Hunting The Huntress

Sept. 24
Orlando, Florida

Sitting in the darkened living room of his home with only a small table lamp for illumination, Lachlan Kane flipped through the photo album that was resting in his lap, smiling at all the old memories that the pictures brought to his mind. Shots of him as a boy with his family in Ireland, training with other foreigners in Japan, him with friends on nights out, promotional shots, in-ring action stills…

But when he came to one particular photo, he paused and the smile fell from his face slightly. It was a photo of him in one of his last matches in Japan. He had been embroiled in a bitter feud with a Japanese legend, a man who had continuously berated and humiliated Lachlan at every turn for being both a rookie and a foreigner. Lachlan had done his best to keep his temper in check and remain professional, but when the older man began berating his family...that had been the last straw.

The photo was a still shot of him making his entrance at this company’s biggest event of the year. He decided to give in to the anger coursing through his veins, and represented it as an elaborate painting on his body. Swirls of black, red and white marked his body, while his piercing blue eyes stared daggers towards the ring. Staring at that photo, Lachlan could start to feel the rage bubbling up under the surface again, especially after what had transpired at the last Victory show…

“Daddy?”

The sound of his daughter’s voice drew him out of his thoughts, and he glanced up towards the doorway to see Jade standing there, wiping her eyes and clutching her stuffed Hei Hei. Glancing at his watch to see that it was nearly two a.m., he smiled as he put the photo album on the side table and held his arms out to her. “It’s very late, stóirín. What are you doing awake?”

She padded over to him and climbed into his lap, snuggling her head against his chest. “I had a bad dream,” she said softly.

Lachlan kissed the top of her head and cradled her close. “Me too,” he admitted.

They sat quietly for a few moments, and Lachlan had thought that maybe she had fallen back asleep, when he heard her ask, “What’s that daddy?”

He looked to where she was pointing, and it was to the photo album left open on the image of himself in the body paint. He hesitated to show her, since she had just said she had a bad dream, but she seemed to be interested in the picture rather than afraid. So he picked up the book and brought it down across his lap again. “That’s a picture of me when I was wrestling in Japan,” he said. “This was before I came over here and met Mama.”

Her eyes were wide as she stared at the picture. “You look so scary,” she said in an awed voice.

“Well, the man I was fighting had said some very terrible things about my family. He threatened to hurt them, and I was really really mad. So to help me be strong and brave when I fought him, I painted myself to look like a scary demon.”

“Did it work? Was he scared?”

Lachlan smirked a bit. “You bet. When he saw me coming to the ring, he was so scared that he didn’t even want to fight me. But he had to, so we had our match.”

“Did you beat him?”

He nodded. “Sure did. I beat him because I was ready to do whatever I had to do to protect my family. Back then, it was just Nana, Auntie Alanah and Uncle Mal, but now I have a lot more family to protect. I have Mama, and you, and Olivia...I have Gramma and Papa, and Uncle Rico and Uncle Diego, Auntie Rosa -”

“And the babies!” Jade said.

“That’s right, your baby cousins too.”

They were quiet again, as Jade ran her little fingers over the picture, tracing the swirls of paint across his face. “Are you gonna paint yourself again if you have to fight that mean lady?”

He sighed heavily. “I don’t know, stóirín. This is a little bit different from back then. We’ll have to see what happens.”

They were quiet again. “Daddy,” Jade said, her big brown eyes staring up at him. “Is she gonna hurt my Papa? Or the babies? I don’t want her to…”

He could see the tears starting to fill her eyes, and he put the book aside as he gathered her up in his arms and held her close. “I promise you, no one is going to hurt anyone in our family. No matter what. I will protect you all with everything I have.”

----------

Standing in a darkened nondescript room in an undisclosed location, Lachlan Kane was far from the easygoing friendly face that most people had come to know him as. Instead, his face was set in a hard look of ferocity, his intense blue eyes steely as they gazed towards the camera lens. He was dressed in his usual attire of a fitted black shirt under one of his well-worn leather jackets, a pair of dark jeans and black Vans sneakers.

“When I signed to this company, it was so that I could make a name for myself. I wanted to forge my legacy, etch my name into the annals of pro wrestling history. That plan is still very much in play, but it seems that for right now, I’ve had to take a little detour. Seeing as a certain little not-so-angelic creature has decided to choose violence.” His eyes narrowed and flashed dangerously. “Did you really think that I would forget our little encounter? On the contrary, my dear. It’s carved out a nice little space in my mind. And I know that’s probably just what you wanted...but let me assure you, you are going to come to regret it in due time. See, the last time someone threatened my family, I nearly crippled the man and forced him to retire from wrestling. So, let me ask you this question...is this really the path you want to walk?” A sinister little smirk turned up the corner of his lips. “Think about it. Take your time.”

He paced the floor a few steps, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “But in the meantime, I have other business to attend to. I get to play the gracious host to a new face arriving on our illustrious roster, a woman who calls herself ‘The Huntress’, Amber Payne. It’s a name that I’ve seen around for a few years now. You’ve certainly been around the scene in quite a number of companies, from what I’ve witnessed. You even went head to head with a very dear friend of mine named Kasey Winterborn some time ago. I’ve seen what you’re capable of in the ring, and I’ve perused your laundry list of achievements.” He slid his hands out of his pockets and gave a few short, sharp claps. “Mighty impressive, I will admit. But I can promise you that you have never stepped into the ring with anyone like me before. Especially the way I am right now. I don’t know if you’re up to date on all the happenings around the company right now, but you’ve caught me at a bit of a bad time. See, I’ve got this little problem that’s arisen, trying to get under my skin and get me to slip up so she can catch me off-guard and make me lose my temper. Possibly do something stupid. But what it’s done is actually quite the opposite. It’s made me dangerous. It’s made me more focused and in-control than I have ever been in my life. Because when you come for my family...you awaken a demon.”

The lights in the room suddenly turn to a dark red colour, casting long shadows across the floor and over Lachlan’s face. It gives him a dark, sinister look as he stands in front of the camera and glares down the lens. “Amber, you may call yourself ‘The Huntress’, but come Monday night...you’ll be the one in the crosshairs.”

Raising his right hand and pointing to the camera with his thumb and index fingers extended, he held the pose for a few moments before the camera faded out to black on his menacing figure.