Failure; a lack of success. A defeat. A loss. A fork in the road on one’s journey to victory, triumph. A setback. The beginning of the end. Dramatic isn’t it? Evie wasn’t one for hysterics, she knew facing Alicia Lukas two weeks before facing Andrea for the Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Championship was going to be tough. She knew facing Alicia Lukas, on her journey for payback on Bobbie was going to be testing and when the dust settled and the match was counted, Alicia Lukas walked away with the victory. It wasn’t the loss to Alicia that had Evie crawling in her skin, it was the fact she knew Andrea would be chomping at the bit, salivating at the chance to rub salt into the gaping wound. Evie knew that current Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Champion would be hula hooping with excitement knowing that Evie now had a massive dark cloud storming above her head.
And boy was it pouring…
The undefeated streak of 2020 for Evie Luna Jordan was over, which was tragic. I mean what a way for history to repeat itself for the young Australian. Although after all, last week might have been the week from hell for Evie as the Devil tried to test her. It’s just such a damn shame he had forgotten who forged the walls of his home, just so she could call it her own private wonderland. So, Andrea before you beat your chest claiming dominance, it would be wise to check the stats… losing to Alicia Lukas doesn’t mean much when it comes to facing you, because let’s be honest Alicia could easily say she has been there and done the same to you.
Grey skies are going to clear up and between you and me Andrea, a focused Evie is a dangerous Evie and nothing and I mean NOTHING puts Evie’s motivation back on track like an untimely loss. The fight for your Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Championship isn’t over… this isn’t a count out and believe me, when I say this… when Evie gets knocked down, she comes back swinging. You see the Devil doesn’t keep her down for long, because even he can’t stand her.
Losing to Alicia was half the battle before Evie had to step foot inside the ring and face you at Into the Void, it was a wakeup call she desperately needed. Her loss to Alicia was a timely souvenir to remind herself that nothing worth having comes easy in this game and nothing worth having comes free. Evie learnt her lesson last Sunday night, that nothing is a shoo in, nothing is guaranteed, nothing is easy… if you want to be at the top you need to work for it. You need to be ready, willing, and able to go to war and lucky for Evie on the world stage of history, it’s a kind reminder in itself that…
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it” – Some bird called Margaret Thatcher.
So, Andrea as you watch down over Evie from your ivory tower, living in your fairy-tale moment thinking that life is going to be easy breezy for you at Into the Void… let me remind you just who you’re going toe to toe with at Into the Void IX. A former Sin City Wrestling Tag Team Champion, a former Sin City Wrestling Bombshell Roulette Champion, A former Future Star of the Year Winner 2016, A Future Woman of the Year Winner 2017… a former Sin City Wrestling Bombshell Champion… the first EVER student of the GO Gym… the first EVER three time finalist of the Blast from the Past Tournament… the first EVER two time winner and if you’re ready to disregard all of that and throw that all away because of one loss to Alicia Lukas… THE Alicia Lukas… than God obviously didn’t give you your eyes for looking.
It would be too easy to see her loss as a weakness, but if you really had the chance you’d look into it and see the loss for what it is… a reality check, a much needed reality check.
Andrea your journey at Into the Void IX won’t be easy, so maybe, just maybe you give your mouth a rest from running and maybe, just maybe, you need to start looking at a smart and strategic game plan. As the Evie you will be facing at Into the Void IX won’t be coming in with old wounds, she won’t be nursing a bruised ego, she won’t be harboring the pain of defeat, she’ll be wielding it and trust me… you’ll be needing a shield wall to strengthen your defenses. The hunter in Evie can smell blood and even though it’s her own, it won’t weaken her, it won’t discourage her and it sure as hell won’t blind her from what she needs to do.
And, what Evie needs to do… is simply beat you, Andrea.
At Into the Void IX, the wrestling world will witness the battle between the reigning and defending Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Champion Andrea Hernandez and the Tournament Winning Evie Jordan lock horns. The match itself has already been gifted the highly fought after main event time slot, meaning all the girls had left to do was tear down the walls and end the daily event, deep in the hours of the night with an appropriate send off. Only time would tell who would crumple, only time would show who in fact would be crowned the Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Champion… at the end of the night there would be success and crippling failure and well...
All good things must come to an end…
And bad luck doesn’t last forever.
Into the Void IX will forever mark a new chapter for either Evie or Andrea and the only thing that was keeping it from being told was time… the countdown was now on, the sand running through the hour glass, the clock striking midnight if you will and in two weeks’ time only one of them would be living the dream, while the other nursed cold hard facts of reality.
Success doesn’t come cheap, but failure is far from priceless.
But for right now, Evie had a whole other world of hurt conquering her and for the Aussie to get her head fully into the game that is Into the Void IX she had to face some demons back home. If there was any way she was going to have her mind on the night of nights heading into, Into the Void she was going to have to address another loss… this one more haunting, this one more personal.
##
Now would be a wonderful time for you to skip over to Ben Jordan’s promotional video for the week or otherwise you’re going to be mighty confused and wonder how on earth Evie managed to teleport from Vegas to Bar Harbor? Spoiler alert, the Jordan’s own a Jet. All caught up? Great now let’s goooo.
Evie hadn’t had the chance to tell Ben that she was grateful for him pulling some strings and being able to get her home. She needed to get away from the Saxon Hotel, she needed to be away from her wrestling “family” away from the chaos… she needed to be centered, she needed time to heal and the only place that made sense to the both of them right now was Bar Harbor. As soon as the wheels hit the tarmac, Evie was up on her feet, her overnight bag packed and slung over her shoulder as she stormed towards the door. She was anxious and waiting for the ground crew to come around and give the flight crew the all clear to disembark felt like eternity. Evie could hear Ben fumbling around gathering his things behind her, as Bear stood by her side eager for the plane door to peel open so they could touch the soles of their feet back on solid ground.
The doors peeled back and soon enough the cool crisp air that felt like home greeted Evie like a blissful slap to the face. Evie didn’t turn around to check on Ben, she knew he would be right behind her. He wasn’t stupid he knew his wife’s thoughts weren’t on him right now as all she wanted to do was get home and every second that ticked past, was enough to count her down. As if she was a block of C4, her emotions were a time bomb just ticking away out of her control.
Ben had overtaken her as they moved across the tarmac with speed, his mission was to make sure Evie wasn’t the one driving. Ben knew the 45 minutes would feel like a lifetime for her, but he needed to make sure they both got home in time safely or this whole mission would have been for nothing. As Evie was going to fire up and snatch the keys from his hand, Ben unlocked the car and pounced into the driver’s seat. In happier time he would have poked his tongue of out her, even as he struggled to throw his bag over into the back seat of their Mercedes. Bear waited for Evie to open the door before he jumped in, she made sure he was clicked into his harness as the last thing she wanted was for Bear to be injured in a car accident, even if her husband was only pushing 10 miles under every speed limit through the streets of Bar Harbor.
The next 45 minutes of her life felt like eternally, every pothole Ben encountered felt like a crater, every speed bump felt like a mountain, everything was irritating her. All Evie wanted to do was get home, she needed to be home and every red light had her staring down the reality that she wasn’t going to make it home in time to see her precious pet snake. Kitten, this was all for Kitten and Evie couldn’t keep her mind from ticking over about her wellbeing. Even if Evie were directing her sighs of impatience towards her husband’s driving, she couldn’t hide the fact who she was really mad at. It was herself. Evie had travelled the world with Kitten and the first time in a long time she had left her in the competent hands of her best friend and now the Devil was trying to test her. The world was showing her that she wasn’t capable of being a mother and once again Mother Nature was here to prove it.
It must have sounded ridiculous that they would abscond lockdown, jet across the country, put their massive title matches on the line at Into the Void IX for a snake, but the frankness of the situation was Kitten wasn’t just a danger noodle of scales and poison. She was family and there wasn’t anything on God’s green earth that would have stopped Evie from making her way back to her. The thoughts of prison breaking the Hotel ran rampant through her mind, yet she was lucky enough to have a Husband like Ben who was willing to risk it all just to keep her happy. Right now, her “daughter” needed her and for a woman who couldn’t give birth her own children, she really had replaced her loss for human children with her two animal children. You could say what you liked about Evie hightailing it across the country after a loss at Climax Control, but it simply wouldn’t be wise… right now she was aching, right now she was blaming herself and right now she was teetering, walking a fine line between sanity and insanity. Loss was something Evie was all too familiar with, Ben knew that since day one but even he couldn’t remember a time where he looked over and saw her in this light.
Evie was pale, her long black brown hair stuck to her skin in a fuzzy mess as she refused to brush it after washing it. She wasn’t dressed the same, she normally held herself in such a high regard when it came to wearing appropriate and fancy expensive clothes especially whilst she was at work. However, backstage at SCU show Evie had pulled together a less than flattering look of a pair of blue ripped jeans, and one of Ben’s Red Dead Redemption T-shirts. She didn’t even try and cute it up, she just let it hang off her body like she was a rail thin model, or in her words a walking coat hanger. Ben noticed that his wife’s eyes were glassy as she looked outside the passenger side window, praying this trip would hurry up and fortunately for her they were just seconds off from turning into their driveway. Little lights lit up along their long driveway, as the lights inside their house started to illuminate the closer the car rolled towards the garage. Evie had them installed on the property after Ben made the purchase, she didn’t spend a lifetime in the crime industry to have her own home broken into. Every inch of their land was covered by either a camera or a motion detector. There was no way someone with enemies like hers, would Evie allow her family to be sitting ducks in a time or revenge.
The wheels had barely come to a halt, before Ben could say anything to his wife, he watched her unclip her seatbelt, open the door, and she was gone. Racing towards their front door as she fumbled with her keys that were in her right hand. Evie usually loved listening to her feet move across the crushed rocks that lead up towards their front door, but she didn’t have time to feel home sick, she didn’t have time to let this glorious moment of coming home after months away sink in. Right now, she was needed elsewhere and the fact she was rummaging around with her keys was driving her insane. Her pure white teeth gnashed together as she bit back a scream, she just wanted to be inside and as she finally put her key into the lock and turned it, she almost fell into the entranceway as her speed forced her into her house as quickly as she could. She disregarded the no shoes on the pristine wooden floorboards as she left her keys hanging in the lock on the front door. All regard for safety was thrown into the wind, as Evie was fighting with time and right now, she knew she didn’t have a lot more left to waste.
As she stormed her way through her house. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she blazed her way through the living room, the formal dining room before she rushed down a small flight of steps to hit the lower level of their house. It wasn’t a two-story home, but it had step ups and step downs to create the allure of molding into the forestry that surrounded their house. It was a marvel by day and even more breathtaking at night but Evie didn’t have time to admire her home that she had missed, she didn’t have time to take in the peace and quiet because the only noise she could hear was her heart beating in her chest and yet she felt the thuds radiate through her body as if it was taunting her. It was as if a whole ensemble of drums were being played as she pushed opened Kitten’s “bedroom” doors.
The light flicked on above her head by a sensor, but it didn’t matter Evie could look across the room in the pitch black of the wee hours of the morning and see the soft glow coming from Kitten’s enclosure. Her green eyes searched the tank as she made her way closer towards it, her hands instantly reaching up as if by instinct alone, she unhinged the glass door not wanting to waste a single moment with her daughter, not wanting her to leave this world without her in her arms. Evie flicked the door open, her hands reaching in as she scooped up her prized possession, she brought Kitten up to her face. She could feel the shallowness of her breaths, she could see the discoloration of her scales, she had lost her beautiful shine, her pristine glow, and her normally piercingly black eyes were cloudy as small bubbles of foam gathered around her mouth that burst as soon as the air touched them.
It wasn’t uncommon for snakes to get sick, but Evie couldn’t wrap her head around what had happened? Even though she wasn’t home everything to do with her house she was able to see on her phone. Evie could control the weather in Kitten’s enclosure, she could change the season with a simple click of a button. She could run more water into her drinking bowl, she could top up the small pool that Kitten enjoyed to sit in from time to time to bathe. Evie could release small pebble sized frozen meat chunks into the giant amazon style forest set up to top up Kitten’s food intake. All Calista had to do a few times a week was remove Kitten from the enclosure and reward her with some real time in the sun, while the state of the art tank self-cleaned removing all the snake gunk that would build up from time to time. The only thing she could think of was Kitten’s live diet, well that was the only explanation the Vet had given Calista when he came out for a house call. It wasn’t uncommon for live rats to be baited just before sale and without the pet owner’s knowledge they were fed to reptiles, who in turn would digest the poison leading to sickness and sometimes even death. Evie had heard stories from other states of dodgy Vets who supplied live baited food to clients who had reptiles and when things started to go pear shape, who would the clients take their lizards and snakes to for treatment? The Vets. It was a convenient little money cycle, but Evie couldn’t wrap her head around it since living in Maine they had purchased Kitten’s food through a reputable reptile pet shop and the thought of her daughter being poisoned in a dangerous game of cat and mouse had her blood boiling. Either way, it would be something Evie would investigate at a later date, but right now her attention shifted back down to her beautiful jet-black python.
Kitten coiled at the touch of Evie’s hands as she gathered as much of her strength, she had left to wrap herself around Evie’s right arm. It was her second favourite place to call home on Evie’s body the first was around her neck and shoulders but she couldn’t mustered the strength to slither up her arm and nestle into her neck, loving the warmth that it gave her. Evie looked down at Kitten, tears already falling from her eyes as she looked down at her helpless. Evie truly believed that she could feel Kitten’s heartbeat at times, when she wrapped herself around her, when they were both still enough, she felt every scale twitch as the nerves inside her body reacted to the sensations around her. Kitten’s scales were extremely sensitive to being touched, that’s why she only responded well with certain people, when being handled. Walking away from Kitten’s enclosure Evie made her way over towards a large brown armchair that she often sat in to read or watch Kitten play, eat, climb, hell even sleep for hours when she was at home.
The light beside the chair flickered a little before it came to life, lighting up Kitten’s body that was loosely wrapped around Evie’s right arm. Reaching across Evie stroked her, running her hands along the back of her head towards her tail, running her strokes in the same direction of her scale growth. The last thing she wanted was for her to feel like someone was pulling back on her scales, Evie knew that must have felt as if someone was trying her pull her scales back as she had read somewhere that if you pet your snake the wrong way it felt as if you were bending your own fingernails back. She knew that horror all too well, so to comfort her daughter she made sure she lifted her hand up before returning to the back of her head to stroke her fingertips down her spine once more, repeating the motion over and over again to soothe her.
“My baby.” Evie whispered towards her. “This is all my fault.” Her voice trembled.
Evie could feel her bottom lip quivering as she looked down at her pet snake, her eyes refusing to blink not wanting to miss another moment with her. Of course, she blamed herself, she wasn’t home to take care of her and now after months of going without each other, here she was just shy of being a beautiful black sphere of scales in lifeless ball, melting around her arm.
“I’m so sorry.” Evie’s voice squeaked, pain laced deep within her tone.
Her eyes tingled as they burned from the feeling of tears welling at the bottom of her eyes. Evie’s throat was dry, so dry she could barely swallow as the pits of her stomach begged for moisture. Her usually steady hands shivered as her body wrestled with an overhaul of emotions. Anger, misery, emptiness all playing their part as her body and mind refused to work as one, in this time of comfort for Kitten all Evie wanted to do was be there for her, but in her blind rage all she craved was to run rivers red with revenge. She blamed Ben for bringing her back to Sin City Wrestling, she blamed Calista who was meant to be looking after her, she blamed the man that provided her live bait, she blamed the idiotic man that ate a bat but more importantly, she blamed herself.
It wasn’t Ben’s fault, it wasn’t Calista’s fault, but it was her fault, the blame was solely on Evie. She had neglected her, after all their years together Evie had never left Kitten behind, she had flown her all around the world, from Australia to Russia, France to Cuba, the United Kingdom to the United States. Wherever they travelled as a family they travelled together and the one time she hadn’t taken Kitten along for the ride, is the one time that would turn out to be the final time. The absurd motion of Kitten dying from a broken heart played with Evie’s mind and she couldn’t help but play into it. She gave into that theory and the more it frolicked with her senses the more she started to believe it. As Evie started to rock back and forth in the ultra-modern rocking chair, she let her mind drift back to the first time she had laid eyes on Kitten.
##
All of a sudden it was the summer of 2010, five years before Evie and Ben had crossed paths. Evie was dressed head to toe in black, in the middle of a blazing hot summer’s night. It didn’t matter though she had a job to do and if one thing was for sure this mission required her to get in and out quickly. Evie was standing outside a large white mansion, that sat proudly on top of a grassy hill, the place was lit up like a Christmas tree as guest’s cars littered the winding driveways and inside a party was alive and booming. The task was simple, sneak into the party, open the vault and leave with everything that was inside. The treasure that had been promised to Evie and her team, was worth millions. Cash, diamonds, gold bars, fake passports, and a haul of rare emeralds that had just been plucked from the earth’s soil in Colombia. Three pristine stones with street value of three million pounds a carat. Evie didn’t envy the rich and famous, after all without the cats there would be no cream and Evie made a living off the cream thanks to the ridiculously wealthy men and women in this world. It was going to be an awful night for Mr. Kevin Saunders, CEO of phony kickstart company, who laundered money for his other occupation, international drug dealer. However, for Evie it’s was going to be a moment a greatness, a night she would never forget because when she pulled this job off, this would go down in history for one of her teams, largest hits.
“Alright, Polly.” Evie whispered into her earpiece. “I’m in position.”
Polly of course was the code name for her best friend, who was a mile away locked in a black van away from the hustle and bustle of being in the field. However some may argue that Calista’s job was the hardest and scariest of them all as she was their overwatch, who looked down from a far but continued to keep a watchful eye over Evie when she was playing cat woman in the middle of the night.
“Green.” Calista whispered back. “Code green, on your way Kitten.” She chuckled.
Evie screwed up her nose at the random names Calista used to call her over the coms, but she didn’t have time to argue it right now she was in the middle of a job. Like a shadow in the night Evie moved across the lit up front yard of the white mansion, without being detected before she slipped her way around the back of the house. Every move she made was being watched by Calista as a small drone buzzed over her and her highly intelligent best friend had managed to hack into poor Mr. Saunders security system, making breaking in almost too much of a breeze.
As Evie slipped into the house, via picking the lock on a small basement door and she was finally at work. She didn’t waste her time as she wiggled her way into the one of the air vents of the house that controlled the air-conditioning and like clockwork, she made snaking her way through the tight vents look easy. It didn’t take the young Australian long to navigate the worm like tunnels around the home that were housed behind the walls. Evie could hear the music thumping through the metal vents, the piercing sound tearing at her ear drums but she couldn’t let the pain stop her, she couldn’t let the feeling of burst ear drums ruin her team’s hard work that had taken her team months to put this plan together.
“There should be a drop coming up on your left” Calista whispered. “That’s the path down to his underground cellar… you need to drop down and at the bottom there will be a hatch… its password guarded but I’ve got you.” She spoke calmly. “You need to be quiet.” She reminded Evie.
Evie just rolled her eyes she hated being told things like she was a little girl. She had been training for job like this basically since birth. Evie snaked down the vent and found the drop, she followed Calista’s instructions and quickly and quietly slipped down the drop, using her hands and feet to stop her from falling with a massive thud. Evie knew this part of the house would be protective by world class motion detectors and the last thing she needed to do was set off all of the alarms and alert Mr. Saunders of her arrival. As soon as Evie reached the bottom of the vent the bottom popped opened and without warning she was dangling, holding on for dear life waiting for Calista to do her job.
“Kill the senses Polly.” Evie ordered.
“Hold your horses.” She bit back as she based away at her keyboard. “Alright, they are killed but we have five minutes to get into the safe and be out of the safe… before the backup alarm alerts.” Calista advised.
“Five minutes?” Evie questioned. “You said I would have ten?” she was angry, from the extra stress put on this situation.
“Well things change, so you know… quick like a bunny.” Calista urged her on.
Evie dropped down the floor, moving across the marble tiles with ease as she rushed over towards the safe making sure she didn’t knock over any of the expensive statues that littered the room almost like they were obstacles she had to weave through to get to the prize at the end. Reaching the safe, Evie reached up and made light work with the dial and she spun it round and round, her ear pressed up against the door listening for the bolts to click into the place once she had hit the correct number. As soon as she cracked the safe her attention was shifted from the voice inside her ear.
“Four minutes, Kitten... make it work.” Calista guided her.
Evie just rolled her eyes, as she pushed open the heavy door, opening the safe to show off a wonderland filled with priceless jewels, cash, gold everything the glimmered and shined. She didn’t waste a single second as she opened up her backpack sweeping all she could into her bag. She made sure get got the emeralds, followed by the diamonds, followed by the gold bars and a much cash as her duffel bag could carry.
“Three minutes.” Calista barked down her ear.
That’s when her eyes laid on her for the first time. In the back of the safe there was a small jam jar and inside was black python shoved inside with only a pin hole in the lid, allowing her to gasp for air as it was well positioned under the air vent in the safe that kept the air circulating keeping the stacks of money in crisp condition.
“Two minutes, Kit you need to hurry up.” Calista reminded Evie.
Evie was looking at the snake, who in return was looking at her. She couldn’t understand why someone would treat a living creature this way. The Aussie sighed as she went to close the safe and get out of there before the sounds of the alarms rained down on her parade, but as she moved the heavy door, a light shown into the safe highlighting the jar. She couldn’t help herself, the thought of closing the safe back up and leaving the snake crushed up, unable to move in a jar, didn’t sit well with Evie. Starved of a second thought Evie reached into the safe, grabbing for the bottle frantically before she rushed to close the safe door in time and make her way across the room.
“One minute, GET OUT OF THERE KITTEN” Calista screamed. “I won’t be able to help you if his second wave of defense kicks in. HURRY.” She demanded.
There was no way on God’s little green earth was Evie going to get caught doing her job, she had gotten away with murder before a break in like this should have been a piece of cake. She pushed her way across the room, making her way back to the vent, one handed she reached up and tried to pull herself up into the vent but she couldn’t carry her weight plus the weight of her backpack, while juggling a jar with a live snake hissing towards her. Panic would have set in for most but Evie just took a deep breath in before she took off the bag and tossed it up into the vent, it made a slight thud sound as it collided with the metal but she would deal with that if she needed to. Right now, she had about twenty seconds to pull herself back into the shaft, she did so with ease before twisting back around and pulling the open hatch of the vent back closed. Just in the nick of time as well as the locking sound clicked in, two seconds before Calista reset the isolated security system in the cellar.
“That was way too close, what took you so long?” Calista asked.
Evie from her position inside the air-conditioning vent, pushed the bag along in front of her as she crawled along her belly carrying a snake filled jar with a proud smile on her face.
“I picked up a little something extra.” Evie beamed, with excitement. “I think I’m going to call her Kitten… you know to be sentimental and shit.” Evie quietly laughed to herself.
Evie’s green eyes held a gaze with Kitten’s who was cramped up inside the glass jar, the alluring look in her eyes were almost begging Evie to let her out, so she could taste freedom. The rest as they say was history, but that day was the first day in a very long journey of Evie and her rescue pet snake. Now some may say she was stolen, but let’s not bring logics into this. In Evie’s heart she knew that she had saved Kitten that day from a long drawn out painful death and to her that was good enough to justify her actions.
##
We were back in 2020 and as Evie looked down at her precious pet snake, she noticed that she couldn’t feel her shallow gasps for air. The bubbles around her mouth had stopped forming and there was a peaceful stillness over her body. Kitten was gone and there was nothing Evie could do to bring her back. A ten-year relationship had drawn to a close in what felt like two minutes. Evie had missed the presence of Ben being in the room halfway through her flashback, she had missed that he had moved across the room and was by her side. It wasn’t until he reached over and grabbed her left arm, giving it a soft squeeze. Evie didn’t have to say a single word, Ben already knew that Kitten had passed over into the next life. A pin could drop it was so silent in her room, Evie turned to look at Ben her bottom lip squirmed as she tried desperately to hold it all in, to hold it together but she couldn’t. She couldn’t be tough, she couldn’t be strong… she was heartbroken. It felt as if a massive hole was now gasping for air inside of her, anxiously trying to remind her that she was still alive, she still needed to breathe.
Ben reached out to hold her, bringing her to her feet he felt her weight shift as she collapsed into him and the next sound that left her lips, broke him. It was a cry that only true despair could tell, only a person who had suffered true loss could produce, his wife was broken. Bear rushed to the doorway to see what was going on, before he hurried over towards them sitting by their side trying to protect his family at all cost. As Evie wept in Ben’s arms, hysterically, violently, breathlessly. Ben brushed her long hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ears as he tried to look into her eyes, but Evie had her eyelids closed trying to withhold the tears that so painfully slid down her face. Two wet strips racing down towards her chin, being fueled, and propelled by unconceivable loss. Evie just held onto Kitten who was still wrapped around her arm, but she felt she couldn’t stand on her own two feet, as she slammed her forehead into Ben’s chest as he took her back into his arms.
Calista had let Ben know she wouldn’t be here for this she knew what Evie was like when she was mourning and the more people around her the more uncontrollable, she got. Right now, all Ben could do was hold his wife, delicately as his lifeless pet snake was still wrapped loosely around his wife’s arm as she cradled her. All Ben could do was rest his chin on the top of Evie’s head and try and soothe her as he ran his hands up and down her back. All he could do was listen to the heart breaking, harrowing sounds of his wife sobbing uncontrollably in his arms. He knew there were no words he could speak right now that would comfort her, he knew there was no way he could help her all he could offer was a shoulder to cry on and somewhere to feel safe and warm. Ben closed his eyes, as he held Evie in his arms and he himself couldn’t help to shed a tear, it wasn’t the loss of the pet snake that got him he didn’t overly have a strong bond with Kitten. It was the sound of his wife’s pain exploding from her body in a way he had never witnessed that had caught him, breaking his heart into a million pieces as he just held her trying to keep her together when he knew deep down inside she was falling apart.
##
It was the night before deadline for week one’s match build ups and still Evie hadn’t submitted her work, her mind had been a million places this week and inside the world famous six-sided Sin City Wrestling ring wasn’t one of them. She normally took great pride in her set up, making sure it was dark and edgy, and making sure her work was fine lined and polished so Evie could set herself aside from the rest of the Bombshell’s in Sin City Wrestling. This week she didn’t have that luxury for the war games she was playing with herself had crippled any desire to showboat this week, but never the less she had to deliver a message to Andrea Hernandez after all in two weeks’ time on Sunday she would be fighting for her claim to the Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Championship, she couldn’t just allow Andrea to walk away without a fight.
It was just on the cusp of nighttime, as the sun slipped down towards the horizon looking to settle in for the night. Yet, it was that strange time of day in Bar Harbor where the sun and moon struggled for the sky’s attention. As stars started to twinkle to the east, the sun was saying it last goodbyes to in the west. The clouds glowing with vibrant reds, over the water district. The camera panned away from the sunset and back towards what appeared to be an empty tarmac, no planes were in sight but only a figure of a woman standing in the distance. It was Evie Jordan, she was wearing all black from head to toe. Black tight ripped jeans, a black extra tight halter neck shirt around her neck a twinkle could be seen from the massive five carat diamond Ben had purchased her late last year for Christmas. It caught the cameras attention as it sparkled in the last display of today’s light show. Her long black brown hair was down and out, styled with effortless curls, blowing in the breeze as she tucked a few stray strands behind her right ear keeping it out of her perfectly winged eye lined eyes. Evie kept her face in the shadows, not wanting to show off her eyes that were still revealing the markers of the sadness she had uncounted this week. She waited for the signal and once the cameraman gave her the go ahead, her blood red lips parted, and she was on her way.
“Andrea… Andrea… Andrea…” Evie kicked off in her traditional way. “The current Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Champion. The Angel that gathered her wings at Blaze of Glory twenty-twenty and since then she hasn’t stopped, not once, not at all telling the world about her struggles to get there. I think it’s cute that you think people care about your backstory, I think it’s cute that you think people care that it took you a long arse time to get to where you are today. I think it’s adorable that you think it’s important to tell the world that you had to bite, kick, punch and drag yourself up the mountain, because you knew one day.” Evie paused. “You knew in your heart that one day you’ll be good enough to call yourself the top tier champion, you knew that one day, you’ll be able to look down at all your haters and from great heights and you would get the last laugh.” Evie chuckled.
Her tongue rolled over her pure white teeth that beamed between her blood red lips, Evie couldn’t help herself at times and had often been compared to be more animalistic than human when she found a bone she felt she had to pick with her competition.
“It’s cute that you think your rise to the top holds more of a candle to anyone else’s in this business. I think it’s cute that you’re that vain, that you think you have had the hardest journey to the top, just because it took you five long years to get here. No one cares about how long the journey takes, no one cares if it happens in a blink of an eye or in five bone crushing long years… what people ultimately care about is what you do with your championship reigns once you grasp on to it.” She paused again letting those words sink in. “And so far on that defense, you’re coming up a little empty handed.” She rolled her eyes. “Since Blaze of Glory you have stepped forward and put your title on the line how many times exactly? Once to Christina Rose and even though you were successful… what did you do after your first one? Did you go out looking for competition? Did you bust your hump looking for someone to face you? Or did you figure you would just do the obvious and slip into obscurity and avoid poking any bears so you could sit on your perch a little longer? I mean the will to be a champion has always been in your blood and yet the moment since becoming the top champion in Sin City Wrestling, you haven’t engaged, you have provoked a fight… you figured you would waste your time flipping your opinions of people like coins.”
The painstakingly sarcastic smile was plastered all over Evie’s face as she looked towards the camera, her full face still wasn’t seen by the camera’s lens, but she was doing her best to stay in the shadows of the night for now.
“You stand there week in and week out and want to talk to me about empty voids and yet, it’s is you who has it all but still you can’t find your feet, if it weren’t for standing still you would be running away with your tail between your legs, like the stray little dog that you are.” She didn’t sugarcoat her words as she spoke towards the camera. “Allow me to remind you, in your celebration speech on Climax Control after winning at Blaze of Glory you were all smiles, you were from ear to ear sweetness as you poured your heart out to us. As you told the world your heart-breaking story of how you’re the little train that just kept on steam rolling her way towards greatness, even though the world had given up on you. You applauded the likes of Roxi Johnson and Christina Rose. You showered with me with congratulations, shouting my greatness to the world.” She smirked. “You played the world as a puppet that night as you tugged on heart strings, as everyone wanted to feel warm and fuzzy for the little girl who finally got to live out her childhood dream… but all it took was one week for you to flip the switch and soon enough those real colours showed.” Evie tutted. “Might I add, green really isn’t your colour.”
Evie walked towards the camera looking over her right shoulder to watch the last seconds of sunlight before she turned back and continued her speech.
“A jealous champion is an unstable champion, an insecure champion shows cracks when she should in fact be showing strength and intensity… you lost your power on the second week we returned after Blaze of Glory… and you did it so easily. Your kind words the week before you voiced to Christina turned to viciousness with ease, your kind words about me deserving the win in the Blast from the Past tournament were forgotten. What’s the matter Andrea? Did the pressure of knowing you have a massive target painted on your back, suddenly feel as if the weight of the world was on your shoulders? Were your knees starting to buckle from the pressure? Hell even though your first defense was successful instead of building dominance, you were constructing your own fear, week by week just ticking by and instead of looking to steam roll your power you choose to stake your claim to the Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Championship, with words.” Evie paused, catching herself before she got carried away. “You showed your true colours to me, you showed your weakness to me when you had your first chance to take a swipe at me, you came at me with an insult a thirteen year old child could muster…you took a swipe at me not having enough championship reigns in Sin City Wrestling, really?” She shook her head from side to side, unamused. “You’re first chance to capture my attention and you wasted it on basically calling me a championship-less champion? As if that was going to send me into the locker room, searching for my belongings… wanting to pack up my bags and head home with my tail between my legs?” She chuckled.
Evie walked up towards the camera some more, her blood red lips parting again as she continued to speak towards Andrea.
“I didn’t realize we lived in a world where it’s not okay for people to mock you for taking seven months to capture your first Bombshell Championship, but it’s okay for you to rag on my… in your eyes, lack thereof championship reigns?” She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t realize that it was okay to judge people about what they have or haven’t had? Yet, that was your greatest shot at me? That was your go to card? You’re bone chilling, words of war? You really should have tried harder Andrea to come at me, you see unlike you I don’t count the days of how long it takes me to rise to the top, I don’t count my championship reigns, I don’t count the days… I count the victims that I have put to rest in my rearview mirror. I count the moments I have had in my career that shocked and awed people. I count the moments like the time I stepped foot inside the ring with Alexis Staggs, in a barbwire match and I laughed at the pain she was inflicting on me, and why was that in important to me? Because it was the day I changed the fucking game for the Sin City Wrestling Bombshell roster, it was the day they stood back and saw me for what the fuck I am I’m a monster, I’m the reaper and knowing I had the whole roster fearing to step into the ring with me from that night on, was enough to leave me feeling like a champion. You see I didn’t need a shiny fucking belt to prove my worth, I didn’t need a shiny fucking title to show my dominance… I am dominant, I have been since day fucking one… it didn’t take me seven months to rise to the top of the roster, I held that position in my debut. I don’t need a world championship, to show the world that I’m at the top of my game, that I’m a fucking monarch in my sport… because my actions speak louder than words.”
Evie looked towards the camera, confidence present on her face as she smirked.
“Unlike you, what’s your greatest accomplishment since becoming the Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Champion? Beating Christina Rose-Zdunich… that’s it? That’s all you have done… oh wait you’ve managed to run your mouth and found yourself in a mixed tag team match… what a bunch of refreshing joy you bring to table. What a waste of time and yet, you will say that all this spare time has given you the chance to focus on me? What’s your excuse going to be after Into the Void when I beat you and take your Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Championship away from you?” Evie smirked. “How’s it going to feel knowing you had all this time to focus on me and yet, when the time comes you won’t be able to stop me from reclaiming the Bombshell Championship? What heartbreaking miserable story are you going to feed us then? That it was bad luck? That you wanted to be a fighting champion, but you never got the chance to show the world how great you could be? You’ll demand a rematch, or you’ll tell the world that you’re going to fight your way back up to the top and for what? So, you can go back to being a champion that sits on the side lines?” Evie sighed.
Evie brushed a long lock of her hair behind her right ear, before kicking off once more.
“You’ve been a bench warmer champion at best… even your mixed tag team match last week proved that. You had the chance to show the world what you were capable of, you could have got a pin fall victory over Kate… yet, you yelped in pain when the going got tough and you let you tag team partner Austin James Mercer make the fucking save.” Cue a very dramatic eyeroll. “I guess this week you’ll beat your drum over the fact that you’re heading into our match at Into the Void on the winning note, but let me remind you… you didn’t win that match, you coasted your way out of it so you could protect yourself from the crushing hands of defeat from Kate and believe me… I’m not on the only one that thinks that.” A devilish smile was on Evie’s face.
Evie took a step towards the camera, as night kicked in around her. The moon casting an eerie light across her face.
“But, let’s get the elephant out of the room shall we and address the one thing you said to me last week… momentum… momentum… momentum. Oh how important it is to maintain momentum on your climb towards the World Bombshell Championship, how important is it to make sure you count the wins on your way to view the roster from the top of the ivory tower… here’s the thing, Alicia did beat me… fair and fucking square but I haven’t stopped since Blaze of Glory I’ve gone to battle week in and week out… you on the other hand? Two matches… weeks apart? You don’t get to stand there and judge me for losing to Alicia Lukas when you too have suffered defeat at her hands. You don’t get to judge my focus, you don’t get to judge my confidence, you don’t get to sideline me because of one loss because believe me Andrea… losing to someone like Alicia isn’t something to be ashamed of… she’s a former woman of the year for a fucking reason. A loss, to Alicia can’t be seen as a sign of weakness because unlike you I kept up with her until the very last moment and I held my ground last week in Climax Control… although a loss is not ideal at times like these… rest assured it hasn’t clouded my judgement, it hasn’t knocked me out for six… Its only built me up, it’s been a timely reminder to work harder, to hit harder and that I need to do everything in my power at Into the Void… so that next time I face Alicia Lukas in the middle of the six-sided ring it will be, me defending the Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Championship… and trust me… when I beat her next time and stop her from shouting mummy’s home… it will be grandest fucking moment in my career.”
Evie smile was devilish as she stared down the lens of the camera.
“I have no issues in real recognizing real and believe me, unlike you… Alicia Lukas is the real deal. When she speaks, she gets shit done. When she says she’s going to be a fighting champion… she becomes a fighting fucking champion.” Evie’s tone said it all she respected Alicia.
“What happened to you being a fighting champion? What happened to you leading the division into greatness? You couldn’t even keep those promises on week two when you slipped up under the pressure and resorted to tactics that you believed were below you. Didn’t you say, people used to slander you, say you’re not worthy and yet two seconds later, your lips parted and well… the he said she said seems to be in your armory as well.” Evie winked, her cheeky personality couldn’t help itself. “Don’t try and play the victim card, when in fact you’re exactly like those bitches you harped on about. Trying to drag your opponent’s down week in and week out with cheap shots, I mean it’s okay for you to do it but when the cannon gets fired at you, all of a sudden people don’t want to see you shine, people were trying to hold you back? Save it. You have the same fucking sob story that half the fucking world bashes on about… just shut the fuck up already and do something worthy and maybe just maybe people might start taking your championship reign seriously… maybe just maybe people might stop calling your rise to the top nothing short but a fairytale.. because sine you beat Roxi and Christina at Blaze of Glory you have don’t anything worth a pinch of salt worth talking about… you haven’t asked for competition you have hidden from it. What did you think just because you had to face me at Into the Void… you shouldn’t have to extend yourself? Or go out of your way to bring the competition that the World Bombshell Championship deserves? You sat on your hands, now I see why Alicia says the current state of the World Bombshell Championship is a joke… it’s been hot potatoe’d since she lost it and since it landed on you, you’ve done nothing but play idiot while you flap your gums.”
Evie gritted her teeth annoyed at her statements towards Andrea, but that didn’t stop her from fighting on.
“Last week you told me you can sense doubt in your opponents… trust me you’ll be sensing none of that at Into the Void and it’s not because I know I can run rings around you in the wrestling ring… it’s because I know you can’t hold a candle to me and at Into the Void I’m going to show you first hand, that people like you shouldn’t put words in my mouth. Week in and week out you’ve been acting like you know me… like you know my story, like you know my worth. You know nothing… you have no idea what you’re going to encounter at Into the Void but I can promise you, it will be a pain you have never felt before… because unlike Christina, who you keep slapping on about… I’m not a flake… I’m not phony I’m the real fucking deal. I’m someone you’re uncapable of comprehending so please for the love of God stop trying to analyze me and stop trying to put me in a box with all the others that have run you down… because unlike the rest of them, you won’t outwit me, you won’t outlast me and YOU won’t beat me.” Evie paused. “So, keep justifying your hold on the World Bombshell Championship, by trying to derail my claim and discredit all my hard work. I fought hard in the Blast from the Past to get here and believe me I don’t intend on heading towards the final hurdle only to trip, crash out and burn. I’m coming for the win, I’m coming to show you that I have your number in the ring and I’m coming to prove that I still have it… I’ve still got it.” Evie smirked. “So, stop acting like you know who I am, stop having my name pass through your lips like you know me… you don’t fucking know me… you proved that to the world when you said I want your belt because I want to show the world the type of power couple Ben and I are?” Evie couldn’t resist laughing.
The camera panned out and spun around to do a 180 showing off the Jordan’s jet and black Lamborghini. The plane was waiting for Evie to jump back on and head back to Vegas but she still had a fair few things left to say. The camera panned back to her smirking face.
“You honestly think I need “your” World Bombshell Championship, to flex? Yeah, nah mate I’m good... I’m really fucking good. You want to know why I want your championship so bad? Because you fucked up and declared ownership... you said I would never take it away from you. I’m here to remind you that you’re wrong.” Evie stopped to smirk. “Basically what’s mine is mine and what’s yours will in time... will also be mine. Next Sunday to be exact, Andrea you’ll learn that I take what I want while you get what you’re given. I WANT the Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Championship because it NEEDS me... it’s needs someone who will carry it and defend it with pride, someone who won’t warm the fucking bench, instead they set a blaze to the division. So far you’ve been a wet match, unable to spark a flame.”
That devilish smirk was on her face once more as she started to wind this one up.
“You keep mentioning that you’re in a fairytale, For some reason you can’t seem to let that comparison go... so let me break it down to you like this. Andrea at the end of the night, at twelve-o-one exactly you’ll still be able to call yourself a champion... it’s just you’ll have to add an extra word, you’ll be a FORMER World Bombshell champion... because your bundle of joy will be forced from your grips and I’ll be the one left holding it.” Her white teeth were on display, with a proud smile on her face. “Like the petals on the beast’s rose, your Championship reign is fading away... and soon it will be nothing more than a memory.” Evie screwed up her nose, disgusted that she knew that Disney reference.
Evie looked towards the camera and decided enough was enough.
“Oh and one last thing Andrea, I know you’ll be coming at me with everything you have at Into the Void and I know you have what it takes inside the ropes... so, don’t paint me as an idiot. I’ve never discredited your wrestling abilities... you put that own misguided image in your own head... insecurities are a bitch and you have played right into your own trap. I just gave you a little shove to help you get there.
Evie smirked one last time.
“May the lord have mercy on your soul, Andrea... for I will not.”
The scene faded out on Evie’s smirking face.