They decided to start at the abandoned gas station. In Blue’s four years as a fighter that was the one location that was never raided. The frost had thawed in the morning sun, but it was still cold outside and they shivered in the car as they waited for it for warm up. They drove for a while until Blue stopped at a gas station to fill up and Chelsea went inside to get two coffees.
Inside, the gas station seemed lit in a strange yellow light. Everything seemed dreamy and far off to Chelsea. It was suddenly impossible for her to give things meaning. Her sister was currently kidnapped and she was drinking coffee; it didn’t seem right. It seemed indecent that she was enjoying normal pleasures like a cup of coffee while her sister was missing. It felt wrong to be able to enjoy something with the worry of someone else over her head. But at the same time it was the only thing she could do. Chelsea had to keep going if she was going to do her sister any good.
Chelsea brought her drinks up the counter, which was manned by a high school age girl. She had hair that was dyed black with stripes of green. She stared openly at Chelsea and then her eyes flicked to the newsstand and back. Chelsea wasn’t in the mood to explain to this girl where she was from so she dropped three dollars on the counter and told the girl to keep the change.
She handed Blue his coffee and they headed west towards the edge of town. It was still harvesting season and Blue went around slow-moving tractor trailers and feed trucks. Chelsea didn’t understand how people were getting up and going to work. Didn’t they understand what was happening around them? Innocent girls were being kidnapped and no one had any idea. As they became stuck behind another tractor Chelsea felt the urge to scream bubbling up within her, but Blue just took her hand and gave it a squeeze as he went around it.
They drove past the residential area and ended up in the farmlands. After that it was just rows and rows of potato fields as far as the eye could see. They were on a two-lane highway that was empty save for the occasional pick-up truck headed the other way. Harvesting season was coming to a close and they were surrounded by endless rows of empty dirt and lonely farms. There went miles without seeing another person or car and at times Chelsea felt like she and Blue were the only people left. Finally, Chelsea saw it on her right. The location of many a late night secret party. The gas prices remained forever frozen in time as the battered sign listed it for sale at a dollar eighty-eight a gallon and cigarettes were three dollars a pack.
The overhangs for the filling stations were still there, although loose canvas hung from the roof and flapped about in the wind. The filling stations had been knocked over and torn away years ago and the storefront was a hollowed out shell, all the windows and shelves longs since destroyed by bored teenagers.
Blue parked the car and together they stepped out into the parking lot. The asphalt was cracked and broken and tall weeds grew wherever they could. Chelsea looked around with a chill and pulled her scarf around her. Without a bonfire and music pouring from someone’s car the old gas station was depressed and a little scary.
“This way,” Blue said with a nod. He walked into the store and Chelsea followed, broken grass crackling under her feet as she walked.
They walked into the abandoned store and down one of the empty aisles. At the end was a large standing fridge, long since emptied of all its goods and even the wire racks that used to hold sodas and Gatorade. Chelsea looked at Blue in confusion as he walked over the refrigerator; what was she supposed to be looking at? But with a little effort he pushed the huge thing aside and Chelsea could see there was a wooden door with a simple brass knob.
Blue tried the knob, but it didn’t move. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a decent looking Swiss Army knife. He opened up a thin flat blade and slipped it between the jam and the door while Chelsea checked the road. After a few moments of fiddling there was satisfying click and with a loud whine the door swung open.
Blue held his hand out to hold Chelsea back as he peered down a black staircase. She was eager to see what was down there and she reached for her phone and pulled up her flashlight app, shining it down into the darkness.
“Stay here,” Blue said.
“What? No!” Chelsea argued. She wasn’t going to be some sidekick who sat in the car while all the real action happened. It was her sister who had been kidnapped and she didn’t want to endanger Blue in her search for Jamie.
“Chelsea, someone has definitely been following you. They could be following us; they could be watching us right now. If we both go down there, someone could sneak up on us and lock us down there. So you stay up here and shout if you see someone coming. I’ll go check it out down there. I don’t think I’ll see anything, anyway. The place looks quiet; it doesn’t look like anyone has been here in a long time.”
“What’s down there?” Chelsea asked, peering over his shoulder.
“It’s just a basement with a dirt floor.”
“Okay, I’ll go down and look then,” Chelsea said side stepping Blue.
“No, you’re not,” Blue said, grabbing her arm.
“Blue if someone is coming do you really think I can stop them? I’ll just get pushed down there and then we’ll both be stuck. If the danger isn’t down there, then I should go down and you should stay up here.”
“No-” Blue said, but it was too late.
She had her cellphone in her hand and she was hurrying down the stairs.
“Chelsea!” Blue called out, but she was already at the bottom of the stairs.
His voice echoed around her and Chelsea shivered in the chilly and dark basement. It felt about ten degrees colder down there than it did up in the store. “It’s fine,” she called up. “I’ll be right up, keep an eye out.”
“I can’t believe this...” she heard him mutter.
But she was already walking towards the back wall. Her phone shone a bright light and she watched where she stepped, but there was just a smooth dirt floor beneath her feet. The walls were made of cinder blocks and there was a bare bulb on the ceiling attached to a string. She pulled the string and a harsh light brightened the surprisingly small basement. In one corner she could see a circle that was lower than the rest and the dirt more firmly packed down.
It was the ring. Chelsea’s stomach dropped as she looked at it; the hard pack floor was in a corner so the fighters were penned in with two walls and the other side would have been packed with screaming men who had been watching the fight. They would have been trapped on that small patch of dirt fighting over nothing. She took a tentative step closer to it and she couldn’t help but cross herself. The whole place had an otherworldly horror to it; buried deep in the earth where sunlight couldn’t touch it, Chelsea could sense that this was a place of fear and darkness and evil.
She took another step down and then she was in the ring. It was small and even in the empty basement. Chelsea felt claustrophobic and trapped; she couldn’t imagine what it would be like if the basement was filled with people. Beneath her feet she saw the dark patches in the dirt. Leaning over to investigate, she reached out to touch the dark patches, but then she recoiled quickly. It was blood splattered on the dirt, and next to the dried blood were the white remains of a broken tooth. Chelsea shuddered and walked out of the pit. She looked around the basement, but there was nothing that was of any use to here; there were only a few beer cans in the corner and hundreds of cigarette butts on the floor, but no information and no evidence.
Chelsea hugged herself as she looked around the room. How many times had she sung along to music and drank beer in the spot right above this one? It felt wrong that this dungeon had been under her nose the entire time and she had never noticed. She couldn’t help the pang of guilt that rang through her; she had been having fun while beneath her men had been fighting for their lives. She pulled on the light switch enclosing herself in darkness and hurried up the stairs. As her foot hit the first step she had a sudden moment of panic. She needed to get out there. It was too dark and filled with too many memories. She sped up, running up the stairs, slamming the door behind her and throwing her arms around Blue, who hugged her tightly.
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” Chelsea said as she ordered herself not to cry. “It was just so horrible and scary. I can’t believe people really do this.”
“I know,” Blue said, running his hands up and down her back. “You didn’t see anything?”
“Just a lot of trash,” Chelsea said finally pulling herself away from Blue and wiping an errant tear away. “What were you hoping for?”
“I don’t know,” Blue said with a shrug looking out over the desolate building around them. “I’ve been out of the fights for so long, all my old contacts are gone. I guess I was hoping there would be someone here who could give us some information. Most of the guys who fight are homeless and desperate for cash. I thought we could give them some money in exchange for information, but there clearly isn’t anyone or anything here.”
“I’m sorry,” Chelsea said.
“Me too,” Blue answered.
“So what do we do now?”
Blue opened his mouth as if to speak and then closed it and looked away.
“What is it?” Chelsea demanded. “Tell me, Blue. I can handle it.”
“I know a guy who used to train fighters,” Blue said. “I fought against a lot of his guys. I know where he is and he might know more about the upcoming fight. But he might not like me, since none of his guys ever beat me. It’s dangerous, Chelsea, and I can’t put you in the middle of that.”
“Blue, I told you, I can handle myself. I’m not going to let you go alone. Besides, I can be pretty charming. You might have better luck with me there,” Chelsea said.
“Fine,” Blue agreed with a nod.
A half an hour later they were in front of Gary’s Gym. It was housed in an old brick building on the bad side of town. There was a bar on one side and a pawn shop on the other. The sign in front of the building was a chipped and faded pair of boxing gloves with the hours stenciled onto the front.
Blue pushed open the door, the jangle of bells announcing their presence as Chelsea followed inside. The gym was bright and filled with blue mats and red punching bags and gloves. It smelled like rubber and sweat and it was a little warmer than an average gym. There were a few men lifting weights and a few others sparring, but overall the place had an outdated feel to it. You could tell the good days for Gary’s Gym had passed quite a while ago.
“Can I help you?” a girl from behind the counter asked. They turned around to face her and Chelsea’s face screwed up a little. The girl looked so familiar, how did Chelsea know her? “Chelsea Riley?”
“Theresa!” Chelsea said, suddenly remembering at the right moment. “We had the English and biology together.”
“I can’t believe you’re really back in town! I keep telling everyone I know you. It’s crazy to see someone you know in the magazines as you’re checking out at the grocery store, you know?”
“Yeah, thanks,” Chelsea said. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, this is my uncle’s gym. I’m working here while I go to nursing school.”
“Is your Uncle Gary around?” Blue cut in.
“Yeah, he’s in the back,” Theresa said, pointing behind her. She gave a suspicious look at Blue.
Chelsea smiled and asked, “could you get him? Blue really wants to talk to him and in the meantime we could catch up!”
“Yeah!” Theresa said. “OMG, I’m gonna take so many selfies!”
“Awesome,” Chelsea said, her mouth straining from smiling so much. Theresa disappeared behind a door and Chelsea looked at Blue and said, “try and make it quick.”