บท 60: Hailey

I could hear Arina's breathing from beside me. Her concern for Sam was heavy in her eyes. Almost everyone pitied Sam right now. My question had her more worried about Sam.

Arina answered my question, "It is Hailey's ability." After gulping something that formed in her throat, she turned to me. "She can take as many hits as she wants and when she decides it is enough, she inflicts double the amount on her opponent. She is very strong and clever, Selene, without the use of her abilities as well, but when she uses it, her opponent's strength becomes her strength. Her first attack can start a chain of attacks that are almost impossible to block"

"Why would Sam hit her this much if he knows this?" I quaked. It was so stupid of him to do that to Hailey.

Arina shrugged with her brows knitted together, "He probably was expecting to push her out before she could use her ability.... I-I don't think he knows about the chain attacks.'' The look of terror was evident on Arina's face. I knew what that look meant - Sam would not admit defeat. "He should surrender instead of trying his luck"

I saw Sam step backwards in the fighting area as Hailey strolled towards him, nonchalantly wiping the blood from her face with a napkin.

"Won't Hailey inflict severe injuries on Sam if her abilities doubled the attack?" I asked.

Arina shook her head. "No, she can control it perfectly. Severe injury counts for damage to major organs, fractures that are not clean enough to heal fast." Arina's eyes trailed back to the duel, and so did mine. Hailey was still wiping her face while Sam was weighing his decisions. "Anything that can heal within a week for a werewolf is not a serious injury"

My chest was getting heavier with every passing second, as if I was the one standing in the fighting ring. I would be actually standing there in my next match and it was clear even on Sam's face that Hailey was the one winning this match. I just hoped by some miracle Sam won, or I would definitely have to use my special abilities to win against Hailey in the next round.

Channing had designed the fights in such a way that the winner of my match and the winner of this current ongoing match would go against each other to get one finalist. And the third match between Connie and Diana would reap one of the two finalists.

Hailey was done cleaning her face. She stretched her neck from one side to other and in one swift motion attacked Sam.

Sam was being very careful to not receive an attack from her. He kept dodging it. Every chance he got. He kept distancing himself, but Hailey would catch up immediately. It was like a cat fiddling with her prey, and Sam was being played between Hailey's paws and she was enjoying the slow spike of Sam's stressed heartbeat.

Her mania for fighting was showing on her face. As much as I hated to admit it, her abilities truly suited her wicked personality.

Sam was closing near the border and Hailey was leaving no chance for him to catch his breath. She came in raining hell on Sam with punches that formed bruises on his forearm. I knew one thing looking at their current position, Sam won't admit defeat yet as he was still weighing his options as this win would take him closer to becoming the Beta and also the other that Hailey won't push him out of the fighting zone. She was too involved in the fight to do that.

I saw Sam glance at the border and there was only one hope, that he stepped out of the area. And he chose to exit. The thought crossed his mind, and he waited for Hailey to push him out.

But Hailey held his wrist and swung him back inside.

Sam took a defensive stance, knowing what was coming next. The desire to run away was so heavy on his face, but like a fool, he held his ground despite that. If you have lost a fight inside your head, then you have lost it, then and there. Only a stroke of luck could save you then. And Sam had lost the fight the moment the thought about crossing the border had crossed his mind.

Hailey snickered with a bone-chilling sound, "too late, Sam. It might be fun clobbering your trembling self down"

Sam saw her bloodlust and was ready to raise his hand. He was about to quit and everyone wanted the same. But in a split second, Hailey covered the short distance between them. It was like the time had slowed and Hailey taunted Sam, who precipitated buckets in a second, eyes shifting to her sudden appearance. As he tried to outrun her speed, Hailey's fingers curled around the wrist of his hand, which was about to ask for surrender. She had touched him!

Sam opened his mouth to speak before the unfortunate turn of events, but Hailey landed a clean hit on his face. And then another and another. It was nothing less than a cruel mess.

Sam's face dripping blood and having had enough of it, Hailey let go of him. As if jeering him, giving hope to admit defeat just to return for another set of hits.

In mere seconds, she covered Sam with blood from top to bottom. Hailey wasn't letting him speak at all. Every time Sam opened his mouth, she would land a punch or kick, so only moans and whimpers escaped from his mouth. Mercilessly she held his forearm and the crack of bone resonated in the air, with silence brooding and only his scream playing a melody in Hailey's ears.

"Isn't that severe damage?" My voice shivered, wanting to find someone who could stop this.

"No, that is the problem," replied Arina with a frightened face and trembling lips, "Hailey has not yet inflicted any serious damage, everything is superficial or injuries that Elaine can heal. The fracture was too clean, Selene," She got up to look at Channing, "He should stop this fight"

Channing was watching with his fist clenched. There was so much anger for Hailey that was showing on his face, but she was yet to break the rules.

Still, the way Sam was getting manhandled had everyone who was watching concerned. There were so many gasps from the audience and so many people asking to stop the fight now, but Channing really couldn't interfere as no matter how grim it looked, Hailey's every move was calculated.

Hailey finally looked bored as she held Sam by his collar. He was panting frantically.

She said nothing. Sam simply raised his non fractured hand and Channing rushed inside the ring. Sam had surrendered and people from the pack went up to help him out of the area. Elaine rushed to heal his limp body, as Sam was almost on the verge of unconsciousness. Arina had not spared a second before rushing to his side, eyes holding back heavy tears.

Hailey turned to watch Sam, and then her sharp eyes turned at me. A drip of blood flowed down her forehead until it got derailed by her lashes. A smirk coated her lips as her cold eyes gawked at me. She worded with no sound and I understood it perfectly well, sending goosebumps through all over my body -

"You are next!"