Killing (And Other Games)

(Thirty Three)

(Thirty Three)

This death match is definitely the event of the year. Creatures, mostly Guides, wear their finest outfits, people converging together to have polite and dramatic conversations that all seem to include oh I haven't seen you in so long, fancy seeing you here. Everything seems to have been done up for the occasion; I can't quite put my finger on it but everything looks brighter and newer and cleaner. You can see where Piers has put his own touch into things. The walls are decorated with posters explaining why they're fighting and what they've done, the stairs up to the corporate box are blocked off by guards. Gray and I storm towards the stairs, trying to avoid the guards, but we're stopped in our tracks.

"Nope. Public viewing is in the stands."

"I'm Gray Godstone Light," Gray declares, puffing his chest out. I nod in affirmation.

"You weren't on the list," the guard says dumbly. He's a Guide but he's not medium-height and slim like most of the Guides I've seen. He's huge.

"My invitation is implied," Gray sneers, raising an eyebrow. "You can go ask my father. He'll be the one that looks like the King."

Instead of just letting the guy through, the stubborn guard tells us to stay put and goes upstairs, waddling away. The other guard, a more typical Guide, gives us a dirty look. What the hell is going on?

"If we made a break for it would they stop us? I mean, if they're pacifists..."

"Not everyone is as dedicated as me," Gray hisses. We stand waiting, both of us jumping around anxiously. Upstairs is the guy who is going to have my friends saved and downstairs are my friends about to fight.

"What time is it?"

"Almost five."

"What time does it start?"

"At five."

When the guard comes down I'm about to flip out. How freaking long does it take to be dramatic and stubborn? "Well?" I demand.

"You're not on the list."

"What the fuck?" Gray exclaims. "Look at me, tell me you know who I am."

"Doesn't put you on the list whether I know you or not." Gray puts both his hands in his hair, his eyes wide open. I think he's more upset by the fact that he's not allowed in then that we can't get to Piers.

"He paid you didn't he?" Gray accuses, jabbing a finger. "I'll tell my father; he'll know."

"Why don't you just move along. People are trying to get through," the guard instructs plainly. Gray opens his mouth to say more but I can seem the demeanour of the guard and I know we're not getting through so I grab his arm and pull him away.

"Gray," I warn, stopping in front of a burger stand. "Don't start anything."

"We aren't going to get up there before the fighting starts. Is there any other entrance?"

I shake my head, biting my lip. Already people are cheering and the back halls are clearing out. The first fight must be minutes away. "We left this too late," I whisper, feeling teary. "They're going to have to fight."

"But you told me that they're not fighting each other, right? Maybe we can afford to...just wait till after."

The good mood drains out of me, just like that. "Just because they're fighting people we don't know doesn't mean it isn't dangerous."

"They'll win," Gray assures and I cling to the promise, praying for it in every way I can. All my instincts tell me to push past the guard, to run up and find Piers, but the more I think of it the more I think it's not going to work if we do it now. Who is going to want to believe us when downstairs there's a fight to the death going on?