“Things are changing”
“Is that such a bad thing?”
“Yes. When things change....things burn.”
“Not all the time. Trust me”
“Things are too good now I don’t want it to burn”
“It won’t baby, open your eyes”
“I shook his hand. We were standing there after the win. We shook hands”
“I know, its okay. I am with you, open your eyes”
Karina opens her eyes to the morning light. She sits up in bed. The mattress is on the floor of the loft. What was once a storage space filled with rotten crates has turned into a living space. The floors have been swept and while the bed is not off the floor there are pillows and sheets. There is even a dresser and a small table to cook the food made on the hot plate.
Karina rises from the bed wearing an oversized purple t-shirt. She moves through the space looking at the little touches that Loki insisted on like flowers on the table and a painting of the mountains of Romania. She touches the edge of the painting and heads to the latter downstairs.
The rest of the warehouse has not change much. Big open spaces with a training mat, exercise equipment, and the wall of monitors. Many of the broken screens have been replaced. Karina grabs a bottle of water from her fridge and goes to the monitors. She sets it up to have each screen show he Bombshell title match against Amanda Cortez. She stands before the monitors and watches the match.
“Change is good.” she mutters to herself and turns to the training area. The match still keeps getting played as Karina starts her morning workout.
**********************************************************************************
The cameras return to the warehouse but it is now night. Karina stands on the rooftop next to a metal barrel that has a large fire raging inside of it. Many of these barrels are set up on the roof and all of them have fire raging. It lights up the Romanians face in golden glow.
Karina: I am not a big fan of fire. I never have been. When I was younger girl I saw things in the forest, spoke to them and people started to say I was touched with Sight. Thankfully I am born now da? where the worse that could happen is the look at you funny or lock you up in loony bin. But people like me have a bad history with fire. Fire not only burns but changes everything it touches.
There is fire inside of me. It has been there as long as the Sight. I see things and I destroy things. That is how it works. I hate the fire but I can’t make it go away. it burns a little and sometimes it burns everything.
Karina looks at the fire closest to her. She stares into the flames.
Karina: Amanda Cortez has made the mistake of thinking she has faced me before. She thinks that we met in that six sided ring and she just barely survived with the win. That is truth to her. For Cortez things are simple. She is a decent fighter who thinks most of what we do is a joke. She is a former champion desperate to be relevant and hoping people think she is cute. If I fight this girl six months from she is the same....nothing changes.
Karina warms her hand on the fire and manages a small smile looking beyond the camera. She appears to be listening to something for a moment.
Karina: I am not the same woman I was when you met me last in the ring. I have lived a few lives since then. The fire has changed me and rebuilt me. The last time we met I almost beat you and I have been watching you Cortez. Your game hasn’t changed and this time I will hit you harder. I will find your weakest points and strike.
And then I will tag in my partner...and we are partners. It is not like your team, where that poor American fool follows you around like puppy. This match is ours and when we advance to the next round our business will be done. I may not like the fire inside of me but I will use it to burn you.
Karina takes one more look at the fire, reaches her hand out for Loki who only a select few can see. Then she walks away.
