MIA FAYE
Belief- yeah, that's the word to begin with.
Where there's belief, there ought to be a promise made behind, sometimes halfway fulfilled, sometimes forgotten or worst, broken. I've gone through each stage and the world that we live in made me a realist. I see the good in things but my mind knows what lies behind that beautiful smile or that perfect laugh. It's a façade, a picture that we try to live in and when the time comes, we let go.
The sixteen to twenty-four foot square padded area or precisely the ring was a place where the fighters seemed to pour their years of anger, frustration and resentment into hard punches. Barely acknowledging the presence of the opponent, the mere aim was to fight through, knocking their rivals until they were forced to give up the fight.
The room was packed with enthusiastic supporters, many of whom held posters and signs to stand for the fighter they were rooting for. The music blasting through the speakers, at every corner felt like a shot of adrenaline to the mind and all at once, you could see the crowd swaying to the beats. My eyes were glued to the ring, the pupils dilating to and forth between the two fighters. Their gaze never left each other's face as they circled round with a tensed expression, preparing to lunge forward.
"And fight!" The loud voice of the referee echoed through the speaker, making the crowd shout in total excitement.
As soon as the referee spoke, one of the guy pounced forward and swung a fist punch slightly below the chin, earning a shout of pain from the other fighter. Blood spurred out of the corners of his mouth as he bent down to spit out the red saliva.
"Oh come on! You call this a punch?"
My head immediately turned towards the angered voice, a frown playing on my face. My eyes trailed to the standing figure as I watched her side with arms crossed. Her eyebrows were furrowed, fingers pinching the bridge in between her eyes, her red hair scattered over her back as she mumbled incoherent words under her breath.
"Really Ines?" I arched my brow at her behavior.
She looked down at me, raising her shoulder in question as if I asked her something wrong.
"What? He punches like a fucking grandma." She fired back, pointing a finger to the ring.
"You've got to be kidding me." I shook my head in absolute disbelief.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, she flumbed back to her chair as she turned her body to my side, adjusting in her seat.
"No but seriously, I punch better than that." She mumbled, grabbing a packet of chips from my bag.
Rolling my eyes at her words, I took a few chips from the packet and popped them into my mouth. She slapped my hand the second time as I was about to grab a few more, shooting me a glare.
"This feels so wrong." I spoke, leaning back my head on the hard seat.
She let out a sigh and leaned back as well, passing me the packet of chips. "Fifth time Mia."
"Yet it does."
"Your commentaries aren't at all pleasing to the ears." She rolled her eyes, shuffling the pockets of her black backpack.
"Simply stating the truth now, Miller." I shrugged, taking my vibrating phone out of my back pocket.
I swiped a few times at the screen, to back to Instagram. Atleast in my opinion, it was way better to scroll through posts than having to watch those idiots fight each other like street dogs. Diverting back my attention to my phone, I swiped through different posts, double clicking them without even looking at the usernames.
"You made a promise." Ines spoke, standing up and waving her phone in front of my face, forcing me to look up to the screen then back to her.
She gave me a small smile before turning back to the ring, a feeling of excitement shadowing her features as she watched one of the guy pinned to the floor. I shook my head, the corners of my mouth twitching upwards a little bit at her actions. They were never foreign to me because as far as I remembered, Ines Miller was a part of my life and the least I could possibly say was, we knew each other in and out. We'd been with each other at our lowest and highest points in life.
"And promises aren't to be broken. I know that." I whispered under my breath, swiping the screen a few good times.
The second the clock ticked, loud shouts and screams invaded the area, making it hard to even hear the blaring music. It was barely a faint sound compared to the uproar caused by the excitement of the crowd. I didn't even bother to look up from my phone, knowing it was again one of those idiot fighters making their appearance therefore leading to the bewilderment of these people.
It was a routine- one of those fighters walking into the ring, moving around and showing their abs and thereby leading to a clamorous jostling crowd, screaming for the individual. Absolutely irrelevant if I might as well add.
"Mia! Mia!" Ines tapped me continuously on my shoulder, making me groan in irritation.
"What?" I shouted through the screams of excitement, pushing her hand from my shoulder without even glancing in her direction.
"Eyes up here, baby!" She grabbed my chin, tilting it upwards to the ring. The irritation on my face soon turned into surprise as I watched, my eyes widening at the scene in front of me.
"He's hot. Like zayn malik hot." Ines chuckled, moving right and left to get a better view at the person in the ring.
The crowd erupted in a fit of cheers, chanting over and over again the only name that was roaring in every corner.
- Hades
His eyes were set to the ground with subtle movements coming from his upper body while he peeled his shirt off his shoulders and wrapped a black cloth around his palm. His toned sculpted body flexed each time he turned that piece of cloth around his hand. His biceps contracted with the slightest action, causing the shouts around me to increase overtime.
I noticed the dark black butterfly tattoo, covering his entire chest and moving in motion with his slow breathing. A few more tattoos covered his upper right arm, however it was hard to see the designs from the distance we stood. He was in simple grey sweatpants, the waistband of his Calvin Klein boxers displaying to the crowd.
Despite the attention he was receiving from the wild crowd, not once did he raise his head to look up at the people. He had his eyes rather fixed on his opponent, clearly ignoring the surrounding. Much a dismay, not having a clear look at his face.
For once, I pushed myself off the seat having a sudden urge to watch the fight. Mostly to watch him fight his way out of this. His opponent wasn't scrawny, instead there stood a sturdy man with a muscular physique and grave face expression. It was the perfect opponent for him. The voices soon faded, making way for the music to push through the speakers. The song safari flowed, hyping up the people and unbinding a feeling of eagerness into the crowd.
The two men circled each other with their stares glued on each other. The opponent bounced back and forth, up and down, in a way of pumping the flow of adrenaline coursing through his body, compared to an unbothered Hades, standing at the end corner of the ring. The referee motioned both of them to come forward, urging them to prepare themselves for the upcoming fight. As they did so, the referee gave both of them a nod and stepped back to the far end corner.
"And fight!" The referee shouted at the same time as the bell rang, indicating that the round had already started.
Sooner as the sound resonated in the ring, the opponent lunged in a leap, swinging a punch at Hades. He dodged in time as the fist flew past his face, across his ears. He came right back with an uppercut, colliding with his chin which made the opponent lose his balance and stumbled back in a haze.
Whispers flared up in the area as the man coughed out repetitively, a sticky red substance dripping on the soiled floor. He spat the blood, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up, rage searing in his eyes. He didn't seem to back away any sooner, instead he was ready for more.
He scrutinized cautiously each of the movement of the man as he watched him sprint towards him, throwing up his forearms in an charging mode but due to his fast instincts, Hades had time to move to the side and elbowed him on his back. His hands curled around the opponent's head as he pushed him hardly off his body and onto the ground with a thump.
A series of hollers broke out as the man again got on his feet and charged towards him like an unleashed beast. The man reached for him, his right hand in a fist aiming for the face only for Hades to block him. As he was left unfocused, the opponent hit him a left hand in the V, under his ribcage. He backed away, staggering through the blow.
Taking this as an opportunity, the man pushed himself for a shoulder hit. However Hades managed to slip to the side as if he had already anticipated that move and grabbed a handful of the man's hair, pulling his head forward. As the unexpected went, he banged his nose with his forehead, a crack echoing through the crowd. Still holding his grip around the man's hair, he smashed his elbow into the side of his skull and sent him slamming onto the hard surface.
A look of horror shadowed my face as he got on top of the man, fist raised up only for the bell to go off. However, the fight didn't end yet. The crowd went silent as he started to deliver blows onto blows on that man's face. He looked like a lifeless bloody mess on the floor, black swollen eyes and bloody spit drooling from his slack jaw.
My chest rose up and down in a frenetic way as a relentless silence trailed in the squared surface, with the only sound of Hades' fist colliding with that man's flesh known. No one dared to say anything, let alone stopping the fight. As much of a dismay, even the referee stood inert at the corner, the color draining from his face and an expression of terror plastering in its place.
I turned to a visibly different Ines. Eyebrows creased, lips parted slightly, eyes stuck on the scene ahead and definitely not forgetting the excessive tapping of foot. For someone who never felt intimidated by anything, this surely had an daunting impact on her. My hands flew around her wrist, pulling her down to her seat as she looked at me with widened eyes.
"Your hot guy is a psychopath!" I shouted through the silent crowd, earning a few frustrated groans from the spectators.
She glanced to the ring, then back to me, nodding passively. "I can see that."
"More of a fucking sociopath!" I spoke, this time my voice deadlier and rough, catching the attention of a few people around us.
"We can't do anything about that, so shut up Mia!" Ines shouted back, her voice edged with fear.
"That's where you're wrong. You don't want to do anything about it but I won't stay quiet and let an innocent man die!" I yelled back, this time catching a few more heads and confused whispers.
Ines started shaking her head dismissively, looking around at the crowd. "Mia don't!"
I pushed back her hand resting on my thigh and stood up, feeling all the eyes on me rather on the fight. I gave Ines one last look before diverting back to the ring where Hades didn't seem to stand down from punching that man.
"Hey you! Didn't you hear the bell go off?" I shouted, my voice loud enough to gather the attention of the crowd except the one that I wanted.
I moved from my seat and walked a few steps down, standing in the center. I looked around to see all the people standing up and looking at me with horrifying expressions playing on their faces. They might be wondering what the hell was I doing. They weren't wrong. If only they knew that I was thinking the same.
"You've got a hearing problem now?" I shouted again, only to get ignored the second time.
"Hey asshole with a hearing problem! I'm talking to you!" I shouted louder, hoping this time this could work and indeed that caught his attention.
As soon as those words left my mouth, he stopped midway from punching that guy and looked up to the crowd. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes searched through the crowd to finally meeting mine. He gave me an unsure look from up and down, before a tint of anger contorted his face. He got onto his feet and walked out of the ring, not before kicking the man in the ribs one last time.
His footsteps echoed through the silence, as I turned around to see Ines standing behind me. I gulped, as the distance between us closed until he was standing in front of me, my eyes facing his toned chest due to the difference in our heights.
"What the fuck did you just say?" His voice was rough and thick, suppressed with equal anger underneath.