Angel Arena

*Author's Note* - This is an unfinished story. Check back for updates.

Chapter 1

What do you do when you’re faced with a challenge? Avoid it or face it head on. What do you do when you lose a loved one? What would you do if your life was an emotional roller coaster, or a story for others entertainment. What if you couldn’t control your future? Your life, your death are both privileges, yet punishments. All controlled for you. All you have left to do is fight back, knowing you will lose and be punished for it later. Well, let me tell you… Welcome to Angel Arena.

“Elisabeth! C’mon! We have to go!”

“No, five more minutes.” Elisabeth mumbles sleepily.

“No! We have to go now! Wake up! Do you wanna die?”

Elisabeth groans and pushes herself up off the ground. “What’s going on Lily?”

“I just heard from Anthony, their coming for us.” Lily says.

“Now?”

“They could be here in as little as a minute.”

Elisabeth jumps up. “Are our backpacks packed?”

“Yes I already did that. Lets go!” Lily throws Elisabeth a backpack as she thrusts one up on her shoulder. The girls look at each other for a second then start running. They are always on the run. They are wanted after all.

“James contacted me and told me to meet him at our childhood tree. He said he has food and clean water for us.” Lily says.

“He’s so helpful. Yet with no care for his personal safety. How he’s not dead already I have no clue. He must have the viewers on his side.” Elisabeth says.

“Well what do you expect? Every chance he gets he takes his shirt off. He works out every day and he’s hot as anything in this world!” Lily says.

“True true! Aren’t we lucky he’s on our side?” Elisabeth laughs.

“Very. We must be blessed or something!” They both laugh.

Elisabeth and Lily are both seventeen years old. Elisabeth has wavy brown hair with split ends that goes down to the middle of her back. She has crystal clear blue eyes and a perfect slim body. Lily has straight blond hair that goes down to her shoulder blades. She has pure light green eyes and a perfect slim body. All in all Elisabeth and Lily are both beautiful.

They reach their childhood tree. It’s a big tree with a network of different branches. The tree served as a playground for them as children. They always would climb up the tree and swing around and jump to the other branches. They stand at the bottom of the tree and take deep breaths trying to catch their breath after running.

“Where is he? We can’t stay long! They will catch us!” Lily says.

“Oh come on! Calm down! We’ll give him five minutes then we can start moving again.” Elisabeth says.

“You’re so carefree! If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this mess! This is your problem not mine!” Lily snaps.

“Alright alright calm down! We’ve gone over this already! But it was you and your best friend habits that got you involved. You coulda let them kill me!”

“Oh come on Elisabeth, you know that wasn’t an option.”

“You and your generosity. You amaze me Lily, you really do.”

“Yeah because of me we are the only ones on record to escape a fight with the guards.”

Suddenly there is a movement in the tree. The girls look up nervously. Suddenly a boy swings down from a branch covered with leafs. He swings off and onto the ground and lands perfectly. The boy has brown hair perfectly spiked up. His eyes are pure green.

“Aye girls! Miss me?” the boy says.

“Oh James! Cut it out!” Elisabeth says while playfully shoving James’ arm.

“Alright alright!” James laughs “You two are looking great, well apart from the sweat pouring down your bodies and staining your clothes. But that’s nothing I’m not used to. That’s how you guys always look when I see you!”

“You better watch out before you get your pretty little face punched in!” Lily threatens.

James throws his hands up into the air “uncle uncle!” He laughs.

“Seriously you have no respect for your own life do you James?” Elisabeth asks.

“No he just thinks it’s cool with the ladies to help the out casts!” Lily says.

“Well honestly women do love a caring man! It’s getting me credit alright! There’s those romance freaks out there hoping this will get interesting if I fall in love with one of you dweebs!” James replies.

“Seriously James, who says dweebs anymore?” Elisabeth says.

“This sexy guy!” James says as he strikes a sexy pose. “And right now probably half the teenage girls watching us!”

“Oh you’re a big trend setter James.” Elisabeth says while rolling her eyes at James.

“Alright well no more fooling around! Unless you all want to die! If that’s the case why not just sit down and have a tea party?” Lily says.

“Calm down Lily! We’re fine!” Elisabeth says.

James holds up a backpack. “Got your food and water right here.”

“Thanks James, but how is one of going to carry that backpack plus the one we already have?” Elisabeth asks.

“Simple, your not!” James says with a smile.

“C’mon what are we gonna do teach the bag to fly behind us? Or walk? Perhaps it could carry us!” Lily says.

“Oh shut up and listen Lily.” James says.

“You are really on my last nerve boy!”

“Sorry woman! Would you like me to bow down to you and your period?” James smirks as he says that. Lily glares at him.

“Oh you got it coming now James!” Elisabeth laughs.

“THERE THEY ARE!” A voice yells out from far behind them.

“You got lucky! Give me the bag!” Lily yells.

James laughs and slings it over his shoulders. “Shall we go ladies?”

Elisabeth and Lily look over at him dumbly for a minute then they start running. James runs behind them.

“Why the hell are you coming with us?” Lily yells.

“You girls could use some protection. And if things get interesting you guys might get some pressure taken off your backs.” James replies.

“Yeah I wish. They will keep coming after us because it makes for good television.” Elisabeth mutters. With that note they are silent. They keep running.

“I can’t run anymore Lily.” Elisabeth pants after awhile of running.

“We have to keep going unless you want to die.” Lily says.

“Take this Lizzy!” James says as he takes Elisabeth’s backpack off her and hands it to her. She looks at him confused. Suddenly he picks her up and carries her while he continues running.

“What are you doing?” Elisabeth yells.

“Carrying you. What do you think I’m doing? Did you think I was riding a unicorn?” James says.

“Yes James, I did think you were riding a unicorn.” Elisabeth laughs and lightly lays her head on his shoulder. “Am I heavy?”

“Hardly. I’m used to lifting weights Lizzy.” James replies.

“But don’t I weigh more than your weights?” Elisabeth asks.

“Well yes, but everyone needs a challenge once in a while.” James smiles at Elisabeth.

“She’s slowing you down James! You’ll both die, and I’m not sticking around to watch!” Lily says.

“Well watch me speed up then!” James says as he starts to run faster.

“You amaze me James.” Elisabeth says.

“More like show off!” Lily says bitterly.

“Oh lighten up Lily! I’m just trying to help Elisabeth.” James says.

“C’mon let’s face it. You have a crush!” Lily yells while running.

“Oh shut up! If you would like I will put her down and let her die! It’s up to you! And I don’t have a crush on her!” James yells.

“Oh don’t get your panties in a twist! Calm down! Fine you don’t have a crush whatever!” Lily says.

“Well… You two go at each other hard!” Elisabeth laughs.

“Oh shut up. You’re getting the easy way out of this!” Lily says.

Elisabeth laughs. “Oh alright!”

“You’re turning into James Elisabeth, totally carefree!” Lily says.

“Hey I’m not carefree! I care about you two! If I didn’t you two wouldn’t have food or water! And Elisabeth would be being fought right now!” James says.

“Oh alright! Fine your not completely carefree. But admit it, you have no care in the world about your own safety.” Lily says.

“Well that is kind of true.” James says.

“Well I’m tired now. Do you think we can stop for a few minutes?” Lily asks.

“Yeah I think we are fine Lily.” Elisabeth says.

Lily stops running and pants and breaths heavy catching her breath. James also stops and places Elisabeth in the shade of a tree. Elisabeth and James smile at each other. Then James goes to Lily.

“Need some water?” James asks.

“No I’ll be fine. We need to save those for emergencies” Lily says.

“Suit yourself!” James says. He turns and walks back to Elisabeth. “You know I don’t know much about you even though we have been friends for years.”

“Oh well there’s really not much to know. Thank you for carrying me by the way. That was very nice of you.” Elisabeth says.

“Everything about you is interesting Elisabeth.” James says. “Mind if I sit next to you?”

“Sure go ahead.” Elisabeth says.

“So, tell me the story in your own words of how you got into this mess.” James says as he sits down.

Elisabeth takes a deep breath. “Well as you know we were all selected from a young age to be a part in this stupid T.V. show. Well when my parents left when I turned sixteen. I was scared at first. I was scared I would do something to upset the guards. So I did everything like we were supposed to. I tried my hardest to be the perfect little angel. I stayed inside and made sure my house was perfectly clean every day in case one of the guards decided to pop in for a checkup. I only went out to see my friends when all my chores where done. I never let my friends talk me into doing something that might upset the guards. Well I got along well on my own for a while. When I turned seventeen I noticed the guards started paying close attention to me. A few months after my birthday was when my life changed.

“I was out picking some apples off my tree when a group of three guards approached me. I knew it couldn’t be good news because the guards don’t normally group up like that unless it’s time for another Angel. I looked at them helplessly.

‘May I help you?’ I asked.

‘Yes, it is about time that we start doing our duties.’ One of them said.

‘I don’t understand, how can I help you with your duties?’

“Then the normal announcement rang out. ‘Our next Angel has been selected! Now as you all know our specially selected Angels are all given a spot of honor in Angel Arena’s own museum. There the bodies of the outcasts of Angel Arena’s history lie. All Angels are given their wings and brought to the museum. Before the next Angel is announced lets all take a moment to recognize our history’s Angels.’ The normal names were called in order including the Angel before, Mathew. ‘Now let’s take a moment to say goodbye to our next Angel, Elisabeth. Elisabeth will be our next Angel because she is boring. The population has decided that perfect is boring. Congratulations Elisabeth, you will be a great addition to our museum.’

“I stood their shocked. One of the guards walked behind me. I looked back at him briefly then turned my attention back to the guard in front of me who was pulling a piece of paper. He unfolded the paper and read it over quickly. He then cleared his throat.

‘The winner of the drawl for the next Angel has decided that our new Angel Elisabeth would be drowned. Congratulations Elisabeth, you will now be drowned to become Angel Arena’s next Angel.’

“Two guards grabbed me and started dragging me to a river. At that point I thought screw it I’m not going down without a fight. So I wiggled and squirmed around in their grip but all that got me was a punch in the gut. It would have been easy to drown us because we were never taught any survival skills like swimming. When we arrived at the river they started attaching a weight to my ankle. Once they were done with that they shoved me towards the river. As they were pushing me in I saw Lily. Then I was underwater. I was sinking down. Luckily the river wasn’t too deep.

“I saw a knife slowly sinking down towards me. I grabbed it and started sawing at the chain attached to my ankle. I was holding my breath. When I felt like I couldn’t hold my breath anymore the knife finally broke through the chain. I pushed off the bottom and rocketed up to the surface. I gasped for air then pulled myself out. Lily was there she was fighting the guards. I saw her punch one in the face and turn quickly to knee another in the crotch. She turned towards the other while the one she punched headed towards her from behind.

“I thought ‘I have to help her!’ so I went back underwater and searched for the knife that I had stupidly left down there. I grabbed the knife and swam back up to the surface. What I saw wasn’t pretty. The two guards that were fighting her when I went back under the water had her held between them her hands behind her back tied together. They were both holding her still. The guard she had kneed in the crotch was recovering from the pain. He was walking towards Lily about to punch her. I jumped out of the water and ran towards him. I smashed the base of the knife against his head hard and he fell to the ground. I never bothered to check to see if he was knocked out or not. One of the guards holding Lily let go of her and ran towards me. I ran past him and elbowed him in the nose. When his eyes started to water I punched him in the gut. I ran towards Lily. I handed her the knife and kneed the guard with her in the gut.

‘C’mon! You can cut that off while we go we have to run! They won’t be out for long!’ I said to her. We started running.

‘You owe me big time for this Elisabeth!’ Lily yelled to me.

‘I know Lily, you’re a life saver!’ We ran and ran and ran. We ended up hiding in a cave as the guards ran by.

‘How did you know where I was?’ I asked her.

‘Well I heard the announcement and ran to your house and heard the one guard reading the death announcement and I ran to the river. And the rest you know.’ She replied. And that is how this whole mess started”

“Wow, you have been through a lot.” James says.

“Yeah,” Elisabeth agrees.

“Hey, let’s make a plan.” Lily says walking over to them. “Now that there are three of us we should really settle down and figure out a way to end all of this.”

“Well we have to run away from the guards. We can’t let them catch us.” James says.

“Well that’s the obvious part! Look we don’t have time to joke around!” Lily says looking at James, her eyes serious.

“I was being serious! Stating the obvious important parts could help with our plan!” James fires back.

“Well just sit back and let the grownups discuss this!” Lily snarls.

“Hey, don’t be so mean to him Lily. He’s a part of this now. We all have to learn to work together.” Elisabeth says looking from Lily to James. “Alright? Now let’s come up with a plan and a goal. What we need to get accomplished is to get the guards to stop chasing us so that we can live without fear.”

“Well since that day they haven’t had any more announcements about new Angels. So I am going to guess that there will be no more Angels until Elisabeth is caught and put in the place of the new Angel.” Lily states.

“Well we can’t let that happen. So we have to figure out a way to get them to move on from Elisabeth.” James says.

“I have an idea. But I could be wrong. It’s just a guess.” Elisabeth says.

“Well what is it Elisabeth?” Lily asks.

“They need a new Angel right? Well what if we gave them one?” Elisabeth says.

“No, we won’t give you up Elisabeth!” James says quickly.

“I’m not talking about myself, James. I’m saying what if we killed someone. Then they can have a new Angel. Because most people that are murdered by people other than guards are treated as Angels. They only name the chosen Angels in the Angel announcements though. Do you guys think it could work?” Elisabeth says.

“I think it’s worth a shot. Anything is better than nothing at this point.” Lily says.

“I think it could work. If not I’m sure we will learn something on the way and you can figure it out.” James says “But for right now, we have to get moving! I can see the guards coming in the distance.”

“Well you have better eye sight then us James. How fast are they going?” Lily asks. “See Elisabeth I am trying to get along better for you.”

“Thank you Lily.” Elisabeth replies.

“They seem to be walking so they should get here in about 5 minutes. But they should be able to see us in about 2 minutes. We better get going! We do not want them to see us, because then it will be another running battle.” James says. They grab their back packs and start walking. Elisabeth and James keep looking at each other and smiling.

“Hey, stop looking at me!” James says with a smile.

“I can’t help myself! There’s a lot to look at!” Elisabeth replies with a smile while looking over James. They both laugh.

After a little while they come across a horse stable. There a boy who is eighteen years old is taking care of one of the two horses. He has hazel eyes and blonde hair. He is in shape and strong looking. He is wearing a red plad shirt and a pair of ripped light blue jeans. He has a cowboy hat on and cowboy boots. He sees them and bows his head.

“Oh cool, horses!” Elisabeth exclaims. She runs to the boy. “You have your own horses! That is so cool! I love riding horses!” Lily looks at him as he smiles at Elisabeth then he looks over at Lily and their eyes lock. To them it is as if everything just stops. He smiles at her.

“Well hi there,” He says with a little bit of a southern accent. “I’m Kyle, and you are?” He holds his hand out to Lily.

“I’m Lily,” She replies while shaking his hand, their eyes still locked. She breaks the eye contact. “And these are my friends Elisabeth and James.” Kyle shakes hands with both of them.

“So is there anything I can do for you folk today?” He says smirking at Lily.

“Could we borrow your horses?” Elisabeth asks.

“But Elisabeth I don’t know how to ride.” Lily replies.

“Me neither.” James says.

“Well I do. You could ride my horse James.” Elisabeth says.

“Then what about me?” Lily says looking at Elisabeth.

“Well, I could come with you where ever you’re going. You could ride with me.” Kyle says smiling showing his pearly white teeth.

“That would be great.” Lily says smiling, mesmerized with Kyle’s smile. She snaps out of it. “But I do have to warn you. We are on the run from the guards.”

“Sounds fun. I’d do anything to help out.” Kyle says

“Alright get on the horse James. And then sit towards the back of the saddle.” Elisabeth says looking at James.

“How do you get on?” James asks.

“You grab onto the saddle and put one of your feet in the stirrup and pull yourself up. You swing your other leg over the horse. Got it?” Elisabeth says. James looks at her.

“Yeah I got it, but what is the stirrup?” James asks. Elisabeth points to the stirrup.

“It’s that ring looking thing hanging down from the saddle.” Elisabeth explains. She then looks at Kyle. “I will get James up, you get Lily up. Sounds like a deal?”

“Sounds like a deal.” Kyle says and looks at Lily. “Hey James watch me.” James turns and looks at Kyle. He puts his foot into the stirrup and grabs the horse’s mane and the saddle and thrusts himself up and swings his leg over. It all looks graceful. He smiles and holds his hand out to Lily. “Madame?” She takes his hand and he helps pull her up. She gets on the horse and swings her leg over and holds onto him. She smiles big and giggles.

“This is going to be so fun!” Lily says.

James looks out into the distance. “Crap! There about a minute away! They saw us! Their running!” he puts his foot in the stirrup and grabs the saddle and pulls himself up with his strength.

“Kyle start going with Lily! We will catch up with you!” Elisabeth says.

“No, we won’t leave without you Elisabeth!” Lily says.

“Kyle just go!” Elisabeth yells. “Go!”

“Hold on tight Lily.” Kyle says. She holds onto him tighter and he kicks the horse and the horse starts walking away. He kicks the horse harder and it starts trotting. Elisabeth watches for a second then pulls herself onto her horse with the same grace as Kyle.

“Elisabeth, Their right behind us!” James yells.

“Alright calm down! Hold on tight James!” Elisabeth says. She kicks but the horse doesn’t move.

“Elisabeth, hurry up!” James yells.

“I’m trying but the horse won’t move!”

“Then we are basically screwed! One of the guards is right behind us!” James says looking behind the horse where one of the guards stood smirking. Elisabeth looks behind her.

“Yep, we’re dead.” She says.

Chapter 2

“You kids are in big trouble.” The guard says. The other guard joins him.

“Grab the saddle, put my foot in the stirrup, and pull myself up. I got it.” James whispers to Elisabeth then he jumps down off of the horse.

“James what are you doing!” Elisabeth yells.

“Protecting you!” James says. He looks at the guards. There are only two of them. He smirks. He takes his shirt off and hands it to Elisabeth. “What, I don’t want it to get ripped.” He looks at the guards and he smirks.

He punches one straight in the jaw and the guard moves with the punch and grabs his jaw. James turns to the other and goes to punch him but the guard grabs his fist and pushes his hand down while with his other hand he goes to punch James. James ducks the punch and brings his fist into the guards gut. The guard goes down crouched up holding his stomach. James turns just in time to block a punch from the guard he had hit in the jaw.

“It won’t be as easy to beat me, kid.” The guard says bitterly. James smirks.

“Challenge accepted.”

James blocks another punch from the guard and as he does he kicks up his leg and goes to kick the guards face. The guard grabs James foot and tries to flip James. James ends up flying through the air and landing on his hands doing a back handspring. The guard looks at him. They both are still for a moment.

“Wow James, that was so cool!” Elisabeth says.

“Yeah well it’s not over yet.” James says.

The guard heads towards him again, swinging his arms. James takes a stance ready to fight. The guard aims a punch for his face while getting his other fist ready to go for the gut. James grabs the guard’s fist that is aiming for his face and at the last second notices the fist going for his gut and he grabs that fist with his other hand. James then bends his upper body down and swings his leg up aiming to kick the guard in the face. The guard loosens James’ grip on one of his fists and pushes his arm away then he grabs James’ ankle just as he is about to kick his face. The guard twists James’ ankle and flips James again and he goes flying. This time he lands flat on his back and lets out a grunt. After a second he gets himself back up and looks at the guard and their eyes lock.

The guard goes for him again. He has a knife in his hand. James looks at him and gets in a fighting stance. The guard goes to stab James but he throws the knife out of the guards hand by hitting it with his arm. James ducks a high kick from the guard and crouches under his leg and ends up behind him. He smashes his fist down onto the guards head. He looks at the other guard who is just recovering from the punch to the gut. James walks over to him and hits his head hard. He walks back to the horse.

“They won’t be out for long and when they recover they will call for backup. We better get moving.” James says. He puts his foot in the stirrup and he pulls himself up. He sits to the back of the saddle. “Let’s go.” He says.

Elisabeth kicks the horse hard and it starts galloping. “Of course now you go!” James wraps his arms around her stomach. They gallop for a while then she slows the horse down. Elisabeth looks over her shoulder a little and James is right there, his face close to hers. She stops the horse completely. She smiles slowly and looks into his eyes. He looks down at her lips and slowly moves forward. Elisabeth stays still for a second then slowly moves towards him. Their lips touch and James pushes his lips harder against hers. They are both in their own worlds.

“Still don’t have a crush James?” Lily says. Elisabeth and James quickly pull away and there is Kyle and Lily. They breath heavy.

“Alright, maybe I do have a crush.” James admits while blushing.

“What are you guys doing here?” Elisabeth asks blushing as well.

“We came back looking for ya. We got worried because you never met up with us” Kyle says.

“We got into a fight with the guards.” James says.

“No, we didn’t. James did, and he was amazing. He fought off both guards and protected me. If it wasn’t for him I would probably be dead right now.” “It was nothing Elisabeth. But we should really get going. I don’t wanna have to do it again.” James says.

“Wait, James, your bleeding.” Elisabeth says holding his wrist up and looking at his arm. There’s a big gash on his upper arm.

“It’s nothing Elisabeth. I will be fine.” James says, pulling his arm away.

“It’s not nothing James.” Elisabeth says. She jumps of the horse. She pulls her backpack off her back and opens it she pulls out James’ shirt. “I still have this if you ever need it. Not that I mind you having it off.” He smirks. She searches through the bag and pulls out a pair of scissors.

“Here to apologize for bugging you so much James Elisabeth you can cut the back of my shirt and use that.” Lily says.

“Why bother. There is a magazine store just a little ways down. I lead you there Elisabeth.” Kyle says.

“But we don’t have much money.” Lily says.

“Well you guys are already on the run from the guards. So what if we steal it. Can’t get in more trouble then we already are!” Kyle says.

“Smart idea Kyle. Let’s go now.” Elisabeth says. Elisabeth gets back on her horse. Kyle kicks at his horse and it starts walking. Elisabeth kicks her horse and it starts walking as well. It follows Kyle’s horse its head almost sniffing the other horses butt. They stay at a nice slow walk. Lily is hugging Kyle. James sits back and just looks at Elisabeth’s hair as it sways a little to the rhythm of the horse and the breeze. Elisabeth looks behind her at James. “What are you looking at?”

“Your beautiful hair,” James says softly. “You really are beautiful Elisabeth.”

“Thanks James.” Elisabeth says. She smiles a little. They keep riding. They pass some beautiful landscapes, some like a forest and some an open plateau with millions of flowers.

“You know, that kiss sorta came out of no where,” Elisabeth says softly.

“I found an opportunity and I took it. Did you not like it?” James replies.

“It’s not that I didn’t like it, it just shocked me alittle.”

Kyle turns around and looks at Elisabeth. “The magazine store is just up there. I’ll go get a magazine. We better stop our horses here. Don’t want anyone to see us.” He says bringing their conversation to a halt. He stops his horse and Elisabeth’s horse stops behind his. He jumps off his horse. “Now if the guards come after the horses then just go without me. But this shouldn’t take me long.”

He walks over to the magazine store and walks in. He starts looking at them. He grabs one and looks at it. He walks to the register and hands the man some fake money. “Shoot I have to go! Keep the change!” Kyle says. He runs back to the horse with the magazine. He gets on quick and kicks the horse and it starts galloping. Elisabeth kicks her horse and it starts galloping as well.

Once they get farther away they start looking for a place to stop. Kyle brings his horse down to a walk and so does Elisabeth. Kyle leads his horse into a forest. “I know this forest.” Kyle says. He leads them to an area where the trees form a dome type area. They go in a pathway made by trees and they end up in a beautiful field with millions of flowers. It’s all boarded in by the trees and light comes in from gaps in between the leaves at the top. Kyle stops his horse and Elisabeth stops her horse behind his. They all get off the horses. Kyle hands the magazine to Elisabeth and Lily looks over Elisabeth’s shoulder and looks at the magazine.

“Oh my god! I cannot believe it!” Lily squeals as she grabs the magazine from Elisabeth. “Neil is on the cover of this magazine!”

“Oh no, here it comes.” James says rolling his eyes.

“Who’s Neil?” Kyle asks.

“You mean you don’t know who Neil Light is?” Lily says looking at Kyle.

“Oh is that the stupid English soccer player?” Kyle asks.

“Yes, and he’s not stupid! It’s like my dream to meet him!” Lily says.

“Lily its almost every girls dream to meet Neil Light. It’s never going to happen though. We are broke and on the run from the guards. He is a star and perfect. Lily, we don’t have a chance of ever meeting him.” Elisabeth says.

“I know, but if we did, oh that would make my life complete.” Lily says.

“Come here James, I will stop the bleeding with a page from this magazine.” Elisabeth says. She gets the scissors out of her backpack. James walks over to her. Elisabeth cuts a page out of the magazine and presses it against his upper arm. The pages have more of a paper feel to them than normal magazines.

“So why are you obsessed with Neil Light?” Kyle asks Lily.

“Well first of all he is hot!” Lily says. “He’s got some nice abs.

“What am I not hot?” Kyle says as he takes his shirt off. He has a six pack. He strikes a pose.

“No you’re hot. Second he has an amazing accent!”

“Really, is southern not your type?”

“Well your accent is pretty amazing to. Third he has an awesome name! He is Neil Light.”

“Well I am Kyle Star. I think that’s a pretty awesome name.”

“It is Kyle, fourth he is a famous soccer player. Girls dig famous people.”

“So that’s it. I’m not perfect for you.”

“Kyle, I just met you, and already I think you’re perfect. Neil is just a wish. Wishes don’t always come true. He isn’t the one for me. I know nothing about his personality. You don’t have to worry about him getting in your way of being with me.”

He smiles. “Thank you Lily. But who says I want to be with you? You seem like a boy crazy type of girl.” He smirks. Lily blushes.

“While we are talking about awesome names, what about mine?” James says. “I am James Whitelock.”

“James your name isn’t cool but mine is. I am Lily Lovestone.” Lily says with a smile.

James laughs a little “Well that’s unfortunate.”

“Shut up James. What kind of a name is Whitelock?” Lily smiles.

Elisabeth, who had been sitting on the ground pressing a page of the magazine against James arm, turns around so her back in facing everybody. She curls into a ball hugging her knees and hangs her head into her knees.

“Hey, Elisabeth, what’s wrong?” James says softly while laying his hand on her shoulder. He pulls her hair, which had fallen in front of her face, behind her back. He can hear her softly crying.

“I don’t know my last name.” Elisabeth says, her voice cracking. “My parents never told me. They hated me. All they did was tell me stories about how horrible the guards were. They were embarrassed by me. When the rules stated that they were to leave when I turned sixteen they were so happy. I have never seen my parents so happy as on that last day. I remember one day when I was really young I asked my parents what our last name was. I remember their exact words. ‘When you die we don’t you to die with our last name.’ And they were right. They are getting what they wanted. When I die I won’t know my last name.”

James crawls to the front of her and she lowers her knees but keeps her head down. He hugs her tight. She buries her head into his shoulder. He strokes her hair.

“Elisabeth, it’s ok. Someone in the arena has to know your last name. We will figure it out.” Lily says while walking over to Elisabeth and laying her hand on Elisabeth’s shoulder. “I promise.”

Elisabeth wipes her tears and stands up. “I wanna go out for a ride on my horse. I will find my way back. Lily come with me.” Elisabeth says. She grabs Lily’s hand and walks to her horse.

Kyle walks over and picks Lily up to help her get on the horse. She smiles. “Thank you Kyle.” She says. Elisabeth climbs up onto the horse. She kicks the horse and it starts walking. She brings the horse towards the entrance.

“Hey Elisabeth, stay safe. Don’t you dare get yourself hurt.” James calls after Elisabeth as she reaches the entrance of the dome.

“Don’t worry I won’t get hurt.” Elisabeth says. They leave.

“I am sorry Lily, I just wanted to have some alone time with you. I wanna be away from the boys.” Elisabeth says.

“It’s alright Elisabeth. I understand. So where are we going?” Lily says.

“Just out and getting away from things.” Elisabeth says. “But right now I don’t really wanna talk. Sorry Lily.”

“It’s ok.” Lily says. They ride in silence for about twenty minutes. In the distance Elisabeth can see a huge house.

“Hey, Lily, look up ahead.” Elisabeth says.

“Wow, that’s the biggest house I have ever seen! Let’s go check it out!” Lily says. They ride towards the house and pass a soccer field. “Hey, Elisabeth, wait a minute. The soccer field, the giant house, and the large fence, this looks like, oh my god! This is Neil Lights house!”

“In that case we better get going. This place will be just crawling with guards.” Elisabeth says.

“But we may never get a chance like this again! This is Neil Lights house! We will never be here again! This may be our one and only chance to meet Neil Light! I would never forgive myself if we just left without at least trying to find him.”

“Lily, no, I don’t wanna risk getting killed over meeting some stupid boy. Yes he’s one of the hottest boys this Arena has, but that’s not enough for me to get myself killed. I am sorry Lily.” Elisabeth says while turning the horse around.

“Wait Elisabeth! There’s someone playing on the soccer field! Wait no, he’s not playing anymore, he’s coming towards us!”

“Then get a good look now. We are leaving.” Elisabeth kicks the horse and it starts to walk. A hand reaches up and touches her wrist as she goes to kick the horse harder. She gasps at the soft touch and looks down to see Neil light’s hand on her wrist. She pulls on the reins to stop the horse. She looks down at him dumbly. He flashes her a smile with his pearly white teeth.

“ Where you going in such a rush? Most girls that pass by here stay for a while. That makes you different, and strange. I like different and strange.” Neil says with his perfect English accent. “Why don’t, both, of you lovely ladies, hop off that horse and come in side with me?” He backs up and holds his hand out.

“Oh my god! You, are Neil Light!” Lily squeals.

“Why, yes, last time I checked at least.” Neil says with a smile. “And you are, my sweet flower?”

“I’m Lily, Lily Lovestone.” Lily says smiling as Neil takes her hand and kisses the top.

“Well, you are a flower,” He grabs her arm to pull her down off the horse and he catches her with both hands on her waist in the air and he spins half way around in a circle with her. He places her gently on the ground. “And a flower as sweet as you, Lily, deserves a flower of her own.” He gracefully and swiftly leans down and picks a flower and hands it to her.

“Lily, you have met him, now it’s time to go. You know what will happen if we stay.” Elisabeth says, trying to avoid looking at Neil.

“What will happen if you stay?” Neil asks innocently looking at Elisabeth.

“We just have to go. You have too many guards here.” Elisabeth says.

“Well yes I have many guards here, strictly for my protection. They have no right to harm anyone unless they try to harm me. They don’t go by the same rules your guards go by. They go by my rules. And I’m assuming you’re not here to injure me in any way.”

“Neil, you are a very sweet, and rather good looking, boy, but we have to go.” Elisabeth says

“Please, won’t you stay? What are you worried about?” Neil asks looking Elisabeth straight in the eyes.

“You won’t call your guards on us Neil?” Lily asks.

He turns and looks at her. “And why would I ever turn in two absolutely beautiful girls?” They both look at him for a minute. They take in his jet black hair and big sky blue eyes. He is in shape and a little taller than both of them. He is strong and looks it and he has nice abs.

They look at each other. “Elisabeth is suppose to be dead. So now she and I are on the run from the guards.” Lily says.

“Well both of you girls are safe here. You both may stay as long as you would like.” Neil says with a smile.

“What about our friends? We have two very nice friends who stayed in hiding while we went off alone. Could they stay here with us?” Elisabeth asks.

“Of course, any friends of two beautiful ladies I would love to have in my house.” Neil says with a smile.

“I will go back and get them. You stay here Lily.” Elisabeth says.

“But what if you get attacked by the guards?” Lily asks.

“I’m on a horse and their on foot I’m sure I can out run them.” Elisabeth smiles.

“Alright, please don’t get hurt Elisabeth.”

“I won’t, I promise Lily.” Elisabeth says then kicks the horse and rides off.

“She seems cool.” Neil says.

“Yeah, she is more talented than she lets on. She is quiet amazing” Lily says as they both watch Elisabeth ride away.

“Wanna play some soccer?” Neil asks with a smile.

“Yeah, sure, go easy on me!” He laughs and slips his hand into hers and walks off with her to his soccer field. They get onto the field and a little boy about twelve years old runs out of the house.

“Neil! I can’t find the cat again! Oh, you have a girl over.” The little boy says with an English accent.

Neil laughs. “Have you checked in my room yet Alex?” He says.

“I have looked all over I really can’t find him. Blasted cat!” the boy says.

“Lily, this is my little brother Alex. Alex, this is my friend Lily, her and her friends will be staying with us for a while.”

“Nice to meet you Lily. Neil help me find Mr. Whiskers!” Alex pouts.

“Lily and I were about to play a game though.” Neil says.

“But I wanted to dress up Mr. Whiskers and make an awesome video! Neil, c’mon help me!” Neil sighs.

“Fine! I’ll help you find the blasted cat!” He looks at Lily. “I won’t be but a moment my dear.” He smiles and turns and runs towards the house.

Lily smiles and walks around on the field. She walks to the goal and lightly brushes her hand against the metal pole. She thinks about how lucky she is to be standing on this soccer field where the famous Neil Light grew up.

Suddenly she gasps as images race through her head. There’s an image of James in chains followed by an image of the young Alex running towards a group of guards. There’s a girl laying dead on the ground in a puddle of blood. There’s a storm. More images whisk by so fast their mostly just blurs. When the images stop as Lily pulls her hand off the goal post, she faints and falls to the ground.

________________

Elisabeth is on her way back to James and Kyle. She hears the sound of leaves crumpling. She looks quickly over her shoulder to where the sound came from. There’s nothing there. She kicks the horse and moves towards their hide out quicker. She thinks that she is just paranoid. She repeatedly tells herself she is just hearing things.

She gets back to the hideout. Kyle looks at her. “Where’s Lily?” he asks immediately.

“We found a new friend who is letting us stay at his house. We will be safe there. She stayed with him. I came back to get you two. Now come on and get on the horses, I just have this weird feeling someone was following me.”

James, who was looking at Elisabeth, suddenly jumps and his face fills with fear. “Elisabeth behind you!” He screams as he jumps to his feet to run for her.

Elisabeth turns around to see what is going on but is whacked in the face and pulled off the horse by her hair. She falls to the ground and lays propped up against a man’s legs. Her attacker was a guard.

He smirks “I wouldn’t bother trying to attack me. This is the end of the line kids.” A group of about ten guards walks into their hideout. James skids to a stop looking at them all. He looks over at Elisabeth who has blood running down the side of her face. She is barely holding onto her consciousness. Kyle stands up and walks to James’ side.

“Now kids, do we have to turn this into a fight? Or are you going to let us take her and sit you boys down for questioning?” The guard who has Elisabeth asks.

James sighs and looks at the guards. He looks over each one and smiles. “Damn, you wouldn’t hurt a couple of kids would you? Now us on the other hand, we can do some serious damage. Come at us you wimps!”

A couple of the guards go running for them. James grabs ones arm and pulls him closer just to knee him in the groin. He then proceeds to smash his elbow hard into the guards head knocking him out. Kyle looks at the guard coming towards him and smiles. When the guard gets close enough Kyle drops down to the ground and swings his leg around his body, knocking the guard off balance and making him fall to the ground. He then grabs the guards head and smashes it against the ground.

More guards come at them two at a time now. Kyle tricks the two and ends up making them run into each other and then he took them both out. James just fights them both one by one. One guard swings his fist towards James’ head while the other does a side swing aimed at his gut. James ducks the swing towards his head and grabs the fist going for his gut. He pushes the fist hard away from him as he takes a step back. He faces the two guards.

James takes a second to observe his surroundings. Besides the two guards he is currently fighting there are four guards remaining besides the one Elisabeth is propped up against. Two more guards are headed towards Kyle, both are holding pocket knives. The other two are standing guard by Elisabeth and what appears to be the head guard. The head guard looks at the boys then down at Elisabeth. He grabs her hair and forces her to stand. He pulls out a pocket knife and presses it against her throat.

As James is watching the events unfolding one of the guards he was previously fighting swings a leg out at James’ legs causing him to fall. He brings his focus back on the two guards that are now standing above him. He quickly glances at Kyle, who is easily falling for the guards trap. One guard is behind him while the other is in front of him keeping his attention. James then glances over at Elisabeth, who is slowly being forced to walk with the head guard. A sudden rage fills him.

Red hot fury is burning through every vein in James’ body. His fingers start twitching and his hands are shaking. Sweat is soaking his body everywhere. He grits his teeth as his trembling hands ball into fists. His eyes slowly start changing color, slowly shifting to a color of bright red. A hand is reaching for his shirt. Within a millisecond James’ fist is raised and makes contact with the guards arm. Only seconds later is a loud shriek as the guard tumbles back a little and falls to his knees clutching his wrist. The bones in his arm have shattered from the force of the punch.

James is on his feet already by the time anyone has looked to see what is going on. James kicks his leg up high as he goes to turn towards Kyle. His foot kicks the other guard he was fighting right in the throat. The guard falls backwards gasping for air that he can’t receive. James runs over to Kyle and slides down on the ground at the last second his feet pushing the guard, who was behind Kyle, down. As quickly as James was down he was up again and headed for the other guard attacking Kyle.

The guard lashes out with his knife and cuts James’ arm as James pushes the guards arm away. With his other hand James strikes the guards temple with amazing speed. He turns and heads for the two guards protecting the head guard. The two guards step in front of the head guard. They glance at each other then start slowly walking towards James.

The head guard slowly is forcing Elisabeth out of the hideout. James’ eyes move fast from the two guards to the head guard then to Elisabeth. Elisabeth is fighting for consciousness. She is half involuntarily walking and half being dragged by the head guard. The knife at her throat digs in a little as the head guard’s eyes lock with James’.

“Let her go!” James yells out with a voice that isn’t his. The voice that comes out is a monstrous growl. Its pitch is lower than his and it is volume is ear deafeningly loud.

The head guard’s eyes widen. “Get him!” he yells out as he turns with Elisabeth and drags her faster.

The two guards start running towards James. The first swings his fist to James’ head but James grabs his fist at the last second with incredible speed and he ducks under their arms. The second guard swings a fist at him as well and he grabs his fist with incredible speed with his other hand. He uses their fists to push himself up and flip backwards. He looks at them and growls. His eyes move with super speed as he takes everything in again.

Kyle is standing back watching James with a look of shock on his face. James’ eyes dart over to the head guard who is just disappearing out of sight with Elisabeth. James can see a tear rolling down Elisabeth’s strength less face. The two guards he is fighting are then right in his view as they are coming to attack him.

James takes a few slow steps back then he runs at them and tackles the first guard to the ground. He grabs the guard’s throat and gets off of him. He looks at the second guard who has come to a stand still looking at the hand on the first guard’s throat. James grabs the first guards arm and releases his neck and then swings him by the arm into the second guard with incredible speed. A couple loud cracks are heard as the guards bodies smash into each other.

James doesn’t even look them over. He runs after the head guard. The head guard is a little ways away but James catches up with him fast. He looks at Elisabeth who is limply being led by the head guard. The head guard heard the snap of twigs as James approaches and he turns around.

“So you caught up to me.” The head guard says.

“James,” Elisabeth says weakly as her blurry eyes focus in on James.

James’ eyes focus in on Elisabeth. His eyes lock on her face. Suddenly the anger in him starts to disappear and he falls to his knees becoming weak. The guard loosens his grip on Elisabeth then releases her completely. She falls to her knees as soon as she is released.

“Go help him, he must be weak.” The head guard says with a smirk on his face as he kicks her back just enough to make her fall forward onto her hands. Elisabeth crawls over towards James.

“Elisabeth, no,” James says weakly, his normal voice returned. “You’re making me calm; I can’t fight if I’m not aggravated.”

The head guard starts to chuckle. “Go ahead keep calming him down,” he murmurs to them. James locks eyes with Elisabeth.

“Elisabeth you’re weak,” James says softly. “Stand back, let me take care of him.” He slowly rises to his feet and his eyes lock with the head guards.

“James, what happened with you?” Elisabeth asks quietly using him to help pull her up.

“I don’t know, but now’s not the time for that. I need you to stand back and let me protect you.” James replies. She nods and weakly takes a few steps back.

“If you want her then you have to fight me first.” James says as he takes a fighting stance. The head guard nods.

“That could be arranged.” He says.

They stand there staring at each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Neither makes it so finally James runs at the guard, his fist raised. The head guard grabs his fist and makes a sharp jab at James stomach. James lets out a grunt and a yelp as his arm is twisted behind him.

“That all you got kid? You are really weak. I thought this would be more challenging.” The head guard says with a smile on his lips.

James swings his leg back tripping the head guard. He winces as the head guard pulls him down by his twisted arm. He yanks his arm out of the guards grip and stumbles a few steps away. The head guard gets back to his feet and starts for James. He swings his leg while going for a punch to the gut. James grabs the guards arm and uses it to jump over the guards swinging leg. He then jabs at the guards gut but the guard twists out of the way and smacks James in the head. James momentarily stumbles. The head guard uses this brief period of time to seize James’ arms behind him and push him to his knees. James started to struggle but couldn’t escape.

It looked to be over for them. Suddenly a horse comes galloping towards them. Riding the horse is Kyle.

“Take care of Elisabeth! Forget about me!” James yells to Kyle. The head guard’s eyes widen and he doesn’t even have time to react before Kyle grabs Elisabeth’s arm as the horse slows quickly to a walk. He quickly pulls her up onto the horse and kicks the horse hard. The horse gallops away.

“They left you to me. They will come back for you. Then, I will have our Angel.” The head guard says as he pulls a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket and attaches them to James’ wrists. He pulls out a medium sized length of chain and attaches it to the cuffs. He helps James stand.

“I’m not afraid of you.” James says while resisting the urge to pull on the cuffs behind his back.

“Well that’s good because your gonna be with me for a while.” The head guard says while holding onto the chain. He gives it a tug and forces James to start walking.

On the horse Elisabeth sat holding onto Kyle watching as James disappeared into the distance.

“Kyle, we have to go back for James! We can’t just leave him with the guards!” Elisabeth says.

“Elisabeth we have to go. James is a strong boy. The guards won’t hurt him. Besides, they don’t want him. They want you.” Kyle replies. “Now how do we get to this friend of yours house?”