"What are you thinking about?" Harry asks me from across the carriage. He always seems to know when something's wrong, I guess he's cleverer than me in that sense.

"It's too simple, this case," I say, looking down at my hands. "Something's not right. Why is it so easy? Any idiot could figure it out."

"That's not true," Harry shakes his head. "If any idiot could figure it out, the Ripper would be caught by now. I don't think this is simple at all, I just think luck is on our side. Now, whoever the man in charge of the fight club is, that drunk at the pub said he knows everything about everyone. He can tell us everything we want to know about Cutbush."

"But, that man said he won't give out any information to just anybody," Niall adds. "Do you think he meant we have to bribe the man?"

I sigh. "Probably," I think for a moment. "We can't tell Freddie or any of them on the team about this. Fight clubs just so happen to be illegal."

"I've never been to one before," Harry admits. "I wonder what it'll be like."

"I've been to one," Niall answers. "There's a fence that's short in height, it forms a huge circle that people fight in. There is usually a large group of men standing on the outside of the circle, cheering the fighters on. It can get gruesome, a round doesn't usually end until someone breaks a bone or is knocked out. It's not really my thing, but my brother used to take me there when I was younger. He liked to fight."

"That..." Harry's voice trails. "That doesn't sound fun at all. Why do people like doing things like that?"

I shrug. "I suppose it does wonders for their ego if they win. I used to get into fight with other children when we were young, do you remember that?"

Harry chuckles. "Yeah, some of the boys we knew would pick on you a lot for not being from England. You'd tell me to hold your coat and then you'd fight them. Those boys never stood a chance against you."

"Well, I couldn't fight very well with a heavy coat on," I laugh. "I was pretty good at fighting when I was younger, I only got a few bruises or so. Think I even broke a boy's nose, now that I think about it. They deserved it, though. Making fun of the way I speak, those bullies were asking for it."

"Wow," Niall comments. "I never knew you were so tough."

I merely giggle. I seem to surprise quite a lot of people with what I can do. I've grown out of that phase, though. I've calmed down since then, I haven't picked a fight since I was twelve years old. Henry was never much of a fighter, so he would just stand by the side and cheer me on.

"So, what exactly are we going to ask this man?" Niall asks.

I shrug. "We'll just be straightforward with it and ask him if he knows a man named Thomas Cutbush. Simple as that."

"And if he doesn't know?" Harry points out. "What will we do then?"

I think for a moment before responding. "Well, if he doesn't know, we'll just have to go back to the pub and ask around again. It's getting late, though. We might just head back to the house after this."

"I can't wait," Niall says. "I'm exhausted, this has been one of the longest days of my life."

The carriage comes to a stop and Harry gets out, holding open the door for me and helping me step out. I get a good look at the scene in front of me. The carriage dropped us off right in front of the railway station, so we just have to find the stairs leading below the train tracks and follow those. The man in the pub said it would be in an open area surrounded by construction, so it won't be directly under the tracks. It'll probably be on either side of the tracks.

"Where did that rude man say the fight club should be?" Harry asks, holding out his bent arm for me to grab. I hook my arm with his, and we begin walking into the station. The station is large and is full of people, despite it being dark outside. There are two major tracks, and one of them is occupied by a train, which is currently undergoing some sort of maintenance. The ceiling of the station is rather high. There are two flights of stairs leading to a second floor, and two flights of stairs leading underground.

"We need to go under the tracks, so we should probably head down those stairs," I point to the left flight of stairs, which is nearer to us than the one on the other side. We stroll over to the stairs and walk down them. It was leading us into a dark tunnel, which we walked through until we saw a light approaching us, accompanied by loud noises. As we get closer, I realize the noises are of men shouting, so we must be close. We walk through the opening of the tunnel, leading outside. This level was clearly under construction, since there were many metal beams hanging around. There are some lights around the area, making it easier to see. Many men are standing around and cheering while two large, muscular, shirtless men are in the fighting circle. We walk up to the nearest group of men and catch their attention.

"Excuse me," I tell one of them. "Can you please point me to the man in charge?"

They exchange glances for a moment before one of them speaks. "You want to speak to Mr. Payne?" When I nod, another one speaks up. "He's over there, counting the money he won from last fight's bet."

They all point to the other side of the circle, where I can barely see a young man in a top hat counting coins on a wooden table. I turn to the group of men.

"Thank you," I smile. Harry, Niall, and I make our way around the circle and through the crowd of smelly, obnoxious men. We reach the man, Mr. Payne, but he doesn't notice us. I clear my throat, and he looks up from the table.

He grins widely. "Well, hello there. The name's Liam Payne. Welcome to my fight club! What can I do for you? You boys signing up for a round or placing a bet?" He asks Harry and Niall.

Harry shakes his head. "No, we're not here to fight or bet."

Mr. Payne's smile falters a bit. "Well then, I think you might be at the wrong place. This is, after all, a place where people come to fight and bet on fights. Might I ask why you're here?" Wow, this man is charismatic.

"We need information," I speak up. "We've been informed you know quite a bit about the man we're looking for."

"Of course I know about him, I know about everyone!" He bellows. "But I don't give up information without a fight."

"We have money, if that's what you want, Mr. Payne," Niall says. Mr. Payne shakes his head and chuckles.

"No, no, no," he replies. "I don't take money unless it's for a bet. And you can feel free to call me Liam."

"So, if I place a bet on a man and he wins," Harry states, "Will you tell us what we need to know?"

Mr. Payne doesn't respond at first, he seems to be in deep thought. After some time, he gasps and lets out a loud laugh, clapping his hands. "I've got it! I'll tell you what you need to know if either of you can make it past five rounds in the circle."

He points to Harry and Niall, who are nervously looking at each other. "I don't really fight," Harry tells Mr. Payne. Mr. Payne then turns to Niall.

"How about you, young man?" He asks, although he don't seem much older than Niall. "You seems like a fighter."

Niall shrugs. "I guess I could give it a go," he takes his coat off and places it on the table.

"The shirt needs to come off, too," Mr. Payne says. "Unless you don't mind staining it with blood," he laughs. Niall sighs, and pulls his shirt off. Harry jokingly covers my eyes with his hand and I swat it away, giggling. "Excellent! You'll be next up as soon as this fight ends. All you have to do is survive five rounds, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

At that moment, one of the men in the circle falls down and the other is declared the winner. The man on the ground has a bruised eye and a few missing teeth. Something tells me he had all of his teeth when he walked in here today.

I turn to Niall. "Are you sure you want to do this? It seems incredibly dangerous."

"I'm fine with getting beat up a bit, and who knows, I might even win," Niall replies. "It's worth a shot, we need to find Cutbush and this seems to be the only way."

"Alright!" Mr. Payne shouts, and the whole crowd quiets down. He steps into the circle and stops in the center. "We have a new challenger! That young man over there," he points to Niall, "Has agreed to fight five rounds! May I have the opponents come to the center of the circle, please?"

Niall looks at me and Harry and nods reassuringly. I don't like this at all, but we don't have a choice. Niall walks out and swings his leg over the fence, climbing over it. Once he gets to the center of the circle, we get a first look at his opponent, and I gasp. The man is big, bald, and brutish.

"Niall!" I shout, and he turns to me. "There's no way you're doing this, just come back! We'll find another way."

Niall shakes his head and turns back to face his opponent. Mr. Payne speaks up again. "The rules are as follows: Try not to kill your opponent. Okay, get ready!" He runs out of the circle, and Ned and his opponent both get into a fighting stance. "Go!"

The man immediately throws a punch at Niall, but Niall blocks it, thankfully. He wasn't so fortunate in blocking the next punch, though. Niall stumbles back a few steps, his lip already starting to bleed. I turn around, facing Harry.

"I can't watch this," I whisper to him. He nods and brings me closer to him, wrapping his arms around me. All I can hear is the cheering of the men around me, and it sickens me. Niall is getting to be seriously injured out there, and these men enjoy watching it. I bury my face into Harry's chest and stay there for a long time. Eventually, I hear Mr. Payne announce the winner.

"And the winner is...what's your name, son?" Mr. Payne asks whoever won. I don't want to look, I won't be able to bear the sight of a bloody, bruised Niall. "The winner is Mr. Niall Horan!"

I gasp and rapidly turn around. The large man is limping away, holding his head in his hands. I look to the center of the circle to see Niall, looking exhausted but triumphant.

"Yes!" I shout, overjoyed that Niall actually won the round. "Way to go, Niall!" He spots me and grins. He does have a bloody lip and a few large bruises on his chest and abdomen, but it's not so bad.

"Now, onto the next round!" Mr. Payne announces. I realize that Niall still has to go through four more rounds, and I groan. I turn back around and rest my head on Harry's shoulder.

"Poor Niall," I mumble, and I can feel Harry nod his head. He rubs my back and kisses the top of my head.

The cheering gets louder and louder by the second. I seriously hope those cheers mean that Niall is winning the fight.

"Alright, alright. That's enough, lads," Mr. Payne stops their fight short. "This round was a bit bloodier than the last one, don't you all agree?" He gets a roar of shouts from the men around us, and he chuckles. "Well, we have an obvious winner here," he stops. I refuse to turn around, nervous that Niall might have lost this round. "The winner is Mr. Martin Kelley!"

My heart sinks as I hear that Niall didn't win. Reluctantly, I turn around, and I gasp. I see Niall lying on the ground, with blood covering his face and arms.

"Niall!" Harry worriedly shouts, and I cover my mouth with my hands in horror. Harry runs into the circle and up to Niall. Niall lifts his head slowly, and Harry helps him stand up. He struggles but eventually, Niall is able to stand with Harry's aide. He limps over to me, unable to open his left eye.

"What happened?" I ask, examining his face and holding back tears.

"Guess...guess I-I wasn't as g-good as I thought," Niall's voice strains. Harry sits him down on a chair.

"Are you gonna be alright?" He asks Niall, and Niall nods.

"It's not as bad as it looks," he smiles. Mr. Payne strolls up to us.

"Sorry, gents," he says to Harry and Niall. "Looks like you won't be getting anything from me."

"We can still get that information," I speak up. "You said five rounds is the deal?"

Mr. Payne looks at me, surprised. "Yes, five rounds is what we agreed upon. Why?"

I take a deep breath and slide off my coat. "Harry?"

Harry's eyes widen, realizing what I'm about to do. "Mary..."

Iknow he would advise me against this, especially after seeing what justhappened to Niall, but I need to take the chance. I bravely smile at him and say,"Hold my coat."

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Yay, two updates in one day! I'm feeling really good right now, I got a lot of writing done today. I won't be updating this story for at least a few weeks, though. I'm gonna work on my other story until that one reaches five chapters, then I'll come back to this one.

Anyone else excited to see Mary fight against these big, scary men? I'm pretty excited. Also, Liam is introduced in this chapter! He and Louis are gonna be in multiple other books in this series. The only reason there are going to be a lot of books is because each book will be a case to solve and each case is going to be pretty short. Most of them won't be any more than fifteen chapters or so.

Vote and comment if you want to :)

Love, Tori