34. The Unmasking Ball
MAGDALENA
The crowd in the auditorium roared as they dragged me in while I wondered what the hell they were up to. On the stage was some sort of wrestling ring, and at the far corner was the girl I’d saved, the one who’d killed with me.Fuck.Of course they would come up with this ridiculous theatrical setup.
They practically threw me on the stage like a sack of potatoes. While I lay on the floor recovering from the pain and regaining my breaths, the thump thump thump of a man’s shoes got louder as he approached me. He tugged at my paper hospital gown until it tore. I growled at him, grabbed his ankle, and used every ounce of energy just to make him fall. “Fuuuuuuccccckkkkyou!”
Both sides of the crowd shocked me by cheering, but it was over fast because once he stood again, he kicked my face. Stars burst in my vision. A bright-red river of blood streamed out of my nose and filled the back of my throat. The crowd got even louder, the cheers hurting my ears. I struggled to find a way to breathe with so much blood clogging my nose and throat.
Once things settled, I gripped onto the first rope. It shook from the weight of my left hand while I climbed up to stand. He didn’t cease pulling on my gown until I was naked, like her. The crowd appreciated my nakedness too.
“Settle down, everyone.” An old fat man with a long, thick, unruly gray beard held the microphone. He repeated the same line several times while I scanned the crowd, hoping it had all been a lie—hewasstill alive and could save me from this. But I knew no one could.
Several times, I turned around, peeking at her. She stood in her own corner, staring at me. I wasn’t so interested in her. I kept trying to wipe away the last of the blood trailing from my nose with my arm, but it was all wet. In scanning the other side of the crowd, I found Summer but not Scarlett. For some reason, the sadness on her face affected me. It let me know how truly dire the situation was. My eyes filled to the brim. She nodded at me, and out of respect, I did the same to her.
“Slaves,” the announcer called us. “This fight is to the bitter end. Whoever kills will get to live. It’s that simple.” So, they didn’t wait for me to heal because they wanted her to have every opportunity to kill me, but they also wanted to make a show out of it. I looked to the side where all the men sat, and it was filled all the way to the walking space by the doors, some of them standing. I noted their expensive suits. So, this show was for them, for the buyers.
A bell rang, and the men cheered again. “Fight, fight, fight, fight.” I didn’t hide the rolling of my eyes. These were grown men, but they sounded no different than elementary school boys. Because my body was destroyed in several places, I couldn’t move from my corner. There was blood falling from my nose and from my wound, and my legs were trembling, still incapable of holding all my weight. This wasn’t a fair fight by any means—the message was clear.
The bitch roared like a savage maniac as she hurried toward me. After all I had done for her, for us, she was stupid enough to obey their demands instead of showing some spirit of rebellion and refusing to fight?
Some women never learned.
I made sure to appear clueless. It took forever for her to get to me, and in that expanse of time, I acted even weaker than I felt—with my head hanging to the side and my eyes barely open. All I could see was her feet stomping closer and closer. Still, when she took the last step, I gave her the benefit of doubt, but that chance ended when I saw her wrist flying through the air toward me from the corner of my eye. I lifted my knee and slammed it into her vagina while gripping her fist and sinking my teeth into her neck. The clitoris has at least ten thousand nerve endings; hit it hard, and every woman who doesn’t also identify as a zombie will be in excruciating pain.
She writhed while punching me in the side with her other fist. Like some crazed vampire, I shook my head to break more of her skin with my teeth and yanked as hard as I could while she screamed in my ear. When she backed away, I spit the piece of skin to the side without taking my eyes off her. It took me a second too long to realize my actions had silenced the room.
“You stupid motherfucking idiot. I saved you,” I reminded her, glaring. She was crying like some spoiled little girl while holding her pussy and bleeding neck and backing away slowly.
“You’re fucking psychopathic!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.
I giggled and cackled. It was funny that I had been so scared of that label all my motherfucking life. No one else knew it, but this event was my official unmasking ball. For the first time in my life, I was proud of what I truly was, a monster. “I’d rather be psycho if being you is the definition of normal. Weak, pick-me bitch.”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!” she screamed, and ran to me, this time much faster, but I moved to the side, letting her crash against the corner.You could hear the wincing in the crowd.
“Okay. Obviously, you slaves didn’t understand the assignment,” the announcer said, then a knife was thrown to the middle of the stage. As soon as the knife clattered onto the floor, she ran for it.
It wasn’t as if I could walk, so I let her go for it. When she came back over to me with the knife in the air, I stayed still while studying her eyes. “I’m sorry. I-I want to live.” We both shed tears. I nodded and hugged her when she dropped the knife.
“Good girl,” I said to her.
“What are you doing?” the announcer asked.
“You ready?” I asked her after loosening my hold on her. She nodded. “Remember, straight into the neck. I would do it, but I can’t run.”
She nodded again. “Thank you.”
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Alma.”
“Alma, you didn’t deserve any of this. Remember that.”
“I know. Neither did you.”
Why did I feel as if a hole had opened in my chest? Of course, I knew I didn’t deserve this. Right? Or had he made me forget that too?
They’d just extended our lives for their amusement. The next seconds didn’t seem real. We were never supposed to survive this. Alma ran toward the only guy on stage, the announcer, and I tried to follow her but fell halfway there.
