Paintshark (19 page)

Construction vehicles occupied the north stand of the arena, they were completing the task of expanding the stadium by another ten thousand seats, a giant orange crane swung into view and lowered its arm slowly towards the stadium centre, attached to its hook was a small portacabin, it swung gently but was always secure, the crowd watched in slight trepidation, not knowing what to expect from the cabin.

The waiting was over, a horse slowly appeared from inside the long dark tunnel, the sounds of the crowd echoed from the stands outside. Seemingly unaffected by the noise, on its back rode Apollo,

his face a picture of concentration as he steered the creature to the front of the crowd, walking so close that the people were close enough to pat the horse.

Attached to the horse’s body was a length of rope which flowed for a few lengths more behind Apollo until it came to an end, which was Elias. His hands were bound by the rope, his face was bloodied and it was fresh blood, administered by the new rider of the horse who paid off the original rider and battered Elias’s face after the switch around.

Dandridge had cleaned up Elias’s wounds quite well but his work was undone in a matter of moments by Apollo, whose knuckles were red and sore as he gripped the reins.

The horse slowly started to pick up speed, as the audience cheered.

Elias was just about managing to stay on his feet as the trotted around the arena, his restraints rubbed against his hands as he struggled to keep upright. He knew that if he fell down he’d be dragged on his front and he had not the strength to right himself, Apollo turned around and taunted, “I applaud you, Glaucas, I had money on you being dead by now, you have cost me, and it seems I’ll have to take it from your hide…again. I hope you didn’t mind me adding some colour to your face but Big Man did want a decent show, you’ll have some company very soon.”

Elias didn’t answer; he couldn’t as his mouth was full of blood. Apollo did a few more circuits, stopped the horse and turned his head to check on his prisoner.

Elias was exhausted and collapsed to his knees, his eyes frantically blinking as he tried to take air in and to observe the giant crane above his head. Apollo hadn’t been still for long when the crowd started booing. They leapt from their seats and howled at the arena floor demanding that Apollo get the horse walking again so they could see Elias suffer.

Bellowing obscenities down at him and throwing fruit onto the arena floor, some even sat with their parents who threw fruit in turn and shouted at Elias, saliva trickling down the side of their mouths from laughing so hard at his plight.

Many were parents, the same parents who trusted his views and listened intently to him as he gave glowing reviews about their children at Parents’ Evening. The trust had now gone and Big Man had done his job.

The crowd were being whipped up to Frenzy. Suddenly the ground opened at opposite ends of the arena where the goalposts once stood but had been moved and two marble posts emerged from the large gaps. Chained at the wrists, attached to each large post were two people struggling furiously with their bonds. On one side was Felcey and on the other, the re-captured Kimberley. Felcey remained silent while Kimberly squirmed in her chains and noticed on her front that she was now carrying a small microphone. Looking around at the crowd, she began to panic as she realised someone was missing. “NAYAN, NAYAN, WHERE’S NAYAN? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?”

Big Man stood up from his seat, and motioned to a production assistant, who pressed a button on the remote control in their hand. Suddenly everyone was able to hear the cries of Kimberley and waved Apollo to stop despite the booing, then whispered back to his assistant, “Can I hear her now?” The assistant nodded, as Kimberley repeated her question.

“NAYAN, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHERE IS HE?”

The whole crowd heard her now, and Big Man responded through his own microphone, his voice lingered around the many speakers dotted around the arena.

“YOUNG LADY, YOUR RESCUER, NAYAN, BETRAYED ME BY REFUSING TO ROUND YOU AND THE REST OF THE ‘FREAKS’ UP AND HE QUIT AND THEN RESCUED YOU AT THE LAKE. EVERBODY SAW IT SO I SENT MY SECURITY GUARDS THERE TO DO THE JOB NAYAN USED TO DO.”

Kimberley screamed back, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?”

“GOD KNOWS…BUT THEN MAYBE NAYAN CAN ASK GOD FOR HIMSELF.”

“NNNOOOOO!” The cry of pure emotion from the teenager even rocked the bloodthirsty crowd. “WHAT WILL YOU DO TO US? WHY ARE YOU KILLING US?”

The majority of the crowd fell silent, anticipating the reply from Big Man, he held his microphone closer to his mouth.

“YOUNG LADY, PEOPLE KILL OTHERS FOR VARIOUS REASONS, SOME KILL IN SELF-DEFENCE, OTHERS PLAN AND PREMEDITATE FOR REVENGE OVER AFFAIRS.

THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO BUTCHER WHEN THEIR MINDS HAVE SNAPPED AND THEN THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE BORN EVIL. I WASN’T BORN EVIL, I’M NOT EVIL, I’M A BUISINESSMAN…YOU WANT TO KNOW THE REAL REASON I KILL? NOT FOR REVENGE, WELL JUST REVENGE ONCE WHEN I CATCH THE MAN WHO MY WIFE RAN OFF WITH, BUT SKIPPING THAT MISDEMEANER, THE REASON WHY I STAGE THESE GAMES? THE REASON I BUILT MY GLORIOUS STUDIOS?…IT’S JUST SOMETHING TO DO.”

Elias was able to stand back on his feet as Apollo drew in the reins, his whole body was covered with mud from the few occasions when he did stumble, but it did mask the blood from his battered frame. He stumbled and fell, looking up from the ground he barely heard what Big Man had said, he was almost out of it, he lay on the dirt and whispered, “Kimberley.” Nobody heard him as Big Man spoke on.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, I APOLOGISE FOR THAT LITTLE CHAT AND FOR KEEPING YOU WAITING BUT HOPE YOU’VE ENJOYED WHAT YOU’VE SEEN TOINGHT SO FAR. BUT FOR SOME OF YOU YOU’VE ONLY SEEN IT ON THE SCREENS, SO NOW I WELCOME YOU TO THE ‘THEATRE OF SCREAMS’, I WELCOME YOU TO…THE ‘STADIUM OF FRIGHT’.”

The crowd roared with applause, as Big Man took in their howls of excitement.

“WE’VE SEEN BEETLES, GIANT SQUIDS AND CANNIBALS SO FAR, BUT WE’VE SAVED THE BEST TO LAST, NOW UNFORTUNETLY, DUE TO INJURIES SUFFERED BY THE CANNIBALS THE DRAGON LADY, CASSANDRA PAINTSHARK, ISN’T FIT TO FACE HER FINAL GAME.”

The crowd booed, so he quickly continued.

“BUT AS YOU JUST HEARD AND SAW, WE HAVE THE GIRL WHO SURVIVED THE LEVIATHAN SQUID, WE CAUGHT HER TRYING TO ESCAPE AT THE LAKE EDGE.”

Elias again mouthed, “Kimberley.”

Big Man couldn’t hear him but suddenly realised something. “He isn’t miked up, he hasn’t got a microphone on him.” Again he turned to his Assistant. “That man’s been dragged around this area almost at death’s door and he’s not wearing a microphone, we’ve missed everything, get someone down there IMMEDIATELY.”

The assistant took out her phone and spoke to a colleague. Even amid the humongous crowd’s roars, Big Man held the look with Apollo and put up his hands in a ‘wait’ motion. Another one of Big Man’s assistants ran on to the arena floor and hooked a microphone to the tattered clothes of Elias. The young assistant gave the thumbs up to the executive box, and in response ‘Big Man’ put his own thumbs up. Apollo acknowledged this by making the horse go faster, sending the now standing Elias toppling to the ground and being dragged again, he mouthed again, “Kimberley.”

Everyone heard his groans amid the mud also being caught on the mike. Kimberley wailed in distress, the screaming crowd behind her not even registering her plight. “SIRRR,” she screamed again.

“SIR, MR GLAUCAS…PLEASE STOP IT, YOU’RE KILLING HIM.”

Felcey also had a microphone on his body, and finally spoke. “LET MY TEACHER GO.”

Big Man applauded. “SO THE BEETLE GEEK HAS A VOICE, ABOUT TIME, THIS GIRL KIMBERLEY HAS MORE EMOTION IN HER LITTLE FINGER THAN YOU’VE GOT IN YOUR WHOLE BODY, DO US A FAVOUR, NERD BOY, KEEP QUIET.”

Felcey hung his head low and mumbled, “I’m not a geek, my name’s Felcey.”

Big Man sniggered over the mike. “YOU’RE A GEEK, DEAL WITH IT, IN FACT LET’S PUT IT TO THE TEST, EVERYONE KNOWS YOU’RE A NERD WHO READS COMICS, SO WHO WOULD WIN IN A BATTLE BETWEEN ‘LAZER BOY AND’ POWER BLOKE’?”

Felcey wriggled with his chains and managed to give Big Man the ‘middle finger’ in defiance; in an instant Big Man replied to the one-fingered salute.

“WHAT’S THAT THEN? THE AMOUNT OF GIRLFRIENDS YOU’VE HAD IN YOUR LIFETIME? COME ON, WHAT’S THE ANSWER?”

The audience laughed hard again as Felcey spoke as loud as he could. “LAZER BOY.”

Big Man imitated a buzzer from one of his own game shows. “WRONG ANSWER, THE COREECT ANSWER IS…WHY DON’T YOU GET A LIFE?”

The audience were in hysterics as Big Man put his hand over his microphone and whispered to his assistant, “Besides, we all know that ‘Power Bloke’ would totally kick Lazer Boy’s ass.” They touched fists jokingly.

The horse began to gallop now as Elias’s body started to tear, Apollo looked behind at his diligent handy work and then snapped the reins harder.

“STOP IT, YOU’RE KILLING HIM,” Kimberley yelled.

“THAT’S THE GENERAL IDEA.”

The crowd laughed again at Big Man’s reply. Kimberley ignored them, all she could hear was the sound of her teacher being dragged to his death. Apollo stopped the horse to take on water, and as the horse drank, he got off to see the condition of Elias and was surprised the teacher hadn’t passed out from shock yet, but even he pulled a face at the condition of Elias’s back. The stones had done their job and dug deep into his flesh and his back was quite red. Apollo bent down to speak to Elias.

“I’m impressed you’re still alive, Mr Glaucas and if I’m honest…quite glad, you’ve had your school threatened, house burnt down, been kidnapped, imprisoned with killer beetles and now you will watch your students die…all we have to do is find your daughter and put her in the games.”

Even in complete agony Elias tried to roll over to Apollo, his lip, cheeks and forehead a mask of crimson, he tried to shout but only a choked cry came out.

“Don’t you touch her, don’t you take her, if you do I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I swear.”

The words from Apollo hung around in the floodlit night like a horrible smell. Elias was too tired for anything else and failed to notice Apollo jump back on to his horse to ride along and drag him to his doom.
Another two circuits of the track should kill him,
Apollo thought.

Through her chains Kimberley wiped the tears from her eyes as she watched the horse pick up momentum and Elias now leaving a trail of blood behind it. Kimberley pulled harder at her chains. “PLEASE LET HIM GO, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?” The horse picked up more speed. “WHY WON’T YOU ANSWER ME?” Elias’s body smashed into the advertising boards. “WHY AREN’T YOU SAYING ANYTHING?” The crowds got their voices back as Kimberley protested more to Big Man. “WHY AREN’T YOU SAYING ANYTHING?”

Big Man noticed Kimberley’s hands starting to glow white and grabbed his assistant. “SHE’S TURNING, DROP THEM NOW, DO IT NOW.”

The frightened girl did what she was told and leaned over to a control panel to her left, pressing another button. The crane positioned above the stadium swayed again as the portacabin’s contents began to move. Big Man shouted again. “DROP THE LIONS NOW.”

The bottom of the cabin fell away and some large creatures contained inside dropped to the ground.

Three lions landed on the ground, they were ‘Beak-nip’ lions, they had enormous heads with parrot-like beaks, capable of biting through steel. They had huge manes, with a streak of fur running from head to tail.

This is what the crowd wanted and they launched from their seats and cheered the arrival of the lions. The huge feline beasts sniffed the air, trying to acclimatise to their new surroundings, one of them bolted from the group and went straight for Kimberley’s pillar, the great cat leapt up at her, and just missed her dangling legs. She screamed and pulled her legs up further to the crowd’s delight, they could see and hear everything.

The other two chased after the cart dragging Elias, which was still whizzing around the stadium, his body was thrown around like a rag doll as the lions easily caught up with Apollo’s cart.

Each lion stopped two or three feet from Elias to take a swipe at his body, they missed each time and had to regain the pace to catch up with him.

The lions ignored Felcey, he struggled again and pulled hard at the chains, his fingers felt wet and he looked up at his hands, the strange white liquid he experienced in his room was back and had begun to seep slowly down onto his arms, he yelled for help and the more he cried the more it flowed down on to him.

Kimberley had stopped trying to dodge the lion’s beak-like jaws and instead attempted to kick at it with every leap it made, between kicks she could still see the battered body of her teacher, there was no resistance from him now, the groans and screams that came from within him had stopped, there was nothing now, just the sound of a body being dragged hard into the sand, amplified ten-fold by the microphone, her eyes glowed red, and her hands started to ripple with power.

“I SAID, STOP IT!” As she screamed there was a white flash from her hands and the chains and post exploded, sending metal and marble spinning aside, falling heavily to the ground she rolled on to her side. The stadium had stopped cheering and looked on in awe at the young girl’s power, her hands still glowing white.

Kimberley rubbed her head and looked up, she was laying just yards away from the lion, who hadn’t wandered too far away from the fallen debris.

She scrambled to her feet quickly as the lion bellowed a challenge and went for her, she held up her hands in defence and they beamed a terrific bright light, the lion fell completely in its tracks, dazzled by the flash, it shook it’s head and wiped its eye with a paw.

Brushing her hair back she stood terrified at the giant cat, she looked at her bright white hands and remembered the swimming pool and the Leviathan squid. She flicked her right wrist…nothing happened, she tried again harder and a small ball of light no bigger than a marble sat in her now open palm.

The lion growled as it gingerly edged closer, this prey was different to others…this one fought back.

Kimberley’s eyes widened in panic and she tried something, she moved the glowing orb up and down slowly in front of the lion’s head, up and down, left to right and the lion’s eyes were transfixed on it.