The Arena: The Awakening (1) Read Online Free Page B

compartment on the bottom of the suitcase. From it she pulled out two number plates and a small cordless electric screwdriver. She switched both front and rear plates and got in.
    “I forget what a nice place to be this actually is” she said to herself out loud.
    Her car was a black Mercedes AMG 63 with privacy glass and full leather interior. The softness of the seat wrapped around her like a security blanket. With the press of a button, the German engineered V8 purred into life and within seconds she was heading to the exit. Before pulling up to the barrier, Mia retrieved a set of large glamorous sunglasses from the glove-box of the car and put them on. She had noted on the way in that the exit ticket machine had a small pinhole camera attached just underneath the LCD display. As she pulled up to the machine, her window was already down and in putting her pre-paid ticket into the machine, used her arm to quickly block the view of the lens of the camera. She held it there until the barrier rose and then floored it out of view. The camera only picked up a blur. She was now on the road back to the Arena.
    The trip was arduous at best. The traffic was heavy and, despite all the driving techniques she was trained in, she could only go as fast as the vehicle in front. Sunset was beautiful that evening and as Mia headed south on the New Jersey Turnpike, she spotted the turn-off for Newark International Airport. As she pulled off, she headed for an industrial estate on the West side. Once there, she pulled into a fast food outlet parking lot where she knew had no CCTV system. She parked out of view at the far end, went in, grabbed a cup of coffee and stretched her legs. As she waited to get her coffee, she checked her watch and saw that she had three hours left to get to the Arena. She was confident she would still make it with time to spare. What she wasn’t expecting was that, through the glass of the food outlet, she could see two guys loitering around her car. She grabbed her coffee and walked casually towards the car. As she approached, she could see that they were still there and trying fruitlessly to get into the driver’s door.
    “EXCUSE ME FELLAS ” she shouted at them. “NEED SOME HELP WITH THAT?”
    “Yeh” one of them replied “I need the keys to your car”. With that, he pulled a knife out of the waistband of his trousers.
    “Don’t you know that little girls shouldn’t be out after dark in places like this” laughed one of the men as he approached her.
    “Don’t worry” she replied, “I’m sure I’ll be fine with you fellas.”
    She placed her coffee cup on the ground and walked towards the first male. He lunged at her with the knife but, without him even seeing her move, Mia struck him as hard as she could in the windpipe. It was like being hit with an iron bar! Struggling for breath, the man dropped to his knees and fell face-first onto the hard tarmac. She looked at the next male who was still by the driver’s door. Mia looked him straight in the face. The sense of panic she could feel emanating from him was almost laughable.
    With a smirk on her face, Mia said to him “I hope you’ve not damaged my car. I will be very unhappy if you have.”
    In a panic, the male lunged towards her and shouted “Give me the keys you b….”.
    Before he could finish the sentence, Mia caught his arm and twisted it around and up his back. As he bent over in agony, she delivered a perfect knee-strike to his face, smashing his nasal bone straight into his skull. She let him go and he slumped to the floor. Without acknowledging that anything had actually happened, Mia walked over, picked up her cup of coffee from the floor and took a sip. She looked around at the two men lying on the floor and then around the rest of the parking lot. She was still alone. No one had seen anything. She went to the rear of her car again and opened the trunk. From the same place as the others, Mia retrieved another set of number