I stare at the two men in the ring, noting their differences. Dimitri is maybe a couple of inches taller than Ethan. He’s lean and muscular while his opponent looks like he drinks steroids for breakfast. Ethan’s arms bulge as he pounds his fists together, hyping himself up as he circles the ring, his beady, dark eyes drilling invisible daggers into Dimitri’s skull.
Dimitri simply stands in the middle of the ring, a half-smile touching his lips as he watches the other guy circle him. After a few minutes, Dimitri seemingly grows bored and points to his chin before he says something to the other fighter.
“What did he say?” I hear several people ask.
And then someone closer to the front calls out, “He told him he’d give him a free hit!”
I watch in horror as Dimitri’s opponent does just that. Ethanrears back and punches him square in the jaw. Dimitri stumbles back a step but absorbs the strike somehow. And then he smiles. He actually smiles! Blood coats his teeth as he lifts his hand, signaling to his opponent to come at him again.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been this turned on in my life,” Darby says from beside me before she squeals in delight.
I’m glad she’s excited, because I am absolutely terrified right now. My hands are fisted at my sides as my heart pounds like a war drum inside of my chest.
Dimitri steps forward, and Ethan swings. He misses as Dimitri easily ducks out of the way. And then the fight is on. Dimitri lands a solid punch to his opponent’s ribs. And then Ethan gets a nice right hook on Dimitri’s jaw once again. Punches land like gunshots, and the crowd goes wild as the two fighters go at each other.
After a few rounds, I can tell that Ethan is gassing out. He’s beginning to stumble around the ring and even falls backwards a few times, needing help from the crowd to get upright once more. Dimitri had gotten in several hits to Ethan’s head, so I’m sure he’s close to blacking out. But Dimitri keeps pushing and pursuing him like Ethan is his prey and he’s not going to stop until he’s passed out…or dead.
I watch as Dimitri circles him, blood dripping from his split lip. He looks more like a wild animal than a man at that point. It’s almost like he’s looking for Ethan’s weaknesses so that he can strike at the right moment.
And then that moment comes.
Dimitri pounces on Ethan, knocking him to the ground. Dimitri begins swinging his fists, raining blows down upon his opponent as Ethan desperately tries to dodge and block every single hit but fails miserably.
Blood sprays onto the dirty, concrete floor as the crowd gasps. I don’t even think Ethan is moving anymore as Dimitri continues to punch him.
“He’s gonna kill him,” my best friend whines beside me.
Before I can even second-guess my decision, I rush throughthe crowd, pushing past everyone as I stumble my way to the makeshift ring in the middle of the cave. I stand at the edge of the chalk, screaming Dimitri’s name, trying to draw his attention away from the man he’s currently turning into bloody mush on the ground.
“Dimitri!” I yell. But the determined expression on his face as he pounds his fists into the guy’s face doesn’t change. I doubt he can even hear me with everyone in the room yelling around me. “Dimitri, s-s-stop!” I scream as loud as I can.
A visible change happens when he finally hears my voice above all the others. And then his familiar, icy blue eyes lock onto mine, freezing the blood in my veins.
He slowly stands, seemingly forgetting about his unconscious opponent. He takes a step in my direction. “You…shouldn’t….be…here,privighetoare mica,” he says menacingly, each word punctuated with slow determination. His accent is still there; stronger than ever and still engrained inside my brain. His voice is deep and powerful, and it takes everything in me not to flinch at his words.
It feels like time is standing still as he stalks towards me, eyes narrowed and glaring at me like he wants to either kill me or kiss me. Maybe both.
My mind races as I think about what will happen when he gets to me. What will he say to me? What will I say to him?
He’s close to me now. So close I can smell the blood on his skin and the sweat on his brow.
But I don’t get the chance to find out what happens when he reaches me, because a group of burly teenagers grab onto him, jumping up and down and yelling things about Dimitri being the champ. Dimitri’s eyes stay glued to mine as they pull him backwards through the crowd and out of the cave.
Only when he’s out of sight do I pull some air into my oxygen-deprived lungs. I can finally breathe again.
“That was…intense,” Darby says as she approaches me.
“Where d-do you think they’re g-g-going?” I ask as my eyes stayed glued to the exit.
“Probably out to celebrate,” she says with a shrug. “They bet a lot of money on him to win.”
“Oh.”
“God, the way he stared at you.” She shudders. “Wow, it was…”
“C-c-creepy?” I offer.
“No. Freaking hot,” she says while emphatically fanning herself.
