Autumn of Terror || h.s. au

Chapter 6: Little Girl

^^^found this fan art of a video game and thought it was perfect for this chapter!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry grabs my coat from my hand without saying a word. He knows that nothing he says will change my mind, so he stays quiet. I turn to Mr. Payne, who's staring at me with wide eyes.

     "Miss, a-are you sure?" He asks. "These fights are dangerous if you don't know what you're doing."

     "What makes you think I don't know what I'm doing?" I say, quickly braiding my hair and pinning it into a low bun. "I want to fight."

     Mr. Payne sighs. "Okay, I suppose that's alright. Make it past five rounds, and I'll tell you whatever you need to know," I nod, and he hands me white hand wraps. I wrap them on each hand and they reach halfway up my forearm.

     I look at Niall, who is breathing heavily and pressing a wet cloth to his face. "Harry, take care of Niall. Make sure he's not beat up too bad."

     Harry nods. "I-I don't think this is a g-good idea, Mary," he stutters. "I don't want to see you getting beat up in there, I don't know if I could handle it."

     "Don't worry about me, dear," I smile. "I can handle it. If I get beat up bad, I'll quit before it gets any worse."

     "Don't do this," he whispers to me, rubbing my cheek. "We'll find some other way to solve this case."

     I sigh, "This is our best chance, Harry. I have to at least try."

     Harry pauses for a moment before responding. "Then promise me you'll beat the shit out of you opponents."

     I laugh. "I'll try my best," I notice Mr. Payne walking into the middle of the circle.

     "May I have the next opponents join me in the circle?" His voice booms. I take a deep breath and begin to walk towards him. I hear Harry wish me luck behind me. Once I'm in the circle, I see the man who I'm supposed to be fighting. He's a young man, not too muscular and not too tall. I think it's disgusting that all the men have to take their shirts off. I'm glad I didn't have to take off mine, honestly. "Alright, you know the rules. As soon as I get out of the circle, you can start. The round ends either when one of you is knocked out or you forfeit. Understand?" We both nod, and Mr. Payne wishes both of us luck as he walks out of the circle.

     I get into my fighting stance, and so does my opponent. He smiles creepily with crooked, yellow teeth. I have the sudden urge to knock those teeth right out of his mouth. I want to see him try to smile like a pervert without any teeth. As soon as Mr. Payne gets on the other side of the fence, my opponent takes a swing at me. I expertly duck and punch him right in his stomach. He gasps and bends over in pain. I get back in my stance and start jumping slightly, feeling good about myself. He takes another swing, which I dodge again. I see he's not protecting his face so I go right for it. My fist comes in contact with his cheek, and he stumbles back a few steps. He puts his hand up to his bleeding mouth and his eyes widen.

     "I'm done!" He tells Mr. Payne, and I grin proudly. I can't believe all it took for him to forfeit was two punches, what a weakling. I turn to look at Harry, who's cheering me on and clapping his hands. Mr. Payne climbs over the fence and up to both of us. "And the winner is...I'm sorry, what was your name?"

     "Mary Styles," I breathe, surprised that I made it past the first round.

     "The winner is Miss Mary Styles!" He exclaims, and I look around to see a whole crowd of men who seem confused at first, but soon cheer as loud as they can. "Alright, who's up next?"