Hope In The Morning

5

"Thank God." I mutter as I begin to set the empty plates into the tub to carry back to the kitchen. I felt so much better in the long sleeve shirt and black pants of the waitress attire. The ceremony was only a total of fifteen minutes where the bride and groom had walked down the aisle, stood at the alter, spoke their vows, and then kissed. I had tried to ignore the fiery glare that Mr. Walters had been giving me all day.
It was creepy.
Made my spine crawl and my stomach turn knots. I had dashed a couple times to the bathroom for a quick breather.
So far no one seems to catch his looks in my direction and it only made me feel smaller and weaker.
"It's already 1 in the morning." Marco groaned as he set down his tub and stretched his back, relaxing at the satisfying crack from his popping spine. "I think we are just about done with clean up." I smile at him, "Thanks for the extra hands." Marco wasn't used to running over twelve hours on his feet because he worked as a vet's assistant to a very rare bird. Usually after his hours, he was home babysitting Ace, Sabo, and Luffy, who would return home from their job/schooling. "It's no problem." He gave me a gentle yet tired smile as he picked up his tub and slowly made his way to the kitchen. "So," I match his pace, "How's work at the clinic?" I was trying to take his mind off of the super busy day we had. "It's the best honestly," His tired look slowly morphing into a happy one as he thought about his day job. "I love watching over Torch." "What kind of bird is he anyway? I keep forgetting to ask." I hum as we set the tubs down next to the rest of the dishes before joining Thatch and Sanji at the sinks. "Well honestly no one is really sure but they keep talking about how he resembles the old pictures of phoenixes." Marco dumped some dishes in the sink and I began to immediately wash them. "Wouldn't that be amazing if he really was one?" "It would make him even more endangered." Sanji chimed in from across the counter, "If people found it to be true, they would probably kidnap and sell him for lots of money."

~flashback~
"...lots of money for her." I glance over at the two men standing in the living room. They towered over Nala.
Despite the fact that she was quite skinny, her black skin was flawless and had a slight glow. Her blue eyes had to have been hand crafted from sapphires by the gods themselves. She stared at the floor, only once glancing in my direction and the fear drown out any dullness. I stood up and made my way over to the men, "Let me fight for her!" "Did I say you could talk?" Walters jerked his hand back to slap me but was halted by the other man, "Wait a minute." He turned to me, "You'd fight for this little girl?" "Yes." I mustered all my confidence in my voice to keep it from shaking and the grin that spread across his face made me sick to my stomach. "I would like to see you try." A darkness settled into his eyes and I gulped slightly. What was I getting myself into?
They dragged me down several sets of stairs until we reached the basement of the building that we had been trapped in. The cool air made a shiver travel down my spine and my skin broke out into goosebumps as we walked forward through the darken room. "Here." Walters shoved me towards a new man. He was of Asian descendant and gave Walters a confused look. "Pad her hands, she's the new fighter." Walters took a seat, crossing on leg over the other. "But sir, he'll kill her." The Asian man spoke with concern. "Did I stutter?" Walters growled out with a hooded look of anger. The Asian man pulled me over to him and began to wrapped my hands. My eyes slowly scanned his body, taking in his form. He looked pretty fit and his skin was glistened with a slight layer of sweat despite the cold air in the room. His green eyes flicked up to mine a couple of times before he spoke in a soft whisper, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" "No." I reply in the same whisper, "It's fight or they'll sell the little girl." I jerk my head slightly in her direction. They had brought her downstairs to watch as well. "Why do you care?" He frowned, "Just fighting for one girl isn't going to change anything." "It gives her hope." I mutter, "Hope that someone cares and that she'll live." He pauses before letting out a heavy sigh. Clearly my words hit him in some way. "You're crazy." He finished my hands, "Those men will eat you alive." He gave me a warning before turning to Walters, "She's ready sir." Walters smiled as he stood and shoved me over towards the giant chain link fence that acted as a boxing ring. "Remember you lose, she dies." He uttered lowly, pushing me through the large crowd that cheered loudly for the man standing inside the ring and then began to laugh at me when I stepped inside. "What the hell is this?" The man in the ring frowned as he gestured to my smaller form, "This some kind of joke??" I could detect a Russian accent. He seemed angry that I was the one fighting him. "This is just a warm up." Walters patted his beefy shoulder. "Just knock her on her ass and I will bring you a proper fighter." He gave Walters an annoyed look before looking at me, "If you are certain." I gave him a nod and held up my fists, ready for a fight. Walters stepped out of the way and the sudden chime of the bell threw off my senses.
Fiery white pain engulfed the left side of my face and I stumbled to the side. My vision blurred and my ears began to ring. I let out a loud gasp as I blinked rapidly to retain my senses. Blood and saliva dripped from my open mouth and onto the concrete below us. I let out a slight cough. The white pain flared as I moved my jaw and quickly accessed that the hit taken from the Russian bruised my face, and possibly fractured my nose. Through the quietening ring in my ears, I could hear the crowd laughing loudly. "Stupid bitch got way in over her head." The Russian grumbled as he stepped back and paced around the ring as I gathered myself. My gaze scanned the crowd until it landed on Nala and I got a sudden surge of adrenaline through my body. I clenched my fists and rush the giant of a man I was fighting.
~end~