Once morning came, Ian noticed it easily, because in his sleepless night he noticed when the room progressively turned from dark to dim to bright. He also noticed when Cindy left his side in the middle of the night. Once Ian concluded that it was bright enough, he got out of bed and got dressed in a sweater and joggers. Around the house he heard no other noises except snoring from two different directions. This relieved him. He put his shoes on and headed outside for a run in the gray morning.
The grass was still wet on everybody's yards and the lights were still off in every house. Ian had no clue what hour it was. He didn't particularly care. He didn't have a bit of juice left in his tank but he forced himself to run anyway because he felt like he should. He didn't really do running so he had no favourite route, so he ran to places that he knew. When going through routes and places that he knew, he eventually found himself at Jacob's house. There was nothing unusual about the house or the front yard, but something pulled Ian to come closer anyway. For some reason that he wasn't sure of, he looked inside through the window into the living room where Jacob was drinking last night. There he still was, but this time laying on his back on the floor.
"What the... I left his face down when he passed out last night. Did the fucking idiot wake up and get on his back? Fucking hell." Ian thought and got to the front door where he banged his fist on it loud.
"Wake the fuck up, old man!" He shouted at the door while banging on it.
He checked the window again and there Jacob still was on his back, not moving at all. The first movement that Ian saw Jacob do was twitch when vomit jumped out of his mouth.
"Fuck fuck fuck. I'm not fucking calling 999. I need to wake up the fucker somehow." Ian said to himself.
He thought about breaking the window but figured that he'd only cut himself and also attract attention. He thought about kicking the door down but knew that it only works in films. He checked under the welcome mat for a key but found nothing. He checked under a rock on the front yard but found nothing. He thought about throwing the rock through the window but once again thought better.
"Please tell me this guy has a spare key somewhere." He said to himself.
It was right then that he saw the empty flowerbeds hanging on the barricade of the terrace. He checked the bottom of one of them and there he saw it. A spare key.
"What a stupid place to hide the key in. Doesn't matter." Ian said and grabbed the key.
He shoved the key in the lock and barged into the house where he rushed into the living room and turned Jacob on his belly. As Jacob's vomit was dripping to the floor from his mouth, he showed signs of waking up and started coughing.
"You awake, mate?" Ian asked and stood up.
Jacob kept coughing a little before opening his mouth to speak again.
"Fuck're you doing in my bloody house now, kid?" Jacob asked in a dizzy state.
"Helping your arse to not choke in your own vomit like an idiot." Ian answered.
"I don't bloody need your help. If I die, I die." Jacob said and defiantly turned around to be on his back.
"Well sorry for ruining it for you. Why were you on the floor?"
"Couldn't bloody get up. Some posh cunt rang my doorbell and said some shite that I didn't listen to. Went back to my chair after that but missed the bloody chair and said Sod it."
"Some posh cunt?" Ian asked and thought of one person.
"Yeah, I don't know who it was."
"Did you listen at all what he told you?"
"He..." Jacob was about to answer until he coughed again, though this time nothing came out.
"He what?" Ian asked.
"He asked if somebody had been visiting frequently?"
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him to fuck off."
"Okay, good."
"Got to have a talk with William today."
"Why the fuck does that even worry you?" Jacob asked.
"I'm a curious little fuck. Suppose you're not fit for what we agreed last time?"
"What was that again?"
"You coming to check out the factory."
"Oh right. Eh. What's stopping me? I have all day get off this floor."
"You sure one day is enough?"
"Fuck off, kid." Jacob said and tried with all his power to sit up, but couldn't.
"Need help, mate?" Ian asked.
"Fuck you." Jacob said and offered his hand.
Ian helped Jacob up who then sat down on his favourite armchair.
"Tell me if some wankers come to your door again."
"How's that your business?"
"I might know the cunts."
"From where?"
"From school."
"You go to school? How old are you again?"
"I'm in a university. And I'm 21. The people that I'm thinking of might be from the same class." Ian answered and backed away with a finger on his chin.
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Once Ian arrived at the university, he was actually early for once. It was still about fifteen minutes until the day's first class was supposed to start. Of course Ian wasn't aware of that because he hadn't checked the day's timetable. He decided to do just that because he had no idea which class he was meant to go to. He went to wait outside the correct classroom where he was the only one. He took his phone out and sent a simple text message to Lloyd.
"Please don't start skipping school now." is what the message said.
"Mister Maltman." A familiar professor's voice said from ahead while Ian was looking at his screen.
The professor took her position next to Ian with a firm stance.
"Yes?" Ian simply asked, not feeling like bothering with this.
"Where is your uniform?" The professor asked.
"Umm. I forgot. I'll go get it."
"Do that. but before that I want to ask you, why do you still put up with... those boys?" The professor asked with a mix of curiosity and concern in her voice.
"What else am I meant to do? I tried to get expelled."
"Have you ever thought about transferring to a different university?"
"Was that always an option?" Ian asked surprised.
"There are some downsides to doing so but it's an option. I can tell how unmotivated you are and have been for a long time. I figured it might be because of them."
"Nah. I won't go anywhere. If they do, they'll just target my friend."
"See, that's why I'm mentioning this. Last night Lloyd, who always works with you, made an application to transfer to a different university. And that made me think that maybe you'd like the sound of that too. It's not up to me, of course, but I'm just putting that out there."
"Wait, he what now?"
"I figured you'd want to know too." The professor said.
Ian didn't stay to listen any longer. He got moving and ran outside. He ran past the parking space where he kicked the side mirror of William's just stopped car as he ran past it. He didn't stay to listen what was shouted at him from behind. He ran out of the premises and headed for Lloyd's home.
Once he got to Lloyd's home, he started banging on the door fiercely and quickly. Behind the door Ian heard light steps getting closer to the door.
"I told you to not come here anymore." Nikki's voice threatened from the other side of the door.
"I need to speak to Lloyd." Ian explained as calmly as he could.
"That's what I was afraid of. Go away." was Nikki's response.
"But..."
"I said go away!" Nikki demanded and carved on the door with a knife so loudly that Ian could hear it.
Ian quickly sent another message to Lloyd who hadn't been online since last night from the looks of it.
"Fuck." was all that Ian said after that and walked away, not wanting to cause a bigger scene.
"I'm sure as hell not transferring anywhere. No point moving somewhere else for a new university where I'll just fail too." He thought while walking.
"But maybe this is good actually. At least he won't have to deal with those wankers anymore. Yeah. I should be glad for him. This is a good move. One less thing and person for me to worry about." He then told himself in his mind, and went to Jacob's house to train again.
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After an intense day of lonely sparring, pondering sessions, workout, more pondering sessions, runs and yet more pondering sessions, Ian was so beat he could hardly move. He used his remaining strength to pick up his phone from where he left it.
"How is it this late already? The factory should be open by now." Ian thought.
He stayed where he was for a little while longer before getting up and going into the house proper to talk to Jacob. Ian found Jacob exactly where he expected to find the man. Ian sat down on one of the available chairs and put his hands on his own knees.
"You still want to check out the factory, old man?" Ian asked.
"The what?" Jacob asked.
"The fight pit that I mentioned before."
"Oh, that. Is drinking allowed there?"
"Encouraged, even."
"Suppose I've got nothing to lose by going. But you're driving."
"Of course."
"Give me a moment to get up." Jacob said.
"Of course." Ian said.
Both took their time to get themselves up. Once they were both up, Jacob found his car keys and handed them to Ian who still didn't have a license. Ian got inside the car and waited for Jacob to also get in. Once both were in, Ian started the car and made his way to the familiar location of the factory.
Once they were finally at the factory, Ian had to shake Jacob awake and tell him that they had arrived to the location. Jacob didn't seem impressed with the outside of the unmaintained factory. Both men left the car and stepped inside the factory where the going was the way it usually was.
"What a shithole." Jacob simply said, but Ian didn't hear him over the music and the bloodthirsty masses.
"Alright, mate. Here's where I've fought before. You want to give it a go?" Ian asked Jacob.
"Nah, that'd be unfair to these kids." Jacob said back with a deadpan tone.
"Fine. I'll beat the fuck out of someone then. Show you how it's done." Ian said confidently and headed straight to Bloodhound's office.
He couldn't make it all the way there before his attention was grabbed by something that he didn't want to see. In a far corner of the factory, Ian saw William and his usual running mates, and even more taller men around him this time.
"How the fuck does that cunt even know about this place? He's stalking me, or he has somebody who stalks me. I just know it. What I wouldn't give to get him in that cage with me." Ian thought.
He let his emotions get the better of his reason and walked up to William's entourage and the man himself.
"Oi cunt." Ian shouted once he was close enough.
A wall formed in front of William immediately.
"Oh there you are. I was wondering whether you'd turn up today." William's voice could be heard saying from behind the wall of humanity.
”How about we get in that cage and settle some scores?” Ian egged on.
”Sorry, but I don’t participate in this barbarism. I only observe and bet on these animal fights.” William’s voice replied.
”Come on, mate. Don’t you want to beat my arse and teach me a lesson?”
”Not interested.”
”How did a silverspoon wanker like you even find this place?”
”I have more eyes than you may think. And I’m a curious fellow.”
”You don’t belong here. You know that?”
”Oh shush. I could get this place shut down by just telling the council that they don’t have a license to operate. Before I do that, I may as well make some cash by betting here. And it'd be lovely to bet against you. So how's that sound?"
"You want to make some money at my expense?"
"It's no crime."
"Alright, mate. I'll make you lose some money by beating the fuck out of whoever is unlucky enough to be my opponent." Ian said and got back on his track to Bloodhound's office.
Once Ian came face to face with the resident bouncer who always stayed stationed at the door leading to the office, it didn't take a lot of talking for Ian to get himself in. The bouncer escorted him into Bloodhound's office. Ian entered right as Bloodhound was in the midst of sniffing a blade. When Bloodhound heard the door open, he turned to look at who came in.
"This frizzy haired fucker shows up when he feels like it?" Bloodhound said from behind his desk.
"I show up when I want to fight. You got anyone?" Ian said back.
"Yeah yeah. Get in there. I've got somebody." Bloodhound said impatiently.
Ian didn't stay to argue. He went through the door that leads to the corridor leading to the cage. Once he entered the cage, he looked at the observers around the cage. He tried to look for Jacob, but couldn't find him anywhere there.
"Oi, Jacob! Fight's about to start! You better drag your arse to view!" Ian shouted.
He still couldn't see Jacob anywhere around the cage, but he did see something else. People were being pulled away from the cage and forced to make way for William to come closer and get a first row view. Ian didn't look at William for too long because his opponent had just entered the cage. The opponent was a man of about six feet of height, taller than Ian, and had a bald head and a wife beater. Fit the place like a glove.
"Introducing first, having his fourth fight in the factory with a record of two knockout wins and one knockout loss, here is Ox!" The voice from the speakers announced.
The reaction of the people was mild fanfare. At this point Ian had become a somewhat familiar face to some of the regulars, and a few members of the prettier sex seemed to really like him, but only a few. That was not what primarily interested Ian. He saw Jacob now appearing in the crowd of people gathered around the cage, as if hearing the name Ox got his attention.
"And his opponent! Making his triumphant return from prison and looking to continue his streak of fifteen wins, he is the Psycho Killer!" The voice in the speaker hyped.
The people showed their admiration for the returning hero and all made noise. Both fighters looked each other in the eye and walked around the cage. The signal that starts the fight sounded and both fighters kept scouting each other.
"This guy barely even has his fists up. He's wide open. Must be rusty from prison." Ian thought.
Ian walked closer to the Psycho Killer and threw a jab to test out the man's defense. The jab hardly connected, but the Psycho Killer staggered as if he was hit with a sledgehammer. Ian was confused for half a second but didn't waste any time. Ian attacked his staggering and fumbling opponent with a powerful punch to the cheek and the man was out cold. At least from the looks of it.
The crowd went silent and Ian felt confused at how easy that was.
"How did that guy get a fifteen win streak? He sucked. Something about this doesn't seem right." Ian thought.
He looked around the crowd who was now visibly and audibly angry at the result, but William's expression got Ian curious.
"What is he looking so satisfied about? Did he have something to do with this?" Ian thought and got out of the cage by going to the corridor leading to Bloodhound's office.
He collected the winner's bounty from Bloodhound's desk and walked immediately back to the factory floor. He looked around for William and once he spotted the man in question, he immediately walked up to him and his gang. A wall of humanity once again formed between and Ian and William.
"You paid that guy to throw the fight, didn't you?" Ian asked angrily.
"Why would I do such a thing? Obviously I respect the honour and sanctity of this prestigious battleground." William answered mockingly from behind his wall.
The wall of humanity then made way for a young woman in baggy jeans to walk through. The woman approached William with cash in her hand.
"As the only one who bet for Psycho to lose, here are your winnings." The woman said and then left.
"Thank you, darling." William said back as the young woman was already walking away.
The wall formed to protect William once again.
"You fucker! You paid the other guy to lose on purpose to make even more money by betting against him!" Ian accused.
"What a wild theory." William sarcastically said back.
Ian was at a loss for words. Even though he won, he didn't feel like a winner. The winner's purse didn't feel earned and he was thinking of what to say. But before he could get anything out, he felt a clap on his shoulder.
"What the bloody hell was that? I don't see too well but even I saw that that was fixed." Jacob said and looked at Ian with judgement.
"I know it was bloody fixed. It was that fucker!" Ian said back and pointed at the wall of meat.
"Which one of them?" Jacob asked.
"None of us." William said.
"Let's beat 'em all up." Jacob suggested.
"I would not try that but... do I hear a voice that I recognise?" William said.
The wall made way and William revealed himself.
"As I guessed. Maltman has somehow gotten on the good side of the most famous person from this town. But what for and how?" William wondered out loud.
"None of your fucking business, mate. Why did you even think of that? You been stalking me?" Ian said angrily.
"As I said, I have many eyes." William said back.
"Lovely to know that somebody still recognises me. But wait a moment. You're that brat who was at my door. What do you want from me?" Jacob asked.
"I don't need anything from you anymore because I have pieced it together. Maltman wants to be a professional boxer, and you are his trainer. What a story! This could be entertaining. I can't wait to see your downfall before your rise even begins." William said and chuckled.
"Why are you so God damned obsessed with me?" Ian asked with little patience left.
"Because you are on the way of my easy target and I want you to learn what happens to those who defy me. Simple as that really."
"Your easy target is leaving town. He's moving away. You can leave me and him alone now. And another thing. I'll never be a professional boxer. My eye is fucked and I won't be given the license for that. All this is pointless." Ian explained.
"What? Then what are you doing here fighting if you know that you'll never make it? I suppose it's expected of you to be complacent doing this for the rest of your life. But what fun is it to watch you waste away here? And to also see this former legend lower himself to this." William said.
"Hey now, I got my start in places like this." Jacob said back proudly.
"Ugh. This is just sad to witness. Maltman, good luck with the rest of your life. And enjoy your last moments of freedom. I'm going home." William said and turned to leave with his entire gang surrounding him.
"Last moments of freedom? What did he mean by that? Is he being poetic now or something?" Ian said and chuckled a little, happy that he might finally be left alone by William.
"So if the fights here a fixed, you reckon I could win a few here?" Jacob asked.
"I don't think the rest of the fights are fixed, mate."
"Bugger. Well, s'pose I've seen enough of this place for one night. I miss me chair already."
"I got what I wanted from here, even if it's not how I'd have liked. Let's go." Ian said while feeling his earnings.
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They both got back in Jacob's car and once again Ian did the driving. Once Jacob's house was reached, Ian got out of the car and handed the keys to Jacob.
"You've got to witness me in a real fight one of these days. I know I can beat people up, just you see."
"I wouldn't judge you if you just won fixed fights for the rest of ya life. Don't end up a brain damaged husk like me." Jacob said back.
"I won't become like you because I'm so good." Ian said back confidently.
Jacob only let out a disappointed grunt and got out of the car, as did Ian.
"You drinking for the rest of the night?" Ian asked outside.
"What do you think?" Jacob said back and went inside.
Ian didn't ask any more questions. He headed to the direction of home and walked peacefully in the night. On his walk home he didn't see the police van that he had seen around town lately. He didn't mind it. It was just a thing that he noticed.
Once he arrived at his home street, he saw something that he wouldn't have wanted to see there. The police van was parked on his home street. Close to his home.
"Oh fuck. Is something wrong at home?" Was the first thing that Ian thought.
He started running towards his home fearing all sorts of terrible things. Before he could reach his home, an officer stepped out of the van, grabbed Ian's arm with force and put cuffs on his hands.
"You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court." The officer said to Ian.
"What?" Ian said back and feared for himself now.
"What is your name? Where are you coming from and where are you going?"
Ian didn't fully process what was going on and he was deciding if he should be honest.
"I ask again. What is your name? Where are you coming from and where are you going?"
Ian couldn't think of a fake name or a story on the spot, and figured that by lying he would dig himself in a hole.
"I'm Ian Thomas Maltman and I'm coming from the town back home." Ian admitted.
"He's our man. That's all we needed to hear. Throw him in the back." One officer said to another.
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