“What do you mean by that?” Charlotte, a female that just had her first shift last week, perked up.
“Well now, that you’re actually running, and you have built the muscle on. Now we can break off on to shift and non shifted sides.”
“For what?” Cass asked, bouncing on her toes.
“Hand to hand combat.” I smiled, and some girls jumped with excitement.
“Finally,” Tamara squealed. “I’ve been waiting for this since we started.”
“Well, we talked about it, and Amy here thought that getting you moving and building muscle was a stronger base than throwing you into the thick of it.” Tina smiled and bumped her little sister’s shoulder.
“I know, and she’s right. I would have died week one, but now I’m ready.” Tamara laughed back.
“Let’s go. I want shifted on my right-hand side and non shifted girls to my left.” There was a quick shuffle and most of the girls moved to the left-handed side, leaving only a handful on my right. “Now pair off. Once we see you all grapple a few times, we will match you with people that are closer to your skill and strength levels.” I watched as everyone paired off.
“Now ladies. We don’t want to see girl fights here, but we also don’t want you trying to kill each other. We want to see clean fights. No hair pulling, no scratching if you can help it.” Lynn called out.
“Also, for those of you that are unshifted or recently shifted, anger can provoke a shift. If you start to feel a shift coming on, or you partially shift, combat stops there. We will learn to fight in wolf form later on.”
“Before we start, though. I want everyone to form a fist and hold it out.” I called out, and the three of us started going through everyone.
“This is stupid.” Amanda whispered to another crony as I walked up to them.
“You think this is stupid?” I stopped in front of her and grabbed her hand.
“Yes.” She rolled her eyes.
“Why?” I looked her fist over and then wrapped my fingers around her fist.
“Because I know how to make a fist.” She scoffed, and I squeezed, causing her to scream and drop.
“If you knew how to make a fist, Amanda, you wouldn’t currently be on your ass. You tucked your thumb, and if I squeeze any harder, or if you say, hit someone with it. Then you would shatter your fucking thumb.” I pulled her to her feet and opened her hand. I tucked her thumb and reformed a proper fist. “So I check. Because it can stop you from making a very stupid decision.”
“Thank you.” She wiped her brow and looked away. I nodded and moved on. Once everyone was checked. I walked back to the front.
“Now we know this spar is going to be bad. We aren’t expecting you all to know what you are doing. But this is to help us gauge exactly where you are and where we should start with each of you. Do not.” I paused, making eye contact with most of the girls. “Do not assume that if you can’t fight, you won’t get better. We will make you better.” I pointed out Lynn and Tina. “We will all be walking around. We might stop your fight, make a pointer or give a direction. Listen to what we all have to say. Learn from what we have to say and I promise, every day, every fight, will be better.” I waited until a few nodded. “Begin.”
Each set of girls charged at the other and started fighting. We had to stop a few that got too heated. One set had the other’s hair wrapped around their fists and pulling them apart was hell. But overall it was a good start.
I watched as Lynn walked up to Cass and her partner, separating the two and walking them through on how to throw a proper punch. Once the two showed a few air punches, Lynn had them get back to sparring, and both ended up with black eyes. I laughed, but they were smiling.
I helped a few others do the same and by the time the fighting was over, more than a few had fat lips and bruises. One girl who
was paired up with Aurora was missing a patch of hair, because Aurora didn’t understand, stop, and one had to be taken to the doctor. But everyone else was all smiles.
“Amy?” I whirled to face my father and tried to smile.
“Yes, Daddy?” I looked up at him as he looked over at me.
“What are you doing?” He chuckled at my outfit. “Are you going to break into a bank?” I looked down at my black hoodie, pants, and boots. I just shrugged.
“I’m going for a hike.”
“In all black, with a flashlight, in the late afternoon?” He laughed again and crossed his arms.
“Why not?” I tossed a small wave and ran away before he could ask any more questions. I headed down the stairs, through the kitchen, and out the door. I heard Cass calling out for me, but I ran toward the back of the yard.
Once I had run through a couple of small patches of woods, I finally spotted the gazebo. I beelined for it. I was running through the words my grandmother said.
I circled the side and found nothing. I circled a few times and there was no way under. I threw my hands up in the air, frustrated with the search already. What in the hell am I going to do? I huffed and slammed my back against the wood panelling on the gazebo.
I felt something pop, and the panel disappeared. And with it, so did I. I tumbled back under the gazebo. I laid on the ground, staring up at the cobwebbed ceiling, and tried to catch my breath as the wood swung back and forth on its hidden hinges. The air was sucked out of my lungs from the impact and the world seemed to slow down for a second before I shook myself.
“Ow.” I coughed and froze as I heard someone calling for me, but I hopped up and slid the wood closed, clicking on my flashlight and looking around. I kicked the dirt around, looking for a hatch somewhere. I slowly circled the underside of the gazebo, making my way closer to the center until I hit metal. I scuffed my boot around and realized I had kicked the metal hinge of a door. I searched around a little longer with my boot until I hit more metal.
I crouched down, dusted the handle off, wrapped my fingers around it and pulled. The dirt fell off the front of the wood, and I coughed, breathing in the dust. I covered my face with my elbow and peered down the steps cut into the rock below.
“You trust her, you trust her, you trust her.” I mumbled to myself as I started down the steps. My body broke out into goosebumps as my foot hit the bottom of the tunnel.
She is your grandmother.
Megan’s voice sounded in my mind with a soft chuckle.
“I know she is my grandmother, but tell me this isn’t scary.” The air was stale and cool. “No one has been down here in a long time.” I whispered and started down the dark tunnel.
Soon, we can at least find some answers.
Nix’s cool voice sounded.
But she wouldn’t harm us.
“I know. But it’s been over a hundred years. Who knows what or who is down here?” I swung my flashlight back and forth, feeling eyes on me. I shivered and moved quicker.
No one can be down here. Didn’t you feel it when we started down?
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