The Heart Of A Fighter

Chapter One

Cass hated gym class, it was beneath her. She always felt like it downplayed her physical skills, and she knew her classmates would get upset if she upstaged them. She was bored though and faked a headache to get out of it. The gym teacher sent her to the nurse's office where she laid on a bed behind a curtain.

After school, she went home, into a small barn at the far back end of the property. She had set up her own training area in there without her mother's knowledge, because her mother never went out there. She had constructed her own dummy and obstacles from things she found lying around.

When she finished, she went inside, took a shower, then heated up the food her mother left for her. Her mother came in around 11 that night and went straight to bed. Cass felt bad for her mom, she worked so hard and they barely got by.

Cass was training for a fighting tournament in the city that weekend, there was money as the grand prize, and she was determined to win it for her mom. She snuck out Friday night and took a bus to the city.

As she was looking for the arena, she passed an alleyway where she spotted a few guys ganging up on someone, she couldn't stop herself. She grabbed one of them by the arm and threw him onto the ground, then made a swinging kick at another, when she helped the person up, she noted that he had to be about 14 years old.

"Are you okay kid?" She asked him over her shoulder.

The three attackers were back on their feet and closing in.

He whispered to her "they've got weapons."

Cass turned her attention back to them and put her hands up, "nobody has to get hurt here."

"I believe you've already contradicted that by interfering," one of them snarled and pulled out a wicked looking knife.

She glanced back at the boy behind her, "get ready to run."

He looked up at her with eyes full of fear, "okay. Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," she said as she looked ahead of her again. "Don't come any closer!"

One of them laughed, "you're cute, you think you can take all of us at once."

Cass closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "this is your last warning, back off or you'll have me to deal with."

They didn't heed her, they got closer. Cass shook her head, "fools."

She made a low swinging kick, knocking them all off their feet, "run kid!"

"But what about you?" He cried as he edged around the fallen attackers.

"Forget about me, just get outta here!" She leapt over them and shoved the kid out of the alley, "run!"

He did as she said, as he ran away he could hear them struggling with each other. Trash cans were knocked over, glass shattered. The boy hid around the corner, everything got quiet. He flinched as he heard boots hitting the pavement, he peeked over, and in a shroud of dust and dirt, emerged the girl from the alley way. He watched her brush herself off and walk away from it as if nothing had occurred.

Cass looked in his direction, "they're unconscious right now, but you better scram before they wake up."

He nodded and ran to catch up with her, "I'll follow you then."

"You can't follow me, I've got somewhere to be," she waved him away and glanced around.

"I'm a little lost though, I don't know where I am," he frowned.

She stared at him and sighed, "fine, but don't draw attention to yourself and do exactly as I say."

She put his sweatshirt hood over his head and motioned for him to follow her. They arrived in front of an old abandoned looking warehouse. Cass knocked on the door and was greeted by a sliding panel and a scarred up face of a man.

His face broke into a crooked smile, "hey, people have been waiting for you to show your face. You've got quite a few challengers this time around."

"I will crush them into dust," she said with a raised fist.

"Hey, who's the kid?" He asked before he opened the door.

"It's fine, he's working in my corner tonight," Cass assured him.

He was surprised to hear her say it. The guard let Cass in and he directed them to a changing area where she took her clothes off, revealing her fighting gear.

She pulled out a mask and started strapping it on, "what's your name kid?"

He had been blushing, "my name is Albert."

"Okay Albert, because I helped you, you're going to return the favor. You will have my towel and water ready after every round, can you handle that?" Cass finished buckling on her mask and started warming up.

"Yes. But what should I call you?" Albert asked meekly.

"Here, they call me Scarlet" Cass said ominously.

"Why do they call you Scarlet?" Albert asked.

Another guy came to the back and let her know it was time, "welcome back Scarlet. The boss is pretty pumped that you're here tonight."

"Good. I'm ready," she handed Albert her towel and water bottle and they walked out to the arena.

She had a lot of people chanting her name. Then they announced her opponent, judging by the lack of support, it was a newbie. Albert wondered how long she had been doing this.

Cass took the first girl down in one round, the matches had gone quickly so far. It wasn't until she got through the first wave of matches that he realized why she was called Scarlet. Her opponent was a very tall, muscular woman called Astrid. They spent half the match circling the ring and dodging each other's hits. Cass was the first one to get a hit, right in Astrid's face, blood started running down her chin as her lip was split open. After that, with every hit, more blood came running down her and getting all over the mat. Astrid got in a lucky hit, but Scarlet recovered quickly and retaliated by throwing in a high kick to Astrid's jaw, knocking her onto her back, out cold. The referee called the match and Scarlet was on to the semi-finals, which was to take place the next night.

She went to the back and put her clothes back on, she saw the drained look on Albert's face, "what?"

"So much blood... Is that why they call you Scarlet?" Albert was full of fear and awe.

"Yeah. Come on kid, let's get you on your way home," Cass grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulders.

She got him out of the dangerous part of town, then they separated. She got on another bus and headed home.

Cade was taking a late night stroll. As he passed the bus station he saw Cass step off the bus that had just come from the city. He found it a little odd, but thought nothing more about it as he continued on his way home.

The next night came quickly. Cass couldn't believe she had even made it this far. The competition was getting tougher. She had barely made it through the first round. She was facing a girl called Poison, she was quick on her feet with strikes like lightning, Cass had received her fair share of battle wounds. She knew she wouldn't be able to hide it from her mother and would probably get grounded.

The second round was just as difficult, by the third round, both girls were breathing heavily and covered in cuts and bruises. Cass looked up at the stands as they tried to recover in their corners. She saw the man watching her with a gravely serious expression on his face, the chief operator, Rue Griffin. She knew he had bet money on her, he always did, she couldn't lose. She hadn't known him personally, she just knew of him.

The bell rang, the third round was resumed, Poison smirked as she got into her stance, "you're about to disappoint all your fans Scarlet, how does that make you feel?"

Cass got into stance and didn't respond to her taunting, "let's just get this over with, shall we?"

She knew Poison was getting overconfident. That was her weakness, and Cass would use it to her advantage. After a few swipes and swings, she delivered her final blow to Poison, and she was knocked out cold. The referee raised Cass's arm victoriously. Rue's face broke into a smile. She was going to the finals next weekend.

Rue's associate came and got Cass after she cleaned up from her match, "I'm Ezra, Mr. Griffin would like a meeting with you, are you available right now?"

Cass felt uneasy, "actually I need to get going. Gotta rest up for the finals you know."

Ezra smiled smugly, "it will only take a moment."

Cass still felt something wasn't right, but she agreed to the meeting, "okay."

She stepped into an office that overlooked the whole warehouse, Rue welcomed her warmly.

"Wonderful match. I'll cut right to the point, I want to sponsor you."

"What? There are no sponsors here, besides, why me out of everyone else?" Cass asked in concern.

Rue circled her slowly then peeked through the blinds to the floor below, "pfft, please, you should know the answer to that. You're a winner, and if you let us sponsor you, you'll keep being a winner. I'm speaking professionally, you could be the next Finnola Murphy."

Cass's heart skipped, she knew there had to be a catch to it, "I know what that entails, but what would you get out of it? You just want me to make you money, don't you?"

"You're a clever girl, Ms. Scarlet, or should I say Ms. Rourke?" He said as he turned to face her. "You're doing this for the money, are you not? To help your mother?"

Cass felt tension in her chest, "how did you know that?"

"I have my sources. So let me put it this way, you agree to be my fighter, and you and you're mother will always be taken care of," Rue smirked, assuming he had her.

"But, I'm a minor, I can't agree to that kind of contract," Cass chided.

"Of course, we would wait for you to be of age, but in return, you wouldn't be able to fight until then," he held out his hand and Ezra placed a folder into it.

Rue opened it, revealing a contract for Cass to sign, she withheld herself, "do you mind if I think about it first?"

Rue hesitated, but closed the folder and handed it back to Ezra, "fine, but don't keep me waiting too long, this is a once in a lifetime offer, and there are plenty of other fighters who would love to be in your shoes."

Cass nodded, Ezra opened the door for her so she could leave. She got onto another bus heading home. When she stepped off of it, there was Cade.

"And where have you been sneaking off to?" He teased.

Cass was stunned to see him there, but shifted her bag on her shoulder and started walking away, "none of your business."

Cade walked with her, "visiting an old boyfriend maybe?"

Cass actually laughed at such a ridiculous concept, "me? Have boyfriends? That's hilarious. Sorry, but I have more important things going on than that. Dating is pointless. Why are you so interested, Bourne? Is your life really that boring?"

Cade chuckled, "you're rather snide, aren't you? I'm just trying to figure you out."

"What for? You're wasting your time. Do yourself a favor and get a hobby" Cass had reached the gate to her yard, Cade had followed her home.

The sun was rising and he got a full view of her face, he reached out and touched it, "what's all this then?"

He had seen the marks all over her face. Most of the swelling had gone down, but some were deep bruises.

Cass smacked his hand away, "it's nothing, get lost creep."

Cade watched her climb up the side of the house and enter through a window. He ran a hand through his hair, wondering why a girl would put herself through so much.

Cass peeked through her bedroom curtains, Cade had finally left. She filled the bath tub with ice and cold water and stripped down to her underwear. In the mirror, she saw all her fighting wounds, there were too many to count. She slowly got into the tub, gasping from the shock of the cold, but she wanted to numb all the pain away before she had to go to school. After a while she realized she couldn't go to school like that, she'd have to fake being sick.

After she had washed up, she hid under a pile of blankets to get warm. Her mother came knocking at the door, "Cassie, time to get up and get ready for school."

"I'm not feeling very well mom, I think I should stay home today," Cass coughed and waited for her mom to answer.

Her mother sighed, "you're sure you don't have any tests today?"

"Mom, school just started, why would there be a test?" Cass coughed again.

"You do sound awful, alright, you can stay home. I'll bring you some soup before I go to work. I expect you to stay in bed," her mother ordered.

Cass had no problem with that, "I will."

Cade glanced over at Cass's empty seat that morning. He couldn't help but feel bothered by it, and pushed it to the back of his mind. As he was walking home from school, he passed her house. He stopped at the gate and stared up at her bedroom window. Then, without blinking, he continued walking home.

The next day, Cass felt a lot better, but was still covered in marks. She'd have to try covering them up. She did the best she could with concealed makeup. She knew she shouldn't miss anymore school than she needed to. Somehow she had hidden it pretty well, nobody had said anything to her about it.

Another sunset and another sunrise later, she was walking to school. Once again, she came across Landon and his goons bullying the same kid from before. She rolled her eyes and stood between them.

"Really? This again? You boys are really stupid around here aren't you?" Cass sneered.

"Don't disrespect us Rourke, you're just setting yourself up failure if you think you can stop us," Landon snickered.

Cade sat in a tree nearby and was eating an apple, he heard the shouting and watched from his perch.

"I warned you punks, but you must've not heard me. You're a bunch of cowards for picking on kids, people like you frustrate me the most!" Cass shouted.

Landon just laughed at her and kicked dirt at her. She gritted her teeth and stared him down. They shoved her to the side and started picking on the boy again. Cass composed herself and calmly grabbed Landon's arm, giving it a twist, bringing him to his knees.

"I warned you, now I'm going to teach all of you a lesson," her eyes flashed tensely and while holding him by his arm, made a low swinging kick and knocked the others down. Cade came down from the tree and stood there observing her moves carefully.

They hit the ground running, then Cass walked over to the boy and kneeled down next to him, "are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

He looked up at her, and she saw a cut by his eye. She frowned and pulled out a handkerchief and a bottle of water from her bag. Cade stood over her from behind.

"I can't believe you were watching this whole time and didn't step in to help him," Cass scowled, without turning to look at him.

"Sorry, but I don't get involved, it's not my thing" Cade smirked. "I'm not stupid enough to try and play the hero. What would you have done if they ganged up on you?"

"As I have told people before..." She poured water onto the handkerchief and dabbed the boy's cut, "underestimating me is one of the biggest mistakes people can make. You're a coward too."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather be a coward than an i***t," he laughed.

"So now you're making fun of me? Maybe I should teach you a lesson too. I'm feeling pretty great right now," she said as she shoved him out of her space. "What's your name kid?"

"My name is Rory Burke, thank you so much for saving me again. I'm sorry they destroyed your bike last time."

"Don't worry about it, it was just a rusty old bike. I'm just glad you were able to get away," Cass smiled brightly.

It caught Cade off guard, "they destroyed your bike?"

Cass rolled her eyes, "don't act so concerned, you said so yourself, you don't get involved."

She walked away with Rory, to make sure he got to school safely. Cade followed at a short distance. Cass became annoyed.

"Quit acting like you're protecting me, I don't need you!" she snapped.

"Well, you are full of yourself, that's not what I'm doing," he put his hands in his pockets and walked ahead of her.

"Okay, then stop stalking me," she swatted at him like he was a fly.

"There you go again, Ms. Conceited. I'm not stalking you, I walk wherever I want to, the fact that it happens to be the same way you're going is purely a coincidence," he smiled smugly.

"Shut up already! You think you're so clever. You're just irritating," she hurried ahead of him right as they reached the high school.

She glared at him over her shoulder and ran ahead. He couldn't help but laugh, she had definitely made his days more interesting.

As they sat in home room, Mr. Howell was taking attendance, "welcome back Ms. Rourke, I trust you had a good reason for missing school yesterday?"

Cass arose from her seat and nodded, "I was indisposed, with a cold."

Cade eyed her carefully, he could tell she was wearing a lot of make up and he could still see the surfaces of her cuts and bruises. He wondered if she was in much pain, even going as far as standing up to bullies in her condition, she had to have been pretty sore. He couldn't help but feel respect for her.