In Between Seasons (The Fall) (15 page)

“Very good
observations
,
but
if you’re throwing as many
strikes as you possibly can the
n you won’t be on the defensive
and
won’t be able to block anything I throw at you. One good punch
and
you’
d be done for. I could get you on the ground
and
snap your neck,” He clarified,
his arms still crossed.
The gravity of his explanation struck me, and I had to take a deep breath. He seemed menacing all of a sudden, and I realized how breakable I really was next to him.

“Snap my neck?” I swallowed
, “Are you going to teach me how to snap someone’s neck?”

Hunter was looking at me
,
but
his eyes were distant. This was the way he looked when he was ashamed of something
and
was deep in his thoughts.

“Sometimes all you have is your hands
and
sometimes you can’t guarantee your own
safety until a person is dead,” he finally managed to say. His forehead creased in agitation, and I was losing my confidence fast.

“I don’t think I can do
all this
Hunter,” I shook
my head, “I’m a klutz
and
I’m weak
. H
ow could I ever break anything on anyone?”

“You can dance quite well, Kate
,
and
fighting is much like dancing
,
but
with
painful phys
ical contact. As for being weak
,
you only need to get someone in the right position to break something. If
you get someone into an arm bar
with just the right twist you will hear
a very disturbing crunch
.”

“Wonderful,” I muttered
putting my hand on my forehead,
“I know I need to know this…I know I can do it…
it’s
just scary to know that other people can do it too.”

Hunter’s
lips curled into a slight smirk,
“Th
ey can’t do it as well as you’
ll be able to. That
’s the advantage.”

“Okay, oh
wise one. What’s first?” I asked
,
taking a deep breath
and
stepping towards him.
If anyone could teach me how to kill someone with my bare hands it would be Hunter. The thought was disturbing, but it was truthful.

“First we’
ll work on blocks, then strikes, then
submission
and
kill tactics. Then we’
ll put it all together,
”
Hunter
came around behind
me,
“Now this is a very basic block.”

He let his hands ru
n from my shoulder down my arm
,
and
I had to close my eyes to remain
composed. I didn’t think
that
this was
the way he trained his men. He was having fun
by
teasing me with his light touch. His hands stopped at my wrists
and
he lifted them into position.

“So I just hold my arms up l
ike this the whole time?” I asked
,
reminding myself to breath.

He came back to face me
and
moved my elbows up,
“Don’t forget someone is going to be hitting you.”

“Won’t it hurt?”

“
It won’t be as bad as a strike to
your face,
”
He answered
as he raised his eyebrows in cynicism.

“
Ha-ha
,” I retorted,
and
his arm flew
at my face. I kept the position
,
but
fe
ll backwards
,
losing my ba
lance as his arm contacted
mine.

“See—it’s
better than your face,” he confirmed,
grabbing my arms
and
pulling me up before I hit the ground.

“Couldn’t you have warned me?”
I asked.

“Will your opponent warn you?”

“Fine,
” I snapped,
thinking I was clever as I hooked my arm around to hit him. He r
aised his arm
and
blocked me as if my arm
was no more than a fly.

“You must always be prepared,” he repeated
,
and
his arm came swinging around again
,
stopping
just inches from my face.

“Tha
nks for not actually hitting me,
”
I commented, my eyes wide as I stared at his fist. I wondered how much damage it would have caused had it made contact. The thought made me cringe.

He shook his head
and
moved around m
e again. He slid my arms
into place
quicker than before
as if he was alre
ady becoming frustrated with me,
“
Again.
”

This time I was prepared to block him
and
actually managed to strike him while he was striking me.

“Much better
,
but
not good enough,” he commented as he slid
around me again. I had a feeling I was going to be exhausted
by the time Hunter let me stop, and boy was I right. His training left every muscle in my body screaming for days, but he wouldn’t let me stop. He pushed me harder than I had ever been pushed before, and I was actually enjoying it. The pain in my muscles was no competition for the confidence that I might be able to defend myself.

It was
at
times like these that the waiting would kill me. My mind couldn’t stand still for a
moment’s
time
,
and
I felt as if my eyes were unbearably wide open to my past.
I couldn’t keep my mind o
n the words o
f the book I had in front of me.
They
just read as jumbled letters
;
just as jumbled as my thoughts. I found myself standing by the window
staring
at the gray sky
while I wondered
what Hunter w
as doing out there in the w
oods. I wondered
what kind of torture he was submitting himself
to
under his
father’s
orders.
I shivered
as
I watched my breath frost
the window in front of me
. I kept thinking about
the fac
t
that
Hunter was traini
ng me to defend myself aga
inst G
od only knew what. Who would be sent after me next
and
would we escape in time to avoid it?
It was only twelve
and
the gray sky was saying snow without actually showing it.

“Hey there,” Mara greeted me as she came
in the door
and
made
me jump
. I inadvertently thre
w the book I had been holding to my heart
across the room
,
“Whoa, I didn’t think I would scare you that much.”

Her
blonde eye
brow
rose
in suspici
on, but she shrugged it off.

“I was thinking
. I know that’s a scary thought,” I snapped
as I picked up the book I had thrown.

“No need to get nasty wi
th me,” Mara reached her hand out for my book,
“What are you reading?
Antony
and
Cleopatra?
”

“Shakespeare.
”

“I know,” Mara replied,
a smile coming to her face.

“Right,
”
I retorted.

“You want to come down
and
watch a movie with us?”
Mara asked.

“I’m fine.”

“You look upset Kate
,
and
it’s going to
be hours before Hunter
and
the boys come in—
th
at is unless it snows,” She stepped
next to me
and
looked
out the windo
w,
“When I can’t stand the TV anymore I disappear too—except I just go to our bedroom
and
watch the ceiling.
”

“
You seem to be the only one
who doesn’t hate their husband,” I commented,
putting my head against the cool glass.

“Maybe I am,” she answered
,
and
from the look on her face I realized she would never say mor
e than that, “b
ut don’t let the others
know that
I do
,
and
I
won’t let them know you love Hunter
.”

Our eyes locked
and
her smile was sincere
and
sad.

“I never said that,” I stumbled
to find words. I wanted to ask if it was
that
obvious.

“You didn’t have to,” she shrugged
, “Movie?”

“No, I think I’m going to get some stuff from the store
and
the kitchen. Maybe I’ll make
a batch of cookies or something,” I explained,
still holding the book to my chest.

“
We just got a shipment of winter clothes in
,
so
you should probably hop on that bef
ore the other girls discover it,
”
Mara suggested,
turning
and
walking out the door.

By the time I had gotten some warmer clothes from the store
and
gotten the things I needed for cookies there was already two inches of snow on the ground. I stuck my tongue out at the sky
and
let
the flakes melt there
. Hunter might be back soon if it kept up like this.
I sighed
and
went up the steps
,
trying to push a completely new set of thoughts out of my mind thanks to Mara.
That one four letter word was
the
one
that
I
thought I would
never
feel in any way shape or form
. E
specially after
my father had ordered Trevor to pull the trigger on me. I hadn’t
really
thought about the way Hunter made me feel
until the moment Mara
had said the words.
I knew I was attracted to him physically, and come on, who wouldn’t be? Yet, his personality was even better than his looks. He was an amazing person in every way, even if not everyone could see it.
I knew that f
rom the mom
ent I had gazed into
his intense ocean eyes
I had felt something
,
but
I hadn’t though
t to put that word to
it. Love
was something
that
people wrote about
,
but
nev
er really happened in our world
. Maybe that was because it was different for everyone.
I had feelings for him, which were beyond my control
,
but
love? He was my hope;
the only one that existed in the war
rotted
world we lived in
,
and
G
od I prayed
that
I was his. The thing Mara hadn’t said was
that she thought Hunter loved me back. The thought hit me in the gut
,
and
I found myself sitting at the kitchen table chewing my nails
while
staring at the wall
as I tried
to ease the feeling away.

“Kate, Kate?” Hunter called
,
coming in the front door.

“In here,
” I said
with
my nail still stuck in the corner of my mouth
and
my eyes still glued to the wall.

“You okay?” Hunter asked
as he obstructed
my view of the wall
,
his head cocked
and
his arms crossed.

I couldn’t stay in this mood w
ith him looking at me like that
—
muscles taught, vein
in his forehead bulged in worry.

“Of course, I
was just bored waiting for you,” I explained
with a smile. The feeling had vanished the sec
ond I looked into his eyes.
I hoped that was a sign.

“It’s snowin
g,
”  his
eyebrows rose,
“You know what that means?”

“No, what?”

He rushed into the bedroom
and
grabbed the sweatshirt I had picked out earlier
. He
threw it at
me along
with a pair of glove
s
,
“
It’s
battle time.”

“What?”
I asked.

He pulled on a black hooded sweatshirt leaving th
e hood over his head
and
then
pulled
on black gloves.

“Ready yourself for battle. Men v
er
s
us
women
. I
t’s the
first battle of the year,” he explained, and his enthusiasm was contagious even though I was still clueless.

“Still confused,
” I responded
,
zipping up the sweatshirt
and
pulling on the gloves.

Hunter pulled the hood over my head
and
rubbed my cheek.

“I’m
going to kick your adorable ass,
”
he joked as he slipped
his hand into mine
and
dragged
me out the door.

“Wha
t makes you so sure you’
ll win?” I asked
as we neared the field that I had watched the men
and
Hunter
practice hand to hand combat
on
day in
and
day out. In the middle of the snow co
ated field t
here
were
at least seventy five people
,
and
the women were certainly outnumbered by
the men.

“So
the POW came to join the fight,
” Rob commented
with
his arm wrapped tight
ly
around Mara’s waist.

“I think we stand a chance agai
nst you guys with Kate. S
he’s a lot t
ougher than any of us know,” Mara commented,
looking
at me
with a calm that irritated
me
.

Her eyes
fell on Hunters hand still entwined in mine
and
one of her eyebrows raised a touch
. I took a deep breath
and
dropped his hand
before anyone else could notice
.
I didn’t need anyone else to observe what Mara had. It would only give them ammo against me.

“Alright
,
is everyone ready?” Hunter asked
,
clapping his hands together
. He seemed
unaware of my abrupt drop of his hand.

“Yes, S
ir,” e
veryone replied
in unison
,
and
I was struck by
how much control Hunter had over the group.

Hunter leaned down
and
whispered into my
ear, “Kicking your adorable ass.
”

I rolled my eyes
and
smacked his arm,
“Cocky.
”

“Is that a ch
alle
n
ge
?” Hunter
asked
,
his eyes enthusiastic.

I stood on my tippy toes
and
put my hands on his sh
oulders to whisper into his ear,
“Of course it is
,
Hunter.”

“We’ll see who wins,” Hunter responded,
his voice tinged with silent laughter.

“If I win you don’t get any of my cookies that I
was planning on making
from scratch
for dessert tonight
,” I said,
winking at him as I turned.

“
I choose winning over cookies,
” Hunter retorted
as he smacked
my
but
t. I turned on my heel
, my eyes narrowed,
“Sorry, it just slipped.”

I charged at him knocking him to the ground
and
grabbed a handful of snow
,
“You asked for it.”

He looked up at me laughing,
“You wouldn’t.”

“Yes, I would,
” I
assured him
,
but
before I could thrust the snow in his face he had somehow managed
to grab my arm
and
twist himself on top of me.

“You’re lesson today is never to thr
eaten with delay,
for
it allows your opponent
time to
formulate a defensive strategy,
”
Hunter chastised as he
pinned me to the ground. A whistle echoed through the frozen air
distracting Hunter enough that I managed to loosen my arm
and
smother the snow into his face.