Death Wish | lrh [ON HOLD]

the fourth chapter.

04

" MEET "

because of jet's ability to find things, she wasn't surprised that she placed herself in front of an old abandoned building right behind crave—right where the group of boys at the diner said they would be.

it wasn't all that hard to find, really. crave was in the corner of a dead-end, with a narrow alleyway beside it. jet, being the natural-born adventurer she is, stumbled her way through the alley, tripping on a beer bottle midway.

and there she stood, out of breath, in front of the so-called forest. now, she wasn't absolutely sure that was it, but based on the light chatter escaping from the dimly lit building, she knew she was exactly where she wanted to be.

she pulled open the door—but not before accidentally pushing on it—and took a deep breath, stepping inside.

"woah," was all she could spit out. she took in all her surroundings, ranging from the old, yellow flickering lights to the boxing ring in the center of the building floor. "this is fucking insane."

"crazy, right?" she immediately turned around at the sound of a man's cheery voice. "you know, i've been going to this place since i was sixteen. i'm twenty-two now, can you believe that?"

she looked at the man, who was rather attractive. curly brown strands of hair fell loose in front of his face as the rest was pulled back with a bandana. she smiled at him, comforted by his kindness. "i can't imagine doing this at sixteen. when i was sixteen, i was crying over my math homework."

"and how old are you now?"

"i'm twenty," jet glanced down at her hands, picking on her fingers. "oh, i'm jet, by the way,"

she offered him a hand to shake, to which he complied. "is that your real name?"

"no, unfortunately, but i've always preferred jet, rather than juniper. my initials spell out jet, so i've been going by that since i started school."

the guy nodded his head, gesturing his understanding of the girl's nickname. "i'm ashton, but you can call me ash."

"so, ash, what is this place exactly? i'm sure you've noticed i'm new here."

"honestly, you fit in fairly well. but considering i'm the manager here, i could sort out newbies in an instant. so, jet," ashton explained, imitating the girl's words. "this place is a underground fighting club. it's obviously illegal, hence the location. the fighters go against each other with their bare fists, and whoever gets knocked out or injured the most loses; same rules as regular boxing, excluding the proper equipment." he paused for a moment, then continued. "how did you find this place anyway?"

"oh, i overheard some people-"

she was interrupted by the broken lights shutting off completely. the twenty-year-old was confused, but then her eyes followed a bright light placed above the ring.

her questions were answered when a loud voice spoke up. "alright, ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. the fight will begin shortly." feedback from the microphone rang throughout the building for a short moment.

the rest of the building remained dim, only the main light pointing towards the ring. "hey jet," ashton called out.

"yeah?"

"c'mon, we gotta go take our seats."

"are you sure i can sit with you?"

"of course, i got some people i want you to meet."

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