Barcode: Cavern of Youth (32 page)

The crowd cheers loudly as both sides step onto the battleground. Talib and Jay Jay are matched against two men that I imagine were handpicked by Dennis. These guys are massive and their muscles sound as though they were built for speed and crushing power.

Both are blond with blue eyes. They’re an inch or two taller than the massive Jay Jay, and covered by large and bulky golden chest plates. Their red densely-padded pants and large diamond shields make them serious threats.

Over time, Jay Jay has become more gruesome himself. He’s lost a lot of fat and his skin seems darker. It’s like he’s been training in the sun every day. Talib has taught him various fighting techniques that he didn’t know before. The two are often paired together because that’s what many fans want to see. Dennis still won’t go against his fan’s wishes, no matter how much he hates the beast.

Then again, it isn’t like he should want Talib to lose. The lion is profit as much as he is a prophet.

Thomas yells, “I’m not supposed to be biased up here, but ya’ll know me. I’m sad to see you go Talib. Let the match begin!”

The two men from Schmidt Arena run away from their targets as Jay Jay activates his barcodes. They separate in a perfectly even V-shape and I don’t blame them. They’ve obviously watched a lot of film on the two warriors and know that head-on attacks mean death.

Once the men are a considerable distance away and Jay Jay’s tattoo is a bloody red, the Colt team chases down the Schmidts. Their opponents aim their shields and fire a bright beam that covers the field in the same V-pattern. Both Talib and Jay Jay are hit and don’t seem like they’ll be up any time soon.

Converting the shields into diamond staffs, the Schmidt team hunts down their prey. Jay Jay rolls to the side to dodge his attack and Talib catches his opponent’s weapon. I can hear crackling under his palm.

The staff continues to burn Talib’s hands. The sizzling sound increases and the tip of the spear pierces his arm. Talib windmills his legs and trips his attacker. The two roll over each other and Talib stabs the man in the heart, through his armor, with his bare hand.

“That’s one down,” Thomas blares. “Where you at, Jay Jay?”

Jay Jay is stabbed in the leg by his opponent. He doesn’t even grunt before he pulls the Schmidt warrior in and catches him between his arm. He spins the blond around and chokes him tightly. The man tries hitting the staff to make Jay Jay lose focus, but it doesn’t work. Once he’s weak enough, Jay Jay snaps the man’s neck and removes the diamond spear from his leg.

Talib walks over to help his friend as the crowd screams loudly.

I leave the room and exit to the dungeon, listening to the people chant the name of the first liminal being to fight his way from gladiator prison.

Once I’m underground, I don’t have to hear anything from the above world. There’s no Carmen or Dennis down here. I can skip out on the fans and avoid the self-inflicted torture for the night. My schedule isn’t as long as I’d like it to be, but maybe I can visit Hades’ place when it’s time to leave.

I spend a few hours sitting and converting Shiva into various weapons. Though she and I have plenty of energy to spare, she zaps me. “What’s that for?” I tap on her a few times and she hits me harder. “You’re mad at me? Whatever.” Shiva returns to wristbands, tighter than usual.

With nothing else to distract me, I turn my attention to the movement in the shadows. It has been the same for twenty minutes. “Blue-Skin are you going to come out or just stand there with your creepy expression the entire time? It’s rude to stalk people in the dark.”

“I was just worried about you,” he says as he steps away from two black rocks. “You seem upset.”

I inhale a large whiff of fog. The girls really did make it thicker. I’ve been so pumped up with their power down here, I thought I’d return to my normal self. I feel my muscles expanding inside of my bandages.

Though it’s nice seeing Blue-Skin, I don’t really want to hang out with anyone right now.

The deliveryman continues gawking at me. I try making my desire to be alone obvious, “Why are you here? You don’t transport on Thursdays.”

“That’s because I generally have a date, thanks to you.”

“Make ugly babies. Have a nice life.”

“Do you think you’ll ever do something like that?”

“What?”

“Make ugly babies and have a nice life.”

“Probably not.”

“We all make our own decisions, I guess.”

“Now you’re my psychologist?”

“I’ve been through our psycho-therapy a few times.” I look at him with a twisted expression. “What? You don’t know how lonely it gets down here for thousands of years. Kid, you’re complaining about a miserable twenty years of life. Try not having a date for a few centuries.”

“Point taken.”

“After a small forever, I discovered that
you
are your own roadblock.”

“You learned that through how many centuries of therapy?”

“None. You taught me when you encouraged me to ask the Charon on a date. Come to find out, she was just as eager to go out as me. She was lonely all that time.”

“I’m touched.”

Blue-Skin removes a glass bottle wrapped inside of a protective cushion from the brown pouch around his waist. “We tried making twenty of these, but only one came out with enough power. It’s not easy to filter this fog back into water.”

“Thanks.” When I remove the glass bottle from his hand, a chill shoots through my body. It’s a horrible feeling.

“I could be wrong, but you look pretty down.”

“I have a lot on my mind.”

“Whatever you’re going through is probably bad. I’ve never had human problems, but let me say that you’re strong enough to get over it.” Without waiting on a response, he disappears into the shadows.

As I climb the stairs, I wonder why I’m so upset with Carmen. She didn’t lie, but I still feel like an idiot for prancing around the academy like a couple. I basically told a married woman that I love her.

I promised that I’d always protect her if she were within reach; then, I let her go into harm’s way.

As I leave Casey’s room and close the dungeon, I listen to a conversation between Malik, Wesley, and Patrick. They’re all snacking on zebra jerky and laughing in the hallway directly outside.

Malik and Patrick have a lot of bruises on their faces. It seems that their bullying doesn’t go unanswered anymore. After students found out that his match with Angie was fixed, a lot more people have stood up to him. Many aren’t strong enough, but with him in bandages and them in groups, the odds have worked themselves out. This idiot no longer dominates the arena and it shows on his face.

“Can’t we just go for a second?” Patrick pleads while bouncing up and down like he has to pee.

Malik grabs his leg and drags him down. “No. I don’t want people to see my face like this. The bitch wouldn’t kiss me, even with Vincent screaming at her. Plus, Monte said he needed to do something, so we have to make sure our hands are clean. We’re on the school cameras here; we have an alibi.”

Wesley’s on the opposite side of the hallway against the wall. He probes, “Just tell us, dude. He’s going to kill someone again. I know he is.”

“Shut up Wes. Someone could hear.”

“No one’s here; I’ve checked a million times already.” Wesley’s voice is deep, manly. He’s gotten more powerful since last year. Even Malik might see him as a threat if they were to face each other at finals.

The demanding tone from his friend convinces the mutt to reveal a bit of the secret, “I think he’s trying to kill some of the girls this time. I don’t know. I just gave him the stuff he needed for the drinks.”

“But Monte can’t be there either, right?” Patrick inquires while biting into his jerky.

“No. He’ll probably do it like the other party. I gave him some stuff to make them a little woozy. It’s strong, trust me. It even works on gods.”

“I know what you’re talking about. I used it on Selena.”

“Me too,” Malik teases. A look of disgust stretches across Wesley’s face. He flashes his barcodes to scan the area. I wait to hear him rat me out, but he never says a word. “Oh come on Pat. You know I’m just kidding.”

Wesley flashes his codes again. It’s like he knows I’m here. He’s trying to communicate something to me, but I can’t understand it. Resting his head against the wall, he casually asks, “Who is he after?”

“Carmen. Angie. Not sure. He asked if they’d be there.” Malik stuffs a fist full of chips in his mouth before spewing, “But he definitely requested some of my nastiest friends from East LA.
Horny guys,
were his exact words
.
Probably wants to make it look like it was rape or something.”

“Won’t Vincent be pissed?”

“About Angie? Probably. But I don’t think he cares for her. Just needs her to make a son. He’ll probably have her ovaries removed and thrown on ice, knowing him. Then, he’ll put her head on display in his office.”

I black out for a second and have to remember where I am. Something screams inside of my flesh as my ears travel down the street to Vincent’s building where Monte is just leaving. The guys in that place are touching over the prostitutes from Block 22. Those girls are as slutty as they are deadly.

Carmen nervously takes a drink as Angie watches her from the corner of her eyes. Carmen’s wearing a white dress with a slit that travels up her thigh. Angie has on a black one that’s very short and shows off her body.

The two are being displayed in the center of a party crowd on throne-like chairs. Carmen begins wavering slightly. Angie blinks strongly and clutches her teeth. She knows that she’s been drugged, but she’s trying to play it off. There’s nothing left in her cup, but she’s pretending to drink it to ward off anyone attempting to set her up. Unfortunately, the toxin is seeping into her brain more with every passing second.

“Stop drinking, you idiot,” Angie barks as she snatches the cup from Carmen and puts it with her own. “Sit up straight and fight it off for as long as possible. Don’t move.”

“But I feel like I have to throw up.”

“You don’t. It’ll kick in more if you move.”

“What?”

“Stop talking and present yourself the best way you can.”

“What do we do once it kicks in?”

“Shut up,” Angie snaps forcefully, causing the drug to react to her heightened blood pressure. “Just follow the same rules for being stuck in the desolate lands.”

Wesley draws my attention back to the hallway as he stands up and starts to walk away.

“Where you going?” Malik shouts, raising a bottle of alcohol.

“Restroom.” Under his breath he mumbles, “Worthless ass.”

“Just make sure you’re back soon. I don’t want to report to the police that you snuck away to poke your pee-pee in one of the girls.”

I’m not thinking straight. My legs are moving on their own.

No. Stop.

I slowly open the door, focusing my attention on the two pricks remaining as Wesley continues his decent down the hallway. He passes up the bathroom and proceeds towards the exit.

The walls expand slightly. I don’t mean I’m lightheaded. They stretch from the hostile energy I gradually discharge. The mutt and closet freak giggle and look around.

“Man, I’m drunk.” Patrick rubs his eyes and leans his head on Malik. “The walls are moving in my mind, man.”

Malik holds his head with both hands. He shivers and releases a disgusting burp. “Whoa. Kay?”

Pulling my hood over my head, I zip up my jacket and pass the idiots. I beg my body to reach over and kill them, but nothing happens. I understand. That’s a fight I can’t waste time on.

“Nice hoodie, but you’re not the only one with cool tricks,” Malik teases while moving his hand and making a barking sound. “Oh. I guess it’s not the same with the bandages covering my dogs.”

The two laugh uncontrollably. The walls expand more and the floor rumbles. I stop dead in my tracks and my heart weighs heavily in my chest.

No. Can’t kill them now.

I finally continue down the path, but Malik impedes my progress. “Hey? It’s midnight. Do you know where your bitch is? Or is she yours at all?”

Without turning around, screaming, or raging through the hallway—all the things I want to do—my force destroys the area and the museum in it. Armor and shelves bash into the two men as they scream hysterically. The walls crumble and chunks of the ceiling smash onto the floor. The ground splits in some areas and I create thousands of cracks under my feet.

Malik and Patrick are trapped under the debris, but they’ll live. I continue my walk and refocus my attention on the girls.

Carmen’s head sways as she looks to her left. “Angie. It’s hard sitting up straight and I’m pretty sure I’m going to throw up.”

She doesn’t reply. Angie’s drifting in and out of consciousness, but managing to maintain her composure. Carmen, however, panics and tries to stand up to check on her. When she falls, a man the same height and build as Monte catches her. His barcode crackles with the power of a demigod’s.

He runs his hand over his smooth hair and insists, “You look tired. Let me help you find a bed.”

Carmen whimpers, “No,” the entire way.

I try forcing my body to speed up, but it continues walking calmly down the street. I’m fighting half of my will to destroy everything in my path. The other half is trying to make it in time.

As I refocus my attention on Angie, I listen as a blond guy approaches her. “Hey. You don’t look so hot.” He actually sounds concerned. “You want me to take you into another room?”

Angie’s lost all control of her body, but shines her barcodes while biting into her cheek. Blood drips from her mouth. She’s trying to power herself up, but can’t.

“Oh no. Your mouth’s bleeding,” the guy drones. He maliciously grabs her waist and throws her over his shoulder.

No one else at the party pays any attention to them. There are hundreds of people dancing with flashing neon lights. Several of the Block 22 girls are pleasing various god-level warriors, and even regular humans, in the next room. The bass in the speakers pumps loudly and the party continues as two innocent women are taken advantage of.