Chapter 6

Narcisa is met by the cheers of the crowd as she steps out wearing only a pair of black panties and wrist wraps. She smiles while she scans the crowd. Donna is spotted fairly quickly and gives the woman a nod before turning her attention turns back to the ring.

In the center of the ring is a brother and sister duo. Both are lean and muscular, just the kind of challenge she has been craving. The guy wears a pair of black kickboxing pants and shoes, while his sister wears a pair of pink boy shorts and fighting gloves. Both are well within the regulation clothing.

Narcisa slips into the ring to stand opposite the other two. She flexes her fingers, taking deep breaths to slow down her heart rate and clear her mind. Right now, there is only her and the two siblings. The announcer steps forward and announces the trio of fighters, but Narcisa doesn’t hear any of it. Her mind is too focused on the fight as she tries to narrow the world down to the circle encompassing them as much as possible.

The announcer drops his hand and quickly slips from the ring. Right away the brother and sister duo split up and start circling her. Narcisa drops into a fighting stance, trying to keep both the fighters within her line of sight. Once they have her between them, Narcisa leaps at the sister in front of her. She throws a punch that is easily blocked. Narcisa allows her momentum to continue and she spins, bringing her other elbow around. The blow glances off the woman’s shoulder and she manages to barely evade it.

Narcisa now has both her opponents in front of her again. Abandoning their split division tactics, they come at Narcisa together. The brother attempts a front kick, but Narcisa side-steps and drives her fist into his leg just above the knee. She then comes around with a back roundhouse kick to the sister’s head, sending the woman to the dirt.

When she turns around, the brother is still on his feet, though limping. He uses Narcisa’s lack of balance after her kick to drive a fist into her belly and then one to the side of her head when she doubles over. Narcisa’s lights go out for a brief moment and when they come back, she is lying on the ground. She hears the crowd screaming madly, many of them calling her name.

She pushes herself up to her knees and before she knows it, a foot is driving into her chest. The force of the blow sends her onto her back. Narcisa barely has time to roll out of the way as the sister’s foot comes crashing down toward her face. Refusing to be cornered, she uses the wall to pull herself up and then again to bounce off of it when the brother reaches for her. She slides between the duo into a roll and back to her feet.

The sister is already in motion, leaping into the air and coming down drive a fist into the back of Narcisa’s head. But Narcisa is expecting an attack and quickly steps to the side, letting the woman crash down where she was standing. Immediately Narcisa drives her own fist into the woman’s face and then turns just in time to catch the brother’s arm at the wrist as he attempts another punch at her face.

Narcisa brings her other arm up under his as she steps into him and connects at his elbow. His arm crunches audibly and falls limp when she lets go and steps away. The brother growls and starts to come forward with his remaining arm. Narcisa intercepts him off as she leaps into the air and delivers a kick directly to his temple.

She lands about the same time as the brother does. She notices the sister slowly recovering and without hesitation charges her. The young woman is just to her feet as Narcisa reaches her. She drives her fists into the sister’s midsection once, twice and then a third time. The sister keels over and Narcisa twists and drives her fist in an uppercut into the woman’s jaw. The bones crunch under her fist and the sister flies backward into the wall and down into a heap on the dirt covered ground.

The roar of the crowd is deafening. Narcisa feels her arm being raised into the air and the announcer blurts something about her being the winner and some other nonsense. Her heart is pounding and her head hurts. The blow the brother gave her was more than she has taken in quite a while. From the corner of her eye she sees Donna fighting her way through the crowd of people all fighting to claim their bets.

Bruce is suddenly at her side, grabbing her arms and pulling her forward. “Come on Ms. Quinn. We have to go before any reporters get a clear shot of you.”

“What about Donna?” she asks. “I thought the plan was to...”

“We have that taken care of,” he says interrupting her. “Mr. Castle has everything arranged.”

Narcisa shrugs her shoulders. It isn’t the first time that Bryan or his father has changed a plan without her knowing. At the very least she can say with all honesty that she doesn’t know anything. Besides, her job is taking care of the company’s finances, not day-to-day business. She lets Bruce guide her to the transport. He opens the door for her, slides around the front and enters himself. Before anyone can get closer, they are on their way.

Meanwhile, Donna is met by a driver of her own and ushered through the crowd and into a waiting transport. She is told that she is being taken to Narcisa’s residence, where Donna is supposed to meet with her. Within a few minutes they are on their way.

“Do you know why Narcisa left before me?” she asks after they are well on their way. “I was supposed to go with her.”

“I do not know, ma’am,” the driver answers, the picture of politeness. “I just know that Ms. Quinn always leaves these matches in a hurry. She is supposed to not get photographed, for the sake of Castle Enterprises, you understand.”

“I can see how illegal fighting and gambling can put a bad look on the company,” she says with a frown. “But why do they allow her to do it, at all?”

“I do not have an answer to that ma’am,” the driver says over his shoulder.

Dona sits back with a sigh. The deeper she seems to go with the Castles the less she knows. She sits there and ponders, now regretting not stepping out of it when Narcisa showed up with the latest payment. Hell, she should have never started in the first place. She knew from the start that things would either end up going sour or that she’d just get in way over her head. Her father’s sickness didn’t leave her much of a choice, though. It was either he suffered until his death, or, with the money she received, give his life until death as much dignity as possible.

She settles down, letting the worrisome thoughts flee from her mind. And as she gazes out the window, she takes in the marvelous view. Only, there is something off about it. They seem to be in the industrial district of the city, nowhere near where they are supposed to go. Her mind’s alarm bells go off like nobody’s business.

“Driver?” she calls out. “Are you certain we’re going the correct way?” The driver’s eyes glance up at the mirror of the windscreen but he doesn’t answer. “Driver?” she calls out again.

Donna begins to panic now. She starts to reach for the door only to realize that they are going too fast for her to jump. Instead she settles back into the seat, hoping to come up with a plan for when the transport stops. But instead of the transport coming to a stop, it is suddenly shaken. It shifts to the side as the driver tries to keep it upright. On the ceiling Donna can hear scraping, like something sharp running along it.

The sudden shattering of the windscreen draws Donna’s eyes from the ceiling forward. The driver freaks out, releasing his grip from the wheel to cover his face with his hands. Donna can’t see what’s attacking, only a set of tentacle-like things with sharp looking teeth at their flat point. The fanged appendages grip into the man, drawing a massive amount of blood from him before ripping him out of the transport. Donna instantly looks out the window and tries to follow what happens. The man screams outside and is tossed carelessly away from the vehicle. Then the transport suddenly veers and is sent tumbling, causing her to finally scream.

She is tossed around so much that she loses track of which way is up. Her body is tumbling through the cab of the transport with each roll the vehicle makes.

When the transport finally comes to a stop, it is upright with Donna lying on the floor, shaken but luckily with no serious injuries. She is breathing raggedly and is dizzy as the world around her seems to spin.

Everything around her is quiet save for the sounds from the far off factories. A cool breeze cuts through the night’s air to tussle her hair. Then Donna is abruptly thrown back, her head thankfully bumping against the seat cushion as her legs are wrapped by the same wicked looking tentacles and their white, sharp teeth.

“Let me go!” she cries in helpless anger. “What do you want?”

‘I want you,’ a disembodied voice slithers through the wind.

The sudden and chilling voice makes Donna thrash harder as she tears at the tentacles. That only seems to cause them to tighten more, teeth cutting into her legs and drawing blood.

“Stop! Please!” she begs louder.

Donna is dragged from the transport into the night air. The light from Cueria’s three moons cast enough light for her eyes to see what has her. When she sees the cat-like creature with its latex-like skin and teeth filled gaping maw a blood curling scream escapes her and echoes through the darkness.

The creature seems to glide as it decreases the distance between them. She tenses, holding her breath once it comes face to face with her. Its tail slithers forward and slowly caresses her cheek.

‘Your services are no longer needed,’ it says.

Donna can’t comprehend how it is talking without its mouth moving. She is so thrown off by everything that just happened, that she idly wonders how it could communicate. A psychic link or maybe some ability to talk without moving her mouth, like a ventriloquist? She doesn’t know. But then its words slam into her. Is this some elaborate way to dispose of her? The thought scares her out of her trance.