12 Ch 12 A Sandy Circle (1/2)

Derrick was still shaking his head in disbelief at my antics when we pulled up to a regular looking house. There were four cars in the driveway and a few along the street. He gave me a slight grin as he got out of the car.

”You ready for this?”

”Sure. You've got me curious as to just how good you are.” I paused as we walked up to the door. ”I'm curious about how good I really am compared to others as well.”

There wasn't a television or any decorations in the living room, just a few heavy couches and bare walls. The kitchen had a table and one chair. I could hear the sound of a punching bag being used from what used to be a bedroom. Opening my senses up, I could smell hints of blood and disinfectant coming from down the hall. I guessed a first aid station. The whole place smelled of sweat and testosterone. Calling this place a gym was a gross understatement.

Derrick watched me take the place in.

”Still want to come in?”

I just looked at him, considering I was already in. I caught his meaning though. One last chance to back out before we got to where the action happened.

”Lead the way.”

The wolf in me was ready for a good workout. I almost chanted dad's litany.

Vigilance. Caution.

I could use the wolf, but not enough for anyone to notice. I would have to seriously control myself.

As we reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the basement, I began to wonder if this was a mistake; and yet, I was honestly ready to truly test myself in a way Derrick wouldn't understand.

Our presence got the attention of the six men already in the basement. It wasn't the biggest guy who stepped forward, though he was bulging with muscle, but what appeared to be the oldest. Not old, just older, maybe early to mid-thirties. He looked at us with narrowed eyes.

”Derrick?” The question was practically a growl. Authority rolled off the man.

Derrick hesitated, and in that hesitation, I got a sense of things. Derrick might be out of the military, but he was still under the command of whoever this bodybuilder guy was.

I walked up to the big guy. My approach changed from simply walking up to the more careful preliminary steps a challenging wolf would do. My eyes evaluated the muscular man in front of me, taking in the military tats. I circled around him, eyes unblinking, arms loose but at the ready, steps light and ready to move in any direction. I made sure he understood that Derrick hadn't made a mistake in bringing me here.

He turned with me, recognizing the challenge I was giving him. My eyes didn't leave him until I was between him and the sandy area where two guys had been fighting when we walked in. All of a sudden I relaxed my pose and grinned.

”So this is where all the fun happens?”

I kicked my shoes off as I walked over. Barefoot now, I walked into the center of the area, still grinning.

The two guys that had been fighting there just looked at me.

I turned around, slowing taking in the size of the area I had to work with. I made a subtle shift, mostly around my shoulders. In my second slow spin, I moved around, swinging low. I was now behind the two guys, crouched down, one leg out, one fist in the sand, looking up, waiting.

The guy in charge had one hand on Derrick's shoulder, stopping him from moving forward. He motioned with his other hand.

”Henry, Ed, give him what he's asking for. No weapons.”

Both guys threw a few knives off to the side. I grinned again, ready for them.

The one guy was built a bit more than me and came straight at me. I had a slight height advantage on him, but not much. As he took a swing at my head, I stepped into his embrace, ducking in under his arm. I latched my arm around his shoulder, lifting my feet to use all of my body weight to throw him off balance. As he stumbled, I swung my feet up over his other shoulder, making the big guy land heavily on his back.

I turned my own momentum from the fall into a backward somersault that I didn't quite get to finish. The big guy rolled after his fall and was practically on top of me. In my current position, I was able to bring my knees up, shifting my hips slightly to make my legs come in faster than normal into a position that was more normal for wolf legs. I wasted no time shifting my hips back in time to plant my feet along the bigger man's hips, using my arms to lift him enough to throw him over me, or so he thought.

Once he was committed to be thrown, I leveraged my one elbow against the ground, digging it into the sand. Changing my body once again, I altered my hips once more, along with my lower back, to change my center of gravity. My legs automatically came around, helping me roll sideways. With effort I pushed, feeling the sand slide beneath me, barely managing to shove the guy sideways, blocking the other man's approach.

The second guy was smaller, wirier but still well-defined, and older. I used my first opponent's body to help pull myself into a roll with him. I focused for a moment on reverting back to man once the roll was started. Pulling on his shoulders, I leveraged myself up enough to have my right knee dig into his solar plexus. Letting all of my weight push in at that one crucial point, I pivoted myself around on that knee until my other knee was on his throat, my fist swinging into his midriff. His one hand came up to jab at my kidneys while his other hand clawed into my triceps.

I could hear the approach of the smaller man, who simply plowed into me with no finesse, ramming his shoulder into mine, loosening my hold on his friend. I went with the motion, having been rushed at often enough by my dad.

The smaller guy and I managed to get to our feet while the first guy took a second to catch his breath. As the bigger man lumbered to his feet, I used my hip to thrust the smaller guy into him, throwing him off balance again.

The smaller man was quick to recover, stepping toward me. I reached down, blocking the man's arms with my back and shoulder, while I wrapped my arms around his one leg, bringing it up and sending it over his head, literally flipping him. My toss gave the bigger guy time to come at me, and I managed to spin enough to face him head-on. He caught me slightly off-balance, making it hard for me to execute a move against him.