ã€ŠLone Wolf-Book One of The Acolytes seriesã€‹


 Dream Within A Dream

    ¡°Wake up. Wake up, boy! There¡¯s money to be made yet, can¡¯t have you clogging up the floor.¡±

    Trevor¡¯s head turned to the side. Then the other. Something was stinging his face. He was being slapped.

    ¡°Tripped,¡± he said groggily, slowly coming back to his senses.

    ¡°Nonsense boy.¡±

    That was Jesse. Last name Vasquez. Trevor didn¡¯t like the guy. He was the type of person that put money above everything. Including the health of his fighters.

    Not for the first time Trevor questioned himself on why he would choose this as his main source of income. What, in this area at least, is most commonly known as pit fighting. Usually that doubt existed because he felt guilty. First because he was making money hurting others, second because he had an unfair advantage he kept secret, even if he didn¡¯t entirely understand it yet. But this was an entirely different scenario now. He had actually lost a fight, and had apparently been knocked out cold.

    Now that he was conscious, Trevor worked his way over to the side of the ring and through the crowd half under his own power, the other half coming from two of Jesse¡¯s goons grabbing him underneath each arm. He was trying to mentally acknowledge the complaints coming from the crowd around him, but the two guys helping him unceremoniously dropped him into a chair, and a shot of pain starting at the base of the back of his head ran in both directions and erased all thoughts from his mind.

    ¡°Damn, damn, damn,¡± he complained, hoping that cradling his head would ease some of the pain and keep the nausea from overtaking him. It did, if barely.

    ¡°Easy amigos!¡± Jesse mockingly yelled, clamping Trevor¡¯s shoulder with his hand, making the pain travel anew. ¡°No reason to damage the merchandise any more than it already is!¡± He shooed the other two away.

    Trevor looked up, rubbing his neck, and Jesse kneeled down in front of him.

    ¡°I was tripped,¡± Trevor repeated.

    ¡°I know, I know,¡± Jesse whispered. ¡°Keep your voice down about it, would you? It¡¯s good to see you remember, at least.¡±

    The thought process took a little longer than normal, but Trevor scowled. ¡°You know!? What the fu¡­¡±

    ¡°Easy, amigo. Eaaaaasy! I¡¯m not proud of it, but I did it for you!¡± Jesse said.

    ¡°Excuse me? How can you sa¡­¡±

    ¡°Because the bets were getting to be too easy! It was either this or stop you from fighting altogether. I thought you said you needed the money!?¡± Jesse chided. The way Jesse was cutting him off and knowing what he was going to say, Trevor guessed that this was not the first time Jesse had had a conversation like this.

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m ok with getting my head being damn near separated from my shoulders!¡± Trevor said as calmly as he could manage. ¡°If you were so worried, couldn¡¯t you just have asked me to throw a fight or something?¡±

    ¡°And risk the crowd seeing that? No thank you, my friend. If I knew your acting was as good as your fighting maybe, but I¡¯m doubting that.¡±

    ¡°So you risk me getting tripped?¡±

    ¡°There was a good actor in the crowd. I always have a few for emergencies. You let Crusher push you into the crowd, and the opportunity presented itself¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh stop trying to pin this on me, like I had it coming or something.¡± Crusher¡­just thinking of the name made the ache a little worse. Trevor had indeed been thrown into the crowd. And when he was systematically thrown back into the ring by that crowd was when someone took the opportunity to trip him up. That was all the advantage Crusher needed to live up to his name. On the back of Trevor¡¯s head.

    ¡°Hey, I did what I thought was best for the both of us. It¡¯s not my fault if you didn¡¯t see the writing on the wall.¡±

    ¡°Writing on the¡­what? I was sitting in a cubicle this time a year ago. I¡¯ve always done what you¡¯ve asked of me. There was never any mention of ¡®writing on any wall¡¯,¡± Trevor complained to Jesse.

    ¡°Right,¡± Jessie replied in a sincere voice. Or at least as sincere as his body language which was to say he knew people were watching. ¡°And what would you do if you had to quit the pit? Go back to your cubicle? You told me you don¡¯t even remember what you used to do before that. So isn¡¯t being able to continue worth a quick knock on the head?¡±

    Jesse was right. When Trevor had first started, not being near the biggest and most intimidating guy around, the odds being against him had made some serious cash for him and anyone willing to risk betting on him. That began to change when it became a stupid thing to bet against him. Jesse was a lot of things, a great promoter being one of them. And those promoting skills had managed to stave off the inevitable for a while. But it was no secret the cash flow on Trevor¡¯s fights had started slowing quite a bit as of late.

    Jesse was also right about his inability to remember anything prior to a few years ago. Trevor had met Jesse right as his savings were about dwindled after he quit a job working for a stationary company that bored him to tears. He would readily admit that not being the best decision he¡¯d made in his life, but that was the problem. There was no way to know because before that time he simply remembered precious little. As if he had some kind of amnesia or something. All the doctor visits and scans hadn¡¯t helped in the least. This worry had been front and center in his mind for so long now even thinking about it made him nauseous at this point. Right now that was the last thing he needed, so he changed his focus back to his current predicament.

    Trevor kept a steady look right into Jesse¡¯s eyes. He respected a person who could meet his gaze, but for some reason his blood pressure would start to rise if the process took too long. Not up for this fight, Trevor sighed and gave a curt nod which again reminded him of his injury. Part of him wanted to argue more, knowing he had been slighted and a better option was probably available to them. But his head hurt and he was tired, and he just didn¡¯t want to think about this anymore either.

    ¡°That¡¯s my boy,¡± Jesse told him, and then asked, ¡°so¡­this mean you¡¯re not up for another match later today?¡±

    Trevor growled at him, low, guttural and definitely menacing. It surprised him. He hadn¡¯t planned on it being so impressive.

    Neither did Jesse, who betrayed himself with a short pause and wide eyes. Jesse didn¡¯t like to act like anything surprised him. And admittedly little did. After that split second, Jesse threw up his hands, laughing.

    ¡°Ok, ok, amigo! I was just kidding you ya know. Go home and get yourself some rest. I¡¯ll code you your next match.¡±

    Trevor watched him walk away. When Jesse didn¡¯t have a set schedule yet for the next several days, he would text the fighters in code with the day, time, location and sometimes the expected first opponent. But if he had a concussion or something, Trevor had no intentions on another fight anytime soon. Even if the income was slowing down some, he had still made quite a bit of money these past months. He wasn¡¯t going to starve.

    It was time to go home and worry about all this later.

    Home. There¡¯s something to that word. The old saying ¡®Home is where the heart is¡¯ was an accurate description in Trevor¡¯s opinion, and his current place didn¡¯t fit it. He rented a condo from an older couple who decided at some point to invest in some real estate. It wasn¡¯t a bad place at all; it just never felt like a place he truly felt was his. It lacked a certain comfort level for him. But that was no surprise. He had felt very out of place for quite some time now.

    His memories all seemed too scattered. He was born in this city, a town called Crystal Woods. That he remembered clearly enough. And he remembered his parents died in a car accident when he was young, while he was with his babysitter. At five years old, he found himself an orphan and without any accepting relatives around was taken into state care. He remembers the confusion of that time, and he remembers some of the people he first met in the orphanage, but the next 20 years or so after that, up until about a year ago, so much of his memories were sketchy. Friends, school, work¡­he knows he experienced them, but the details just couldn¡¯t be recalled. It was very confusing, and more than a little frustrating, but what was there to do? He hadn¡¯t had an accident of his own that he could remember. The hit he took today was the worst pain he could ever remember feeling.

    His only rationale at this point was simply to let it be, hoping something would eventually make sense. He didn¡¯t remember all the workouts, but his body was strong. Very strong. That¡¯s why he had dropped the idea of another lame office job he had when the opportunity to fight in the pit presented itself. On a day when Jesse had approached him during one of his runs he initially scoffed at the idea. But with much pleading, Jesse convinced him to start some training, and Trevor took to it like a suffocating fish takes to water. He felt comfortable training, and applying that training to the fights. For some reason it was an entirely natural process. No understanding it, but he was sure happy for it. Most of the time.

    Jesse had told him that simply watching him run made him sure he¡¯d be at least somewhat of a success in the pit. Where Jesse stood a few inches over 6 feet tall, Trevor was half a head shorter. And where Jesse had a stocky build and looked imposing, Trevor was, while fairly muscular, much more thin and lithe. He was amazingly agile and dexterous, which perhaps wasn¡¯t entirely surprising with his build. What was surprising was that both his strength and power matched or surpassed any of the fighters he had faced so far. That included Jesse, who took great pride in the power his frame offered him. So while he often called Trevor a living anomaly, Trevor could tell it was a source of contention between them. Not that it mattered too much since Jesse had made a small fortune off him so far.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    For all that though, a blow to the back of the head by a man named Crusher still hurt like the dickens. His strength, agility and ability to fight had upgraded him from the potential success Jesse had attributed to him to a resounding success within a few months. But it became a liability as Trevor started to come into his own and the fights became too easy. Now here he was, sitting at home with his head pounding, not sure if he should even try and win the next fight or not.

    Racing thoughts weren¡¯t his friend right now, so Trevor laid back on his not-so comfy leather couch and cleared his mind as best he could. Resting his head on the soft pillow, ice pack in place, didn¡¯t make the pain in his head go away completely, but helped quite a bit. His last thought as he was drifting off to sleep was that he vaguely remembered he shouldn¡¯t be going to sleep yet. No matter, it could wait.

    What a peculiar noise. Like thick chain link being drug over a bar. Slowly, one link at a time. A strange noise to hear in the middle of a suburban neighborhood, made even more strange by how incredibly loud it was.

    Not being able to hold back my curiosity any longer, I made my way out the front door. In that moment I realized I didn¡¯t recognize the house I was just sitting in. The street wasn¡¯t familiar either. All the same, the noise persisted and something inside of me told me to pay attention to my potential future as opposed to the quizzical recent past.

    The noise was definitely coming from behind the house, the north. The cadence had picked up and now sounded almost mechanical. Like the sound I¡¯d always attributed to a quarry deep within the bowels of a dwarven cave if there were such a thing. The situation became even more curious as darkness began to prematurely take over the sky.

    I started walking away from the house, looking over my shoulder for something, anything, to clue me in as to what was going on. I started to panic a little in anticipation, imagining the worst even though I was still unable to picture in my mind what it could possibly be.

    Hundreds of yards away from the house¡­there. Something beyond big, that sort of thing that will take your breath away when you see it, elevating in the dark sky. Another. Then another. Until I looked up and realized that they rose up so far into the twilight I already couldn¡¯t see where they ended. These things looked like they were composed of something familiar. Of what? Was it bone? Every so often one would elevate and there would be a break and I would see the sun sitting just above the horizon for a few seconds, and then another would elevate out of the ground blocking the light again. Incomprehensibly, they looked like vertebrae. Vertebrae!? A giant spine was rising out of the ground? Of all the stupid...

    The second that realization struck, the Earth was struck in tandem. Startled, I turned to see shards of man-made things and dirt flying up in the air. Far away, but not too far to not feel the ground shake with the impact. Again, this time to my left, something gigantic smashed down and more things went flying. Car alarms started to go off. I could see dust settling in the air in front of those last tiny remnants of light from the setting sun.

    I spared a glance up high in the sky as I started to run. For a split second I saw a hand and a giant club, before it lifted up into the darkness and out of sight. That was it then. At the top of the spine erected from the ground was a gigantic something. ¡®That is not at all terrifying,¡¯ I thought to myself sarcastically. I didn¡¯t see the other club come down so much as heard it, and I prepared myself for another impact which came seconds later. This one seemed closer, the ground didn¡¯t simply shake but jolted beneath me.

    Without any more hesitation, I ran full sprint away from this thing, believing there was no way for me to really escape its reach but thinking it stupid not to at least try. Again the ground was pounded, and again more Earth gave way. Again. Coming faster each time. It became hard to run because the ground was so unsteady but I tried anyway. At least until the ground was struck so close it sent me flying. Up and up I went in what seemed to be slow motion. I reached the apex of my ascent, and started to drop. I could feel particles of dirt hitting my face as they continued to rise and I fell, going up my nose and into my mouth. I watched the battered ground get closer as I picked up speed, preparing to hit the ground. A strange peace came over me as I realized everything happening was out of my hands. I was suddenly curious what a person must feel when they hit the ground from so high up? Is there any pain at all, if life passes immediately? I felt as though if I had more time to think it out, I just might be able stop myself. It was my dream after all.

    But despite the calm I felt, I was awhirl. My mind was awhirl. And as the ground raced up, I heard the mocking chuckle no doubt from a being newly risen. It wasn¡¯t loud like the thunderous blows of the clubs or the mechanical raising of its spine. It was soft, personal. In my head. The ground raced up and we met. I felt nothing as blackness took over me. One question answered.

    Trevor woke up, and immediately wished he hadn¡¯t. The back of his head, where he had felt a modicum of comfort when he had initially laid down, now felt like it was on fire. Trying to sit up was a mistake, so he rolled off the couch and ended up on all fours. He had a coffee table and sitting on it was a basket full of magazines, for which he was grateful for now because he used it when the nausea overtook him. Oddly enough his first coherent thought was whether this is what people with bad migraines had to go through all the time. If so, those people had just gained Trevor¡¯s sympathy forever.

    His living room was not spinning so much as just going in and out of focus. He spent some time blinking rapidly, hoping that would make it stop. When that didn¡¯t work, he could only think of one thing that would help him more than anything, and that required him getting outside.

    It was a daunting task, but he managed to get himself up and walk to his front door without any major mishaps. Luckily for him, this town called Crystal Woods lived up to its name. There were plenty of woods in and around the area he stayed. And there, in the trees, was a place he felt more at home than anywhere. And that was where he headed now.

    He had a few favorite spots. A few that he used for his workouts, and a few that he used to escape the world that he didn¡¯t feel he belonged to. All were off the beaten path, so he chose the closest one.

    Once there, he sat down, gingerly, against a thick tree trunk. He knew by experience, that one of the best ways to ease pain and any anxiety was to focus on being calm. He closed his eyes and took some long, deep breaths, breathing in through his nose and slowly out of his mouth. Always a great signal to the body that it has reason to believe you have things under control. Trevor could feel his heart rate dropping and the pain in his skull start to lessen. His stomach no longer felt like he needed to expel food he didn¡¯t even have in his stomach. Trevor was always amazed at the power people had over their own bodies, if they would just take the time to learn how. This latest event was no exception. He started to visualize a soft light enveloping the back of his head, and the pain lessened even more. Amazing.

    He sat there in a meditative state for a good deal of time. He was almost afraid to move, for fear that if he did the pain would return in force. Eventually though, he opened his eyes and stretched his neck on either side. His neck cracked, most likely from falling asleep on the couch more than anything, but the pain didn¡¯t reach near the crescendo it had when he initially woke up. It was a dull ache now. And a dull ache he could handle.

    Trevor stood up, slowly, and thought about getting back to his place to get something to eat. He was headed out of his small secret clearing when something caught his eye. The Sun had long ago dropped below the horizon, and while Trevor¡¯s night runs through the forest seemed to indicate he had better night vision than most people, whatever it was that grabbed his attention didn¡¯t take much effort to see once he knew it was there. Oddly enough, it looked like it was reflecting a faint light, though there was no light present to reflect.

    Closer inspection revealed a pendant of some sort. In it lay a unique looking stone, held in a silver casing that was attached to the chain. It wasn¡¯t until he left the trees and held it under some light that he saw the stone was pink. And beautiful! It did seem to provide its own unique source of light somehow, if very slight. Trevor cupped it in his hands, and could still see the faint luminosity of the stone. Most likely it was just an anomaly of some kind. A trick of the eyes. Whatever it was, it made the stone look absolutely brilliant. Not that he was a jewel expert or anything.

    When he got back home, he boot up his laptop and started a search. He really didn¡¯t know where to begin, but before long his search was well underway. Apparently these necklaces were so popular that a simple search for ¡®pink necklace¡¯ brought one up that was close to what he had found. Not being much into jewelry, and not being overly social, he didn¡¯t realize until now he had been missing out on a well-known fad. Well, based on some of the comments he was reading, it was more than a fad. Many, many people were very impressed and smitten with these new kinds of stones.

    ¡°Everyone short of real diamond suppliers,¡± Trevor said to himself out loud. Which he did more often than he liked to admit, but hey, the price of being a loner he guessed.

    Based on what he could see, the stones, referred to as Keys oddly enough, were of a very high quality at very reasonable prices. Professional jewelers couldn¡¯t help but admit the quality of the cuts and clarity of the stones was that of even the very best of diamonds. Aside from dazzling the eye, they were durable, hard to scuff, and what most people found impressive, came in so many colors people were learning just how many colors actually existed. And best of all, even the biggest of the stones were priced more like a cubic zirconia in the hundreds of dollars range. A far cry cheaper than real diamonds of equal size and quality.

    The best he could figure, based on its size and shape, this particular Key came from a line called Ultra. My Key Ultra it was called, like a point cut diamond or two pyramids connected at the base. This seemed to be the most popular, but there were plenty of others. Numerous shapes of diamonds with slight variations, like two cones connected at the base instead of the pyramid shape, and even what was called sphericon, which Trevor hadn¡¯t ever seen before. Interesting.

    Trevor could definitely see why people were drawn to the Keys. He held the one he had found in front of him, noticing that it was flat out pleasing to look at. It was as though the stone had a story it wanted you to know if it could only learn to communicate it to you.

    Trevor lost a minute or two, mesmerized.

    ¡°Wake up, space ace,¡± he chided himself, laughing. Maybe he fancied pink more than he ever realized.

    He wondered how he should go about finding the owner of the pendant. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s an overly expensive thing, would it be missed enough to go through the effort? Would the police scoff at him for bringing in a necklace not even worth a hundred dollars?

    It was getting late for now though. Nothing he could really do about it at the current time anyway. And his research had left his head throbbing pretty good again. Staring at a computer monitor always left him with an achy head and eyes. He did take another minute for a quick web search for concussions. It appeared since he didn¡¯t die the first time he fell asleep, he should be fine for the second.

    He got a bite to eat and then readied himself for bed. Heading to his room, he took another glance at the necklace, still sitting on his desk by the computer. He stopped, curious at the draw it had on him. It was kind of like that person who has their head turned away from you, who then feels you looking at them and turns to look at you with eyes so bright it¡¯s slightly shocking. Except now, there¡¯s no need for concern over being rude for staring. Trevor chuckled to himself, and turned to head to bed. But a few steps later he stopped again. He went back to his desk, grabbing the pink stone to bring into the bedroom with him. Silly to have it getting lonely, sitting out there by itself.

 Fate Weaves Its Web

    Trevor woke up the next morning feeling much better than he felt he had a right to.  He expected to at least have a residual headache of some kind, but he didn¡¯t.  Not that he was complaining.  Not even a little bit.  He figured he¡¯d rather deal with the pain of a broken bone than the headache he had last night.  Except for the fact that broken bones don¡¯t go away overnight.  Was that normal for a concussion?

    Well, it was normal for his apparently.  He got up and stretched, glancing at his night table.  And panicked.

    It¡¯s gone.  The necklace.  He had left it right there!

    He interrupted his stretch to move things around on the stand.  The clock.  His wallet, keys and phone.  His latest book, Quantusum, which was fascinating, scary and fantastical all in one.  Then he moved it all again, thinking maybe he had just pushed it around and still couldn¡¯t see it.

    Nothing.

    He dropped down to all fours and checked under the nightstand.  Then under his bed.  He opened the single drawer on the stand thinking maybe he put it in there for safe keeping, even though he knew he hadn¡¯t.  If it was in there, he could have blamed it on the concussion.

    But still, no luck.  He had just started to believe finding the necklace was a figment of his imagination when he lifted his pillow and coiled a bit in shock.

    How it got there, he hadn¡¯t the faintest clue, but yet there it was in all its splendor.  He wasn¡¯t one to do strange things in his sleep.  Not that he knew of anyway.  And so he found it hard to believe that he would actually unconsciously grab the thing, and place it under his pillow.  Materialism was oil to Trevor¡¯s water.  He didn¡¯t even own another piece of jewelry!

    Though again he couldn¡¯t deny, letting the pink stone twist and turn in the early morning sunlight, that this was a beautiful necklace.  It would make a great gift for someone special.  You know, someone that was into that sort of thing.

    It was then that it occurred to him again that this necklace belonged to someone who was probably missing it.  He still wasn¡¯t sure how he should go about looking for the owner.  If he was missing something, what would he do?  There was putting an ad in the paper.  But that took time, and no one even really read the paper anymore.  There had to be something online he could look for.  A virtual lost and found?

    But first, he guessed he could check with the local police department.  Even if no one had come in yet asking for it, he could leave the necklace with them.  Maybe.  He could call and ask, but he hated phones with a passion for some reason.  He¡¯d much rather just go in and talk to someone.

    The morning was still early though.  He didn¡¯t know if the police kept specific hours for this sort of thing, but he was reasonably sure whoever was there didn¡¯t want to be dealing with it at this hour.  So he took his time making breakfast and exploring his favorite morning websites and blogs for news.  Satisfied he was caught up with world events, Trevor went into the woods and headed for his favorite workout spot.

    Trevor had a pretty cool set up here, if he had to say so himself.  He had a membership at a nearby gym, but he much preferred the outdoors and his anomalous exercises he had concocted out here.  The gym was there for rainy and extremely cold days.

    This was definitely his favorite spot in these woods.  It wasn¡¯t overly easy to stumble upon, which was great, and he had gone through the effort to make it his own.  He had actually gone out and found fallen trees, axing and sawing, which is a great workout in and of itself, until they were a good weight for certain exercises.  He was even lucky enough to have two stumps nearly identical in height and not too far apart, where he had placed a rather dense log he found atop of each to use them as a stand for squats.  There was a log for lunges, a couple he held under his arms for jump squats.  He had brought a bench out for those, to jump on, and also used it for bench pressing.  Shoulder presses, curls, he could hit it all.  There were at least a couple exercises for each body part he could do.  And each day he did whatever he felt like.  Or rather, what his body felt like.

    The few times Trevor did spend at the gym, he would often listen to the people who called themselves trainers there.  And they would set a schedule for people to follow, with a certain amount of sets and a certain amount of reps, using the same exercises day in and day out.  That couldn¡¯t be anymore monotonous, far as Trevor was concerned.  Perhaps that was good for some people, but how does anyone stick with it?  Trevor was disciplined enough not to miss too many workouts unnecessarily.  And he was disciplined enough not to neglect certain exercises.  But he didn¡¯t have anything planned before he arrived at his clearing each day.  He decided what exercises he would do as he warmed up.  If certain muscles felt sore or weak, he left them alone.  If they felt good, he worked them until they were tired.  Simple as that.  And it worked for him.  It was comfortable and he always looked forward to his workouts.  Could he be a little stronger if he used a bar and plates and had something a little more regimented.  Perhaps.  But Trevor didn¡¯t care in the least.  Being outside couldn¡¯t be beat, and strength wasn¡¯t a problem.  That was another problem with working out at the gym.  He could lift weights he didn¡¯t look like he should be able to lift.  It drew attention and he wasn¡¯t a fan of that.  In some cases, it almost seemed like some guys took offense to it.  He was either getting dirty looks from people, or being asked how he trained to be able to lift so much.  A question he didn¡¯t have an answer for.

    So he avoided that awkwardness by steering clear of the gym as much as possible.  Last winter he had even brought a shovel out to clear the area.  He was happy with his system.  If that made him a bit on the anti-social side, all well.

    This part of his workout took about an hour, and then he went for his customary 10 mile run.  Something else he loved to do.  He would never break any marathon world record times, but some days, the crisp and cool ones being the best, he felt like he could run all day if he had to.

    His standard workout usually took more than two hours, but less than three.  Most people would probably find that excessive, but it seemed right for him.  After he finished, he got home, concocted a shake made with a bit of protein powder and veggies, and was out the door to the police station by 9am.

    The station wasn¡¯t anything spectacular, which was no surprise for a small town like Crystal Woods.  Trevor walked through the first set of double doors, and when he attempted the second set, he was thwarted by a pair of glass doors that wouldn¡¯t open.  Of course they made a loud sound when he tried to open them, and that earned him a look from the lady working the desk on the other side, as well as someone she had been talking to.

    ¡°What do ya need?¡± she asked through a speaker in the wall, with a little bit of humor behind her voice.  Yeah, she knows embarrassed people when she sees them.

    And Trevor was a little more embarrassed when he hesitated, not sure if there was a button he should push or something.  He didn¡¯t see one.  So he spoke, hoping he didn¡¯t miss the obvious.

    ¡°Uhh, well, I found something last night.  And I was curious to see if you had anybody report it missing.  Maybe I could leave it here if not.  You know¡­if you do that?¡±

    ¡°Well, that depends on what you found, now doesn¡¯t it?  Tell me, tell me, and I¡¯ll decide if I should let you in or not,¡± said the clerk, the corner of her mouth up in a smirk.  She was messing with him now.

    Trevor decided to play along a little.  ¡°Hmm, well, I¡¯m not sure I should leave it after all, because I think you¡¯d want to keep it for yourself.  You see, it¡¯s this pretty pink necklace¡­¡±

    And with that a girl shrieked on the other side of the door, interrupting him.  Because of the door frame, he hadn¡¯t gotten a good look at who the clerk was talking to.  But as he stood there holding the necklace up in front of him, an overly excited and very attractive girl came into view.  Her exuberant expression lit her face up.  He couldn¡¯t help but smile like a fool.

    The door buzzed and she had it open before he even thought to reach for it.

    ¡°Oh my God, thank you.  Thank you so much,¡± she was saying as she stepped aside to let Trevor walk past, her eyes on the necklace.

    ¡°Bring it over here please,¡± insisted the clerk.  ¡°I already started the report, so I may as well put a close to it instead of just throwing it away.  Let¡¯s have a look here,¡± she said as she took it from Trevor.  Apparently the owner of the necklace had already provided a description.  The clerk went down a list she had made point by point, and looked satisfied when done.

    Stolen story; please report.

    ¡°Yup, looks like this is yours Ms. Babbit.  Be sure to thank Mrrrrr¡­¡±

    ¡°Douglas,¡± Trevor said.  ¡°Trevor Douglas.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you,¡± said the girl, finally taking her eyes away from inspecting her sparkling necklace to look at me.  For the first time apparently, because she looked and looked.  And looked a little more, until it started to get uncomfortable.

    ¡°Uh-hum, well I¡¯m glad you found your necklace Ms. Babbit,¡± said the clerk.  ¡°And I¡¯m glad to play matchmaker too.  It¡¯s a gift.  But I¡¯m sure you two can find your way out.  I¡¯ll be getting back to work now.¡±

    She left her counter to go to a back room, obviously amused.  Ms. Babbit, looking a little sheepish at the exchange, was smiling but looking away now.  She really was quite cute.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.  Ms. Babbit is it?¡± Trevor said with a laugh, trying to sound like the clerk.

    ¡°Yesss,¡± said the girl, rolling her eyes.  ¡°Not thrilled with the name, it being too close to another name famous for missing appendages and all that.  So Marie will work just fine.¡±

    ¡°Marie.  Ok, I can do that,¡± Trevor said with a laugh.  He could imagine this girl had plenty of tiring jokes made about her name in the past.  It was too easy, and it¡¯s the sort of thing unfunny people can¡¯t resist.

    ¡°So I found it in the woods not too far from here,¡± he told her.  ¡°The necklace, not the¡­¡±

    ¡°No, no.  No, no, no, no, don¡¯t say it!¡± Marie exclaimed.

    ¡°Fine, fine,¡± he laughed at her.  Upon discovering the necklace in the woods, Trevor was curious as to how it got there.  Especially so close to where he found it.  Was it wrong that that bothered him?  That someone actually traipsed through one of his private spots?  ¡°Were you walking through when you lost it?¡±

    ¡°No actually, I never go through the woods.  Too many bugs.  But, you know the fountain right off of Main?  With all the benches and the big patio?  I think that¡¯s where I lost it.¡±

    Everyone who lived in the area knew where she was talking about, so it was mostly a rhetorical question.  Trevor nodded and said, ¡°I see.  Maybe a squirrel grabbed it and carried it out there for you.¡±

    ¡°Probably!¡± Marie said.  ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you by the way.¡±

    ¡°Same here,¡± Trevor said, shaking her extended hand.  ¡°Glad I came across your necklace.  I¡¯m sure you were upset when you realized it was missing.¡±

    ¡°I was!  I so was.  My heart just sank.  I couldn¡¯t believe I could be so careless!¡±  And with that she gave Trevor a hug, which was completely unexpected.  Right then, the clerk came out, saw the two of them, and that wry smile came to her lips once again.  Trevor was instantly embarrassed again.

    ¡°Ok, well you¡¯re welcome Marie,¡± Trevor said, as he started walking towards the door, hoping Marie would follow so he could escape the embarrassment.  He wanted to talk to her more, but not inside the police station with the clerk standing right there.  To his horror though, she didn¡¯t take the hint.

    ¡°But wait!¡± she said.  ¡°I haven¡¯t sufficiently thanked you for finding my necklace!¡±

    With that, the clerk could barely hold in her laughter, obviously picking up on the sexual innuendo.  Trevor looked at her, red faced, and she had to look away.  Probably the only way she could stay professional.  Bless her heart.  This had sort of become an inside joke to the two of them, even though he¡¯d only known her for 5 minutes.  Marie, sweetheart that she seemed to be, didn¡¯t understand how torturous this was becoming for him.

    ¡°No more thanks is needed.  Really.¡± Trevor told her.  ¡°Let¡¯s take this outside so we don¡¯t disturb anyone any longer.¡±

    ¡°Oh, ok,¡± she said, walking through the door Trevor now had open for her.  Trevor jokingly scowled at the clerk, and he heard the bark of laughter she could no longer contain.  He was smiling greatly as they walked out, and when Marie turned to look at him outside, she seemed delighted, thinking the smile was for her.  That was OK in Trevor¡¯s book.

    ¡°Really,¡± he told her, ¡°no more thanks needed.  Apparently it was the right thing to do, bringing it here.  And the timing was¡­¡±

    ¡°Perfect,¡± Marie finished.

    ¡°Perfect,¡± Trevor repeated.  ¡°And maybe a little lucky.¡±

    ¡°I usually believe in fate before I believe in luck or coincidence.  Do you believe in fate, Trevor?¡±

    For some reason, the question rocked him a little bit when she asked it.  Something about it, with the sincere way in which she asked, sparked something inside of him that he couldn¡¯t necessarily explain.

    But since he had no real explanation and he needed to say something, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know.  I guess I¡¯ve never really thought about it too much.¡±

    He cringed at his clich¨¦ answer.  How often had that bugged him when he was talking to other people?

    ¡°Well, start thinking about it.  Because it brought us together today,¡± she said with a smile.

    Trevor supposed he couldn¡¯t argue that point.  And as they exchanged numbers and parted with plans to meet for dinner that night, he dismissed any thoughts of fate and was already looking forward to seeing her again.  He didn¡¯t realize that fate was indeed at play here, but for reasons neither he nor Marie could begin to imagine.

    <hr>

    Dinner with Marie was a glorious event.  Considering he hadn¡¯t been on a date in as long as he could remember, Trevor was very relieved it went as well as it did.  As long as he could remember.  That was yet another oddity for him.  He knew there have been other girls in his life.  He wasn¡¯t overly good looking with his conveniently short and non-styled hair and average features, but with medium blue eyes and olive skin, he wasn¡¯t unattractive either.  Fighting at the Pit had given him plenty of dating opportunities as of late, and he had gone on a few.  Before then, Trevor could sense that he hadn¡¯t been lonely.  He just couldn¡¯t remember why, or any of the girls, with any detail.  Just what seemed like vague, long ago memories he couldn¡¯t quite pull from the file cabinets of his memory.  Of course Marie asked him about that very thing on their walk following dinner.

    ¡°Oh, I go on dates here and there,¡¯ he said.  Not daring to go into detail.  They had successfully passed the small talk part of the date during the actual dinner, and were now comfortable enough getting a little more personal.  But he certainly didn¡¯t want her thinking he was crazy.  It dawned on him just then how early in a relationship it could become necessary to start lying.  He couldn¡¯t remember a relationship long enough to know if that actually ever stopped.

    ¡°But nothing overly noteworthy, I guess,¡± he continued.  ¡°How about you?¡±

    ¡°Oh me, I was married once already.  I was real young.  I had just turned 19 when my boyfriend at the time proposed to me.  I thought it seemed a little crazy at the time, but then everyone started telling me how wonderful it was.  That he was this great guy, and how he was a little older and was an electrician¡¯s apprentice, so he was going to make lots of money.  I didn¡¯t really know what I wanted to do for a career at the time, so everyone just sorta convinced me it made sense.  Ya know?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, totally makes sense,¡± Trevor said, lying to her for the second time since he¡¯d been paying attention.  Did he lie to her during dinner he wondered?  He wasn¡¯t sure.

    Marie looked at him, deciding whether she wanted to believe him or not.  Then shrugged.

    ¡°Well,¡± she continued, ¡°obviously it didn¡¯t work out.  The economy tanked and he couldn¡¯t find a job.  Neither could I, with my lack of experience.  Not much of anything anyway.  And we hadn¡¯t had time to save much, so it got ugly.  Fast.  And he got ugly.  He started spending every ounce he could find on booze.  He never beat me or anything, but some things happened that I knew weren¡¯t repairable.  So I decided to get out.  I¡¯ve been on a few dates since then.  Nothing came of any of them though.¡±

    She looked at him with big, doe eyes.  Her brown eyes almost matched the brown of her shoulder length hair, he noticed.  He returned her gaze, gently, letting her know he wasn¡¯t intent on judging her for anything.  When nothing was said, she gave a coy smile, and looked away.

    Trevor laughed, trying to ease the tension a little.

    ¡°Well,¡± he said, ¡°here I am, almost 30 and I haven¡¯t had near that kind of excitement in all my years of dating.  Haven¡¯t even been remotely close to marriage!¡±

    ¡°What, you don¡¯t meet all kinds of cute girls working for that office supply company?¡±

    Marie laughed, looking down for a second for which Trevor was glad because he cringed for a millisecond.  Damn.  Three then.

    ¡°No, no cute girls at the office,¡± I said, which was at least true.  Even though he didn¡¯t work there anymore.  ¡°None with two legs anyway.  The boss sometimes brings his dog in.  So she¡¯s not sitting at home alone all day every day.  Lady is her name.  Says she¡¯s an Australian Shepherd or something.  Really cute!¡±

    ¡°Awe!  I would love that!¡± Marie exclaimed.  Obviously an animal lover.  ¡°Is she super sweet?¡±

    ¡°She is.  Super smart too.  She can get her own water from the water cooler when she wants.  I¡¯ll leave that one to your imagination as to how she manages that,¡± Trevor said with a smirk.

    Marie nudged him on the shoulder.  ¡°Tease!¡±

    A whisper came and went, soft but distinct.  It didn¡¯t come from Marie, but came almost exactly as she called him a tease.  His name was uttered urgently from a long and far distance.  But not.  He couldn¡¯t explain it, and the confusion registered on his face.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Marie asked.

    Trevor scowled a bit, scrunching his forehead and pursing his lips, to let her know he was thinking about it.  And listening still.  But nothing more came.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he said, looking around at their surroundings which were soaked with moonlight.  His eyes were good, his hearing great, but there were no more clues to be had.  ¡°I swear I heard my name.  Guess I was hearing things.¡±

    Marie laughed.  ¡°Anyone that would be out here looking for you that you can think of?¡±

    ¡°Nope.  Not a soul.  Kind of living a solitary life out here these days,¡± he said with a shrug.  But despite the shrug, it bothered him.  So often when he thought of being alone, and tried his best to recall his past, it didn¡¯t make him sad.  But it brought up a strange sense of loss.

    ¡°Not anymore,¡± she said, looking him straight in the eyes.

    Trevor was still half distracted when she said it.  So it took him a few seconds to register her intensity.  But when he did, he smiled.

    ¡°Thank you for saying that,¡± he told her.

    She smiled back at him, making her eyes sparkle.  Or was it the reflection of the stars?  He couldn¡¯t tell.  Then she grabbed his hand and did an about-pivot.

    ¡°Shall we?¡± she asked with all the confidence of knowing what the answer would be.

    ¡°We shall,¡± replied Trevor.  Feeling better and more hopeful than he had in, well, as long as he could remember.

 Was It Worth It?

    The next handful of days passed in a blur for Trevor.  He was so wrapped up in Marie that he thought about little else.  Even when he wasn¡¯t with her, she consumed his thoughts while he worked out and completed his mundane daily tasks.  He realized just how wrapped up he was when his phone rang and it was Jesse, asking how his head was feeling.  Trevor hadn¡¯t at all missed not hearing from him.

    ¡°All is well with me,¡± Trevor responded to Jesse¡¯s inquiry.  ¡°Hasn¡¯t kept me from getting my workouts in, though I¡¯ve toned it down a bit.¡±

    ¡°Good!  Glad to hear.  Ready to go tonight then?¡±

    Trevor flinched.  Damn, he thought to himself.  If he had thought this through, he would have told Jesse his head was still bothering him some.  He had a date with Marie tonight.

    He hesitated for a few seconds and hated himself for it.  ¡°Ahhhhh, I don¡¯t know Jesse,¡± he said.  ¡°I think maybe I should take another day or two off.  For safety¡¯s sake.¡±

    ¡°For safety¡¯s sake?  I thought you just said you were fine?¡±

    ¡°I did.  But that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m fully healed.  If I take another blow to the head like Crusher gave me¡­¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t,¡± Jesse interrupted.

    ¡°How do you kn¡­¡±

    ¡°Because I set that up, remember?¡± Jesse said, sounding a little exasperated.  ¡°Most of the time any hit you take is blind luck at best.  Or bad luck for you at worst.  So what¡¯s the worry?  Now that you¡¯ve lost, the crowd wants to see you avenge yourself.  I won¡¯t put you up against Crusher, don¡¯t worry.  This worked perfectly, the buzz can¡¯t wait to see you.¡±

    The buzz, as Jesse mentioned it, is the current word going around among the fans.  He made it easy on himself by creating an online forum for those who are considered regulars.  At least a hundred high rollers in the area that love to watch other people pummel each other.  Trevor didn¡¯t doubt Jesse¡¯s scouts were hard at work too.  People he employed to listen to conversations in the crowd during matches.  And sometimes even when the local elite were out in public places.  Say what you want about Jesse, but he knows how to please a crowd.  And he expected his well-paid fighters to adhere to his wants and needs, to keep the money flowing as efficiently as possible based on what he heard.

    But all that be damned, Trevor was taking a personal day.

    ¡°One more night Jesse, that¡¯s all I¡¯m asking.  I¡¯ll be ready to roll with the next go round,¡± Trevor said.

    ¡°The next match isn¡¯t for another three or four days Trevor.  The time for your return is now.  The people want you.  Now.¡±

    ¡°I understand that, I really do.  And I don¡¯t want to disappoint your fans.  But I just think since I got my brains scrambled the way I did I should take it easy for a bit longer.  I hear ya, but what if I do have some bad luck?¡±  It was a stretch and he knew it, but Trevor was desperate.  He had half expected Jesse to interrupt him again, and was surprised that he didn¡¯t.  In fact, he waited to say anything.

    And waited.

    Finally, just as Trevor thought maybe the call had dropped, Jesse said, ¡°Fine.  I realize I can¡¯t force you this time, so I¡¯ll lie off.  Know that I¡¯m disappointed though.  The fans will be disappointed.  We¡¯ll be sure that doesn¡¯t happen again.¡±  And then click.  He hung up.

    Trevor stood still, a bit stunned.  He was slightly horrified by what he had just heard.  And even more horrified that he felt bad about being a disappointment to these people.

    This time, Trevor thought.  Be sure that it doesn¡¯t happen again?  Who did this guy think he was?

    Even with his success, Trevor had felt before as though he might have gotten in over his head by joining this fight ring.  Now came the heart sinking realization that his worry was hardcore fact.  His first days working for Jesse were intimidating, sure.  But after realizing just how good he was Jesse did everything he could to make sure Trevor was comfortable.  Of course he did.  And despite watching Jesse¡¯s brashness and occasionally his sizable temper, Trevor worked hard at convincing himself all he had to do was keep things neutral and all would remain well.  This was a new level of discomfort though, because for the first time he got a sense of just how far the control and manipulation went.

    Jesse, the Puppetmaster.  The Master of his Domain.  And Trevor was his most prized puppet right now.

    Trevor pushed aside doubts of disappointing Jesse.  That¡¯s just who he was.  He hated disappointing people.  Even if he felt like the mouse disappointing the cat.  Jesse was probably just used to getting his way.  No reason to worry.  He¡¯d be back in the pit sooner than later.

    A sudden realization hit Trevor.  Had Jesse been spying on him?  With his goons?  Is that how he knew Trevor was ready to fight again?  Did he know then that Trevor didn¡¯t want to fight because of a girl and not because of his injury?

    He felt another sudden pang of guilt and worry.  There was just an unspoken rule that you didn¡¯t miss a fight unless it was dire.  Especially not for a date.  That, and there was a contract he really didn¡¯t read.  This was the moment it dawned on Trevor that the contract wasn¡¯t a legal document.  It was a license for Jesse to punish those who don¡¯t listen if he felt he needed to.  What, was he going to run to a judge should someone break it?  Jesse did his own judging.  Trevor cursed himself.  How stupid could he be?

    Trevor stood frozen, trying to convince himself that it wasn¡¯t his problem.  That he was allowed to have a life too.  But it wasn¡¯t working.

    He didn¡¯t call Jesse back, but the whole scenario made him a little cranky for his date that night. Or it sure didn¡¯t help.  On his way out the door to meet with her, he had turned to see his image in a reflective picture on his wall.  Maybe it was his dark mood, but all he could see was average.  He questioned now why someone as cute as Marie would even act interested in him.  If she knew how he¡¯d let Jesse ruin his day simply by being cross with him, would she even want anything to do with him?

    His mind was still working overtime as he watched her walk up to the restaurant door with her long dark hair held back away from her picturesque face, eyes a dark pool of brown and a modest floral patterned dress.  And of course the self-luminescent pink necklace.  His demure resurfaced again at the sight of her and the date started out well.

    They got some food, and then went miniature golfing at some outdoor place.  But then they went for another walk after that, Marie being a professed lover of nature, and he noticed her topics of conversation bothered him.  Maybe he hadn¡¯t realized it before, but he hadn¡¯t had a meaningful conversation with her since they met.  She was nice enough to try and get to know him a little, but most topics of conversation were about television shows and gossip at her work.  And that necklace.  Trevor never imagined how much someone could talk about pieces of jewelry.  He also learned this was not the only one she owned, though it was her favorite, and she spent a good amount of time detailing what she had compared to what all of her friends had.  And her mother.  And her aunts.  And eventually even her friend¡¯s mothers and sisters.  She spoke of a few men in her life that had them, but they were sort of an aside.  No competition there, he assumed.

    When they arrived at his place later that night, he tried to engage her in more meaningful conversation, but she would have nothing of it.  Not that she was unwilling to listen, but she had nothing to offer in return.  The high that he had the first few days was now fading fast for Trevor.  And even when she tried to advance on him, obviously wanting some sexual attention, hard as it was, he stopped her.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m sorry.  I just don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea right now.¡±

    She slumped back on the couch, confused and disappointed.

    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    Marie looked at him.  She was a little sad at first, then graduating into a little angry and offended.  He watched her face change with the emotions.

    ¡°OK,¡± she said.  ¡°I¡¯ve been here before.  I can tell you I have a really good time with you.  And I thought you were having a good time too.  But tonight you have seemed kind of distracted.  Is there something bothering you about me?¡±

    The look she gave Trevor just then melted his heart.  He felt she sincerely liked him.  And she impressed him by being so open and honest.  So instead of taking the easy path and telling her no, of course not, he decided to do the same.

    ¡°It¡¯s not you, per say Marie.  It¡¯s that I don¡¯t think we¡¯re the perfect fit.  I like to get into world affairs, politics and¡­¡±

    ¡°I hate politics,¡± she interrupted.

    Trevor laughed before he could catch himself.  He had expected nothing less.

    ¡°I know,¡± he said with a smile.  ¡°I understand it¡¯s not for everyone.¡±

    ¡°And my friends all say, ¡®What does it matter?  They don¡¯t care about us anyway so why bother paying attention?¡¯¡±

    ¡°They have a very valid point Marie,¡± Trevor replied.  ¡°But to me that means we ought to pay attention that much closer.  Because if we don¡¯t, we¡¯ll be robbed blind while we¡¯re distracted with other things.¡±

    Marie scoffed at that, probably picturing a bunch of old white men with masks, coming to her house to rob her.  Not realizing the subtlety in which the same results were occurring, just not in such an obvious and acute way.

    But this just reinforced Trevor¡¯s thoughts about her.  He wasn¡¯t going to blame her.  There was no sense in that because he would just be making himself feel better.  He was the one in the minority after all.

    ¡°You¡¯re one of those people who worry too much, aren¡¯t you?  About those things you can¡¯t change?¡± she asked.  Trevor thought she was speaking facetiously, but when she didn¡¯t smile, he knew differently.

    ¡°I suppose I am,¡± he said, resignedly.  Disappointed.

    ¡°I suppose I am,¡± he repeated, mostly to himself this time.

    It was true, but not in the sense that Marie implied.  He didn¡¯t consider keeping tabs on the suits in Congress as worrying too much, even though he recognized it all as a shell game anyway.  So yes, he was concerned, but he wasn¡¯t obsessed.  He did worry about other things too much, no doubt about it.  Though he often thought the smarter and more aware a person was, the more they worried.  It was a relative thing.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t worry too much about anything,¡± replied Marie.  ¡°I find what makes me happy, and I go with it.  Simple enough, right?  Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s the way it should be?¡±

    She had a point.  Really, she did.  Often Trevor had thought how much easier it would be to have that mentality.  But it would bear no challenge to him.  And would likely bore him to tears.  You don¡¯t grow as a person without challenge.

    Trevor just realized the conversation he just had in his head was exactly why he was who he was.  Good or bad.  But it wasn¡¯t a good match for this girl.

    ¡°Simple enough, yeah.  But not for me, unfortunately,¡± he said.

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be simple for you?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s just not for me.  That way of life.  Sometimes I think it would be nice.  But not usually.  I like complexity.  Intrigue.  Mystery.  And you don¡¯t often find that watching TV every night, reading about actresses in magazines, or spending long hours on social media.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being awful presumptuous of me right now, Trevor,¡± Marie exclaimed, trying to sound offended.  ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that, Marie,¡± he said calmly.  Understanding he overstepped the bounds of diplomacy.  ¡°Nor do I think it.  I don¡¯t necessarily see people who do that as being stupid.  I see them as being¡­mostly afraid I guess.¡±

    ¡°Afraid?  What am I afraid of?¡±

    ¡°Truth.  Failure.  Lots of things.¡±

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t like politics?¡± she said, sounding incredulous.

    ¡°No, because when we are busy reading about other people, and playing games on the computer, we¡¯re not tending to things in our own lives.  Things we don¡¯t want to deal with.  Things we don¡¯t want to think about.  And the stuff we don¡¯t like about ourselves.  It¡¯s easier than thinking and learning about things found too difficult.  Things you talk yourself out of because you won¡¯t understand it.  Or be good at.  Why don¡¯t people really figure out how the world works?  Who and what is pulling the strings and effecting their day to day?  Why not learn things, instead of playing games?¡±

    ¡°Because weeee don¡¯t like those things.  We don¡¯t like to think about what people are doing in their fancy suits.  We can¡¯t do anything about it anyway, except maybe vote.  Math and science are boring, and I don¡¯t like to read about¡­I don¡¯t know.  History!  It¡¯s all one-sided anyway!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great that you say that, Marie.  So why not find out the truth?  What is real history then, if not what we¡¯re told?¡±  Trevor asked, gently.

    ¡°Because how do we know what¡¯s true, and what isn¡¯t?  Don¡¯t they say, ¡®History is written by the victors¡¯?  What¡¯s the point if we can¡¯t tell?  And why should I care, it¡¯s all so damn boring!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fear talking.  That¡¯s my point.  Afraid to look because you either won¡¯t like what you find, or you won¡¯t understand it.  The philosophies of the world can be studied for years and it barely scratches the surface.¡±

    ¡°And what about it all being so boring?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not.  It¡¯s endlessly intriguing, actually.  You know the saying ¡®Truth is stranger than fiction¡¯?  That definitely applies.¡±

    Marie looked at Trevor, obviously unconvinced.  He got the feeling this girl was going to want nothing to do with him after tonight.  But he wasn¡¯t sad about it.  Things weren¡¯t going to work out anyway, so it was good to have this conversation.

    Just then, Marie picked up an open magazine on Trevor¡¯s coffee table that was open to an article about meteors seeding life on other planets.  She scoffed again and tossed it down.

    ¡°So, since we¡¯re being so honest,¡± Marie said after a few moments of silence, ¡°you said ¡®mostly afraid¡¯.  What else am I besides afraid?¡±

    Ignoring the sarcasm in her voice, Trevor told her, ¡°Well, I assume easily distracted.  Maybe a little lazy.  But we¡¯re all lazy, at least every so often I guess.¡±

    ¡°Oh that¡¯s just perfect,¡± Marie said.  ¡°Is there anything you liked about me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that Marie, I swear,¡± Trevor said, knowing he¡¯d said way too much to her.  Why did he bring all this up tonight?  He would have likely gotten laid.  But he pushed that shallow thought out of his head.  Tried to anyway.

    He continued, ¡°I¡¯m not sitting here trying to place blame and judge.  I realize I don¡¯t see things the way most people do.  And goodness knows I¡¯m not perfect.  So while I don¡¯t agree with it, I don¡¯t think less of anyone because of it and try to accept things for what they are.  With ¡®it¡¯ being complacency to live in a world where nothing is wrong if it doesn¡¯t seem to affect you directly.  That¡¯s just the way it is now.  And I hope that changes.¡±

    ¡°I know there¡¯s plenty wrong with the world¡­¡±

    ¡°But how much about that do you know, specifically?  That you don¡¯t read in People magazine every so often?¡±

    Marie smirked at that.  An irritated, but still slightly amused smirk.  She didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Let me ask you Marie¡­I know I¡¯m being presumptuous, as you say.  But in anything that I¡¯ve said, have I gone wrong anywhere?¡±

    ¡°No, you asshole!¡± Marie yelled, but she laughed as she did.  ¡°I don¡¯t agree with you comparing me to an ostrich sticking its head in the sand, but I guess I have to accept it.  Jerk.¡±

    Trevor laughed too.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry Marie.  L-O-L?¡±

    That earned him a smack on the shoulder.  One he felt like he deserved.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be sorry,¡± she told him.  ¡°I don¡¯t¡¯ think it¡¯s all as bad as that, but I can see what you¡¯re saying.  I¡¯ll think about it.  I¡¯ll try and not be¡­A-F-R-A-I-D.¡±

    That made him laugh hard.  Harder than he had in a long time.  He hadn¡¯t realized until then just how he missed such laughter.  It existed in his life.  Somewhere.  He knew it.  But why couldn¡¯t he remember where?

    Regardless of all that, it made him appreciate Marie.  And respect her.  The conversation could have ended much differently.  But she took it in stride.  Took him in stride.

    For a second he felt a twinge of doubt that he wanted to end it with her.  But he forgot in that split second that it wasn¡¯t just up to him.

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.  While I adore that face, and find you sexy as hell, maybe we¡¯re too different.  I¡¯m not going to give up my People magazine.  Not for any guy,¡± she said, still joking, but not.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t want you to do that, if it¡¯s what makes you happy,¡± Trevor said.

    A moment of silence passed.  It wasn¡¯t awkward at all.  He could tell she was contemplating something.

    ¡°Endless intrigue, huh?¡± she eventually asked.

    ¡°Endless,¡± he responded, flashing a big smile.  Maybe?

    He thought now the silence was her debating on whether or not to delve deeper into what he was implying.  But then, at the last second, he could see the thought shift in her mind against any possibility.  The steely resolve of that steel wall we create when we¡¯re faced with uncertainty.  In this case, her fear was most likely in acting interested, and not being able to shut Trevor up about it.  Or just as likely not being able to act interested when she really wasn¡¯t.

    It made Trevor a little sad when he realized he may never know.

    She got up with a big inhale through her nose, and exhale out of her mouth.  Trevor got a big whiff of the spearmint gum she was chewing.  And then she stuck out her hand.

    Trevor grabbed it and gave it a slight shake.  She was adorable in the waning sunlight coming through his living room window.  At that moment, his being a little sad turned into an incredibly, overbearing sadness.  He didn¡¯t feel like being alone, but he had completely just pushed this girl away.  And for what?  Because he couldn¡¯t tolerate shallow conversation all the time?  Was it better than having no company?

    Too late for all that now.

    ¡°Well,¡± Marie said, ¡°thank you for all the walks.  And the dinners.  You really are a good guy Trevor.¡±

    ¡°And you really are a sweet and good person Marie.  I¡¯m sor¡­¡±

    ¡°No need.  Don¡¯t apologize.  It just doesn¡¯t always work out.  I get it.  We can be adults about it, and accept it for what it is.¡±

    Except he didn¡¯t feel like accepting it for what it was just now.  But he couldn¡¯t say that.  When he didn¡¯t say anything, she started walking to her purse.  And then the door.

    ¡°Take care of yourself, would you?¡±  She said.

    ¡°You too.  Please let me kno¡­¡±

    ¡°I mean it,¡± she said abruptly, interrupting him again.  ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is, but I think you should just¡­.be careful.  OK?¡±

    Trevor was more than a little perplexed.  But he told her that he would do his best.

    As he watched her walk safely to her car, he dwelled on the lesson he learned.  Assumptions aren¡¯t just the mother of all fuck ups.  They also don¡¯t get you laid.

 Fifty

    Trevor had expected Jesse to call the following day, but it didn¡¯t come.  Nor the next day.  Right when he started hoping that maybe he had upset Jesse enough that he would not want him back and would leave him alone, there it was.  He had told Marie he was in the process of looking for a new job when they met.  Partly because he was ashamed at how he made his money, and partly because that was the rule he had to follow.  At this point though, Trevor would love for that to be true.  To be working at another lame office job somewhere.  And not because he didn¡¯t like the thrill of the fight, which did well at breaking up the monotony of his life.  But because now, thanks to his last conversation with Jesse, he felt like a cornered rat.  Especially after remembering some things, random things he saw and heard here and there in the Pit that he dismissed before.  Some of those things made sense now.

    ¡°Fifty.  You¡¯re on.  Tonight.  Location 3.  Normal time.¡±

    Click.

    ¡°Well, damn,¡± Trevor mumbled to himself.

    Jesse called anyone ¡®Fifty¡¯ that annoyed him..  Given the tone of the call, Trevor wondered now if it was more of a serious warning.  He tried to remember exactly in what context Jesse had used that term before, but he never knew or cared about the specifics.  What Trevor did know was that when it was used, even the most hardened veterans of the pit just did as they were told.  It stood for something, but any time he¡¯d asked, no matter who he asked, he usually got a shake of the head and was ignored.  Once it earned him a snort too, as in, you¡¯re too much of a newb to know.  One guy told him, ¡°Just play along with the charade, Jesse¡¯s pet.¡±  Hands down the wittiest comment Trevor had ever heard in the Pit, once he¡¯d figured out what was being referenced.

    Now he hated this whole situation even more.  Cornered rat, indeed.  Trevor spent most of his time in the Pit keeping to himself.  Since day one, he could barely handle the massive egos down there.  He certainly regretted that now though.  He felt like he needed information.  And maybe some back-up.  Sure Jesse was used to getting his way, but how far did he go to get it?  Have people gotten hurt trying to go against his bidding?

    This wasn¡¯t like him, to freak out like this.  The events of late, though not overly dramatic, had increased his anxieties as of late.  He hadn¡¯t really noticed with the short lived euphoria of having Marie in his life.  And just what the hell did Fifty mean anyway?

    Trevor decided he wasn¡¯t going to push it this time.  He had to calm down and find out more.  The fact remained he was still easily the best fighter in the mix.  And of course while he had enough money already to sit on his ass for a year if he wanted to, padding that account wouldn¡¯t hurt.  But this was the beginning of the end of this life, he decided.  It felt good being the man of the hour as he was rising to the top.  But really, all things considered he didn¡¯t feel good about being a part of it.  There was such a nasty vibe in the pit that sometimes it took everything he had just to enter the room.  Sometimes the feeling to him was akin to the one you get when you have to jump into a garbage dumpster to look for that valuable something someone accidentally threw away.  Sure you got used to it after a minute, but the initial jump can make your skin crawl.

    He had less than four hours before he was due.  At least he still had time for his pre-fight rituals, which weren¡¯t much compared to some he had heard of.  He would eat now, take a nap, go for a short run and then eat again.  Something small, but enough to make sure eating one or two protein bars during the night would be enough to hold him over.  His last act of preparation was to meditate with whatever time he had left.  He hoped he felt better about things at that point, because now he felt like little more than a bundle of nerves.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    There was no fanfare when he arrived.  He¡¯d half expected Jesse to try and heckle him a bit, or even try and bully him.  Jesse though, was far too busy schmoozing with the gradually thickening crowd, as his charismatic self was wont to do each and every fight day.  He had given Trevor a cursory nod when he first saw him, and that had been it.  Fine enough by Trevor.

    Jesse had at least six different locales in which they frequented.  No doubt there were more that Trevor didn¡¯t know about.  Each one of those six were in an obscure, hard to find basement somewhere in the city proper or near suburbs of the rich/poor land of Chicago.  Trevor often wondered how Jesse convinced authorities not to interrupt his operation.  Did he simply pay them, or perhaps he included them in this or some other business venture?  Jesse was nothing if not a shrewd business man, and Trevor had no doubt he had his hands in other things as well.  At least in the big city itself, it was also pretty well known that nothing happened without the CPD knowing about it.  So in Trevor¡¯s mind, there is no way some sort of deal wasn¡¯t made.  Jesse could walk around in worn blue jeans, a tight, black long sleeve t-shirt with a bandana around his head and somehow have dozens of posh, rich folk eating out of his hands.  Now though, watching him go around doing what he was best at, Trevor felt something coming from Jesse.  Almost like a contained but simmering pestilence just below the surface of his infectious demeanor.  Perhaps it had always been there in the year or so that Trevor had known him, but Trevor had just dismissed it as his usual discomfort around this egoistic, unpredictable man.  But now, whether it was his own paranoia or a strong change in Jesse¡¯s energies, Trevor distrusted this man to the core of his being.  If only because he realized just how little he actually understood him.

    Trevor had his faults, like being slightly naive and trusting too easily, but when he had an instinctual, gut feeling like this, it never let him down.  He was the mongoose to Jesse¡¯s cobra.  Each deadly in its own right.  But now his gut was telling him he was in a nest of vipers.  Had it been a mistake to come?

    Where most people would have thought themselves being irrational, Trevor let his eyes start to roam, looking for signs to validate his unease.  Trevor worked his way through the crowd of spectators and fighters, to the corner spot dedicated to the fighters for warming up and refreshments.  At least there he wouldn¡¯t feel so exposed.  No one seemed to be paying him any mind though.

    He started to go through his own warm ups.  Half-assed, but not useless.  Jesse was in the center of the ring now with his portable sound system and microphone, getting the crowd worked up and excited.  He announced Trevor¡¯s return to the Pit and for a few incredibly unwelcome seconds all eyes were on him.  He was sweating, but that wasn¡¯t due to his warm up.  Thankfully Jesse moved on quickly.

    Opening festivities over with, the fights started, allowing Trevor to settle down a bit.  Jesse didn¡¯t like too much down time.  There was money to be made after all.  Jesse would remain busy from here on out.  Still, he kept a wary eye on the crowd, which included Jesse¡¯s staff, and the other fighters.

    Thanks to his new found attention to detail, Trevor noticed something he hadn¡¯t before.  The crowd surrounded the fighters forming the ring that served as the battle area.  It could get pretty hot down in these basements, with all the body heat and non-stop cheering.  So while all the spectators showed up dressed to the nines, the start of the first fight meant they could relax and start stripping some of their layers.  Guys took off suit jackets and ties and rolled up their sleeves.  Women took off their own light jackets, shawls and hats.  And much to Trevor¡¯s surprise, most of the people in the crowd were wearing the colorful Key stones that he had researched when he had found Marie¡¯s necklace.  And be it another necklace, a bracelet, ring or earrings, a broach or even a hairpiece, he looked from one person to the next and he saw Keys of all shapes and sizes.  The striking colors were hard to miss, now that he was looking.  At first he thought it was mostly the women.  But on closer inspection, he saw guys had watches with Key stones in them, as well as cuff links and even some shoe decorations.  No doubt the necklaces they had tucked under their shirts adorned them as well.

    He thought it amazingly peculiar, but he didn¡¯t have too much time to think about it.  His turn was up.

    A man named Titus was his opponent.  He had striking features and was much bigger than average size.  With his super dark skin he looked very intimidating.  He had had some good days in the Pit, but Trevor knew his best days were behind him.  While he looked intimidating, that wasn¡¯t enough when your opponents as a rule refused to be intimidated.  And as it turns out, he had taken a bad fall during training a few months back and hasn¡¯t been the same since.  His knee, his ankle, his something, wasn¡¯t healing well and it was obviously still bothering him.  And the fact that he had paired him against Trevor for his first match back said Jesse didn¡¯t think he was long for the challenge anymore.

    That didn¡¯t mean Titus wasn¡¯t dangerous.  Not by a long shot.  Trevor knew he could take him, but he had to force himself to focus.  If he didn¡¯t push everything out of his mind he¡¯d end up taking another direct blow to the head, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to blame it on someone tripping him this time.  Breathing was so important to Trevor to achieve an inner calm.  Not deep breaths so much as slow and steady.  When he focused on his breathing, everything else was pushed back.  And when the fight started, his instincts were allowed to take over.

    Titus gave Trevor a nod, and Trevor returned it, and that was how a fight started in the Pit.  No wasted time.  Guys knew better than to charge Trevor.  It hadn¡¯t worked yet, and more often than not ended in a quick knockout.  But Titus came at Trevor aggressively, no doubt hoping to catch Trevor a little on the rusty side.

    What Titus couldn¡¯t know was that Trevor and rusty weren¡¯t a thing.  He was a natural at this.  Not just the fighting itself so much as the motion and the observation of his opponents.  He was a step ahead of everyone who stepped in against him, because he could either see a move developing or knew the most logical next move based on the skill level of the fighter.  And in the split seconds available to him as he countered that move, he planned his own.  Not in reaction to what he was seeing, but in response to what he felt was coming.  Sometimes he guessed wrong, but not often.  And if he did, he would manage to push off and try again.  If he wasn¡¯t worried about taking a hit from someone, he stayed inside and hit harder and better.  He might have to take a punch or a knee to his ribs, but by the time that happened he had often landed 2 or 3 of his own hits.  Usually the hits he took were not nearly full strength.  He never stopped moving, and was never out of control.

    If his opponent was really strong like Titus, he hit and retreated until he knew he could connect with something that would slow him down, if not stun.  Once the stun came, Trevor would finish things, but not with everything he had.  He would usually floor the opponent and knock them out with a well-placed elbow, which was something he had actually taken the time to study so he didn¡¯t do the damage Crusher had done to him.  Sometimes when they were so dazed they could barely walk but still refused to yield, Trevor used pressure points to lay them out.  The name of the game down here was pummeling and blood, the more the better, and Trevor¡¯s leniency to opponents would sometimes upset the crowd.  And Jesse.  But he was good enough now no one squawked too much anymore.  And that made Trevor happy.  Bloodlust wasn¡¯t a thing for him either.

    These massive fighters like Titus were like heavy hitters in baseball.  If they connect, look out, they will hit the tar off the ball.  But that¡¯s a big if.  Those hitters also usually strike out more than most.  Pitchers learn the pitches and locations that give them the most trouble, and stick to that.  What makes it a battle worth watching is whether or not the pitcher will make a mistake.

    And that is what Titus¡¯ career hung on these days.  The mistakes of others.  In baseball, the chances of that power hitter connecting off a pitcher that was actually hitting his spots is probably around 1 in 5.  In the Pit though, power hitters could have a much higher success ratio.  Granted Titus was hurt and on the decline, he still won more matches than he lost, because he was a veteran that knew how to cause his opponents to make mistakes.  If you let him do that, you were toast.  No human is taking much abuse from an experienced fighter with arms the size of a steel girder.

    Of course Trevor the anomaly was every bit as powerful as Titus.  And his speed was unmatched so far.  He was the heavy hitter that could take the walk and steal some bases.  More than that, he often knew exactly what pitch was coming, and where it would hit the mitt.  That¡¯s why this fight against Titus would be easy.  And that¡¯s why he hadn¡¯t lost, even taken a big hit, until his last time here with Jesse¡¯s attempt to balance the cards a bit.

    So Titus came at Trevor, tepidly aggressive, trying to show a confidence Trevor knew he didn¡¯t have against him.  He favored his right leg, and was left handed, so without even thinking about it, when Trevor moved it was towards that leg.

    Doing so caused Titus to start shuffling more than stepping, making it awkward to keep up.  Trevor felt a pang of regret for having to fight this fight.  Trying to convince himself it was OK because Titus chose to get in the Pit wasn¡¯t helping.  Like so many fighters, this was all they had.  All they knew.  Those were the type of people Jesse liked the best.  The more control he had, the happier he was.

    And so Trevor opted to make it quick.  In a move that never would have worked against a healthy Titus, Trevor darted in and made for a sweep of Titus¡¯ bad leg, spinning a full 360 degrees.  Except he shortened the sweep, never really extending his own leg and thus coming out if it much sooner than Titus could have anticipated.  Between that and Titus¡¯ over reaction to protecting his injury, Trevor had a split second where Titus was completely vulnerable.

    Out of his spin, Trevor hit an exposed Titus in the throat with the webbing of his hand.  This reeled Titus back a bit, off balance, but didn¡¯t hurt him too badly.  Having bought himself more time, Trevor darted behind Titus and crouched, punching the back of the knee on his good leg.  Unable to hold his massive weight with his bad leg, Titus¡¯ legs buckled and he fell to his knees.  With a well-placed elbow to the base of his skull, Titus fell forward, unconscious but not seriously damaged.  Match over.

    It all happened so fast it took a second or two for the crowd to realize what happened, and then all at once broke out in a crescendo of cheers.  Trevor would have liked to admit that didn¡¯t make him feel good, but it did.  At first, it always did.

    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    Everyone in the room seemed happy with the result, except for the obvious few who bet against Trevor, thinking he had been out long enough for Titus to take advantage.  Those were the same people that always thought they were smarter than everyone else when they played the long odds.  They usually lost no matter what they were betting on.

    And of course, Jesse was looking on, not with an angry look, but definitely unimpressed.

    Great.

    Trevor didn¡¯t like too much fanfare, so after a few acknowledgments to the crowd, he walked out of the human made ring and through the crowd that formed it, getting numerous pats on his shoulders and back, and the occasional ass squeeze.  He headed towards the back corner of the building where the water station was, where he would get a few fist bumps from the fighters as he walked past them.  But most of them always did their best to look the other way, which suited Trevor just fine on a normal day.

    ¡°Remember.¡±

    Trevor was about halfway through the crowd when he heard it, and stopped abruptly.  He heard it like it was right next to his ear, and it was perfectly clear despite the loud, incessant buzz of the crowd.

    ¡±Remember.¡±

    He spun around, but no one was close enough to him for such clarity, and now he was getting some questioning looks from a few patrons.  Embarrassed, he forced himself to continue to the water station even though he was afraid moving might keep the voice from returning.

    And he was right.  The voice didn¡¯t return.

    Disappointed, Trevor scanned the room as if he was going to spy a ghost or something hanging in a corner.  He chuckled at himself for the thought.

    Trevor is not at all spooked by such things.  He long ago accepted there¡¯s much more to the world than our five senses can realize.  And that fact greatly intrigued him.  He¡¯d also had a few experiences, things that popped in and out of existence real quick, or the occasional light in the sky that didn¡¯t move around like anything in the sky should.  His overly keen nose also belied some people, who didn¡¯t smell like a human but also weren¡¯t wearing any kind of artificial scent.  Yes, he could tell these things.  No, he didn¡¯t know why.

    And of course he¡¯d done plenty of research on the internet about this sort of thing too.  As much as could be done and believed anyway.  Sometimes he thought his imagination got carried away.  Sometimes he knew he just wanted something different for this life, because ultimately he didn¡¯t enjoy too much of what it had to offer.  But in the end, he always settled on believing the human race as being largely deceived.  There was a group out there that benefitted with a distracted and anxiety ridden populace.  A populace that would like to think they¡¯ve got life all figured out, when in fact 95% or more of that life is beyond their range of observation.  The mere thought of such a thing has been twisted into being heretical, which offers a great convenience for the Archontic governors of shadows.  People have lost the eyes to see.

    Trevor was broken out of his thoughts when he noticed one of the other fighters walking his way.  He was surprised because it was odd for him to be spoken to so directly.  Then he realized he was still standing in front of the water.  He nodded at the fighter, who had unwillingly adopted the name UPS because he wore all brown all the time.  But he made the most of it by saying he wore brown so that the splatter wouldn¡¯t be so obvious when he knocked the shit out you.

    Trevor moved to the side, but UPS followed him over.  Apparently he actually did want to talk.

    ¡°Hey man, how¡¯s the head?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Headaches stopped day before yesterday, thanks,¡± Trevor replied.  Which was entirely untrue, but he didn¡¯t know how close this guy was to Jesse.

    ¡°That¡¯s cool.  That was a pretty nasty hit you took.  Elbow right to the head.  By Crusher of all people.  How¡¯d that happen anyway?¡± asked brown.

    Still not wanting anything to get back to Jesse, Trevor offered with a shrug, ¡°I chose the worst time in my life to trip over my own feet, I guess.  Just had them moving too fast for my brain.  Or vice versa, depending on how that works.¡±

    UPS chuckled, trying to act amused.  Trevor got the distinct feeling he wasn¡¯t.

    ¡°Well, I was just wondering why Jesse put you in the doghouse?  Not to mention Fifty status.  Kinda curious considering you¡¯ve been his main man for a while now.¡±

    Being in the doghouse in the Pit meant your last two of three fights were back to back in the tourney style set up Jesse liked.  If you won your fights, of course.  It never bothered Trevor that much because he wasn¡¯t often exerted to his max.  But for some fighters it meant the difference between a good night and a bad one.  And the favored fighters didn¡¯t often have to deal with that problem.  Apparently it was Trevor¡¯s problem today, though he hadn¡¯t taken the time to look at the bracket yet.

    ¡°Ahh, well I guess I stayed on the IR for a day too long for Jesse¡¯s taste,¡± Trevor said.  He decided at that point his need to know eclipsed his desire to avoid looking like an idiot.  ¡°And anyway, what the hell is ¡®Fifty status¡¯?¡±

    ¡°What?  You don¡¯t know?  Didn¡¯t get the memo when you signed up?¡± UPS said with an incredulous laugh.

    ¡°I know what it means, that he¡¯s pissed off with whoever he might be talking about.  But what does it actually stand for?¡±

    UPS gave him a curious look, as if to say he couldn¡¯t quite believe what he was hearing.

    ¡°Man, you really don¡¯t get around much down here, do you?  Talk to anyone at all?¡±

    UPS looked around, like he didn¡¯t want anyone to overhear him having to be the one to tell Trevor the up and up.

    ¡°Fifty means final fucking try, man.  And it¡¯s also supposedly the number of guys he has at his disposal to keep you in line, though no one knows just how true that is.  I wouldn¡¯t want to be one to find out!¡±

    Trevor looked at UPS, thoughts racing through his head.  That confirmed two suspicions.  One, that there was no end to the fighting unless Jesse was ready to let you leave.  Not without serious repercussions.  And secondly, no doubt Jesse had had some henchmen following him around.  Spying on him.  He knew Trevor could have come back sooner.

    The anger Trevor felt must have registered on his face, because UPS raised his hands up about waist height and said, ¡°Whoa man, whoa.  Take it easy.  For as good as you are, this can¡¯t be your first rodeo, right?  You can¡¯t come in here, sign a contract, turn into Jesse¡¯s cash cow, and then expect to start playing games.  Like it or not, you¡¯re in the thick of it with the rest of us.  That¡¯s a fact of life you¡¯re just going to have to accept.¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon,¡± Trevor chided, ¡°That contract is bullshit.  What, does he have an army of lawyers too?¡±

    UPS closed his eyes and slightly shook his head in frustration.  ¡°Sure, the contract is a symbolic gesture.  But Jesse, he doesn¡¯t need lawyers.  He is the law and enforcer in this place.  And beyond, if need be.  You can¡¯t mess with that.¡±

    Maybe UPS intended on helping Trevor calm down, but that just pissed him off more.  Mostly because he was right.  Unbeknownst to the other fighters down here, this of course was his first rodeo.  He was clueless to the max.  He was so desperate to get away from his last pathetic job, and thought this opportunity was a great idea to motivate him to stay in shape.  When Jesse had flashed the money potential in front of his eyes, he couldn¡¯t wait to sign up.  He hadn¡¯t read anything too closely and hadn¡¯t asked many questions.

    Well, crap.

    Just then, Trevor saw Jesse up on his make shift stage he used for announcements.  UPS followed his gaze and saw him as well, Jesse somehow staring at the both of them with a single gaze, and promptly made a bee line to a place that wasn¡¯t next to Trevor.  Trevor watched UPS leave, and then brought his gaze back to the stage.  Jesse kept staring, refusing to drop his eyes.  Trevor¡¯s vision narrowed, the challenge flipping a switch.  Putting Jesse at the end of a short tunnel where there was nothing else to see but that stare.

    A second ago, Trevor was intimidated, feeling trapped and alone.  But Jesse¡¯s stare awakened something within.  As Trevor returned with his own gaze, all those insecure feelings were subdued, and replaced not with irritation or even anger, but with confidence.  He became centered, felt balanced.  He zeroed in on Jesse¡¯s eyes, and he knew by what he felt that he no longer looked like a scared rabbit to his challenger.

    Nothing else in the room existed

    Trevor settled into it, knowing this game was an important one.  One he had no intentions of losing.  He didn¡¯t focus on his stare, he just let it be, and focused more on staying within himself so that he remained calm.  And to do so in a way that neither Jesse nor anyone else would be able to tell it took any effort at on his part.  He lost track of time, but after at least half a minute the roar of the crowd threatened to interrupt them.  Jesse was visibly angered by the fact the ongoing match had ended, and his attention was needed.  Grudgingly, he broke eye contact with Trevor, and announced the winner of the match.  Trevor used that opportunity to get some more water, so he didn¡¯t have to go through that again.  He was happy he didn¡¯t back down, but he didn¡¯t think it wise to facilitate another challenge again.

    Once the adrenaline faded, he felt more exposed than ever.  He was being openly confronted?  Damn if he didn¡¯t know if Jesse was just messing with him, or if he was truly so slighted by Trevor¡¯s antics.  Maybe he sensed his doubt.  Not that he wanted to give Jesse THAT much credit.  But now he truly didn¡¯t know where this was headed, and how far it was going to go.  And he would get no help down here.

    All of a sudden he was on the verge of feeling claustrophobic.  The heat, the mixed smells of body odor and perfume and the resulting thick, acrid air, it was all starting to overwhelm.  His tried and true instincts were t

    telling him to run.  To get out, and not look back.

    But how?  The exit was on the far side of the room, and Trevor had no reasonable expectation of actually being allowed to walk out of his own volition.  Just then he realized Jesse had stopped his PA.  Not wanting to look at him directly, he tried to catch him in his peripheral as best he could.

    Sure enough, it seemed Jesse was looking directly at him again.  And now, he could feel it.  Almost like heat on the side of his face exposed to the stare.  He tried to appear calm, but he was anything but.  He looked around, trying to see if anyone else that was paying too much attention to him, but gladly saw no one.

    ¡°Remember,¡± came the voice again.  Not at the best of times, all things considered.  He didn¡¯t need something else to think about.  And to make things utterly worse, he heard his name announced for the next scheduled fight.  It seemed too soon, but he had lost track of what was happening around him.  The panic inside was reaching a crescendo.

    He made his way to the ring made of reeking human flesh.  In his current state, the smell and feel of it all disgusted him almost to the point of nausea.  The sweaty bodies and the strong, greedy desire and expectation for more violence.  He could sense it all now.  While his stomach threatened to betray him, the sounds in the room became an almost deafening buzz, and his itchy eyes registered everything with a hyper sensitivity.  At some other time it would have been amusing, but now it made him jumpy and see threats that weren¡¯t there.

    ¡°Remember¡±.

    With all that was going on within him, the voice actually took him by surprise this time.  It had been louder than before.  Still a whisper, but a loud one that seemed to be right behind his left ear.  When he whipped around, he immediately regretted it looking at the surprised faces of those behind him.  He thought for sure he must appear to be losing his mind now.  Was he?

    Right as Trevor reached the clearing, he started to jump in place as if to warm up, but in actuality to cover his panic and do something normal to help ease his mind.  But Jesse wasted no time in adding the cherry on the top of his mania.  He announced his opponent, a tall, lanky fellow corded with muscle.  Charger, of course, the one responsible for his concussion, and the only one of dozens to win a fight with Trevor in the Pit.  Fair or not.

    This was almost enough to overwhelm him.  He felt like dropping to his knees.  He wouldn¡¯t have minded another fair and honest match with Charger.  The man was one of the legit challenges that he¡¯d faced working for Jesse.  But Trevor had no preconceived notions at this point about having a fair and honest fight.  His mind was racing with the implications of what was happening.  As Jesse¡¯s vile voice spoke over the microphone about a long awaited rematch, a million things ran through Trevor¡¯s head.  Was he being set up to take a big hit again?  Had Charger been charged with putting him in the hospital, or worse?  Had his water been drugged?

    As the thoughts raced, breaths became harder to come by.  His head started to pound in memory of where Charger connected with his elbow last time.  His stomach still threatened to expose his last meal to the crowd.  In an act of desperation, he did something he¡¯d never thought he¡¯d do.

    Trevor threw his hands up.

    ¡°I YIELD!!¡±

    The buzz was gone, instantly.  Every single pair of eyes turned towards him.  His face flushed with embarrassment.  Some of the patrons in the crowd, the ones who probably remembered the hit he took from Charger last time, started laughing, thinking Trevor was joking around, even though the fighters never joked down in the Pit.  Either because fighting was such serious business or so few of them actually had any personalities.

    ¡°I yield.  I will not fight this fight.¡±

    Now that Trevor had pressed on, the crowd began to get angry.  At first it started as a low crescendo of displeasure, but each passing moment the anger increased until eventually people were cursing and yelling and throwing their hands in the air.

    Trevor looked over to Charger, who stood still, his taped fists together at the knuckles in front of his chest.  Elbows out, his feet spread and his face stoic, he looked like a statue of death come to seize him. Right behind him still on his platform was Jesse, looking down on him with a smug smirk on his face.  Trevor had expected him to be angry.  But this¡­in a way, was worse because it meant what Trevor did in giving up the fight wasn¡¯t entirely unexpected.  Or something undesired.  In any case, Jesse seemed to be ready for it.  And that wasn¡¯t good.

    Oddly enough though, Trevor felt himself returning to normal.  Nothing drove him crazier than the unknown.  But now things were pretty much out in the open.  Trevor had shown his hand, now it was time for Jesse to finally show his.

    And he did, in the form of at least half a dozen toughs morphing out of the crowd at once, into the center of the ring.  They were all as tall as Charger and more massive.  Trevor didn¡¯t immediately recognize any of them.  Not that it mattered.

    Trevor was a great fighter, but there was no way to survive this if it came to blows.  Not that he thought he could make a run for it, but Trevor spared a glance behind him and saw four more huge bodies fill up the empty space the crowd had created as they retreated to make room for whatever was coming.  He was surrounded, and there were just too many to deal with.  The crowd now, having backed up and out of the way, was more densely packed.  Even if he were to get lucky and find a weak spot in the line of muscle around him, he didn¡¯t think the crowd would just let him waltz through.

    Jesse¡¯s thugs were making a spectacle of the situation, at first standing tall, to look as menacing as possible for the crowd.  Then most of them gained their fighting stances, and started in slow but lurching, like a Viking shield wall without the shields.  Trevor didn¡¯t panic now.  It was an impossible situation, but he still was in his element.  He¡¯d gotten through some crazy situations before, and he¡¯d just have to rely on his instincts to pull through.

    Wait.  He had?

    None of his fights in the Pit had been overly stressful, aside from the first few and maybe the match with Charger.  His life outside of the Pit lately had hardly been overly exciting.  Yet, memories threatened to break free about situations similar to this one, and a sixth sense was telling him he had been trained for this.  He may very well be minutes away from his own death, but all of a sudden his heart soared.  His elation was as positively overwhelming as the negative was just moments ago.  So much so that it stopped the brutes in front of him in their tracks, not understanding the change in his expression.

    Without warning those memories began coming back to him full force.  A childhood he loved, training that was fun and useful, an old wizardly looking man as his instructor.  And friends.  His best friends. Trevor had not been alone.  He had been one of three.  And was now once again.

    ¡°Weeeeeee¡±, cried an excited voice behind him.  ¡°Yes! We did it!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s about time you let us through Trev!¡± came another voice, this one a low, rumbling baritone that you could feel as well as hear, to the other¡¯s more high pitched and elated.  Trevor whipped around and stumbled back a step.  Less due to the surprise of the situation and more to the sheer size of the biggest man he¡¯d ever seen.  And next to him, a girl about four inches short of Trevor¡¯s six-ish feet.  Both had striking appearances.  The male had skin the rich, dark brown of wenge with a peculiar slight tinge of blue, complete with hard, corded muscle all along his giant frame.  The other, tawny skinned with her long, dark and silky hair set in a ponytail, barely able to contain her excitement.

    Despite the gravity of the situation, the girl gave Trevor a mountain sized hug, and he returned it in kind.  Their names had yet to grace his memory, but these were his only two real friends, besides his mentor whose face he now clearly remembered.  They had all grown up together under that man¡¯s watchful tutelage, learning the ways of battle and the ways of life.  Often learning they were one in the same.

    They had all gladly dedicated their lives to mastery of physical arts and enlightenment.  As well as to each other.

    And they had just appeared out of nowhere.

 Home

    Trevor hadn¡¯t remembered them up until this moment, but his memories were coming back to him in a rush leaving him awed but disoriented.  There was no time to figure what was happening though.  Jesse¡¯s goons had taken a few steps back, but they still looked intent on causing trouble.

    After his friend¡¯s hug, there were a few long seconds where everything stood at a standstill.  No one moved.   No one said a word.  He wasn¡¯t sure anyone was even breathing.  Then his giant friend took two steps forward, past Trevor, daring Jesse¡¯s goons to come forward.  At least ten had convened by now and stood between them and the door.

    Having been openly challenged by the newcomer, who stood just inches short of 7 feet and looked like he possibly weighed a quarter ton, the reactions of the men standing against them were mixed.  Some looked even more stone faced, if that was possible.  Some looked unsure and a few even looked at a predictably unsurprised Jesse.  Hoping for what, Trevor didn¡¯t know, because Jesse may as well have been a statue himself.  Trevor and his long lost friends were still vastly outnumbered, but the site of the three of them was enough to hold them in place.  Not to mention the X-factor.  What else were they capable of if they could just materialize out of thin air?

    That realization, for the first time since his conversation with Jesse on the phone, finally locked Trevor¡¯s confidence into place.  Despite the numbers, he and his friends could handle this.  He knew it instinctively, even if he couldn¡¯t sort through the memories to know exactly why just yet.  These men were not their equal.  Though he was still a bit shaken from all that had happened Trevor did his best to show the confidence he felt.

    As the stalemate continued, a few of the braver souls among Jesse¡¯s goons took a few hesitant steps forward.  Then a couple more followed their lead.  Before they got too far, Trevor¡¯s female friend stepped forward and brandished a pair of what looked to be brass knuckles with two wicked transparent blades that looked of glass curving out on either side of them.  Where she pulled them from, Trevor did not know.  The pants she wore had no pockets, and he saw nothing visible that would hold them.  She took a stance that said she knew how to use them.  And if that wasn¡¯t intimidating enough, she squeezed the knuckles and out popped three more blades, straight out from tracks between the finger rings and the palm rest.

    At that point, Trevor¡¯s bigger friend crossed his arms reaching out past his shoulders and looked to grab at the air to either side of his body.  But when he closed his fingers and pulled, hilts appeared in his hands, and slowly the steel blades of two long knives were exposed as though they were being hidden by sheaths made of air.  He didn¡¯t pull them out all the way, but held them in place, half the blade showing, and half not.

    That halted all advances, and Jesse cleared his throat loud enough to get everyone¡¯s attention.  Ever the consummate entertainer, he began a slow clap and bellowed a laugh.  But Trevor could tell it was a nervous laugh.  Subtle, but definite, and it made him feel good.  Eyes in the crowd looked at Jesse eagerly with anticipation.  Did they think this was all a show for them?

    ¡°What a turn of events we¡¯ve had here today, wouldn¡¯t you say ladies and gentlemen?¡±  Jesse asked rhetorically.  ¡°As much as I¡¯d like to see how this would turn out, I fear doing so would put you all in danger of being mayormente mutilado.  And that wouldn¡¯t do.  Please give us a minute to get things situated, and we¡¯ll be back to action in no time!¡±

    Why wasn¡¯t Jesse in politics?  Probably the money wasn¡¯t as good.  It turned Trevor¡¯s stomach.

    The goons were waved away, and they melted back into the crowd, trying to look disappointed at missing the fight, and doing a disappearing act almost as good as the appearing act of his friends.  Jesse got down off his perch and walked over to the three of them with a big, fake smile on his face.

    ¡°No hard feelings Trevor!  I wasn¡¯t going to let them rough you up.  Too much anyway.  You¡¯ve done well by me, up until recently at least!¡±

    Jesse tried to get close to Trevor, but his giant friend moved unassumingly into his path.  This caused Jesse to make a wide move around him, glancing at him from the corner of his eye.  This was an awesome thing for Trevor, as he had never seen Jesse off his game.  He couldn¡¯t help but smile broadly, and when Jesse brought his eyes back to him, his face became dark indeed.  But only for a second.

    ¡°I¡¯ve decided I¡¯m done with this Jesse,¡± Trevor told him, using the opportunity to fully escape the trap he felt he was in.  ¡°I¡¯m sure this breaks the contract you made me sign, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯re gonna be able to take me to court over it.¡±

    ¡°Ahhh, you know I¡¯m my own judge, jury and executioner my boy,¡± he said, trying to belittle Trevor and take some control back.  ¡°Be that as it may, had you actually read the contract, you¡¯d know that it just ended today.  One full year, good on you and all that.  I wanted you to cash in on a revenge match against Crusher.  But, I guess we will be stopped short of that,¡± said Jesse with a tsk.

    Jesse then subsequently gave a flourishing bow to his smaller friend.  But it was almost a familiar thing, as if they knew each other.  If Trevor wasn¡¯t confused enough at the whole situation, he was now completely baffled.

    He looked at his friend, taken aback and slightly offended.  Though when she spoke, he instantly remembered the comfort it had always given him.  He also remembered now just how unique it was.  How unique she was, for that matter.  Her voice was soft, almost like she was purring, but yet a bit smoky and strong, like each word was a loud forced sigh that was plenty strong enough to hear above the now steady din of the crowd.  And the air around her seemed to vibrate as she spoke, almost as though she were pushing the words directly to his ears.

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Again he felt that strong affinity for this woman.  Her striking features would definitely be considered beautiful, if one could accept her distinctive eyes as part of her uniqueness and beauty.  Her prominent cheek bones and dark eyebrows accentuated those wild eyes, and were framed by hair so deep red it took the right light to see it wasn¡¯t black.  Even though it was kept in a pony-tail now, with the thin black headband she wore, she looked every bit the descendant of the lesser known Nakota Sioux.  He remembered now how she would usually weave that band through a braid to keep it tight up against her head when she fought, so that her hair couldn¡¯t be used against her.  That told him she didn¡¯t necessarily show up knowing she would end up in the middle of a brawl.  And yet she didn¡¯t miss a beat, coming to his aid.

    That strong affinity he felt towards her though was not romantic in any way.  The bond he felt when he heard her speak was even closer than that.  And anything less than that bond seemed trivial.  He couldn¡¯t place exactly what it all meant right now, but Trevor knew any kind of romantic feelings were actually inferior to what he had with this person.  And though he didn¡¯t have time to explore it at the current moment, he would bet it was the same with his over-sized friend too.  Now he couldn¡¯t wait to remember it all.

    Trevor¡¯s initial shock and anger quickly evaporated when he heard her voice.  It was definitely a curious thing as to why they would be familiar with Jesse, but he immediately trusted them with his life.  Trusted them to always do the right thing for him, and expecting no less in return.  He marveled at how these deep feelings were returning to him even before he could remember their names.

    ¡°Lucky for you,¡± she purred to Jesse, ¡°we have a number of pressing matters to attend to.  If we were to relay what we¡¯ve seen here¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah my dear, there will be no need for that,¡± replied Jesse to the hung comment.  ¡°Like I said before, Trevor was in no real danger.  This is the way I do business.  I get what is promised, no matter who my deals are with.  The boy here just needed a gentle reminder of his place.¡±

    ¡°Well this particular side deal is now done and over with.  And his place is no longer here with you,¡± she responded to Jesse in turn, trying to make her words sound final.  The way she said it hinted to Jesse that she would not tolerate him speaking of Trevor as a servant of his.  And if he tried to continue in such a manner, she would not be pleased.  Her point was brought home when Benny, yes that was his name!  Benny!  When Benny clamped a giant hand down onto Jesse¡¯s shoulder.  Judging by the look on Jesse¡¯s face, he was also giving it a good squeeze.

    ¡°Yes, well, like I said, the contract is ended.  He¡¯s free to do as he pleases.  Good day to the three of you then,¡± Jesse said, waving off a few of his security who didn¡¯t like what they were seeing.

    ¡°You seem to have forgotten something,¡± Trevor¡¯s friend told him.

    Jesse audibly sighed, and his head dropped a touch.  Obviously not happy with what they were requesting.

    ¡°Fine.  Fine.  I¡¯ll be right back then,¡± he said, trying to walk away.

    ¡°If it¡¯s all the same, we¡¯ll go with you,¡± said Benny, his voice forcibly rumbling and his hand still holding tight.

    Jesse looked up at him, and then shrugged.  Well, tried to.  It only worked on one side and it made Jesse look feeble and he knew it.  He gave a pleading look Benny¡¯s way, and Benny finally let him go.

    They followed Jesse through the crowd, all eyes on the four of them again now that something was happening.  Not for long though, as Jesse led them outside, two of his guards picking up the rear as they exited the building.

    Jesse led them to his car, a sleek black Jaguar.  He popped the trunk, pushed everything in it to the side, and opened up a hidden compartment below the trunk flooring.  From it he pulled two briefcases, heavy and apparently filled to the max.  He handed them to Trevor.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Trevor asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s your earnings,¡± Jesse said, as he closed up the compartment and then his trunk.

    Trevor looked at him confused, not understanding.  Jesse had paid Trevor, and paid him well.  Trevor had averaged about $2,500 cash per night for what usually amounted to 3 fights a night.  With a fight night about once every couple weeks, usually a few days less than that, Trevor did pretty well for something that came so easily to him.  Or at least he thought he had.

    ¡°This was part of the contract.  I was to set aside what I earned from your fights, and be happy with the crowd you drew and the bets made on all the other fights,¡± he told Trevor.

    Trevor set the briefcases down in front of him and took a step back.

    ¡°I don¡¯t trust this.  Why would you do such a thing?¡±

    ¡°I told you, it¡¯s my end of the deal with your boss, or your sensei or whatever you call him.  Metallah has been fair enough to me.  There¡¯s almost two and a half million in those cases, if you¡¯d prefer not to take it, just walk away.¡±

    Trevor coughed.

    ¡°A deal is a deal,¡± said Trevor¡¯s female friend, proving to be the quick thinker of the trio, as she picked up the suitcases without a hitch.  Her name was right on the tip of his tongue.  He almost had it.  He wished someone would just use it already.

    ¡°You made two and a half million dollars off of me in the Pit?¡± Trevor asked, still incredulous.  ¡°Almost makes up for all the bullshit you put me through.¡±

    ¡°Hey, I wanted to ease you back into your rematch with Charger.  But you needed time off, remember?  And part of the deal is you, or any of you,¡± Jesse said, waving his pointed finger at all three of them, ¡°refrain from telling the others in the Pit just how much I can make.  Can we be done please?  The longer this goes on, the more pissed off I get.¡± He slammed his trunk.

    His girl friend looked at Benny, and he nodded his head.  Benny stepped aside, allowing Jesse to walk between them instead of around.

    ¡°Been a pleasure,¡± Jesse said, walking back to the building like he couldn¡¯t get away fast enough.

    They all watched Jesse go, and when he was out of sight, they both turned to Trevor, huge smiles on their faces.

    And then they attacked him.  Cassara first, with another hug so fierce she practically knocked him to the ground.  And then Benny, taking them both into his huge arms, and squeezing just hard enough to take their breath away but not break anything important.

    Yes, Trevor thought to himself, Cassara is her name.  Cass and Benny.  His soulmates were back in his life.  And in this moment, for the first time in a long time, he felt like he was home.

 Metallah: Head of the triangle

    ¡°We have so much to talk about,¡± Cassara told Trevor as they walked to his car, briefcases in hand. Trevor hadn¡¯t looked in the cases yet, but he was still stunned at what Jesse had said. Almost $2.5 million!? It wasn¡¯t lost on him that they were trusting Jesse that there was even any money and not a bunch of bricks in the things. But the way the conversation had gone, it didn¡¯t seem like he was willing to mess with this Metallah character.

    ¡°And I have so many questions I barely even know where to start,¡± Trevor replied.

    ¡°I bet,¡± said Benny, and he squeezed into the front seat of Trevor¡¯s Infiniti sedan. Or tried to anyway. He got one leg in and comically sucked in his breath, and then slammed the seat back as far as it would go. Tiny framed Marie had been the last one to sit in the passenger seat.

    ¡°Quit complaining,¡± Trevor said, as he let Cassara into the back seat. ¡°Had I remembered I had such big friends, I might have purchased a bigger car. But you always have the teleport option¡­¡±

    ¡°Nice ride though,¡± Cass told Trevor from the back seat.

    ¡°Thanks. I had a junker, but when I started working for Jesse, he told me he¡¯d get me a new one for a ¡®steal of a deal¡¯. After getting to know him, now I know what he meant. But I love this car far too much to put too much thought into it. It was a few years old when I got it, so not new, but new to me. It puts my last car to shame. And he really did offer a great deal.¡±

    Benny started playing with things on the dash. Pushing buttons and turning knobs. When he got to the seat warmer, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. He looked at Trevor.

    ¡°This is nice and all, but I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be inclined to take things from a guy like Jesse. A great deal means you paid him thousands for something he likely paid nothing for. Except maybe what he paid someone to steal it for him.¡±

    ¡°I was in a bad place at the time. I had a job I hated, could barely afford the meager existence I had. Pretty much hated my life. And I didn¡¯t know Jesse at the time.¡±

    ¡°He offered you an illegal job, making illegal money, and was selling you a super nice car for what, far less than what it was worth? Stretching the morality end a bit thin, eh?¡±

    ¡°Alright there Benny boy,¡± said Cassara. ¡°Don¡¯t we think this could wait a bit on the judgy? Turn on your seat warmer and slow roast a bit, eh? Let him at least regain the rest of his memories!¡±

    ¡°Oh I¡¯m not judging so much as just driving home fodder I¡¯ll use to hold over his head later. And absolutely not on the seat warmer. I get too hot and we all suffer in this little thing.¡±

    Trevor laughed and pretended like he was looking for something on the dash of his car.

    ¡°Where is the eject button when you need it?¡± he wondered out loud.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± Benny told him. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t work on me anyway. Too heavy. At least this thing isn¡¯t electric. I¡¯m not even sure it would roll.¡±

    Trevor looked at Cassara in the rear view and she raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. Those eyes. Trevor still couldn¡¯t believe he could ever forget them. But he had. Completely. He badly wanted to know why.

    ¡°Can I ask a question before we get started catching up?¡± Trevor asked.

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s Metallah? Is that the old guy I had a mental vision of?¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t remembered him yet, besides that?¡± Benny asked rhetorically.

    ¡°Probably because he¡¯s the one who placed the spell. Makes sense that he¡¯d be one of the hardest things to recall. Don¡¯t you think?¡± Cassara suggested.

    ¡°Spell?¡± asked Trevor.

    Benny sighed. ¡°Yeah man, things are a mess and we¡¯re still trying to figure it out ourselves. Metallah is who we call Popy. Popy raised the three of us. Created the three of us. And he¡¯s a Wizard of sorts. Well, a Plasma Mage actually. Long story. There¡¯s a hierarchy, and he¡¯s up at the top. And he decided we needed to forget things for a time. Who knows why. So he placed a spell on all of us and put us in lives back in the places he found us initially. You here, me in LA, and Cass back in North Dakota.¡±

    Trevor looked a Benny with a blank face, not saying a word. Benny put his hands up in surrender. ¡°I know, it¡¯s confusing. If it wasn¡¯t for her, we all might still be living in a fog.¡±

    ¡°So you broke through?¡± Trevor asked Cassara.

    ¡°Yeah, I guess you could say that, though I¡¯m starting to believe our ¡®waking up¡¯ was more or less scheduled for about this time. Especially after hearing Jesse talk about your one year contract. But I started to have flash backs of our training days while I jogged every day. Kinda when I would be zoned out. And then one day, I was so zoned out I damn near got hit by a car and when I ran to get out of the way, I ran so fast I completely lost my feet and fell into a ditch. It wasn¡¯t pretty. But that helped the memories start flooding back for me.¡±

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    That earned another blank stare from Trevor. Benny laughed, and was still laughing when he continued to explain.

    ¡°And Popy expected Cass to be the first of us to recover, because when she went back to our place on Page Island, if you remember that at all, there was a note for her. It had yours and my general location so that she could use our connection to shake us awake too.¡±

    ¡°And instructions said specifically to get money from Jesse. That¡¯s the only way I knew there was something going on between the two of them. And sure enough, we walked right into your mess,¡± Cassara told them.

    ¡°Oh wow, so you played that off pretty well, and your timing couldn¡¯t have been any better,¡± Trevor told her.

    ¡°I know, right? Pretty cool, right? I¡¯m awesome, right? Right?¡± she remarked with a smug smile.

    ¡°Oh great. Don¡¯t wanna get carried away. Right? Right?¡± Benny asked her.

    ¡°Right? Wrong!¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait,¡± Trevor chided. ¡°So I know we have a connection, I felt that right away. But that was enough to find me? Us? And where is Popy?¡± he asked. A familiarity was returning, just saying the name helped, but no actual knowledge of time in Popy¡¯s presence was back yet.

    ¡°Our connection,¡± Cassarra started, in a lecturing tone, ¡°is more than I think you remember right now. I think we should wait to explain that later as that memory starts to return. You¡¯ll know it when it does. As for Popy, I don¡¯t know yet. No word from him besides the note,¡± she finished, a bit morose.

    Trevor had more questions, but the others seemed to be contemplating within, so he drove in silence for a few minutes. He took the time to try and soak things in, see what he could actually remember. Nothing new was coming to him at the moment. Maybe it was because he was distracted with driving. Should he even BE driving?

    ¡°OK, look, we should just wait to get into too much,¡± Benny said, breaking the silence. ¡°It only took a day for our memories to return in full, so it¡¯s not too bad. But I wonder, what lesson from Popy could have been behind the purpose of all this? We remember, and you will later Trevor, he was trying to teach us some minor spells of our own at the time he separated us. Cass was the only one to really pick anything up from that training. So I wonder if we were brought here by Popy for a little mental balancing or something. Perhaps he wanted us to learn about ourselves. How to accept and love ourselves. I know it sounds corny, but I can specifically remember him saying that was going to be the hardest lesson we¡¯d have to learn, and it was something we¡¯d have to eventually get on our own. And that once we learn that, the spell training would become easier.¡±

    ¡°I do remember that,¡± Cassara agreed.

    Trevor nodded. ¡°Great. So my earning illegal money fighting for a living and buying a probably stolen car will have earned me high marks?¡±

    ¡°Not so much,¡± said Cassara. ¡°But you were coming around. Look at what was happening when we finally got through to you. You were taking a stand for yourself. And though we haven¡¯t figured much out, it seems pretty obvious Popy wanted you to find Jesse.¡±

    ¡°Or Jesse to find me. Jesse approached me about fighting while I was out for a jog one day. I was so sick of my other job I couldn¡¯t wait for the chance of starting something new. I made it easy for him,¡± Trevor told them.

    ¡°So you had a year contract with Jesse. Do you remember how long you worked at your other job?¡± Benny asked him.

    ¡°Yes, I remember exactly. Three months. I was at my three month review when my boss told me I acted as though my heart wasn¡¯t really in the job. Actually that was after he tried to promote me to a Supervisor position over a couple other women who had been there at least four or five times as long as me. He was a chauvinistic prick. And when I hymned and hawed at the opportunity, he told me my heart wasn¡¯t in it. So he said it might be best that I go. The job was a borefest, but I wasn¡¯t ready to leave that day until that conversation. It was then I realized I¡¯d rather be poor than work for that guy. I came across Jesse soon thereafter.¡±

    ¡°OK, so fifteen months, give or take. That¡¯s something we hadn¡¯t quite pinpointed yet,¡± Benny told him.

    ¡°So you two lived happy, pristine lives in those fifteen months?¡± Trevor asked.

    Benny snickered. ¡°Hardly. We talked about this earlier. Neither one of us felt like we had a place where we were. Popy dropped us into jobs too.¡±

    ¡°Even though you loved your job!¡± Cassara interjected.

    Benny laughed. ¡°I did. I did. Mostly. Working with little kids. There¡¯s nothing I enjoy more, aside from our training. But I had zero connection with the adults there, who were more worried about the drama of their lives than the dozens of wee ones running about around them. It was a chore pretending like I cared about any of it.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t stay at my job either. Security at a nature preserve. I love nature and all, but that job was slowly sucking my life force away,¡± Cassara told Trevor.

    ¡°So it appears he tried to put us in places we¡¯d appreciate. Even if perhaps it took a bit for Trevor. And as we remembered, we did have bank accounts with a bit of money in them. Maybe not $2.5 mil or anything, but some. And places to stay.¡±

    ¡°How did he do that? I mean, how can he just plop us in lives like that, and convince us somehow that everything is normal? Crazy,¡± said Trevor.

    ¡°No kidding,¡± remarked Cassara. ¡°Of course we know Popy has skills, but who¡¯d have known he was this good?¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it irritate you though?¡± Trevor asked. ¡°I mean, he just uprooted the three of us, plunked us down where he wanted and said¡­well, he didn¡¯t even say, ¡®Good luck¡¯. He said nothing. I¡¯m not so sure I appreciate that.¡±

    Cassara sat back, letting what he asked sink in. Benny stared out the window, obviously contemplating himself. Trevor turned off the highway they were on, as they were getting close to his place.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t had time to really think that much into it, I guess,¡± Benny said, after Trevor told them they were almost done with their drive. ¡°Cass found me and brought me back to Page Island when I could manage, and then we worked together to find you. We discussed things a little in that time. But not that. And you¡¯re right, that does kind of suck.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Popy had good reason,¡± Cassara insisted. ¡°I mean, he is our teacher, and sure he¡¯s been strong handed in the past, but he¡¯s always been fair. When has he ever steered us wrong?¡±

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t, that I can think of,¡± Benny replied.

    ¡°That we know of,¡± retorted Trevor.

    ¡°True,¡± Cassara told him. ¡°But let¡¯s give him the benefit of the doubt. For now at least. I think he deserves that much. Besides, we haven¡¯t even gotten to the scariest part yet.¡±

    As soon as Cassara made that remark, Trevor pulled into the lot of his condo and parked the car.

    ¡°May as well get inside and get settled, before we start up that conversation,¡± Cassara told them. ¡°We know that Popy has pushed us to our limits time and again, but we¡¯ve always come out better for it. I don¡¯t think this is any different. Even if we can¡¯t see it yet.¡±

    ¡°So, in other words, I¡¯m not going to like what you have to tell me once we get inside, right?¡± Trevor asked her as she got out of the car.

    ¡°You said it,¡± Benny told him, pushing him a bit in the back as he walked past. ¡°Nice place. What made you choose this location?¡±