Koruna

HELL

Chapter 98

Hell

“It was the most reasonable course of action Kor, I did not act on a whim.” R’ao said as he ran to the door and locked it while Oni helped him drag a big wood to hold it locked.

“Please explain how this makes sense.” Koruna took in deep breaths.

“He had us.” Ati mumbled.

“What?” Koruna helped loosen his bonds.

“There was no way for us to win, being part of the Council wouldn’t work and he would not have let us live if we chose otherwise. What he did was go all in, he knew the stakes and decided it was worth it.” Ati explained.

“What is the way forward now? There is no way we can get past all of those people. We could have at least used him to get out of here and then maybe find a way to kill him later.” Koruna reasoned.

“I had a chance and I took it. I do not think he would have allowed any of us live anyways, if we had allowed him live, we would never have the chance again. He is too careful, very careful.” Oni supported R’ao’s decision, he was going to kill him if R’ao hadn’t made a move first.

Koruna sighed in frustration, it was times like these she couldn’t understand the brothers. “So how do you propose we get out of here?”

“Jacob should be here soon, we sent him our location before coming. He knows to come prepared, until then we stall.”

Koruna groaned as there was banging sounds from the door, they picked whatever they could use as weapons and went into hiding, Oni hid behind a pillar and there he came face to face with a camera. He broke it immediately and alerted the others, “Change positions, they know where are.”

Ati had hidden behind a half completed shelf, the hall where they were was a workshop center for the prisoners, he saw that there was a vent underneath him as well and signaled to Koruna who followed his view and saw what had caught his attention. Oni and R’ao saw what they were up to and joined Koruna who had begun to find ways to open the vent. They had no idea where it went but it was a better choice than being sitting ducks. Ati watched out, the door was beginning to give way to the men outside. He caught a glimpse of James body and would have sworn he saw his fingers move, Ati felt it was a trick of light and focused his attention on the doors as he tried to hurry them up.

The vent finally gave way and Oni went down first just as the door broke and the men rushed in, then James sat up straight scaring the life out of them. He was close to the door and had his men behind him, he chuckled at first then peeled what seemed to be a layer of skin from his neck. “You could have just said no if you weren’t interested in my offer.” He dangled the piece of skin and glared at R’ao; “I know my enemies, while I had hoped it would not come to this. I was prepared for it. It’s okay, you can run… let’s see how far your wit takes you. Koruna stared wide eyed at James, R’ao acted first and rushed her into the vent, followed by Ati then R’ao behind them.

Koruna had fallen into the darkness, expecting to hit the hard ground but was caught by Oni. “Easy, wherever this is, it is not a tunnel. Looks like …”

“Someone’s cell.” Koruna swallowed.

They heard R’ao and Ati hit the floor, the shock of James being alive hadn’t yet washed over, Oni could sense their mood, “What is it?” He asked.

“James is alive.” Ati answered.

“How is that even possible?”

“He had another layer of skin, I knew he was careful but I couldn’t have predicted that he would have that covered as well.” R’ao said impressed, it was something he had never thought of before and the feel of the skin was so real that if anyone had told him otherwise, he would not have believed them.

“How did he know you would slit his throat? Do you think he has an extra layer of skin everywhere? He had blood coming out, it’s … I know he is a killer but that was creative. I thought he was a ghost… pheeewww.” Koruna sighed.

“He’s alive? Then we have gained nothing.” Oni started to walk carefully towards the light.

“Oh, he is angry now and I think we have become preys.” Koruna added.

“Prey?”

“He allowed us escape.” Ati explained.

R’ao and Oni froze at that and looked around, “If he allowed us come here, then that means…” R’ao started.

Oni finished his statement, “Whatever is in here is worse.”

“Dear God.” Koruna said as they heard a growl. Oni lifted his pocket knife, Koruna’s eyes was getting used to the darkness, they were in some sort of damp area but there was no sound of rats or any animal.

She swallowed at the silence, R’ao moved her behind him, “Please, stay close this time.” He said more harshly than he had intended.

Oni was close to the light when all of a sudden his leg was snatched and grabbed, Oni was dragged, R’ao followed quickly and tried to hold his hands but he couldn’t find him or the person that grabbed him. It was absolute silence again for about a minute when a loud growl came, it seemed to be in pain. They followed the voice to see that Oni in the grip of what would be a large man whose mouth was sealed with a black leather strap. Every part of him was huge, his eyes were dark and he had no air, his toe was bleeding with Oni hanging on to the knife he slammed on it.

“Is… is that human?” Koruna whispered as the man glowered at them before throwing Oni into the wall like he weighed nothing.

“I have heard of him, the Kraken. He has been on death parole for ten years, he killed anyone who would look at him. Anyone, man, woman or even children. I thought he would be dead by now, Ati said as they moved backwards to avoid him, Oni was struggling to stand from the hit when the Kraken went for R’ao and tackled him to the ground. Ati used the iron he had taken from the hall to slam his head but the iron bent instead and was sent flying with his meaty hand.

Koruna picked up Oni’s knife and stabbed his toe again but his flesh was too meaty to make any difference. The Kraken used his right hand to fling Koruna away as he kept bashing R’ao. Oni had stood up and climbed unto his back, he dug his thumbs into the Kraken’s eyes, he let go of R’ao who was grunting pain. The Kraken had reached out to his back and slammed Oni once again to the wall.

R’ao had a string he wore all the time, Koruna had thought it was for decoration. He loosened the string and used it to deeply injure the Kraken at the knee, it was sharp and thin. He went on one knee to nurse his wound, this time R’ao climbed to his back and tried to strangle him with the string. The Kraken went howling in pain as he tried to pry R’ao off him but no matter the hits, R’ao refused to let go. The string was beginning to go deeper into his skin, Ati and Koruna joined him as Koruna used the knife on that same toe while Ati slammed his Iron into his stomach weakening him. The Kraken kicked Koruna off him as her back hit the wall, Ati dodged his next hit but his strength was unmatched as he was grabbed by the collar and thrown into the iron bar.

R’ao refused to loosen his hold on him as he wrapped his leg round him and deepened the force of the string. Oni was bloody and had stood up, he picked up his knife and leaped, the force and the knife’s sharp mouth hit his jugular. The Kraken went down as Oni kept stabbing and R’ao’s string kept digging deeper into his neck until he went down and no sound was heard from him. R’ao and Oni were covered in blood, theirs and the Kraken’s mixed together. Koruna limped towards them to check on their injuries, R’ao’s hands had deep cut marks made from the string, Oni’s state was much worse. They had to get out of there before they died due to blood loss.

All of a sudden, there was a bright light that shocked their eyes. A clapping of hands followed from up, they looked up and saw that they were in a cell and unlike their first assumption, it was more like a cage. Mr. James was clapping for them, they were surrounded by prisoners who watched them. R’ao scoffed in understanding, the Kraken had been used to win illegal matches done in the jail. The chief warden stood by James as he looked at them amused.

“I am impressed by your grit. Kraken hasn’t lost a match in… never but then again four to one wasn’t a fair deal. How would you do in a fair match?” James said with a smirk.

Koruna doubted if they would survive a second round with anyone as strong as the Kraken, Oni was in a terrible state, Ati was wounded and Koruna felt pains in places she did not think existed. The cage was opened and three men with one girl walked into the cage. Koruna recognized her, “Rikka?”

“Sorry Koruna, I don’t have a choice.” Rikka put on a knuckle ring that looked heavy for fighting, she attacked Koruna straight. Other men followed as they took on each one of them, Rikka tried to get a clean punch on Koruna but Koruna dodged until she couldn’t and she was punched in her stomach.

Koruna could not breathe for a second as she gasped in pain, just when Rikka was about to hit her again, Koruna tripped her and she fell. Koruna ignored her pain and used her loss of momentum to smash her head into the ground. She sat on her and rained punches, she was almost successful in removing the knuckle ring when Rikka dragged her by the hair and exchanged places. She was about to throw her a punch when Koruna looked at her apologetically, Rikaa paused as to why but Koruna had grabbed her by the nipples and propelled her forwards.

The prisoners shouted and hailed them as they fought, they grimaced when Koruna had her by the nipples, Rikka eyes groaned in pain, Koruna grabbed her knuckle ring and knocked her unconscious. Koruna wondered how she ended up here just after Simi’s camp, Koruna saw that Oni’s opponent was getting the best of him, she ran and slammed the hand with the knuckle ring on the prisoner’s ribs, Koruna did not give him a chance to recuperate but followed with fast punches to the face until he was knocked out. R’ao had broken his opponent’s neck but he could feel how weak he was becoming, he had no idea why it was taking his father so long to get there. Ati had taken care of his opponent, they were all lying down with their back and taking deep breaths.

“Oni is unconscious.” Koruna informed R’ao in between breaths.

R’ao looked over at Oni who wasn’t moving and cussed under his breath especially when he saw his head bleeding, the Kraken had done a serious number on him. He held Koruna’s hands and he refused to accept defeat as he stood up and looked directly at James, “I will kill you.”

“I am very terrified. I assure you, this is glorious! You need to watch yourself fight… You are like desperate animals. I gave you a chance and what did I get? Death… Your father is here, would you like to say hi? It might be your last chance.” James gave them a maniacal smile.

“I think he has double personality disorder. How can someone be so different after few hours?” Koruna eyed James.

“I think a murder attempt would turn anyone crazy.” Ati stood shakily beside R’ao.

“Good point.” Koruna tried to stand but thought better of it as her body cried out. “Your father, do you think he has him?”

“He’s brought an entire army, I am flattered. How long do you think it would take for him to get here? Will you still be alive then?” James smirked as the six of the prisoners walked into the cage and the others followed the warden, to face Jacob’s men Koruna supposed.

“We should end it all today, don’t you think?” James smirked as he went with the rest of them. It was R’ao, Koruna, unconscious Oni and Ati against the six male prisoners. One of them leered at Koruna wagging his tongue at her. Koruna sighed and used the bars to help herself up, the one looking straight at Ati was about to lunge at him but he switched directions and fiercely attacked the other prisoners. The fight did not take long and was done, the one who switched on the other prisoners bowed in Ati’s direction. “I heard about you, you brought the end of Jonathan Reeves. I owed you a debt and now I have repaid it.” The prisoner said casually and opened the cage as he left without saying a word.

“That was intense!” Koruna heaved in relief.

R’ao looked to ensure the rest of them were okay, they carried Oni in the direction of where the prisoners left, and came face to face with the shoot outs between the wardens, prisoners and the Arks men.

“Fuck…” Ati said.