7 yrs, Gone and Forgotten

Chapter 10: Deja Vu

       Sitting around the ring in the company’s gym with the other girls I felt a bit of nostalgia, that feeling of belonging, of déjà vu, or whatever you wanted to call it, I was feeling it. Leaving the bon fire the night before and going home, I hadn’t slept hardly any at all. Every time I closed my eyes those sea-colored eyes haunted me. I could hear that voice echo in the soft breeze that blew through my window that night. And when my alarm clock went off at five am, I was the first up and ready to go.

    “Alright ladies, you have all made it this far and I want to congratulate you.” Scott announced as he entered the ring. “Now typically we do things with our new trainees a little different than we are going to do today.” We all looked at each other before we redirected our attention back to Scott. “We were originally going to only take one of you into our company, but after studying you over the last two days and seeing the skills that each of you possess, we are opening up two spots. So after today is all said and done, there will be two new ladies to join the Marlette Company.” We clapped and whistled until he raised his hands to quiet us down. “Now here are the changes made. As you all know Theo is my partner in this business which means he is almost as skilled as I am.” He raised a brow at Theo, and we all snickered. “There are eight of you, so we are dividing today’s test into two groups of four. One group with Theo and one group with myself. From there you will be put in a bracket system one on one until the last lady is standing. That lady will face either Theo or myself depending on which group you are in. We have also taken out the blind fold round that we usually require. In time we will train you for that, but I don’t think it would be appropriate to throw that on you guys when you have probably never had to do anything like it, no matter what your previous training has been.” I didn’t know why but I suddenly wanted to do that part more than anything, and if I made it through to the end, I would ask if I could, just for the hell of it. “Now as Theo and I call out names please go to the appointed side.”

      We all stood as they started calling names, Eva was called to Theo’s side with three other girls that looked to be about her size and build. I on the other hand was placed on Scott’s side with three sss looking women that made me feel like the fly against the fly swat. It was then that I felt like Scott did it all on purpose, he was truly testing me, he wanted me to feel defeated, I hoped in the back of my mind that that wasn’t the case, but in that moment, I was pretty sure that was the way he felt.

      Scott moved us to the outside of the ring as two of Theo’s girls gathered in the center and got into position. I blinked my eyes a few times and I was suddenly standing in a large crowd; the morning sun was just starting to come up and the air felt dry and dusty around me. Looking around there were several faceless boys and girls around me, unlike the feelings before I wasn’t watching a movie, I was really there, or it felt like it anyway. I slowly pushed my way through the crowd until I came to the edge of an outside ring, and in the middle were two boys going at it, kicks, punches, throws, they were sweaty and looked to be wearing out quickly, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them. The largest one pinned the other to the ground and a loud voice rung out announcing the winner.

       I blinked a few more times and without even realizing it I was standing in the middle of that ring. The breeze blew and slightly stung my eyes as I watched a faceless boy step in front of me. A deep voice floated from that direction, “You are going to have to fight.”

       I hit my knees and closed my eyes; my heart was beating out of my chest, and I could feel my breathing becoming shallow as I gripped the sides of my head and screamed silently. When I opened my eyes, I was standing back on the sidelines in the gym while everyone was staring at me. I gulped several times and took long slow breaths looking around, everyone had faces, but what I had just seen was so real.

       “Hey you alright?” I looked up to see Eva offering her hand with a worried expression.

      I took it and stood quickly, looking around I pulled her close and whispered, “I don’t know.”

     “Hey guys since Lee is after this match, we are going to get a drink of water really quick.” I raised my brows at her as she announced to the group what was going on. She then got close to me and whispered back, “Come on. And since you missed it, I got the first spot, but that Theo is fierce man, he made me tap out in like three minutes flat.”

       I followed her blindly as my mind raced over what I had just saw, I didn’t know if it was a flash, a nightmare, or like earlier one of those crazy daydreams people talk about. Eva sat me down on the bench and handed me a bottle of water. “You alright? What happened?” She said lowly as she took a seat next to me.

      “I don’t really know. I don’t know if it was a memory or what. But it was so real. What did you see looking at me?” My words sounded all jumbled up, but I hoped she knew what I meant.

      She pointed to the ring, “Well you were standing there like everyone else watching. And when I took the ring, I noticed you were there, and at first glance it looked like you were watching, but when I got closer your eyes were glossed over like you were there but not there. And then all at once you went down on your knees, you closed your eyes, covered your ears, and opened your mouth like you were screaming, but nothing came out.” I looked at her with my wild eyes and she offered me a smile. “You can choose to tell me or not. But if you do, know I will listen, I promise no judgement.” She crossed her heart.

      I couldn’t help but laugh as I finished off my water bottle and threw it in the garbage bin beside me. “I was somewhere else, outside, near a ring, everyone was faceless around me, and then when I blinked, I was in the center. A faceless boy stepped in front of me and told me I had to fight.” I looked back over to Eva, and she had a goofy grin on her face which caused me to giggle, “Go ahead, I know I am crazy.”

       She laughed and stood as she pulled me to my foot, “Not at all. I just think that crazy brain and heart of yours is trying to tell you something, I think that there is some divine intervention going on here. But who am I. Now come on, your up.” She pointed as she pulled me to the ring.

       Scott wasted no time pulling me into the first match, and without a second thought I had the girl pinned down and tapping out in the blink of an eye. The second girl was a little harder, her long legs and my short ones didn’t coincide with each other easily which in return made it awkward trying to get her down, but I managed successfully, and she tapped out after screaming about how much of a bad person I was.

      “Alright ladies, Lee made it through this round.” Scott announced as he walked to the center of the ring to stand next to me. “Now we will take a five-minute break before the last round with me and Lee. Be sure that everyone stays, because like with Theo, if I don’t feel like she has what it takes I can bring someone else up to try.”

       I didn’t give him time to say anything else because I was fuming, I grabbed his arm and drug him to a corner while everyone else dispersed throughout the gym. He opened his mouth to say something, and I shook my head, immediately shutting him up, “Did you make the same announcement before Theo and Eva faced each other?” He immediately looked away, something he did when he didn’t want to speak the truth, and I couldn’t help but smirk. “Didn’t think so, so you listen to me. Bring you’re a game because you are going to need it.”

     I started to walk away, and he grabbed my arm turning me back to face him, “What makes you so sure? I mean come on Lee, sure you passed the written test with a hundred percent, something no one else has ever done, you even ran the course in record time without so much as a trip, and now you think that you will pass this round too? Have you been playing us all this time, are you someone we don’t know? You went from someone who has never so much as raised their voice, always walks away and doesn’t even slam a cup down when she’s mad, to someone who is unbelievably physically able to do something that not even myself who has trained my whole life for can do.”

      Taking a deep breath and grabbing both of his hands I offered him a smile, I am sure he was just as confused as I was. “Scott I really don’t know how I did any of those things. You know me better than myself most days. But I would be lying to myself, and you if I didn’t tell you that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I can do this. Whatever comes my way I can face it.”

       He studied my face for a few minutes, I knew he was searching to see if I was lying to me and when he finally found the answer to his own question, he gave me that brotherly smile, “Anything that comes your way, huh?” He smirked and I couldn’t help but laugh as I nodded in agreement. “Think you can handle the blind fold? You know some of my best trainees still struggle with it.”

       I matched his smirk with my own which made his smile grow even bigger, “Bring it on.”

      He patted my shoulder, “Dad and Mildred just came, so let me go get them set up while you get a drink of water, and I will meet you back in the ring.”

     “Fair enough.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed slightly, “Love you brother. And whatever you do, don’t hold back.”

      He laughed at me as I turned him loose and he started to turn and walk away, “When it comes to business, I don’t hold anything back, doesn’t matter who you are.” He winked and left me standing there like a grinning fool. I was pretty sure I was fixing to face his wrath, but I didn’t care, he was back to being my big brother.