Life After the Undead (Completed)

PART 14: The Gladiator .3

Godrick's P.O.V

You know what I liked about hitting up places with Steve?

People just let you in.

They don't argue. They don't pull weapons. They take one look at Steve and decide they're not going to chance it.

And that is exactly what Evelyn did to get us into the Dome.

Steve got us through the door, but it was Evelyn's icy stare that got us past everyone else.

She stormed through the hallways leading all the way up to the VIP box where Tiberius sat in his place of honor.

The VIP box, used to be a skybox. He had filled it with things he considered flashy. So a throne that he had stolen out of parliament hill that he then painted gold in certain places. He had also ripped off almost all of Toronto's jewellery stores and banks that he then put in a giant chest for all to see.

The carpets were red. He had taxidermy animals he took out of the Royal Ontario Museum that he said he killed himself, which was a lie. But the man was crazy, so no one really argued.

We already knew that Jack and Melissa were there, we could see them the second we got a clear view of the arena.

I had waited to see if Evelyn would show some sort of emotion. She may not have cared about Jack but she was close with Melissa. Or as close as Evelyn could get with someone else. She must have cared at least a little bit, I mean, she had come all the way here. She wouldn't have done that for other people.

But nothing showed on her face.

Nothing ever showed on Evelyn's face.

Tiberius didn't even bother turning or standing when Evelyn entered the box. He simply continued to sit, looking like a roman emperor, if that roman emperor liked dressing like a gladiator.

Tiberius put a lot of effort into keeping up his appearances. So he was this muscle bound man, who stood at over six foot. His dark brown hair was curly and often unkempt. He had a golden ivy circlet decorating his brow.

His costume was a proper armour now that was an actual piece of armour out of the Royal Ontario Museum as well. It had been custom tailored to fit him. Evelyn had gotten it especially for him. He used to be wearing one of those cheap plastic ones that you could get form any Halloween store.

He looked ridiculous before the change. Now he still looked ridiculous but at least he looked more intimidating and historically accurate.

He turned when Evelyn let herself in. Normally this would anger him, he'd've tossed the offending person right into the ring with the other players of his game. Instead he smiled when he saw Evelyn.

He had always liked her, let her get away with things. From my understanding the feeling had never been mutual.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Tiberius asked as Evelyn moved towards him. "Are you here to watch the show or are you finally going to take me up on my offer to be my little Roman Princess?"

"Nope, still not interested in being your princess," she said carefully moving to side beside him. All the chairs around his throne were smaller than his. Done purposely to make himself look bigger. "There seems to have been a mix up."

"Oh?"

"You have two of my people. I want them back."

Tiberius turned a smile to her. It wasn't a real smile, he wasn't amused. This was a dangerous smile, a sort of smile that was barely hiding the ill intent underneath.

"You don't have people, Evelyn," he reminded her.

Evelyn's face remained the same. Cool and passive as she held his gaze. She too was wearing one of her smiles, but I recognized this one. It was her pinched smile, the kind she wore when she was getting frustrated but didn't want to show it.

"You have two of my people Tiberius. I want them back."

Evelyn was good at that. Stonewalling people. No arguments, she just repeated her demands again, same tone, same dangerous edge to her voice, and glare in her eyes but pinched smile on her face.

He turned back to the arena and then back to her. "Well they're playing my game, so they're a little busy. You can get them back... if they win..."

"People don't win your game. You rig it, every time," she said. "Take them out of the game."

"I'm not going to chance putting my men in that ring..."

"Then let me go get them."

Tiberius leant in towards her. "If you step foot in that ring you'll be playing the game. You know the rules. I can't stop what's already been started. You can feel free to join but the rules will be the same for you as they are for the others."

Evelyn sighed and then smiled a pointed toothy grin, the kind she wore when she had been challenged. I didn't her a challenge, but she clearly had.

"I see you leave me with no choice."

And then she got up and walked away, pushing me along with her.

"Evelyn! What... what are you going to do?" he called after her, but she ignored him. She just kept us moving.

"We're not leaving them, are we?" I asked her and she shook her head.

"God no, but we're going to need a plan and more weapons then what he's allowing down there," she whispered. She paused for a bit, no doubt to think about what she was going to have to do next. "Right. Come on," she said suddenly and then dragged me in a different direction, just veered completely off path.

I should have probably been worried but I wasn't.

Evelyn's plans always worked.