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were promising me,” he said softly as he pushed her panties to the side.
    Sickened at his touch, Ria kicked out. Oh God, she didn’t know what to do. She tried to claw at his face, but her head was killing her, and she couldn’t put much strength into fighting back.
    He managed to pin her flailing body against the wall when she felt herself suddenly r eleased.
    Finally able to breathe, she saw another man punching her attacker. She scooted away, although she could see that whomever had saved her had her attacker under control. The out of shape man didn’t stand a chance against her savior.
    Eventually, her attacker quit fighting back. She could hear him groaning, so at least he wasn’t dead.
    The other man turned to her. “Are you okay?”
    Ria could hear the concern in his voice as he checked on her. Now that the shock was wearing off, she felt like she was going to pass out. She touched the back of her head, feeling the large lump forming.
    “I... I think so,” she mumbled. It was so hard to think, but her mind kept telling her to do something.
    “I need to get you to a hospital.”
    Ria shook her head no. There was something she had to do. As she felt herself start to slip away, she forced herself to stay conscious. The money!
    She reached into her pocket and pulled out the cash.
    “What the hell are you doing?” the man snapped at her.
    “Give him three hundred dollars, please,” she panted.
    “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he snapped again. “He was going to rape you!”
    “ Three hundred dollars. Give it to him!” she said with as much strength as she could muster while she held the wad of money out.
    “Fuck. Fine.”
    Ria watched him count some money out and throw it at the man.
    “Let’s go.” He pulled at her.
    Ria tried to walk with him; however, the blackness took over.
    The last thing she remembered coming from the man was, “Oh, shit!”
    *  *  *
    Ria opened her eyes and looked around at the strange surroundings. She was in a small room with nothing except a bed, nightstand, dresser, and desk with a backpack next to the desk. The sunlight shining through the window indicated it must be the next morning. She’d thought she would be at a hospital, but apparently, the man had decided to bring her here.
    She sat up and felt the pain shoot through her head, forcing the memories from earlier to return. She looked over at the nightstand and saw a glass of water and a bottle of Ibuprofen. She put her feet on the ground as she reached for the bottle.
    As she popped the pills and took a drink of water, she heard some noises below her. There were men yelling and loud thuds.
    She slowly stood up and walked out the door and down a hallway overlooking a large room with several rings where men were fighting each other.
    How did I end up here?
    She looked around to see if she recognized any of the men. One man stood out to her in the corner. He was talking to two younger men and looked angry. It appeared as though one of the men was trying to explain something. The man gave the younger one a look which caused him to stop talking.
    She looked down the hall to see how to get downstairs before she made her way down the hall. She glanced over to look at the man who appeared to be in charge, and when she did, their eyes met. He appeared to have a few more things to say to the two men, though.
    She walked down the stairs, noticing several posters of fighters holding belts. She assumed they had trained here. She would never understand why anyone would want to do this for a living.
    Several men turned to look at her as she made her way across the room. Ria felt self-conscious as she felt their attention on her. She looked at the supposed owner and saw him watching her walk toward him.
    One of the younger men turned to her. “Hey, how are you feeling?” Ria could hear the concern in his voice and recognized it from the night before.
    “Much better, thanks to you,” she replied. “I’m Ria Sloan.”