Page 38 of Dark Knight

"One thing I want you to avoid doing is trying to punch like you would with boxing. If you don't do it right, you could seriously hurt your hand, and that could impact your abilities to get away, so try and use your elbows more. When you do try to bring them up high, swing them around, and aim for the jaw, throat, temple, that kind of thing."

He pointed to his jawline, throat and temple as he spoke and wiggled his elbows around like he was a chicken trying to fly. It would have made me laugh if he wasn't being so serious about it. His attitude was practically contagious.

"If somebody grabs your clothing like this." He reached out and grabbed my t-shirt just under my collarbone. "What you can do is grab them by their wrist with one hand and then grab your clothing with the other. You want to move backward as you push with your hand that's holding that wrist."

He demonstrated by placing my left hand on his wrist as it gripped my t-shirt on the left side before putting my right hand so it grabbed the fabric of the t-shirt right next to his. "So push forward with your left hand and step back, pulling on your clothing with your right."

I did as he asked. It wasn't easy, but it did get the clothing loose from his hands, which was good.

"If for some reason you wind up in an arm bar headlock like this..." He moved behind me and put an arm around my neck. "Then you want to turn your head, putting your chin into the crook of their arm." With his free hand he moved my head, turning it slightly so that my chin rested just by his elbow, before he pushed down. "That should get you the space you need to get out. Also, bend at the waist and just kind of pull your body out."

He kept throwing technique after technique at me. My mind spun from the barrage of information I hadn’t expected.

"Okay, I'm going to attack you again. Same rules as before. You need to escape before I reach the elliptical." He paced around me for a moment before he launched himself at me.

We sparred like that for an hour or so. Each time he attacked, I would do my best to get away. Sometimes I did, sometimes I didn't. In a way, it was comforting to at least experience this in a safe way.

He was trying the bear hug attack again when I leaned forward, but I stumbled. I was getting tired from all of the sparring, and when I went down, he came down with me. My knees thudded against the mat, and I was only barely able to brace myself with my hands thanks to the fact that his arms were wrapped around my shoulders, which gave my hands some freedom of movement..

"Well, this certainly isn't what I expected to see." Hudson's voice came from the doorway. "If you want to fuck, I would suggest taking it to one of your rooms."

"If we want to...What?" Theo's head snapped up, and suddenly I realized that it might look like we were fooling around.

I was on my hands and knees, and he was covering me like a blanket, his arms around my chest. His groin was against my backside. As though he had been splashed with cold water, he released me.

"Uh, don't forget to stretch. Good work," he said before he practically ran out of the room. Hudson just chuckled and shook his head.

Now that I could take a breather, I realized just how tired I was. Instead of getting up, I just flopped down completely onto the mat.

"I told you he would be the better teacher," Hudson murmured.

After a long pause, I pushed up from the mat. "He was very good. He knows a lot about that stuff." I brushed myself off and raised my head so I could look Hudson in the eyes.

"Do you want to try any of those techniques on me? I'll attack you." There was something in his voice that made me shiver, both with fear and anticipation, though the anticipation was of good things.

I shook my head. "I think I'm too tired right now," I said before I tried to excuse myself.

"Theo's a good guy. He'll help you. He'll work with you until you're ready."

"Until I'm ready for what?" I felt like a kid who just found out they had a test the next day.

"Life." Hudson shrugged before putting in earbuds and getting on the elliptical.

We hadn't moved anything back to where it was, but he didn't seem to care. There was enough room for the blades of the machine to work, and he started off with a light jog.

I stood staring at him for longer than I should as I tried to process what he said. Ready for life, huh? Right now, all I was ready for was bed, and the further I got from the gym, the more the exhaustion hit my bones. I barely made it upstairs to my bed before I collapsed.

The last thought that rolled through my mind was how I felt like there was something familiar about Theo. I saw textbooks in his room, so maybe he went to Welhurst while I was there or something. None of those books were from classes I'd ever taken though, so was that really it? Or was it something else?

19

Evie

When I awoke, I didn't immediately realize I had slept all the way through the night and missed dinner until I saw the time on the clock. The clothes I had worn to train with Theo yesterday stuck to my skin with dried sweat, making me feel disgusting.

I got up and peeled the clothing from my body so I could shower. It was only when I was midway through soaping my body that I remembered the heart that was drawn on the mirror with the arrow before.

Suddenly, I felt self-conscious, as though somebody was watching me in the bathroom. I hated the feeling more than I hated the fact that I missed dinner the night before. There wasn't much I could do, though, except get ready to start the day.

---