Gerald held the invitation card in his hand reading the message that was written on it one last time.
"Is this the right thing?" he asked himself, "If I die here then who will look after my daughter? What will she eat? Where will she sleep? Where will she be educated?"
Countless thoughts circulated Gerald's mind.
"But on the other hand if I win, I will earn money to support her, her medicine is nearly finished and I need to gather enough money by the end of the year for her surgery or it will be to late."
Gerald kicked over a trash can cursing at the air.
Once he looked around he saw several people staring at him weirdly. "Sorry." he said as he ran of from embarrassment.
"All I have to do is find the entrance. That idiot who gave me the card said that the location changed once every month. He also said the card would glow the closer I got to the location so... WHY IS IT NOT GLOWING?"
This was getting annoying surely it should glow even a little but it was not. "Should I go to his house? No that idiot is probably the one who is in charge of the match so he should be at the arena. I have to get there before midnight so I guess I have some time to search."
Gerald ran for twenty minutes looking at the card to see if it glowed before getting tired.
"That idiot is pretty smart. I have to give him some credit." gerald said as he panted.
"Hey you." a loud authorative voice cut through the air. Gerald did not turn around as there were many people around him who the person could be talking to.
"Hey you, the tall black guy wearing the cloak."
Gerald turned because this time he knew without a doubt this person was talking to him.
He turned around to see who it was that was calling for him. When he turned around there was no one that was calling for him. There was only a few couples who were spending their time together whether they were kissing on a bench or just cuddling.
"Fucking bastards, how about you go do your shenanigans in your houses?" Gerald muttered under his breath.
"Up here!" The voice once again said. Gerald looked up at the roofs of buildings and on one of them was a cloaked person. It was hard to tell if the person was Male or female as there entire body was clothed so that not even a single part of their skin could be skin. The person was wearing a part golden part black mask that was covering only the bottom part of their face. Only their eyes could be seen.
The person beckoned for Gerald with their finger. Gerald pointed towards himself to see if they were talking to him. They nodded confirming that they were talking to Gerald.
Gerald went into an alley next to the building the person was on. The person jumped down from the building and glided down towards him.
"You moron, why are you carrying around that card I public? What if the authorities spotted you?"
"Huh?"
"Let me examine the card, I have to see if it's a real one." The person reached for the card in Gerald's hand but Gerald pulled back.
"Why should I show you what it is that I have in my hand? I don't know you and I doubt you know me to, besides who said it was card?"
The person reached into their pocket and brought out a silver card and showed it Gerald.
"I am the security of the Ungerground illegal activities or the U.I.A for short, you have a golden card that shows that you were invited to fight in the underground arena, if it's a genuine card then I will tell you the location of the arena, if it's a fake one then your life is at stake, but it doesn't matter if it's fake or not, you should not be carrying that card in plain view in public."
Gerald read the inscription on the silver card.
THIS SILVER PLAQUE IS A PROOF OF IDENTITY
TO SHOW THAT THE PERSON WHO IS HOLDING THIS CARD IS PART OF THE U.I.A AND IS ALLOWED TO SEARCH AND KILL ANY PERSON WHO IS CONSIDERED A THREAT TO THE U.I.A. TELL ANY LIES AT YOUR OWN RISK.
MINNA.
Gerald read the card several times over to make sure he read right. This bastard had created his network well. Golden cards for fighters and silver cards for security. Although it was a silver card it seemed to have more authority than a golden card. How ironic!
Gerald handed the card to the person and when he did they stared at it for a full minute before handing it back.
"The entrance is the black wooden door at the back of the bar next to the central clock tower. Knock on the door four times and then say 'DEAL WITH A DEVIL' the person inside should reply by saying 'FOR THE PRICE OF YOUR LIFE.' Make sure to not forget. If they say something else then your at the wrong place."
Without hesitation the person threw something at the ground and smoke appeared. The smoke cleared within five seconds and the person had disappeared. "That was one of the coolest yet akwardest person I have met in my life."
Gerald decided it was time to head to the place where he was told. The clock tower was in the centre of the city, that was at least two hours away by foot even if he ran. That really wasn't a problem. He had to arrive by midnight before it was closed to people entering. "Right now is around 8, so I can make it with time to spare."
Gerald set of walking at a normal pace that was slightly faster than a stroll.
After walking for approximately half an hour Gerald he turned a corner but he was blocked by a man. The man was wearing clothes similar to the one the people ahead of them were wearing. Red and orange uniforms.
"The city guards, What are you guys doing here? Did something happen?" Gerald asked the man.
"Yes, something did happen, the brutal killer struck again. We're doing an investigation so please go somewhere else."
"The brutal killer? Do you mean the guy who has recently been going around killing people in a horrific manner?"
"Yes, that's the one, he or she keep getting more creative by the day. Last night they killed four people. Two of them were lifted into the air with an ice spike, another one's head was twisted to the side in a grotesque manner while the last one was shown mercy and just thrown of the building."
"This city is becoming more and more dangerous, I'll have to keep an extra eye out so that no one hurts my family. Or better yet I could leave this city, but are you sure it was okay to tell me that? Is it not confidential information?"
"No it's okay, you would see it in the morning news anyways, those nosy reporters took lots of photos anyways. Kinda messed up the crime scene so it will be hard to find any evidence."
"okay then, I'll leave." Gerald said as he turned around and walked of.
"Take care of yourself and be sure to report anything suspicious to us."
"Will do."
As Gerald walked towards his location he thought about the current state of things. He was unemployed and broke, his daughter was sick and needed money to perform surgery before the end of the year and now he was about to fight in an illegal underground arena.
"How times have changed." Gerald said.
He arrived at the central clock tower and looked for the door he was told to look for. Next to the clock tower was a small bar but no black door. He walked around it and saw the black door he was supposed to knock on. He looked around to make sure that no one was watching and then knocked on the door four times.
"DEAL WITH A DEVIL." he said in a loud clear voice.
"For the price of your soul." A rough voice grunted. The door slightly opened and through the small crack a man looked out.
"What are you here for?" he asked. Gerald held the golden card in front of the man to show his business here.
The door swung open and the giant man stepped aside. He had a giant body and Gerald could not tell whether it was muscle or fat on his body. He had a scar on his cheek and a short unkempt beard. "Go through that hallway then take a left and then go all the way down the stairs. You will meet a woman named Li Xiu. Show her the golden card and she will show you where to go next."
The bar was nothing special, there were only several people inside drinking beer and eating nuts. The barmaid was making some kind of drink for a drunk man who was wailing. "And then sh...sheeeee... haid....she shaid that that that bast....bast...bastard waaaas better than meeeee."
The barmaid poured one last bottle of wine into the concoction she was making and gave it to the man. "That's rough buddy, here drink this" she said.
"I...knowwww...right?"
Gerald moved on after looking around at the bar. There was nothing special about it, no matter how you looked it was just a normal business.
He decided to follow the instructions he was given. He walked down the hallway and then turned left and went down the longest spiral stairs he ever went down. He finally reached the bottom and there was a woman sitting behind a table who was chewing gum loudly while filing her nails.
"Hey, what do you want?" She asked without looking up.
Gerald once again showed her the card he had and when she finally looked up and saw the card she stopped filing her nails and stood up.
She sighed as if she was tired of this and muttered under her breath, "Another suicidal soul. it's kinda sad but profitable." She told Gerald to follow her and he did.
The woman was a beauty, but it wasn't like a natural given beauty, it was like beauty that forces itself be beautiful. Her face was so pale she could be considered a sickly person. She had put on to much powder and applied a lot of makeup. Her eyelids were long and thick with mascara. Her lips were no exception, they were wet with pink lipgloss. In simple terms her beauty was artificial. She was wearing a simple pink top and a long skirt that reached her ankles.
They reached a door and as soon as she opened it Gerald's eardrums nearly erupted. The sound was so defeaning that it sounded like thunder. Bright lights almost blinded him and the heat warmed him up immediately. He was already sweating before he entered the room.
"Gaaah, WHAT ... ON EARTH? MY EYES..."
"Hahahaha, I always love the expressions they make, it's one of the reasons why I still work in this corridor." Li Xiu said to herself.
She grabbed Gerald's by the hand who was still bamboozled and gasping for air. She led him threw a giant crowd in which men and woman were mingled together, some of them dancing and some of them ferociously humping each other while standing. The music was loud and the lights changed colour every four seconds. One second they were red, the next pink, the next yellow and then green among many others.
On one of the counters there were people drinking alcohol and others snorting a white substance through the nose. The heavy smell of drugs, smoke, alcohol and sweat was to much for Gerald's nose. When he finally thought he could not handle it anymore, Li Xiu led him up some stairs on the other side of the room and opened a door. Gerald looked awful while Li Xiu on the other hand was exhilarated.
She had a giant grin on her face and her eyes were open wide. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME WASN'T IT? DID YOU FEEL THAT? DID YOU FEEL THE SAME THRILL I DID? OF COURSE IT'S GETTING BORING RECENTLY BUT STILL IT'S BETTER THAN SITTING IN AN EMPTY CORRIDOR."
"That...was...thrilling for you? Are you... ARE YOU CRAZY?" Gerald stuttered. "THE HEAT WAS STIFLING, THE LIGHTS WERE BLINDING ,THE NOISE WAS LIKE THUNDER AND I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE THE SMELL. THAT PLACE WAS TRULY CHAOTIC. AND YOU CALL THAT EXHILARATING, THERE'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR HEAD."
"Say what you will but you body does not lie, look at your hair, it's literally standing up as if you were electrocuted, that is more than enough to show that you were exhilarated. Enough talk though the chairman is waiting. We can not spend any more time chit chatting."
She dragged Gerald who was still wondering how his eyes, ears and nose were still working. The corridor was better than the other one. The walls were made of marble and there were chandeliers ever ten meters. At the end of the corridor there was a simple door with no engravings or any designs of any sorts.
Li Xiu straightened herself up before knocking on the door. "A gold Card is here to see you sir."
"Let him in." a voice said from within.
Gerald recognized the voice almost immediately, how could he not? After all it was the guy who gave him the golden card.
Li Xiu opened the door and Gerald entered. He could not believe what he saw before his eyes.
If Gerald could describe the place in one word it would be glamorous.
"Geraaaald," A voice shouted startling him slightly.
---------
From now on I will try my best to upload 2 or three chapters per week. please vote for me and send me power stones. If you enjoyed it then please recommend it friends and family or on social media I do not mind.