Dog Fights

Chapter 10; Smoke and Mirrors

Ezra looks up, eyes opening wide and mouth parting to speak. Nothing comes out.

"What?" he asks quietly, shock reading obvious on his face. "What do you mean?"

"The police are after you, son," Josh says, looking bigger now that Ezra's feeling small, "why would that be?"

Ezra looks over at Leon, a terrified moment passing between them. "Clover," Ezra speaks into the phone, trying to overcome his quick breathing, "it had to be Orgon, my name is listed number one on trafficking site and I have a lot of money on my name. With my lack of records in the city database it must have been easy to get me in-"

"Trafficking?" Leon's mother cuts him off, giving a confused look. "Like, human trafficking?"

"Think more supernatural creature trafficking," Ezra says, anxiety building up in his chest. He takes the phone from his ear, letting his arm fall as the two adults stare at him intensely. "Listen," he says holding up his hands, "I know it's completely out of a fiction movie, but you have to believe me."

"What?" Josh scoffs, flexing his fingers. "Are you a part of some trafficking gang?"

Ezra tilts his head, eyeing the ground. "I mean, yes?" he starts, holding up his hands as the parent's eyes widen, "but not in the way you think! Only a few days ago I joined a city proclaimed 'gang' after they broke me out of an underground ring I was forced to fight in for years. It's what they're dedicated to, and I have no family left or anywhere to go so I joined them.

"Have you ever heard of dog fights?" Ezra asks, bringing his eyes back up to the adults. Leon's mother looks confused and concerned, and his father looks troubled but anxious to protect his family from the wanted vampire gang member. The assumption is spot on.

"Is that what you used to do?" the mother asks, eyebrows furrowed down in fear.

"No!" Ezra exclaims, putting his hands on his head. "God, no! But you know what they're like? Now imagine that but with vampires, and werewolves, and witches. I used to be one of those fighters, working against my will for a conductor named Orgon File. The other fighters and I would be put in cages for weeks, starved for a month, then brought up into a fighting ring to kill other creatures that were put through the same things we were; pushed to the edge of desperation.

"If we didn't fight we'd be killed," Ezra continues, beginning to choke against the horrified looks on the adult's faces, "and we were always too weak after the fights to revolt. If we even looked the wrong way at a conductor we were beaten, and on special occasions the audience had the right to walk among the cages of broken down fighters and spit on us after paying our conductors to get inside."

Ezra glances over to Leon, seeing his distressed stare. Tears shine in his eyes, trailing down his face as he stands in stillness.

Ezra's lip quivers, fighting down any emotion so he can continue talking. "I hated it. I hated myself. Hated the conductors, hated the announcers, hated the other fighters," he says, voice shaking, "I hated the world. I hate even more to go back to the memories, and it hurts me to say it, but I was a champion. I was good at what I despised doing. I brought Orgon thousands of dollars in one month, on top of what his other fighters brought him.

"He wants me back. Traffickers and hunters are looking for me because he put out a reward for my return. I'm worth more underground, but right now my capture is worth fifty thousand dollars."

Ezra brings up his shaking hands, pulling off his glasses and wiping the tears off his cheeks. Why had he gotten so much weaker since being brought back to society? "Since I was a fighter, I don't have any public records. I'm not in the city's system, so I'm assuming Orgon put my picture in along with how I had gone missing. With his amount of power, it couldn't have been that hard to bribe a few people and come up with reports-"