FOUR MONTHS. IT took Candice Clair exactly four months to crack Devora Evans open like an eggshell.
On the day Devora walked out of Julius Cain's office, trust shattered but chin still up high, she had decided that it was time to truly forge a new path for herself. There was no use in fighting back when she was alone in the world of monsters. Sometimes, the only way to survive was to become one of them. Only when she's properly disguised and all suspicions are removed from her can she strike back.
As the days passed, Devora soon came to realize that it wasn't all too bad. Her current lifestyle was much better than what she went through as an ordinary teenage girl. Sure, she may never reunite with her parents but that was the only thing she had going for her back home. She was without friends back in school and her days were filled with one bullying case to another if she was unlucky enough to attract the student body. Here in Julius Cain's empire, she had a large room nearly to herself (she treated her roommate as though he was invisible), good food to fill her stomach at any time of the day, nice clothes on her back to keep her warm, and most importantly, she had friends, with the exception of Nathan.
They weren't necessarily people that she could trust wholeheartedly, especially not after her spat with Nathan, but they were still friends nevertheless. There was no longer a use for talking to the stars when she finally had friends that shone brighter than the moon.
Unfortunately, she had forgotten that the stars shine by their own efforts while the moon fed off of the sun's radiance.
Every day at the break of dawn, Devora would rush to the cafeteria for a quick breakfast before heading to the gym. If she wanted to reach the very top of the hierarchy where she would no longer have to worry about survival, something must first be done about her physical aptitude. So she trained herself. Her days were filled with hours spent either at the gym with Leah and Candice or at the armory, listening to Dallas's lecture about how certain weapons worked and what was the best way to use them in each scenario.
If she was ill-fated, Nathan might even be around, trying to squeeze in a word or two. However, ever childish as she was, she was still burning with rage. He was the first person her age that she had trusted and he betrayed that trust not once but twice. In Devora's opinion, she had every right to be angry. Yet, she wasn't unreasonable. Important questions would earn a response, cordial at best, but if he was planning on starting up a friendly conversation with mindless chatter, Devora wouldn't waste her breath.
For four months, all Devora knew was training. On the occasion, she was sent out for smaller missions and shopping trips for certain necessities. As a result, she had gotten much closer to her new teachers, Candice and Dallas, picking up some of their habits and learning their likes and dislikes along the way. Although Candice had been harsh during the first month of training, she softened as time went on. Candice would never admit it out loud but she saw potential in Devora and it reminded her of herself.
A single silver blade sliced through the wood of their practice board, hammering itself deep within the material with a satisfying thud. Devora grinned, satisfied with the result. It was her eleventh bullseye. Not in a row, of course. She had missed one between her fourth and her fifth strike. Only Candice could pull off so many perfect throws in a row.
"Don't hog all the boards to yourself, Devora." Leah, who was busy sparring with Dallas, snorted ungracefully.
They were fighting with daggers, trying to familiarize Leah with life on the field against actual armed opponents. She sliced at the air neatly, evading Dallas's attack with a block followed by a strike, aiming for her opponent's face.
"Woah." Knocking Leah's blade away right before it grazed his skin, Dallas yelped. "Easy there, Leah. Aiming for the face is a dick move."
"Just one step below aiming for the balls, eh?" Candice chortled. She stepped into the ring, angling her leg and aimed for where it would hurt Dallas most.
Now handling two opponents instead of one, Dallas was caught off guard. He barely dodged Candice's foot but due to his misplaced attention, Leah's dagger left a thin slice across his cheekbones. It wasn't deep enough to scar but it scratched the skin enough to draw blood. The back of his hand raised instinctively to wipe off the blood, hissing in discomfort as Leah grinned in delight. She tossed her dagger in the air, neatly catching it by the handle and repeating the process while admiring her own handiwork.
"Not bad, Leah," Candice commented, chuckling. She tossed Dallas his phone and a small wet towel. He caught both items easily, opening up the front camera on his phone to examine the damage done, a hiss escaping his lips. "You're learning quickly."
"Only because you pamper her so," Dallas remarked. "You shouldn't have assisted her. There will be a time where she'll have to fight alone." He gently dabbed at the wound, pouting. "Damn it, that's going to scar for sure."
"Oh, lighten up. She barely even scratched you."
"Yeah, only you will call this a scratch," Dallas whined. Pressing on the lock button twice, the phone screen darkened before lightening again. The lock screen flashed, illuminating Dallas's face as his eyes came to rest on the time and date at the top of the screen. Immediately, the aura around him darkened. "Hey, Candice?"
"Yeah," she murmured in reply, eyes fixated on the digital clock in the gym. "I know." Then, she turned her attention to Leah and Devora, a face full of smiles. "You two, wanna go on a grocery run with me? I'm planning on stocking up on snacks. The pantry is a little dry as of late."
Her eyes darting to the clock, Devora scanned the time with a frown. It was barely 3 P.M., just five minutes short of it. The skin between her eyebrows creased, teeth chewing on her bottom lip. If she remembered correctly, their trips out would always hover between lunchtime and dinnertime. It was starting to seem as though Candice and Dallas wanted them — Leah, Travis, and her — out of the building whenever mid-afternoon rolled about.
"Again?" Leah asked, sulking. "I kinda wanna spar with Dallas for another round. This time without your intervention."
Before Candice could reply, the speakers crackled to life. Both Dallas and her immediately cussed under their breaths, red with irritation. Julius Cain was about to make an announcement.
"Damn it," Dallas murmured, chewing on his nails. "We're too slow."
"Well," Candice shrugged, "Can't keep them away forever. We both know it's bound to happen."
"All agents, please gather at the arena on the third level. Attendance is compulsory for everyone. The show is about to begin." Cain's deep voice rumbled through the speakers, his message short and sweet. The connection was cut off after he had said his piece, plunging the gym back in silence.
"A show?" Leah echoed. She was one step ahead, asking the same question which was on Devora's mind. "I doubt it's a public movie-viewing for leisure. What's going on?"
"Is this related to why we've been dragged out at least once per month?" Devora added.
Sighing, Dallas shook his head. He cast Candice an unsure look, wincing a little when he noticed her cheeky smile. They started out with different ideals, after all. While Dallas wanted to hide it from the newcomers a little longer, Candice was ready to tell them the truth by the third month. It seemed like the odds were in Candice's favor this time around.
"It's a monthly competition that Julius Cain named as 'Battlefield Arena'," Dallas stated.
"That's a tacky name." Leah wrinkled her nose.
"Yeah? I agree. But don't let Cain hear you say that." Candice snorted.
"We've been trying to avoid sending you guys into the competition until you're skilled enough to handle yourself. Nathan was assisting us in keeping you guys out of the building whenever the competition day rolled about. Small field trips, going on grocery runs, or purchasing weapons from dealers. You three must've noticed it already."
Devora nodded, showing that she had indeed guessed, though it was just moments prior.
"The rules of the competition are pretty simple. Once the competition begins, fighters will be selected to spar in a ring. No weapons are allowed in the competition other than the human body. To win, you'll have to send your opponent out of the ring or knock them unconscious. Once the announcement sounds off, everyone in the building has to attend. The building will go on lockdown until the matches are over. However, the selection process is a little tricky. Since pairs are only selected once the building is on lockdown and they are sure of who is still within the building at the start of the match, you won't know beforehand who your opponent is. Getting selected once doesn't mean you won't get selected again and it is completely random regardless of age, gender, size, or experience. That means that you might have to fight someone much stronger than you, or if you're lucky, much weaker. Even luckier, you won't have to fight at all and can sit back and watch the show."
"Oh please, Dallas. It's much more exciting if you're paired with someone more experienced." Candice wore an excited grin, rivaling Dallas's worried expression. Her shoulders practically quaked with delight. "That way, you can prove to everyone that you're the best. That's how I got to the top. I took the original first place down. Once you do so, you gain instant respect as the best of the best. That comes with perks."
"You forget that there's a chance of losing," Dallas reminded, retorting sharply. "One agent was said to have had such a bad knockout that he suffered from brain damage and was in a comatose state for three years. Once he woke up, he was found to be paralyzed from the waist down due to the injuries sustained from that match. Poor guy. Julius Cain disposed of him."
"Disposed of?" Devora echoed. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, stunned. "Why did he kill the agent?"
"I'm sure you already know that once you're in, there's no chance of you walking out alive. You have to stay and serve in Julius Cain's empire until the day you're six feet under. Unless you have other useful skills like knowing how to hack, Julius Cain has no use for a paralyzed agent. He can't have the guy back on the streets spilling all the organization's secrets. So he ended him. I heard it was a quick one though, as a sign of thanks for his years of service," Dallas explained.
"Quick and easy." Candice nodded.
"That's the best way to go when you're in this sort of business." With a shake of his head, Dallas gestured to the door. "Come on, let's get going. The matches are about to start. We should head there early to check who's matched up against who. We might even get to scout out the opponent."
Rubbing her hands together in glee, Candice's eyes sparkled.
"It's time to spill some blood."
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