Dog Fights

Chapter 31; Our Blind Eye

By the time I'm taken out of my cage again and led around to the seating areas, the abandoned factory is swarming with people.

The main work floor had long been stripped of any equipment it might have had when in use, and had been turned into what looked like a dirty and highly unregulated wrestling ring. Thick sheet metal walls had been erected to create a large circle, and the stone floor inside had covered in at least three inches of sand.

The entire thing looks like a terrarium that had been lowered into the ground, but what should have been the glass dome was turned into chain net, held up in four different places on the ceiling and bolted to metal walls in front of the first row of seats. Who ever gets locked in there, isn't getting out unless they're allowed to do so.

"His scent has definitely worn off your clothes in these last few days," Orgon says, tsking sadly as he forces me to sit in the first row. We're up in the bleachers surrounding the ring, tucked behind the announcers booth and in the reserved area left for idle conductors. Builders are still working on setting up final details, like the one that glares down at me as he puts up the neon light strips around the ceiling corners.

"That must have been why those other fighters were trying to snag you." Orgon taps his chin, glancing down at my tired eyes and bruised face. One of those other fighters did manage to grab me while Z stuffed me back in the kennel, and he didn't seem too eager to help me get out of the attack. I'm pretty sure I heard a gunshot after Orgon heard about the damage it did.

The conductor shrugs, reaching down and brushing something out of my hair. I flinch, but he doesn't react to my motion. "It'll just get a little more adrenaline pumping in your veins. I guess I should warn you that that does make the blood taste a hell of a lot better, though." He grins as my heart skips. "Don't think about that too much," he says with a wink, "I'll be right back."

I shrink down slightly as he disappears, leaving me to the shadows of the announcer booth. I don't know if they are, but I wouldn't doubt that the few other people behind me are staring. I bet they can hear my pounding heart from here.

I'm a human, bait, I shouldn't be up here. I shouldn't be in the conductor's section, or in the front row. Is he trying to get me killed before the fights even begin?

I jump as a heavy foot lands beside me on the bleacher, rattling the metal below me and making my heart skip a beat. Here we go.

Someone sits beside me, but I don't dare look until they grab my chin and force me to. I know my eyes are wide and terrified, but confusion still settles in my chest.

This girl looks like she's in her twenties, and that she should be just as scared as I am about all the old creepy men that surround her. It's clear she doesn't believe that.

The woman grins, blinking and flashing fiery yellow irises. At least she's not a vampire; werewolves don't feed until they've turned for the month.

"Well aren't you a pretty thing," she says, taking her time to look me up and down. My stomach flips and threatens me with nausea as she releases my jaw and puts her hand on my thigh. "You were left here all alone?"

"Hey Jay," someone calls behind us, "that's one of Orgon's prizes- sure you wanna be messin' with him?"

Jay just looks me up and down again, reaching up with her other hand and touching my throat. I want to raise my hands to defend myself, but my wrists are tied together behind my back.

Her hand trails from my throat and to my chest, opening her palm as it rests over my heart. She grins at the wild rhythm. "Nervous. I can handle that," she says, running her tongue over her teeth. She looks mostly human, but with the approaching full moon I bet she's losing control of that form; her teeth are already changing into jagged shapes.