Death Wish

Part 12

My eyebrows nearly shot off my forehead.

What had I gotten myself into?

A murmur of surprise ran through the surrounding crowd and Four quickly walked up from behind Eric.

"You realise you can't kill an initiate right?" Four asked quietly but I heard him perfectly

"Oh I won't kill her. But she needs to learn a lesson," Eric said, his voice dripping with menace as he still did not break eye contact with me.

Four looked as if he wanted to argue further but decided against it. He offered me a cautious glance but said nothing more.

I retained my cool even though it was plausible I may come out of this fight partially paralyzed. I hesitated for just a split second.

"I accept," I said, not sounding even half as confident before.

Matius resiliently stepped off the sparring mat, looking speechless as he rubbed one of his forming bruises. I could only imagine the expressions of those behind me but I didn't dare turn at look at any of them.

Eric turned away to walk to the other side of the mat. As he walked, he removed his black jacket and undershirt to reveal the same rippling muscles I had seen in the tattoo parlor. I decided not to stare but instead focused on how to get out of this alive.

If that was possible.

I didn't have nearly as much strength as Eric did but he was far bulkier than I was, giving me the small, possible advantage of speed. He didn't totally dwarf me in size, since I was rather tall for a female, but he was still twice as wide.

The only real weakness I could deduce was that he was overconfident. He knew he would win this fight and I had no doubt that he wouldn't. But that didn't mean I would make it easy for him...

I stood across from him on the other side of the mat with a confident posture that betrayed my inner turmoil. I could barely stand still as adrenaline coursed through my veins wildly. A mix of fear and anxiety also stirred within my stomach. Now it really felt like I'd just stepped into the lion's den. And it was feeding time.

"Begin," Four commanded and Eric immediately charged towards me at full speed.

I tried side stepping him, using the same tactic I used against everyone who charged at me, but Eric was surprisingly fast for his size and caught my foot, tripping me up. He turned around just as fast and hit me in the chest with the brunt side of his palm, nearly stunning me.

I tried to recover quickly but he punched the side of my face and then kicked me with his large foot in the stomach. Forcing me to the floor.

Correction: Eric was much faster than I was.

I couldn't contain the yelp of pain that escaped my lips and my jaw felt like it just got banged on a metal table. He hadn't even punched me with his full strength and it still took me down to the floor.

My mind raced for a way out as I tumbled to the ground. I couldn't beat him in a fair fight. He was stronger, faster, and way more experienced.

An idea popped into my head.

Suddenly, I went completely limp, feigning unconsciousness on the floor. My body laid unmoving on the floor, seemingly incapacitated from his two blows.

Eric scoffed, sounding disappointed at the sight even though I couldn't see his face.

"Should' ve just listened to orders Candor," He said disdainfully under his breath as he walked over to where I laid 'unconscious'. I could feel the mat shift in weight as he approached.

A strong hand gripped the underside of my arm, moving to heave me off tje mat. My eyes snapped open, immediately meeting Eric's suprised ones, and he nearly lost his grip.

I wasted no time before taking my fist to the left side of his face with as much force as I could muster and swinging my body around so that his feet were knocked from under him. The impact of my balled fisted colliding with his face rang through the gym like a bell and Eric fell to the floor in one bug heap.

I rolled away, regaining my feet, and feeling a little light headed as I stood up. I heard yells of surprise from the sidelines at the sudden turn in the tide. Even without looking, I could distinguish Rency's high pitched cheer.

Eric looked up in stunned surprise after the initial shock subsided. That surprise quickly shifted to anger as he realized he was just embarrassed by an initiate.

"How's that for a candor?" I jeered, staring down at him, even though it went against all logic to piss him off more.

Gosh, I was asking to get my butt kicked at this point.

Eric pushed himself up off the floor easily and I put my hands up, ready to defend myself once more.

Eric came at me even quicker than before but I managed to land a punch on him right before he took me down. But this time, he didn't just tackle me he actually picked me up and slammed me into the floor.

The air in my lungs was forced out of me as all oxygen left my body. It felt like my chest had collapsed from the sudden loss of pressure and my spine jolted in pain from the brute impact. The back of my headed slammed into the mat as well, sending dozens of stars across my vision. I scrambled hopelessly underneath the large man but to no avail.

I could only choke in response as my lungs screamed for air. My arms wouldn't even coordinate to defend myself and only flailed helplessly. All I could do was wait for the next blow.

I braced for impact as an enraged Eric pinned to the ground with his fist raised. He reared back to finish me off and I flinched away, knowing what was coming.

But then Eric hesitated.

For a few seconds, he simply held his fist over my defenseless face and all I could do was stare up at him with wide eyes.

The seconds past like minutes as I waited for the final blow. Everything was so blurry and terrifying and I wasn't able to even move.

Suddenly, the weight on top of me disappeared and was replaced by nothing but empty air. Eric stood up, retrieved his jacket, and swiftly left the room without so much as a word.

I sat up slowly and shakily, my chest and jaw aching painfully as the adrenaline wore off. My lungs were still searing but at least air was pumping through them. The room was spinning and my chest hurt.

Rency and Ryan were by my side in an instant to help me up. They quickly sat me down in a nearby chair where I was offered an ice pack.

"Oh my gosh! Are you ok?" Rency asked, peering at my jaw closly.

"Keep that ice on," Ryan chimed.

"Dang, he got you pretty good," Matius noted at the sight of my face.

"Ferris, you are literally crazy. How the hell are you still alive?" Rency asked.

"I-I'm fine, I'm fine, really," I claimed hoarsely and pressed the ice thankfully against my jaw. I was still slightly dazed from the of being slammed against the floor but at least the room wasn't spinning anymore.

"Are you kidding? She's doing just fine with those balls of steel," Morsov proclaimed, making everyone laugh even though it hurt my mouth.

"I knew you had a death wish," Rency said with a smile, patting me on the shoulder.

I grinned in response but my gaze drifted to the door where Eric had left through. I couldn't get the image of his conflicted and hesitant expression out of my mind.

The sheer confliction.

Even through my blurry vision, I had seen it plain as day. It was practically etched into my memory.

Why did he leave?