Enjoy!🤍

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." – Lao Tzu.
———————————————————

Chapter 32|part 4
<——————————————->

My legs led me past the other fighters, ignoring their mixed murmurs and side glances. I heard both Levi and Luke shout my name, but I still kept going.

I didn't quite know where I was going, or even what the hell I was doing exactly. But, I just continued on in the direction of the shouts and yells.

By the time the roar of the crowd increased, I had been pushed into another body, only to be caught by another pair of hands and then shoved into a different person. I didn't pay attention to any of them, only attempting to reach the ring.

I didn't know what I would do once I reached the fight, but all I knew was that Kade was losing.

Finally, I reached the caged ring, pausing along the line of people. This was as close as you could go, mere inches from the platform of the state. I could no longer hear past the blood in my ears, and the loud yelling and shouts of the crowd behind me didn't help. Slowly, they all died down as a man walked up to the platform.

The man's thin arms grabbed Angelos, raising it up. "Round 1 is over! Give it up for Calloway!"

The crowd went crazy, some shouting profanities, and others screaming in happiness at Angelo's win. I was the opposite.

Dread filled me at the sight in front of me. Kade—who held his side tightly—looked to be in bad condition, by his slightly swollen eye, and bloody running nose.

I couldn't move anymore; hell, I could barely even breathe. The energy around me only added to my shocked stature.

I stood still, trying to come to terms with what I just saw. Suddenly, I felt as if I had millions of insects crawling against my skin. As I felt the brush of another hard hand against my backside, the dreadful feeling found a way into my bloodstream, adding to my distraught weight.

Kade was a fighter, and from what I learned from Luke, he had something to do with the theft and the racing of the very cars he stole, too. He was destroying his life every time he walked into this place.

I wanted him to stop this, to stop killing his future every day he hung around this environment. But, for right now, I couldn't focus on that. He needed to win.

The announcer turned to face the crowd, his skin humming with adrenaline as he yelled into the mic, "Ladies and gents! Give it up for round two of Ryder vs. Calloway!"

The crowd responded with their screams and curses, causing the walls and floors to rattle under their pressure. I responded with a gulp of fear, digging my fingers into the fabric of Kade's hoodie. I didn't want to watch this, to watch Kade get hurt again, but I couldn't tear my eyes away.

Some type of bell rung in the background, only worsening my fears. My anxiety only increased as I saw Angelo throw a punch at Kade, who ducked and threw a jab at Angelo's lower body.

My mouth fell agape at the sight. Kade was good. The crowd begun chanting either name but I kept my attention forward. He was quick and more than effective with his jabs, but something was off. Angelo obviously could tell, and quickly took advantage of this.

With a couple of jabs to the ribs, he managed to trip Kade up. Just as he went to rearrange himself, Angelo threw Kade's body down like a rag doll, the sound rattling in my ears. Kade struggled against him, only encouraging Angelo to pin him down by the base of his neck.

Panic seized me by the batches. Overtaken by my fear, I mustered up every ounce of strength I had to do what I did next. 

"Kade!" I shouted, attempting to rise over the other voices.

My hands were slick with sweaty anticipation as my yell did nothing. I didn't know what I was trying to accomplish, but my throat still continued to clog with pain as I watched him hurt.

"Kade!" I tried again, my voice booming along with the others. If it weren't for how close I was, I would have blended right in.

Angelo was the first to react. His head snapped up, eyes searching the crowd by each row before finally getting to mine. With the cap of Kade's hoodie off, I was very recognizable in the sea of people.

When his eyes found mine, I froze under his hawkish gaze as it cruised over my figure. A smirk curled across his lips before he drug his smug smirk over me. He winked at my frightened stature before shifting his eyes back to Kade. The crowd had quieted down due to the anticipation of how the night would turn.

Angelo craned his neck to Kade. "Don't worry, Ryder. After I fuck you up, your girl will be well taken care of," he hissed, a dark grin growing as he landed a punch to Kade's face. "I promise I'll fuck her tight, pretty ass so good, she'll forget all about you." With a chuckle, he slammed Kade even harder into the platform.

The hoodie didn't help with the burning under my skin. I clenched the fabric for dear life; he was going to lose if he didn't get up now. "Kade!"

Third time's the charm.

His head turned to my direction in a heartbeat, brown eyes falling over me. I stared directly at him, hoping my expression read my desperation for his win.

Angelo had stopped in his hits, now taking the chance to torment Kade. "Such a shame she has to see you like this, but, I'll make it up to her later in your bed," Angelo spewed in Kade's face, spit flying out of his mouth. "I'll even look past those pretty little scars on her."

Kade's expression grew lethal, his head snapping to deliver an angry glare to Angelo. His nostrils flared, but for some reason, he turned to meet my gaze again. His expression might have been dull and blank to the others' but I saw the spur of emotions. His eyes roamed over me carefully; I believe it was for any injuries.

I shook my head to indicate that I was fine, but he sure wouldn't be if this didn't change around. "Get your ass the hell up and fight!" The words came out so quick, even I was shocked.

Angelo followed Kades' eyes to me, but that was what screwed him. Kade took this opportunity perfectly. The hand that Angelo had used to hit him had relaxed, and I may have been mistaken but it was also the one he grabbed me with. Kade grabbed it, his expression motionless as he bent the bone until a pop rang through the air.

Angelo cried out so loud, I didn't believe it even came from him. Kade didn't hesitate in the distraction. He shot his elbow back then swung it down, landing Angelo right in the center of his head. With that, Kade added a palm to Angelos' nose as well, sending blood everywhere onto the platform.

Angelo collapsed onto his back, his squeals and cries carrying on as he struggled against all of the pain. Kade slowly got to his feet, his chest heaving as he leaned against one of the rings. His tanked back was to the crowd, bloodied and wrinkled.

Finally, he swept a hand under his nose to catch some of the blood before storming back to Angelo. Kade took a couple of hits at him from this position, purposely landing him in his body and chest until Angelo was a curled figure of himself. Then, Kade fell on top of him.

My lips were large with pride at the sight as I saw him land blow after blow into Angelo's face, which had been long gone from snarky now. Now, there was nothing left but the bloody pulp in front of an abundance of people.

The crowd screamed and pounded in harmony at the punches, and I think I may have joined them in the cheers. I didn't care how absurd I looked or sounded in the moment. All I wanted was for Kade to win this round. Angelo was an asshole who deserved it, so that only fueled the new adrenaline I developed the longer I watched.

But, soon, I began to fear for the worst and the worry edged out the adrenaline. Angelo appeared to be barely conscious, and was in even worse condition than Kade. Both of his eyes were swelled shut, nose crooked now, and his bottom lip was busted, and now slowly dripping with blood. I think I may have seen teeth near his still form but I looked away before I could be sure of it.

I drug my gaze around cautiously as Kade continued on; no one was stopping him. His punches were beginning to become hard, too hard. Angelo wasn't worth a murder sentence.

With a curled lip and strands of black hair stuck to his forehead, Kade held Angelo in place by his neck. "Don't. You. Ever. Fucking. Talk. About. Her. Again." Kade growled, landing a punch with each word.

My fingers curled around my mouth as I watched the murderous gaze crawl across Kades expression the longer this continued. It had to stop or tonight would be an entirely different outcome.

My chest fell with relief as I saw the announcer swing his legs over the rings as he ran over. He resembled my expression, fear

His scrawny figure struggled to pull Kade off, who was relentless. He only let up when Angelo was completely still, and my grip loosened around the fabric of my hoodie in relief. Before he fully stopped, Kade sent one last kick to Angelo's face, causing a sickening crunch.

Two men helped Angelo off of the stage, more carrying him than anything. His head slumped to the side, body limp as he was dragged off the stage then to another side of the building.

The announcer yanked Kades' arm up, giving it a shake as he glanced all around the crowd. "Give it up for the undefeated, Kade Ryder!" The sea of people seemed to increase in sound as they screamed, kicked, cursed, and celebrated over his win.

If you didn't see it, you'd never even know Kade was injured. His face never gave way to any of his pain, despite the physical hurt I knew he was feeling.

"Come on people, I wanna hear you!" the announcer shouted.

Everyone erupted into loud cries, chanting for another round. In the corner of my eye, I thought I even saw some of them break and toss some of the chairs around as well.

The two men that had taken Angelo away walked back up onto the stage. They whispered something in the mans' ear, before the announcer turned toward Kade.

"Ryder, would you be interested to double the amount of your race with Shag?" he asked Kade, who shrugged in response. "Two crosses over the finish line wins all?"

"I'm always ready," he answered, flickering his eyes over to mine again. "I'm done talking, let's get on the track."

The people behind me cheered at Kade's confidence, while I cowered under the unpredictable. I had never seen anything like their excitement for such violence.

The announcer grinned, kissing his teeth before yelling, "Well, you heard that here! Kade Ryder is headed over to the tracks for the last and final round of tonight! Place your bets and..." His words became mush.

I wished my ears were wrong, and that this was some type of flunk. But, as I caught glances with an angry Kade, I knew that this was real.

Very real.