Page 34 (1/1)

CHAPTER TEN

THE GHOST

Kope and I silently climbed the stairs inside the arena Our seats were halfway up the stadiuht had already taken place and the second was underway Fans were rowdy as we passed I was thankful for all the distractions giving ed through the air during interht Everyone was buzzing about "the Ghost," Flynn Frazer

"The Ghost?" I whispered to Kope, not able to look at him yet

"He ," he explained

I sat back and watched, finding the e I suppose I’d been expecting a lot of bloodthirsty negative energy at a fight, but I ay off It was a happy crowd Sure, there were soes, but the overall vibe was one of respectful excitement Out of habit I kept hts dian to blare fro, tribal beat uitar chords I stood up with everyone else, eager to get a look at Flynn

His opponent ca a fist in the air He bounced his way to the caged octagon, where he cli his way to the side where a man waited with a towel around his neck The crowd booed No love for blue

A hush fell, and the et louder When Flynn slowly stalked his way into the arena, wearing all red with his eyes ablaze, the place erupted I found et a better view Nervousness clawed at on, his crazed eyes on his opponent and an eerie smile on his wide lips As far as scary taunts went, I’d say his ay up there Gone was any sign of the big smile from his pictures

The announcer cahter, whose name I didn’t even catch But when he announced Flynn "the Ghost" Frazer, I added my voice to the sea of cheers

Everyone stayed on their feet when the an Flynn had a natural charisma He paced around his opponent like a sleek red panther on a hunt, while the guy in blue bounced and hopped from side to side like a rabbit Flynn’s opponent didn’t seem scared, but anyone could see that he should be I was scared for hiuy to make a few shots, but it was obvious even toabout the sport, that the Ghost was biding his time Otherwise the shoould end too quickly They parried for the duration of the first round, minor hits and blocksrestless, hollering jeers, wanting action

Flynn was not one to disappoint Like a ind, he spun and kicked out his opponent’s feet, then sla forth a roar froave a surprise knee to Flynn’s side Flynn, now ticked off, swiftly flipped the other fighter over his shoulder, landed on top of hian to pu him on for the knock out, I felt my anxiety rise Flynn didn’t appear ready to stop anytiet out of there, Flynn When his opponent’s face oozed a substantial amount of blood, the ref finally pulled Flynn off and I breathed again

Kope and I looked at each other at the sao By the tie passes, Flynn was being announced as the winner and still undefeated chaht class

We rounded the corner and looked back Nobody else was in the hall, so we slipped through the door with Flynn’s name on front We surveyed the space inside--a co room Tooden benches sat parallel in the middle

A sudden flashback of Zania with a knife at ht on a sick wave Hoould Flynn react to the surprise arrival of two Neph? His hands and feet eapons And why didn’t Kope ever seenawed my thumbnail

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I yanked it out A text fro like a hot coal Who was co or just hide? I showed the text to Kope We both spun, searching the roo the closet door at the sa toward it

We pushed our way into the s closet that smelled of sweat and bleach It was pitch-dark and cramped as I pulled the knob behind me When I turned around to face the closed door, Isound of a ht behind ainst my shoulder There was no crack in the doorfrained the halle’d co that way until I found a group congratulating Flynn Nothing sounded out of the ordinary A short time passed before Flynn told everyone that he needed to hit the shower

We were both utterly still, listening while Flynn caainst the floor tiles as he moved to the corner for a shower He cleaned up incredibly fast, then there were sounds of clothing rustling as he got dressed I was beginning to think this was all a false alarar wafted underneath the closet door