letting a few droplets fall down my face.

"Because he's focused on killing Castle." The woman explained, standing before me.

I looked at her, then turned away.

"Come on, it's getting late. Let's all rest, tomorrow we will start a plan to stop Castle's games." He said.

I followed them where a empty bed was waiting for me.

"Get some sleep, Crystal. You might need it." He ordered.

I nodded my head.

"Thanks." I said, with a weak smile.

He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"If you want to see him, go out at midnight at the top of the building. He's always up there, thinking." He whispered in my ear.

All the sudden, I hugged him tight.

For a few moments, he broke away from the embrace in embrassment.

"Sorry about that." I said, giggling.

He shook his head, showing a brief wide smile before walking away from me.

I laid down on the bed, my eyes fell on the clock.

Dead on ten.

Only two hours sleep but it didn't matter.

To see Kable again would make up everything I went through.

Slowly shutting my eyes, I rose my hopes that he would come to me.