Page 9 of Yours on the Canvas

I try to pull air into my lungs, but his fists and elbows prevent me from drawing the breath I so desperately need.

Before I can recover enough to stand properly, the wall of screaming spectators surges forward, pressing against the ropes, howling like animals before a kill.

They are so close their breath brushes my skin. Sharp nails claw at my shoulders, and rough hands yank at my hair, pushing me back toward Julian.

Julian feeds on their energy, his eyes locking onto mine with a lethal fire. He closes the distance before I can raise a defensive guard.

A devastating combination of bare-knuckled hooks smashes into my jaw, dropping me hard, face-first into the dirt. I try to roll, reaching blindly for a desperate leg takedown, but Julian just steps right over me. My blood pools beneath me. Is this it? Am I dying here?

A sudden, sharp wave of regret hits me.

Am I ever going to see Silas again? Hale? God, I hope so.

I try to push myself up, but my battered body refuses to obey. Julian steps over my torso, dropping his full weight down to straddle me. His fists hammer down like pile drivers against my skin. One brutal blow lands directly over my damaged rib, and with a sickening pop, it fractures.

Air evacuates my chest in a bloody gasp. My body begins to shut down, leaving me utterly helpless.

Realising I’m completely broken, Julian leans down, his face inches from mine.

Hot tears of pure agony slip down my cheeks as he grinds a heavy hand into my chest, sending a fresh spike of white-hot torture ripping through my lungs. I let out a choked scream, and he leans in closer, our noses nearly touching so he can cut through the deafening roar of the crowd.

“Next time, don’t come from behind,” he whispers, his voice dripping with venom.

Without waiting, he hooks his arms around my body and wrenches me upward into a chokehold. It’s the same hold I used to put him to sleep in Nanaimo.

Then he squeezes, and I realise I’ve fucked up — he’s going to kill me.

My fingers claw frantically at his forearms, trying desperately to pry open a gap to draw breath as my windpipe is crushed. The edges of my vision blur, graying out before plunging into absolute black.

The last thing I feel is the cold, blood-soaked dirt beneath me, and the deafening roar of a crowd baying for my death.

3

Jack

I wake to pain.

It shoots through my body with every movement, sharp enough to steal whatever breath I have left in my body. The ground beneath me is cold and wet, water soaking through my skin as the chill settles deep into my bones.

The smell of damp soil and rotten vegetation encompasses me as I try to pull air into my lungs. I open my eyes and stare into darkness, as I try to move my head, the pain that radiates through my body is excruciating, and makes me slow to barely a movement.

At least I’m alive, I suppose, but I do wonder for how long.

I force my eyes open, dragging them open through the swelling and the blood that is crusted through my lashes. My blurry world narrows only a sliver of sight, just enough to make to make sense of the shapes and shadows shifting in the darkness. I try to lift my head, slow and careful, but even then, it isn’t enough to stop pain screaming through my skull. Every movement feels like dragging fire through my body.

What I see, or don’t see, makes my stomach drop.

There’s nothing. No streetlights, or buildings. Just an empty stretch of night sky scattered with cold, distant stars.

I’m alone.

Frank had dumped me — discarded me like trash. The realisation hits hard, betrayal settling like ice beneath my skin. For a moment, all I can hear is the ringing in my ears, a high, relentless whine that makes the darkness around me feel even bigger.

But then I hear it.

A sound cutting through the darkness, and I quickly move my head toward it. Pain tears through my skull and I cry out, but I hold my breath, forcing myself to stay calm as I listen for it again.

A car. I hear tyres crunching along the gravel, slow and deliberate. Its headlights slice through the dark, two sharp beams dragging across the ground as the vehicle creeps closer. The ringing in my ears makes it hard to hear properly, but I’m almost certain the car has stopped now.