The pounding against her temple was the first thing she registered as her eyes blinked open. A blinding light filled her vision, the intensity of it making the pounding in her head worse. She groaned as tried to blink away the brightness of the light.
As her eyes finally became accustomed to the light, she got a look at her surroundings. She was in what looked like a hospital room, on a bed, although it looked as if this room had seen a lot. As Avara tried to get up, she noted how she had restraints wrapped around her wrists. She tried to call her fire to burn the black straps, but it was as if something was holding them back. It was as if her powers are being pushed down and waiting to sizzle under her skin, but can't because there was something preventing them from doing so.
It was then that she realized there was some sort of collar around her neck. She growled with frustration, trying to call her power forward. Yet no matter how hard she tried, they wouldn't come. It didn't help that her head felt like a muddled mess and was killing her. "Hey! Somebody!" She yelled out to the empty room.
It was silent as if she was the only one there. Whoever those people were last night, it seems that she found herself in their clutches. She wasn't sure how to proceed quite yet, as she was kind of indisposed of her powers at the moment. She knew she had to get away, but with her ability temporarily cut off, she was a sitting duck.
A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing a tall and gangly woman in her mid-thirties wearing a lab coat. The red-headed woman looked at her and hummed. "Glad to see you're finally awake." She picked up a clipboard from off a hook and began to look it over. "We have to complete a physical next and then after that prepare you for the Stadium." The woman spoke almost in a nonchalant manner.
"What the fuck is the Stadium?" She hissed, glaring at the woman. The woman pushed her wire-frame glasses up her nose as she turned to look at Arava. The woman's beady green eyes gazed her way as if she was studying a new animal. Arava was not a fan of the way this woman eyed her as if she wanted to dissect her and figure out what the inside of her body looked like.
"You will soon find out. Now, let's begin your physical." She pulled a pen out of a pocket in her lab coat and took a seat in a nearby swiveling chair. "First and foremost, what's your name?" Arava clicked her tongue in distaste.
She should be fighting this woman, but she didn't know where she was at. Instead, she decided to cooperate for now. "Arava." The woman wrote it down and proceeded on with her question. "And spell it right, sweetheart. A-R-A-V-A." She growled as she glared at the older woman.
"Very well. What is your ability?" She nodded, as she went down her list of questions.
"I play with fire." She rolled her eyes, watching the woman write down some more notes. The only sound she heard was that of the pen scribbling ink onto the paper.
As the questions progressed, she was asked about things from her family history to her own health history. Half of it she did not know, because she was an orphan with no knowledge on who her parents were. When the woman took the restraints off, she was tempted to run. With the metal collar around her neck, she knew that if she were to try, she would most likely get shocked.
The woman had weighed her, citing that Avara was heavier than than she was suppose to be. This had caused her to roll her eyes while laughing to herself. "I don't give a damn if I fall out of my weight range, last I checked this is my body. If someone has a problem, then we can always talk about it." The woman gave no indication that she had heard anything she said, other than a simple rise of one of her eyebrows.
When they had finally finished the stupid physical, the woman had placed some new clothes in her arms and pointed her to the bathroom. Arava went to the bathroom where she finally got to look in a mirror. In the mirror, a woman with brown eyes, a button nose, plump lips, and curly black hair stared back. Her once tan and sun-kissed skin looked pale, especially under this blue light that barely lit up half of the room.
She turned the sink on to splash some cold water on her face. She watched as dirt fell from her skin, making her cringe. She ripped off some of the hospital gown and used it as a wash cloth. She pulled off the rest of the gown and began to scrub her body down with water. She had noted that someone had taken her old clothes and even her bra and panties, leaving her completely bare underneath the blue gown.
As she washed her body as best as possible, she was relieved to feel a little cleaner. Once she dressed in the clothes given to her, sweatpants and a black t-shirt with a pair of flimsy sneakers, she was making her way out of the bathroom. She felt a bit uncomfortable with her heavy bosom having no support, but shrugged it off. "Hey lady, where's my bra? You got my titties flying around everywhere."
As she looked up, she found the woman was talking to a man a few years older than Arava. He had dark brown hair, sharp cheeks, a chiseled nose and strong jawline. When his eyes met hers, she realized that those eyes were the same icey blue eyes from last night. Anger flared up inside her, red filling her vision as she remembered the night before. A smirk on his full pink lips had her sneering his way.
She wanted to summon her fire, to burn him for the shit his little groupies had pulled on her. The woman noticed the tension between the two of them and quickly left without another word. That left the two of them in the room by themselves. "Feeling better sunshine?" The arrogant look on his perfectly handsome face made her angrier by the second.
"Sunshine? Oh how original." She rolled her eyes, glaring at him. "Is that all you got? Or did you want another ass whooping?" She sneered.
The smirk fell from his face as he took long strides towards her. She remained silent as he towered over her, keeping the glare on her face. "Get this straight now little girl, you didn't do anything."
Arava was never one to be intimidated by anyone, especially not some pretty boy with powers. "Keep telling yourself that baby boy, but the only reason you won last night is because of your little groupies. If they hadn't shot me with that tranquilizer, then you would've been burnt crispy." She glared back, looking him in his cold blue eyes.
"Watch yourself sweetheart. You'll end up regreting it if you push me too far." His eyes spoke of dark promises, something she should be afraid of. The funny thing is, Arava still won't be afraid of his little intimidation tactic.
"Or what huh? You're gonna zap me with your little lightning bolt? Throw me around and treat me like I'm someone's bitch? Trust me, baby boy, I've been through a lot worse than what you could ever throw at me, so try again." Her arms folded across her chest, her eyes glaring up at him. She saw his eyes flicker down to where her breasts had gotten pushed up by her arms. She couldn't stop her eyes from rolling to the back of her head.
"You haven't seen anything yet, sweetheart." His eyes ran up and down her body, as if he saw something he liked. She rolled her eyes again, feeling exasperated by him. "Now follow me, I'll show you to your room." He turned immediately, walking towards the door. She scoffed and followed after him, having no other choice.
The building she walked through had halls that resembled a football or baseball stadium. She also noted that the walls had graffiti painted all over, the once clean walls having been vandalized over time. "Where are we?" Her words bounced off the wall, surrounding them in an echo.
He barely turned to acknowledge her, as if debating on answering her. "30 years ago, this used to be known as the Dodgers Stadium located in what used to be Los Angeles." She hummed to herself as she took in his words. "Nowadays it is referred to as The Stadium."
"And what exactly happens in The Stadium?" She hoped he would elaborate a little more. This time he had stopped in his tracks, turning to look at her finally.
The look on his face was stone-cold and serious as he opened his mouth to reply. "It's a place where the Aendium Enhanced fight for bets and money." Shock registered through her system as she blinked.
"Like similar to back in ancient Rome? You mean like gladiators and all that?" She gave him an incredulous look, her thoughts running rampant. "So what you're telling me is that I have to battle other people to survive?"
"Not exactly, we don't actually kill each other. We just.... severely wound each other sometimes." Her mouth fell open, unsure how to feel about his words. She was told that she has basically been taken to a place where she has to fight other people who were similar to her in order to survive.
"So what happens if I don't want to fight other Enhanced?" Avara had never heard of anything like this, most certainly not in modern times. Even if the world fell into a dystopian state, she would've assumed it would not come down to things like this.
"No one really knows." It was the only thing he had said, but the ominous tone of his words give her goosebumps. That was definitely a giant red flag. This place was not one she should be in. What felt like a small headache started to press against her temple.
"Oh yeah, that's definitely suspicious." She muttered to herself, shaking her head with a heavy sigh. "What about you? Do you fight in the Stadium?" She looked at his wide shoulders that flexed with each step of his body. His back had some tension when she mentioned it, something she noticed right away.
"I used to. You're looking at the retired champion." He did not sound proud of the title, it felt more like an obligation. She watched his back tense once more as if he was thinking about something that had severely affected him.
"Oh I get it. You're like the boss's hunting dog then." She nodded, as some of the clues had put themselves together in her mind. He stopped in his tracks, causing her to come to an abrupt stop, almost making her run into him.
He turned quickly, a glare directed towards her. "I'm no one's dog. You better watch your pretty little mouth." The anger on his face should be enough to make most people want to cower, but Arava was not a coward. She met his glare head-on with one of her own.
"What are you going to do about it then?" She fired back, hating the fact that he was always trying to scare her every chance he got. One thing he did not know what that she was not some feeble-minded little girl who let guys like him try to intimidate her.
Her eyes gazed at his own blue eyes, scowling at him. "You don't want to know what I'd do to you, baby girl." The arrogance radiating off of him made her irritated.
"And you don't want to keep threatening me either. I don't take too kindly to people always making threats towards me." She punctuated her last few words with a poke of her finger on his wide chest. Before she could pull her hand away, it was captured by his, along with her other hand.
She wiggled her body to pull her arms away from his grasp, but he held tight as he slowly backed her into the way. His body was now just barely touching hers, the sensation of his body heat caused her body to do strange things. She wanted to rub her thighs together, just hoping to relieve the tension she felt, but she did not want him to see.
She did not want him to think that she was falling for his pretty boy looks and bad-boy persona. His eyes held hers as he leaned close, the smell of all male, nature, and lavender combined seemed to create a scent that leaves her breathless. She wanted to lean forward and inhale his sweet scent, but she couldn't let him see how much he really affected her.
"I don't want to keep warning you, baby girl. You might regret it if you keep testing my patience." His face leaned down, and his warm breath on her ear had shivers running down her spine. A breathless gasp left her as the feeling of his teeth nipping her ear had her weak in the knees.
His teeth turned into his lips as he placed sloppy kisses down her neck. Dirty thoughts started to rise to the front of her mind, and images of sinful things flashed behind her eyes. His lips traveled down her neck to her collarbone. His free hand pushed down the shoulder of the t-shirt she was wearing as he continued to place kisses everywhere.
In the back of her mind, she wanted nothing more than to give in to his temptation. She knew once she had a taste of him, she would not want to let go of him. When it is time for her to leave, she will need to let go of any feelings for him and anyone else she meets. Still, his teasing was not helping her one bit.
"You..." she swallowed as she tried to regain some composure. "You shouldn't be teasing a girl so much or else you'll end up regretting it." Her voice came out in short pants as she spoke. The smirk on his lips had pressed into the soft skin of her neck, and the chuckle that came from him was making it harder for her to say no to his charms.
"How are you so sure that I'm just teasing you?" He whispered in her ear, the deep timbre of his voice had her biting her lip. "You should be honest with yourself Arava." He bit her earlobe again, a little harder this time. Timgles went straight to her core. She had to bite her lip to prevent herself from moaning aloud. "You want me to do more than this, to feel it all."
It killed her to know that she knew he was right, they both felt this strange attraction to each other. The images in her mind were not for the young or the faint of heart. Her mind began to conjure dirty pictures of him pulling on her hair while his hips slammed into hers from behind. Another one popped up of him standing over her naked body while his hot hard-on pounded into her wet hole. No! Stop it, Avara, these dirty thoughts are not good. We need to concentrate on finding a way out of here. The voice in her head was trying to tell her to be reasonable, which sounded reasonable.
However, the other little voice in her head was telling her that it wouldn't be so bad if she was to enjoy and thing or two with this tasty piece of man. He smirked as he watched her, his eyes knowing where her thoughts had gone. She rolled her eyes, frustrated that he was reading her mind. "You may be right about that, but even if you were able to seduce me into your bed, I don't have a name to scream." Her eyes had stayed locked to his as she gave him a sultry smile.
The look in his gaze was darker as he chuckled. "You can keep denying it all you want, but we'll be in each other's bed before the end of the day." He leaned down and placed a delicate kiss on her neck. "Right now, we have things to do. I'm going to be your mentor, so be prepared to start training." He pulled away so abruptly that her arms dropped to her side like limp noodles.
Shocked by his sudden action, she scoffed. He had stepped back and motioned for her to walk in front of him. She glared at him and his perfect little smile. "Don't think I don't know that you just want to see my ass as I walk in front of you." She pursed her lips and strode forward. He made it quite obvious he was staring at her ass because of the goosebumps his gaze caused on her arms. Damn him and his stupid charm.
He laughed to himself, seemingly amused by her. She growled and rolled her eyes as he caught up to her and stayed a breath away from her. She could feel his warmth on her back, hating how his presence had such an affect on her. Is it just because she's horny? Is it because this is the first time in a long time she's met someone of the opposite gender? God, she's pathetic.
"Before you forget, my name is Kaidyn. That's the name you'll be screaming later." His whisper had startled her a bit, his hand touched her lower back as if to steady her. The heat of his hand was making her skin tingle and her nerves sizzle. What is this crazy attraction she is having?
What is a girl supposed to do when she's put in this situation? It wouldn't be the first time she's had sex, but she has never felt the need to fulfill those desires so much more than just a few minutes ago. Damn it! She is screwed because now she'll get distracted by him and his pretty face and deep voice. "I'll have you know, Kaidyn, that it won't be as soon as you think. But dream all you want honey." She flicked her hair over her shoulder, satisfied that her black locks whipped him in the face.
It caused him to pause, but he was quick to recover. He ended up right behind her, only his hand stayed on her lower back. "We keep stalling for time baby girl. Don't forget we have things to get through today." He whispered and she almost groaned. She forgot that she has to become some sort of female gladiator, being forced to train and exercise.
As the silence engulfed them, she was pulled into her thoughts. She needs to be finding out how she can leave this place without having to deal with anyone wanting to stop her. Unfortunately, she has this man, Kaidyn. He is presumably going to be her watchdog, meaning she has to figure out how to get away from his gaze.
This was not going to be an easy task with him breathing down her neck, literally. If only she would've got away last night. She would be far away from here or blending in with the crowd. She was frustrated by everything and cursed the man inwardly. Why did the universe have to plant him in her life? She hated that he had made such an impact on her and the first time they met, they had to fight each other.
He directed her along the path, his hand never leaving her back. As she took in her situation, she realized that in one way or another, she was screwed. She didn't know how or what will happen, the only thing she could do was to bide her time.