Chapter 5
"What do you mean?" Michael asked, his voice shaking, unable to process what he was hearing.
"An illegal underground fight club for children," Mom whispered, her words heavy with pain.
"A fight club? For children?" he repeated, his eyes wide, completely stunned.
Mom collapsed into sobs, the truth finally laid bare between them.
Jessica's real parents, Karen and David Brooks, ran the underground fight club.
They trafficked kidnapped children and made them fight each other.
All for the pleasure of twisted rich people who placed bets and watched.
"Elaine was stuck in that hell for three whole years." Mom choked out, her voice shaking.
"Day in, day out, she was forced to fight other kids," she went on.
"It was kill or be killed," she whispered, the pain in her voice almost unbearable.
Michael's face went ghostly pale.
"To keep her fighting and raking in cash, they severed her nerves after she got seriously hurt so she couldn't feel pain anymore," Mom said, her voice trembling.
"That way, nothing would hold her back in the ring," she whispered.
"They turned a seven-year-old girl into a weapon. A machine that couldn't feel." She choked out.
"That music box..." Michael's voice was hoarse.
"It was given to her by the only boy who was ever kind to her in that place," Mom said, her voice thick with emotion.
"His name was Sammy. He was only eight years old," she added, her voice barely above a whisper.
She went on, "He used to sneak food to Elaine and told her the music box could play a happy tune.
"But one day, Sammy was killed right there in the ring during one of those fights.
"With his last breath, he put the music box in her hands.
"That music box was the only bit of warmth she ever had in that hellhole."
Michael fell apart completely.
He remembered the smug grin on Jessica's face as she smashed the music box yesterday.
He remembered himself—standing there, doing nothing.
"I'm a monster," he sobbed, sinking to the floor.
"I watched the one thing Elaine cared about destroyed." He choked out, his voice breaking.
Mom was crying too. "We all failed her."
"We hurt her all over again," she whispered, her voice breaking.
"How did the police even find out about the fight club?" Michael asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Mom said, "A spectator filmed it and put the video online.
"When the police raided the fight club, they found 13 kids.
"Elaine was the only survivor.
"The other 12... they were all dead."
That number shattered Michael's heart.
Thirteen kids went in, and only one came out alive.
And the one who made it was now just an empty shell.
"How did she survive?" Michael asked, his voice barely audible.
"She became the strongest one there," Mom replied, her voice trembling.
"To live, she had to kill every other child in that ring," she said, her words heavy with pain.
"Even Sammy," she whispered, the name hanging in the air like a curse.
"What?" Michael blurted out, his voice shaking.
"Sammy died by her hands," Mom said.
She continued, her voice trembling, "That day, they were matched against each other. Elaine refused to fight him.
"But the rule was, the loser died.
"Sammy ran onto her fist.
"He chose to die so she could live."
The truth hit Michael. He finally understood what the music box truly meant.
It wasn't just some broken toy. It was the last piece of Elaine that was still human.
It was the love of a little boy who died for her.
And they had ruined it.
That night, Michael didn't come down for dinner.
He locked himself in his room, flipping through all my childhood photos.
He found one of us together.
In the picture, we were just kids, grinning without a care in the world.
He set it on my nightstand, hoping it might make me feel a little better.