The Volunteer | CxE Book 2

PANIC!

The spotlights were red hot against my iris. All the constant screams swam together to make a sea of static. The faces meddled into a congealment of colors without form. I could feel every beat of my heart as it pumped blood through my veins and the biting cold of the air against my bare skin.

It took me a moment's rest and tightly shut eyes to regain my composure. Slow and simple sets of repeating deep breaths until the noises stopped. Just as my nerves began to calm I caught El Primo's gaze. I assume he was trying to look friendly but from afar he looked like a lunatic staring at his next victim. The lackeys on his sides did not help this sentiment.

I could hear the people behind me cheering me onward into the ring. My scarf was in a spiral of equal confusion trying to decide what to do next. Should it shield my face so I can attempt to hide away or should it take this opportunity to make my clumsy announcement look stoic? Either way, I would be giving it a piece of my mind when we got home tonight. Something about this rubbed the wrong way. What caused me to jump up like that?

There wasn't time to think about that. I quickly turned to a jaw-dropped Colette, "This is a mistake. Lemme jus-" before I could explain myself I was shoved forward by a mass of grubby hands. The force they pushed me with caused me to hastily topple over the barricade.

My face nearly ate the dirt below just before my scarf grabbed the railing mere inches from contact. I could hear some childish laughter upon my near-catastrophic entrance. An entrance I didn't plan, might I mention!

I rolled forward and wiped myself off. Looking outward, I got a better feel for how many people there were. I didn't realize they had filled the street with fans of this garbage. I couldn't see the Starr Shop or any other attractions through the field of shifting heads.

Though it took a minute Colette finally woke from her stupor. She leaned over the barricade, "What are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything." I shot back. I moved to step back over the barricade but a sharp tug on my neck halted me. I could feel my scarf tightening around my throat. When I looked back, two pairs of hands had gripped either end of my scarf.

Poco and Amber were happily dragging me away from the safety of my seat. Closer and closer to the center of that box and the man in the middle. I know that he's just a performer, a joke, a sham. But for a moment I had a flashback. I remembered Colt. How he smiled as he stomped into my caved-in chest. For some reason, their faces looked the same.

Perhaps it was instinctual, but I turned back to the stands and mouthed to Colette. 'Get Help!'

I was hurriedly tossed into the ring by the dynamic duo and found myself rolling to the champion's base. The matting was surprisingly cushioned. It was like one of those mats I had to use in elementary school during gym class. Though as I lay on my back I could tell it was much thinner. I could almost taste the wood below me when I first entered.

A stiff cough reminded me where I was. I looked up at a ghastly image. El Primo's face mask was bright blue with red accents and white netting around his eyes. It gave him this friendly look. It was clear he was the hero even before the crowd started cheering. Even I would have to say he looked heroic.

However, currently, I was laying on my back with him standing over me. And the shadow he cast down did not make him heroic. If he looked like a lunatic before he was a freshly checked-out asylum patient right now. And he continued smiling all the while. Like a titan looking down at its helpless prey.

My scarf's ends went straight as my chest began to convulse. He reached down a massive hand the size of my face like a child picking up a toy. But rather than palming my maw, he offered his help. That terrifying glare turned into the codling smile it should have always been.