The Devil Has My Heart

Chapter 5 - The Host

The next few days have been full of hard work and training. Akira and Jason would work half days, then meet each other for lunch and a work out. They trained together after work every single day.

The trials for the Golden Dragon tournament would begin in only a few more days, however they still did not know exactly where. All they knew were the locations. No exact address had been given out yet. They were quite secretive about this tournament.  

"Jason! Come in here, man! Hurry up!" Eddy called for Jason from the couch next to Akira and Christina. Today was a rest day and Jason and Akira decided to have their friends over for a late lunch and movies.

 Jason walked in to see what the fuss was about. "Look! There's an announcement about the tournament on tv!" Eddy said excitedly. They watched the five minute announcement and Eddy was thrilled. They were offering five spots to fighters who were not invited, so long as these people can defeat a fighter chosen by them. It was also said that the trials would take place in Anaheim, California in five days. 

"Holy s**t! I can join after all! f**k yeah!" Eddy cheered, jumping up on the couch. "Hey, get your f*****g shoes off my damn couch!" Akira fussed as Christina pushed him off. "What about you, baby? You coming or what?" Eddy asked Christina.

"No, I don't think so. It sounds exciting, but I think I'd rather stay here and look out for Jason's dojo. If he'll let me?" She batted her eyelashes at him and smiled sweetly. He rolls his eyes and put his hands up in defeat. "Fine, you can take Eddy's place at the dojo while we are gone. But I do have some other help coming in."

Christina jumped up and began dancing around with Eddy. "Wait, you don't want to compete, Chris? I thought you wanted to be in this one with us?" Akira asked her, a little disappointed that her friend will not be joining them. 

"Nah. I love the arts, but to be honest I am much better at teaching. That's where I'd rather be. I should leave the heavy hitting to you guys." She hugged Akira and Akira responded with a soft smile. 

"Well I am going to miss you in Cali. I was hoping to hit up Disneyland while we're there. Guess I'll just have to drag Eddy and Jason with me." Akira laughed. Jason and Eddy looked at each other, then back at Christina. "On second thought, you should come." Eddy said. Akira laughed again at their faces. 

The doorbell rang and Akira went to go answer it. When she came back, she had two golden envelopes in her hands. Jason's brow furrowed as we walked up to her. "Hey, what are those?" Akira handed him one and ripped open the other. "It's got full details on the trials next week. They even included our plane tickets and hotel room." Akira observed.

"Hmm." Jason huffed. Akira looked up at him as she handed her paper to Eddy who wanted to see it. "What's the matter, Jason?"

"It's just weird that your initial invitation was sent to Paul's dojo but your itinerary was sent here with mine." He pondered. "Oh, yeah. That is kind of weird. Maybe it was just a mistake that the first one was brought to the dojo? I'm glad they gave us seats next to each other. We have the same hotel room too." Akira said as she looked over Jason's shoulder. 

"So I guess that means I'm gonna have to buy my own plane ticket and hotel room." Eddy sighed as he handed Akira her envelope back. "I guess so." Jason smacked his friend's shoulder jokingly and chuckled. 

Eddy did not find it amusing. "That's gonna cost me a lot of money, you know." Jason shrugged and walked away. " Christina was already on her phone searching for the best plane ticket and hotel package deals online for Eddy.

"So, are you ready for this?" Jason whispered to his girlfriend as their friends chatted about money. "I think so. I'm a little nervous. This tournament seems so mysterious. But I guess that's to be expected when dealing with the Golden Dragon, right?" 

Jason felt a little weird about it also. He was not quite sure why, but he felt like there might be a bigger reason behind this tournament than just a prize. Akira began to read the contents of her envelope in detail when she spots a very big detail that she overlooked.

"Jason, did you see who the host of this tournament is?" Jason looks at her curiously. She hands him the paper and he looks at it. His eyes grow wide and his jaw nearly drops on the floor when he sees the name. 

"Cree Ambrose." He looks up at Akira with disbelief plastered on his face. "Who? What's the name?" Eddy asked as he walked towards them. "Cree Ambrose." Akira said softly, her eyes still glued to Jason.

"My father." Jason looked at Akira then back down to the paper in his hands. 

Cree Ambrose, Jason's father, is where he gets his devil blood from. Cree met Samira, Jason's mother when they were both very young. She was fully aware of his devil nature, but, like Akira, she managed to look passed it. At the age of eighteen and nineteen, they got married, but it was soon after that Samira began to see the real Cree. 

He was an evil man. As strong and as skilled as Cree was, he only sought more power. Samira saw him kill a man and that very same night, she ran. He came after her several times, telling her to come back to him, but she refused. What Samira did not know was she was already pregnant with Jason at that time. She found out several weeks later that she was having a baby, his baby.

Samira continued her training throughout her pregnancy, feeling  as though her positive energy would keep her baby boy's devil half dormant. Once he was born, she spent most of her energy showering him with unconditional love and training him in various martial arts styles. Unlike his father, Samira wanted him to be able to control his anger so that the beast engrained in him would stay suppressed. She began to suspect that her life was in danger, so she hid her son so that he might have a long, happy life. 

She was killed when Jason was only fifteen. Jason had always suspected that it was Cree, though he never had any actual evidence. His mother told him about his father, about how evil he was. She managed to keep Jason away from Cree for a long time before he finally found out about his son when he was ten.

Ever since his mother's funeral, he felt like his father had something to do with it. He remembers Cree walking up to her casket and throwing a black rose onto it before looking Jason right in the eyes and laughing. 

"Jason? Are you alright?" Akira touched his shoulder gently. She knew the story of his father and his suspicions about his mother's death. "So, that son of a b***h is the host, huh? Good. Once I get through everyone else, I am going to challenge him."

Jason grabbed his bag and throwing the door open. "Jason! Wait! Where are you going?" Akira called to him. Jason paused for a moment, not turning to look at her when he spoke. 

"To train. I need to be ready when the time comes to kill that asshole."