"Liliya, Liliya, Liliya," he chuckled.
"Brock," she whispered.
She tried not to look around the room but she couldn't stop herself. Her moss green eyes were searching for the face belonging to Brock Lesnar. She heard his chuckle turn into a full blown laughter at the haunting look in her eyes.
"You can't get rid of me," he said.
"I tried," she said.
"You sure did," he said. "You tried and you failed."
"I don't know about that. I did get rid of you once. I can do it again," she said.
She heard the sound of his boots crossing the floor. That stomping sound that always made it feel like her eardrums were about to pop. He stopped behind her and she could feel his breath on her skin. The small hairs in her neck stood up and she started feeling scared.
"Why did you dye your hair green?" He asked.
"Because I wanted to and you never allowed me to change," she said.
"Change it back!" He growled.
"Make me," she challenged.
He didn't have an answer for that. She blew out her breath and started laughing lowly.
"You can't fucking make me do anything anymore, Brock," she said.
"You will change it back," he said. "Or else..."
"Or else what?" She cut him off. "You can't do shit to me, Brock. Not anymore. Never again. You lost all your power."
"Then why are you still talking to me?" He asked.
Someone knocked on the door and she held her breath for a few seconds.
"Liliya? Are you in there?" Drew called.
She blew out her breath and smiled at the sound of his voice.
"It's open!" She called.
Drew opened the door and looked inside concerned.
"Are you alone?" He asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"I could have sworn I heard you talking to someone," he said.
"It's just me in here," she sighed. "Talking to ghosts and ghouls."
She grabbed her blood red leather jacket and put it on.
"How do I look?" She asked.
"You look ready," he answered. "They're gonna lose their shit when you come back tonight. It hasn't been leaked anywhere."
"Some people will hate me because of what I did," she said.
"And some people will love you for it," he said. "The normal thinking ones understand that you had no other choice."
She nodded and walked over to him to get out of the room she had been hiding in. No one but him and Hunter knew she would make her comeback tonight after what she had gone through with Brock. Drew was her best friend and had been tasked with bringing her to the arena and smuggling her inside unseen. He gently grabbed her arm to stop her.
"You know you had no other choice, right?" He asked. "It was self defence."
"I still killed him," she said.
"Because he was trying to kill you," he said.
That was the truth. Brock had been beating her up once again, only this time he hadn't stopped. He had chased her to the kitchen while she was trying to make it to the back door to escape his violence. He had started choking her out and her vision had started to blur. She knew she would be dead a minute later if she didn't do something. She had grabbed on to whatever she could reach on the counter that he had pushed her up against, and that happened to be a pair of scissors. She had swung her arm wildly and managed to push the scissors into his throat. He had taken a step back and stupidly pulled out the scissors. Blood had started squirting out and he fell to the floor and bled out. She had been cleared because it was self defence, and she had been gone from the ring for five weeks before calling Hunter to tell him she was ready to come back. Tonight was the night. She was back and ready to fight.
"His face still haunts me," she said. "I know he's not here talking to me but I can hear his voice inside my head. I know what he would say if he was here. It's like I can feel him close and it makes my skin crawl. I can never escape him even though I killed him."
"You need therapy to work through your trauma," he said.
"I'm way ahead of you," she said. "What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Hanging out with you, I guess," he chuckled.
"I need you to drive me to my first therapy session. I don't know how I will feel afterwards but I do know I'm gonna need my best friend," she said.
He pulled her in for a much needed hug.
"Done deal," he said. "How about we make it an all day thing? We order takeout and watch a bunch of movies until you fall asleep and crash on my couch."
"Will you make your famous cheese popcorn?" She asked.
"I'll make a double batch," he said.
"I'll pack an overnight bag," she said. "Pick me up at noon so we can have a quick lunch at my place before therapy."
He smiled, nodded, and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Go slay in there, Liliya. Show them that the mountain lion is back and ready to hunt her prey," he said.
She took a deep breath, blew it out, and nodded with determination showing her eyes.
"I am back," she said. "And I am here to stay."