Post by Anastasia Hayden on Jan 19, 2017 2:45:52 GMT -5
January 12th
What is this that stands before me? Anastasia looked over her reflection as she pulled down the collar of her shirt to see a portion of her discolored chest. And a quick pull up of her shirt to her bra revealed a completely purple bruise running up and down the right side of her body. The chops from Hanzo and the diving double foot stomp from Hutch left their marks on her. Getting dressed in the morning was a chore now, but breathing was too, so it didn’t bother her. She was just grateful she was spared another visit to a hospital. Or a jail cell.
Before leaving the restroom, she carefully put back on her black hoodie and slung her backpack on her left shoulder; doing anything to avoid putting the slightest amount pressure on her right side. When she got back to her booth, she pulled her wallet out of her bag and dropped enough money to cover her bill. No tip. As she made her exit, she passed by her waitress who greeted her with a smile and Anastasia disrespected her with a fake one. There was a twinge of smugness inside Ana at the fact that the smile on the waitress would disappear once she picked up Ana’s tab.
Life, for once, was stunningly on the up for Anastasia. She pulled down her sunglasses and put on her hood as she left the restaurant. Money wasn’t an issue for Ana anymore. She’d put her body on the line long enough to finally make a sustainable living from it. It certainly made the pain more bearable. And that was a reminder she needed as she pushed through the doors, embracing the cold wind that ached her body. Ohio, Canada, Massachusetts. All the same. But she reminded herself what it was all for: Money. And money was life. There was no room to grow complacent.
She thought back to her hotel room, the #FSociety High Roller Championship was resting at the edge of her bed. She was conflicted with it, on one hand, it represented everything she hated. But on the other, it offered her more opportunities. Opportunities to make sure that the cash flow never died so she could at least postpone her death for the foreseeable future. There was no arrogance to be found in winning it, but it was done. It was now the blessed burden she’d have to carry just like the Alpha Cup would be another scrap of metal with her name engraved into it.
All she was focused on was just advancing to the finals. That was her top priority in AWE. And she couldn’t afford to let it slip through her grasp. Especially given her opponent for the semi-final. Caroline O’Hara Burchill. She sighed, wincing in pain in the process. At this point, she’d lost count how many times their paths crossed. Mostly in the ring, but even outside of it, their lives were connected. Not directly, but they were both brought into the police station and then grilled with questions at the following Massacre. If anything, that should unite them against AWE and the management.
But it didn’t. Ego fueled them both. Ever since Ana accused Caroline of losing a tag match back in PAW, it’d just been a battle of one upmanship. Anastasia left PAW the Titans of Midway Champion while Caroline left earning a championship shot. But it’d never come. The Titans of Midway Championship did and even if Anastasia never got her win back in PAW, she left with her head held high. And that was supposed to be the end. She never imagined it carrying over into AWE.
Their paths were destined to be intertwined, but Anastasia was adamant about ending it for good. She sported a coy smile, she knew taking Caroline out of the Alpha Cup tournament would ruin her world. Good. “Fuck her”, Ana thought. There was no remorse, but there’d certainly be pleasure out of sending Caroline down the same path Anastasia herself was going down. That’d be a nice addition to winning the Alpha Cup. That’s just what Ana want-
“Fuck!”
Ana held onto her ribs on the right side of her body, doubling over in pain. The man who accidentally rammed his elbow into her side looked at her with a face of worry. He put his hand down on her shoulder.
“I’m so sorry...I wasn’t paying attention. Are you alright?”
The hit knocked the wind out of Ana and getting back into a steady rhythm of breathing was difficult. She didn’t have the ability to respond to him. Any time she’d try, he’d only receive a wheeze from her.
“Again, I’m really sorry.”
“I’m...fucking...fine.”
Each word exhaled out of Ana’s body with such venom as she pulled her shoulder away from the stranger. She met his gaze with pure hatred; a stare that spoke volumes as the man offered an apologetic smile before he continued on his way. Ana braced herself against a lamppost for a few seconds, trying to distract herself from the waves of pain shooting through her body. But nothing worked. Not thinking about money, thinking about the Alpha Cup, or beating Caroline. All she could think of was the pain.
And she realized she just kept lying to herself. No amount of money could fix her problems. The threat of poverty and being homeless was always going to be there. There was no such thing as too successful because you never know when that well runs drain. That was the fear that brought out the suffering. Propping herself back up from the post, she felt a few tears trailing down her face. Ana wiped her face, taking some relief in knowing her hotel was just a few more buildings away.
By the time she reached her hotel room, she was full on crying as the pain in her side refused to go away. She pulled down her hood and sunglasses, refusing to look at herself in the desk mirror. But in the chaos she created, something caught her off guard. Ana held it together long enough for her eyes to clear up and take notice of the bouquet of flowers placed on her bed. At the top, a note was tied around the flowers with string.
“Congrats on your wins. You did great.
I’m proud of you. See you soon?
- Bryan”
She placed the note down onto the bedside table and fell onto the bed. Pulling up the High Roller Championship from the edge of her bed, she clutched that and the bouquet tightly in her arms. The tears came back and the pain never left. She wanted it all to be gone. The scent of the flowers were almost enough.
But it’d never leave her. No gift would stop it. No championship or tournament victory would soothe it. No victory to put away Caroline Burchill would ease it. Life was suffering and if she wanted to embrace happiness, she’d have to die first. And unfortunately for her, death eluded her. The pact she had made with the reaper himself was over. Anastasia Hayden wanted normalcy.
The black silhouette would never leave her.
“One more round. One more round in the Alpha Cup tournament until I’m in the finals. But you know...with how everything has fallen into place...I’m suddenly not so concerned with winning the actual Alpha Cup. I mean, sure, I’d love to win it just to throw it away and show all the backstabbing fucks in AWE management what I think of their ‘prestigious’ tournament...but I’d really love to make an unforgettable moment instead. Sure, the image of the MVP of AWE holding the Alpha Cup above her head in triumph would be great, but it’s not the moment I’m talking about.”
“I’m getting this weird sense of deja vu...as if I’m entering a match I’ve already won. Granted, I get that feeling a lot. AWE has this tendency to throw their absolute worst at me and I pick them off like the easy prey they are. Just like Hanzo! Or Colgate..or...they all just sort of blend together now. But you get my point. This one is really bothering me. Like a thorn that’s been lodged into my side for months now.”
“Oh! That’s right! I’ve already won this match. When I embarrassed Caroline O’Hara Burchill on the first edition of Massacre! Everyone remembers that. Caroline gets a little pep talk from Thirteen, gets all motivated to come out and beat me...then she fucking failed. Like a coward, Caroline jumped me from the shadows and beat me down...then she lost. The ultimate advantage was given to her and she couldn’t capitalize on it. Oh, I almost pity her. And adding to it, she’s come all this way up through the Alpha Cup bracket only to meet the same result.”
“At this point, we’re practically sisters. We’ve fought, we’ve been locked up, and we’ve been interrogated over crimes we didn’t commit. See, Caroline, I knew you were innocent from the beginning when all of this Thirteen disappearance stuff started to jump up. I knew you were innocent because you lack the spine to actually do something worthwhile! You couldn’t get anything done in PAW, you couldn’t get anything done after PAW, and you certainly can’t get anything done now! So why would anyone in their right mind think you’d be capable of taking down Thirteen?”
“No...instead...you keep being a wrestler who is almost on the verge of being great, but you just CAN’T quite get there. And again, here you are. The Alpha Cup is right there for the taking...but you’d have to beat me. And you haven’t done that since PAW. Unfortunately for you, that was a different Anastasia Hayden back then. That was an Anastasia Hayden who didn’t have a purpose. Of course, you know that, but you only got a slight taste of that back at Massacre. You weren’t ready for the beating that’d make you contemplate retirement. With all the time we’ve had apart from each other, but our paths still crossing...I think you’ve earned the beatdown I’m going to give you.”
“There’s some pride to be found in all of this, Caroline. I at least know that when I embarrass you...you’ll put up a fight. You hit harder than a lot of the guys here and I almost respect that. Almost. But we’re warriors at the end of the day. And I’ll have no respect for you until the dirt is being dumped on your face. Given how things go at Massacre...that might just come sooner than expected. You got me into this Thirteen mess...you got me locked up and now you’re going to pay for it, Caroline.”
“I don’t care if I make it past this round. Embarrassing AWE is a secondary goal...my goal heading into Massacre is to make sure you don’t advance. I don’t care if you win...I just want to make sure you can’t make it to the finals. If you do make it to the finals, I’ll make sure you won’t win. I don’t care if I have to take you down with me, Caroline. I’m finishing this thing between us. All the mistakes I made last time, I’ll correct. You better do the same. Cause you see, Caroline...in the past, I’ve dealt with royalty and monarchs...and, ‘Killer Queen’, I’ve been told I’m pretty good at dethroning them.”
“I’m your ‘Monarch Killer’. And I will kill you, Caroline.”