Daisy in a Meadow

17 - Fight

"Is it over yet?" I anxiously groaned.

"Almost," the girl next to me cheerily replied, "there's still one more round."

"My goodness, are they trying to kill that poor man?"

I didn't know much about boxing—what I did know, though, was that Elias was a beast in the ring. As they took a brief intermission, his opponent, Mikey, weakly sat hunched over on a stool. Sweat was dripping from his body and his eyes were barely open. His coaches and trainers wiped at his bloody nose and fed him water.

On the other side stood Elias, who looked hardly phased. He was energetically bouncing from side to side, as if to not lose any stamina. There was not a mark on any part of his body. In fact, he looked more alive than ever.

A slim woman clad in lingerie held up a sign with the number three on it. The final round was now beginning, much to the rowdy crowd's enjoyment. One of Mikey's coaches patted him on the back before exiting the ring, as if to encourage him. However, it was useless. Everyone in the room knew he wasn't winning this thing.

"This is barbaric!" I covered my eyes.

"If barbaric means amazing, then yes, it is," replied the girl next to me. "Oh, I can't wait to get paid up after this."

"You mean... you bet on this?"

She laughed, as if I'd asked a silly question. "Honey, of course I did. A thousand dollars, actually."

I gasped. "But, aren't you afraid to lose money?"

"Not at all. Elias has never lost a match. He'll be making about a hundred grand from this thing," she casually shrugged.

"What?" I coughed, eyes bulging in alarm. One hundred thousand dollars, from just one boxing match? Goodness gracious, I couldn't even fathom what I'd do with that kind of money!

The crowd suddenly oohed, and I snapped my eyes forward. I didn't know what I'd missed, but suddenly, Mikey was on the ground receiving powerful punches from Elias. I suddenly regretted getting front row seats to this thing, as the sight of all the blood was causing me to feel quite anxious.

"Oh God," I whispered underneath my breath.

Not many people heard me over the noise of the stadium, but suddenly, Elias' dark eyes snapped in my direction. Shock flickered over his face, and he froze for a moment—not long, but just long enough for Mikey to land a hit right on Elias' jaw.

I gasped, though Elias quickly steadied himself once more and delivered a merciless blow that caused Mikey's head to lifelessly fall to the ground.

"H-He's dead!" I stammered in horror.

"Don't be silly, he's just knocked out," the girl next to me laughed.

The commentator entered the ring again and grabbed Elias' wrist, lifting it into the air. "Ladies and gentlemen, the victor of today's match, Elias Matthews!"

The crowd was so loud that my ears hurt. Everyone rose to their feet, clapping and cheering and screaming words of adoration for Elias. There it was—that cocky, satisfied smirk. His dark eyes roamed the crowd as his sculpted chest heaved up and down.

Before I knew it, his eyes landed on me once again. The proud smirk fell from his lips, slowly being replaced by a murderous scowl. I immediately took that as my cue to get the hell out of here.

Squeaking a nervous goodbye to the girls I sat with, I weaved in between the sea of people each exiting the arena. Relief flooded me once I saw the velvet staircase from which I'd come from. However, I froze in my tracks when a strong hand clasped my shoulder. I didn't even have to look to know who it was.