Page 87 of The Sound of Silence

Turning around to face Xi once more, I moved to the center of the ring. Without warning, he attacked. I was on my back in a matter of seconds with his body towering over me.

“This is bullshit!” Derek roared. “Enough of this!” He crossed the ring and placed a hand under my arm to help me up.

“No,” I hissed and shrugged him off. Getting back to my feet on my own, I rounded on him. “You don’t understand, Derek!”

“I don’t understand what? I mean, come on! You expect me to sit back and watch you get pulverized by a man twice your size?” Gone was the authoritative tone he’d originally come in the room with. Now, all I heard was genuine concern and fear.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Tell me one reason why I should allow this to continue.”

“Because I need to be ready, damn you!” I shouted. “If Ethan comes for me again—and I know he will—I need to be ready. So, are you going to help me or not?”

Derek and I stared at each other, a battle of wills neither one of us was willing to surrender to. After a few moments, resignation settled into his shoulders.

“Fine,” he spat out and moved back to the corner of the ring. “Xi, go again.”

Once again, Xi came at me without warning. When I turned to face him, he was already there poised to clothesline me, but I anticipated his movements. Using my shorter height to my advantage, I easily ducked out of the way. Unfortunately, my triumph was short-lived. Before I could get my feet planted firmly once again, Xi turned and landed a blow to the side of my head. I had protective headgear on, but that didn’t stop the ringing in my ears. The force of the blow sent me sideways, and I went down hard.

“That was a fucking cheap shot, Xi,” I cursed.

“Not good enough, Gia!” Derek yelled. “This isn’t like classroom lessons. Your attacker will always take the cheap shot. You need to anticipate and react accordingly. Get up and do it again!”

I scowled at Xi and got to my feet. I was pissed at his tactics to catch me unaware. In class, maneuvers were taught, and we’d practice accordingly. Sneak attacks hadn’t been practiced at all. But Derek was right—real life wouldn’t be anything like self-defense class.

I moved toward the center of the ring. I saw Hana moving along the far wall out of the corner of my eye and glanced her way. In that split second, Xi was on me like white on rice. With one swift kick, he swept my legs out from under me, and I went down again.

“Shit, Xi. What the—” I began, but Derek cut me off.

“I saw your eyes shift to Hana. You let yourself be distracted. Do it again!”

So, we did—and again, and again. Angry music raged on as I was repeatedly brought to my knees. I lost count of how many times I found myself flat on my back. Angry, rage-filled tears stung my eyes when Xi brought me down yet again.

Who was I kidding?

I’d never be able to handle myself if Ethan came at me. He’d win. He’d always win.

Suddenly, the music was silenced. Xi stood over me, and I closed my eyes, so he wouldn’t see my tears. I expected Derek to yell again, but instead, I heard his quiet voice next to my ear.

“Keep your eyes closed. You need to learn to trust your instincts and see with more than your eyes. Tell me what you hear,” he said. Doing as instructed, I listened to the sounds around me.

“I don’t hear anything. Just some thumping coming from the racquetball courts.”

“Wrong. Listen again.”

Taking a deep breath, I trained my ears to pick up the slightest sounds around me.

Breathing.

I could hear Xi’s labored breaths from taking me to task for the last hour.

Swish, swish, squeak.

There was a rustling of material, a sound I recognized it as the material of Hana’s wind pants, followed by the scuff of a sneaker against the polished concrete floor.

“I hear Xi breathing. And Hana… her pants. She uncrossed her legs. Both of her feet are on the floor.”

“Very good. Now, what do you smell.”

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