"Thank you,"

The hotel clerk nodded "You're welcome, Room 23 is upstairs."

Scarlett walked in the direction of the steps, she adjusted the hood onto her head as she entered the small room — at this point Scar was used to staying in small isolated areas.

For the past couple months, she's travelled to many places while they continued to search for her. An ironic laugh escaped her lips — the very thought of them held a bitter taste in her mind. If they were her real family and actual friends they would have told her the truth, but no, instead they kept it from her for years.

Every night, Scarlett fought in countless matches. As she stared at her reflection she couldn't help but feel horrible, every night was the same, her emotionless form would leave her opponents unconscious — her knuckles held bruises but she still used them powerfully.

Sighing slowly, Scar laid herself onto the bed.

It wasn't as soft or as comfortable as the one she laid in at the mansion like every other time she would sleep at different motels, it would have to do the job. Her mind drifted off into the prospect of meeting the new fighter that had caused an uproar in the underground community.

'Shadow' they called him — she had heard countless people talk about how this man could beat down an opponent in ten-seconds.

His name was mentioned by every single person Scar came in contact with — one day she would have to meet this man and see what all the fuss was about.

* * *

Enigmatica Falls — no one would ever think about going there to search for her, no one would ever think that she would go back to the place where her parents died — they all thought she wouldn't be able to handle the memories, in a way they were right but Scarlett wanted to prove them wrong, for once she wanted to be one step ahead

Enigmatica Falls held the very best underground fighting Arena — if anyone wanted to be known they had to travel and fight here. She came to escape and to reclaim the title that her parents fought for.

It was the early hours of the morning, yet, Scar was already sleeping — she had become a night owl, sleeping in the day and waking during the night. It was probably unhealthy for her to have such a sleeping pattern but in the end she did a lot of things that harmed her health.

Her mind drifted off as a single memory guided her subconscious;

*

*

*

ONE MONTH EARLIER

"What do you mean there are no records of a Mark Coulting?" I exclaimed, my eyes wildly searching the police officers face. He had to be lying.

The man gulped nervously "I'm sorry miss but I checked every data base and there are absolutely no records of a young man by that name."

"How bout - Markus Lovejoy?" I questioned desperately

The officer looked down at the screen in front of him before meeting my eyes "There's a match..."

"Good" I sighed in relief, it had been weeks since I left the Valley — all I wanted to do was find him, I didn't know what I was going to say but I just wanted to see him again "Where is he...?"

He shook his head slightly "...I'm sorry but Markus Lovejoy died along with his sister Christabelle Lovejoy about a year ago, his father moved to another town after the attack"

"...What...?" I voiced as tears left my eyes "No..."

He was dead.

He died.

I was too late.

I could feel my heart beating out of my chest as the world under my very feet wasn't enough to support my frail form "It was a house robbery gone wrong. Him and his sister were killed,"

"No...no...no" I whispered — my heart couldn't stop beating loudly against my own ears, he was dead — and frankly, at that moment...so was I.

*

*

*

Her eyes snapped opened.

Scarlett reached out a hand to wipe the tears that had fallen while she slept — it would always happen when she had that dream. It was like someone drilled a hole in her heart when she heard he was gone, she should've been there, should've protected him from the coward who killed him.

Before she knew it, Scarlett was walking to the Arena. It had been a while since she had laughed or smiled, it had gotten to a point where Scar thought she had forgotten what it was like to even enjoy herself.

"NOW, I WELCOME OUR NEXT OPPONENT!" the announcer boomed as she stood at ring side "CRIMSON ROSE!"

The crowd cheered wildly, just like every other time but she still ignored it and stepped into the ring to face her opponent. He wore an eyepatch with blood on his hands meaning he had killed right before her match — immediately she had categorised him as a 'Savage'.

There were three types of fighters.

The first type was called a 'Savage' these people kill their victim, ripping them apart and enjoying the violence of it all.

The second types were called a 'Gallant' these people fought with nobility, making sure the match was fair and stayed humble even after winning or losing.

The third type to enter a ring were probably the scariest — they were named the 'Phantoms', these people fought with absolutely no emotion, they fought for the sake of it and usually won most of the time but they held an aura of emptiness that made the calmest of souls turn dark.

He charged at her while roaring a monstrous tone in order to intimidate Scarlett but the thing he didn't know was that Savages were all to easy for her to predict their next move, so, with speed she hit him in the kneecap making him drop to the ground, taking advantage of this moment, Scar started to attack him mercilessly.

It wasn't until he stopped moving did she step back from him, he was still alive, that much was for sure — she never killed out of the morals her parents had taught her. The fight had gone on for thirty minutes and she wanted to fight more — her adrenaline was pumping through her veins and didn't want the night to end.

"AND YOUR WINNER IS, BY KNOCK OUT" the announcer lifted her arm in the air "CRIMSON ROSE!"

The crowd cheered her name loudly as she stared at nothing in particular — soon enough she spent another five or so hours inside the Arena facing different opponents. Scarlett won every match — by this time the crowd had a new favourite and it was her.

She decided to leave earlier than usual, it had been a long day and Scar just wanted to sleep. While she walked on the streets of the small town it started to rain lightly.

Scarlett muttered incoherent utterances towards the wind. If anything she hated the rain with a burning passion. 

"I-I'm sorry" she heard someone whimper — her mind told her to go but her stupid morals told her to see what was happening.

Her footsteps quickened as her ears picked up the familiar sound of a fist hitting a body, it didn't help that it was raining, so her hands roughly reached up to her red hood and pulled it over her head. 

Her feet halted as soon as her gaze came into contact with the scene in front of her.

One guy was viciously beating another and by the looks of it, it was an unfair match "Hey!"

The man who was standing above the other turned around angrily "Stay out of this!" all of a sudden he froze into place, his eyes widening a fraction larger than they recently were.

"Leave." She stated, the man who was being attacked ran as fast as he could from them.

Scarlett continued to stare at the person in front of her, his arms were thick with muscle, he wore no shirt as a giant scar painted it's way across his chest, his abs were defined but the only thing that stood out to her was his eyes.

It was the same dark green she yearned to see very day, he had the same strong jawline and dark messy hair — angry tears welled in her eyes as she turned away from him.

But for some reason the man grabbed her arm, she kept her head down in hopes that he wouldn't see her face — in hopes he wouldn't see her.

He inhaled a small breath before uttering a deep, husky "...I see you."

"You're just like the others" She whispered harshly.

'No' her mind thought, never again was she going back to the girl she was before, never again was she going to let her emotions rule her.

His eyes searched her face for something, anything "Scar."

"I hate to have to tell you this...but she's dead."

Scarlett ripped her arm away from his firm grip "Something happened to you..."

"Yeah, something did happen" she lifted her head slightly, welcoming the rain onto her face so that her tears were barely recognisable "You died. And worst of all, it was all a lie - just like everything else, it was all...a damn lie."

His jaw clenched as his green orbs shun dangerously — there was something different about them, instead of the warmth he usually held, it was cold and dark, his eyes held sadness and her heart ached at the sight of it.

Scar shook her head, trying to rid her thoughts before turning around and walking away, reluctantly he let her — Mark wanted to grab her, wanted to hold her, maybe even claim her lips but he didn't instead he watched her walk away from him.

He couldn't pull her in the mess he was, she deserved someone better, someone who wasn't a monster, someone who could give her the happiness she deserved.

He had lost himself a long time ago, had seen things and done things he would never imagine himself doing and for that one small fraction of a moment Mark wanted her to come back, even if it was just for one night he wanted to hold her again.