THE ULTIMATE STANDER

Chapter Five

I looked behind me, the yard was very wide and it would probably take an hour or more to trek over to the opposite side from the building to the tall, iron gate on foot. This was to tell how far and wide the space between the building, the fences and the gate was. It was like the largest and widest football field I had ever seen.

From where I stood, I could see the lighthouse at every corners of the fence, picturing the place like a prison with a wide yard in my mind. I was carried away by my surroundings that I did not notice the people around me. I was not alone. And judging by the shocking and surprising look on their faces, I figured they were first-timers like me.

I looked around at them. They were more than eighteen. All females. They must be fighters like me. I recalled Cameron made mention of his job was to recruit only female fighters.
I decided to look around again, ignoring the whispers and murmurs from the others. There, at the corners of the entrance of the building, were intercoms and cameras. Why place cameras outside when there were lighthouse at every angle?

There was no chance of escaping this place if someone tried to. Every part of the area looked monitored and sealed. Lighthouses, check. Tall gate and fences, check. Cameras, check. If the security outside could be this tight and secured, how much more the inside.

"Hello, fighters." A deep male voice spoke through the intercoms attached to the above corners of the entrance. It suddenly drew our attention and the whispers and murmurs died down. "Welcome to The Ultimate Stander. I am your host, Sam Hart."

We looked over to the large double doors that opened to Cameron leading out a hedge of ninjas. They stopped and stood at the foot of the stairs. They did not move, nor did they utter a single word as they watched our faces.

"You all have journeyed so far and wide," the voice continued. "So, you are hereby welcome to take a rest. My assistant, Cameron Houston, will escort you all to your room and if you need anything whatsoever, please do not hesitate to ask. And whatever you need will be provided. You are all dismissed. And I will see you all here first thing tomorrow morning. Good night, fighters. And once again welcome to The Ultimate Stander."

The intercoms went silent.

"Please, everyone. Follow me," Cameron stated, before turning around. None of us fighters hesitated, before following Cameron and the ninjas into the building.

Cameron led us past an inside pool in the inner courtyard into another set of building. There were tall houses with huge doors and windows at every side I turned. With tiny security cameras here and there. Of course, the security inside was as tight as the ones outside.

"That, you see there ladies, is the great hall where you are all meant to feast," Cameron explained, pointing over to a door with two ninjas standing and guarding on each sides of it.

"Sweet! Would love me some nice food here," a girl with a mohawk haircut beamed.

He led us all to a room. However not just any room. It was a huge room almost as huge and wide as a ballroom, with bunk beds and two single beds, placed on each sides of the room, allowing them to face each other row by row and with nightstands in-between them. I counted the beds, and I discovered that they were eleven by my right, and eleven by my left. In total, there were twenty-two beds in a room. In that case, twenty-two fighters. This was going to be a tough game.

My gaze fell onto the huge door at the opposite side of the entrance of the room, and I wondered what could be on the other side of that door.

"That is the door to the bathroom," Cameron said, as if reading my mind. "Settle in ladies. If you need anything please do let me know."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" asked a girl with a pink ponytail.

"Just say whatever it is that you want and we'll be listening," he answered.

"Hold on. Are there cameras in here too?" another girl asked, her eyes darting around the room.

"No. But there are intercoms in places where we can hear you and you hear us."

"So, all we need to do is to talk?" the girl with ponytail asked.

"Exactly. Alright ladies. I'll take my leave and I'll see you all tomorrow morning." He turned around exiting the room before shutting the double doors.

"I call for the top bed!" A girl giggled as she climbed onto the top bed on the third row on my right side.

Everyone began to move in various directions to choose the bed of their choice. I moved to the fifth row on my left and dropped my duffel onto the bottom bed.

"Hi."

I looked up to see a girl with a long purple hair, dark hazel eyes, a cute heart-shaped face with an almost pointy chin. "Hi," I responded.

"I'm Mia. Mia Zhang." She outstretched her hand for a hand shake, smiling brightly at me.

I took it. "Phoebe Knowles," I introduced myself.

"Mind if I take the top bed?" she asked.

"Don't mind. I've got no intention of using it anyways," I replied.

She tossed her duffel onto the bed and I watched as she climbed onto it. I moved to began to make my own preparations for bed. I changed out of my pants and shirt and wrapped my towel around my body.

Ignoring the chuckles and chatters from the others, I made my way toward the bathroom door holding my toiletries. The bathroom was almost as huge as the room, with sinks on a single file, a large mirror above them, and rows of showers and shower curtains.
I slid the first shower curtain to reveal a naked girl with her dragon tattooed back facing me.

"Shit! My bad," I uttered, before sliding the curtain back.

As I was moving onto the second shower, I heard the shower curtain slid open behind me and I turned around to see the girl stepping out. With water dripping down her short dark hair and her naked body, she turned her head over to me. Her expression was void, and her blank stare gave me the cringe. She did not utter a word as she kept staring at me.

"Got something to say?" I asked, not knowing what else to say.

She did not reply, and I was glad and somewhat relieved when she turned around and left. Creepy. I took off my towel, walked under the shower and turned it on, allowing the cool refreshing water run down my body.