In Between Seasons (The Fall)

by Giovanni, Cassandra

  Hunter was looking at me, but his eyes were distant. This was the way he looked when he was ashamed of something and was deep in his thoughts.

  “Sometimes all you have is your hands and sometimes you can’t guarantee your own safety until a person is dead,” he finally managed to say. His forehead creased in agitation, and I was losing my confidence fast.

  “I don’t think I can do all this Hunter,” I shook my head, “I’m a klutz and I’m weak. How could I ever break anything on anyone?”

  “You can dance quite well, Kate, and fighting is much like dancing, but with painful physical contact. As for being weak, you only need to get someone in the right position to break something. If you get someone into an arm bar with just the right twist you will hear a very disturbing crunch.”

  “Wonderful,” I muttered putting my hand on my forehead, “I know I need to know this…I know I can do it… it’s just scary to know that other people can do it too.”

  Hunter’s lips curled into a slight smirk, “They can’t do it as well as you’ll be able to. That’s the advantage.”

  “Okay, oh wise one. What’s first?” I asked, taking a deep breath and stepping towards him. If anyone could teach me how to kill someone with my bare hands it would be Hunter. The thought was disturbing, but it was truthful.

  “First we’ll work on blocks, then strikes, then submission and kill tactics. Then we’ll put it all together,” Hunter came around behind me, “Now this is a very basic block.”

  He let his hands run from my shoulder down my arm, and I had to close my eyes to remain composed. I didn’t think that this was the way he trained his men. He was having fun by teasing me with his light touch. His hands stopped at my wrists and he lifted them into position.

  “So I just hold my arms up like this the whole time?” I asked, reminding myself to breath.

  He came back to face me and moved my elbows up, “Don’t forget someone is going to be hitting you.”

  “Won’t it hurt?”

  “It won’t be as bad as a strike to your face,” He answered as he raised his eyebrows in cynicism.

  “Ha-ha,” I retorted, and his arm flew at my face. I kept the position, but fell backwards, losing my balance as his arm contacted mine.

  “See—it’s better than your face,” he confirmed, grabbing my arms and pulling me up before I hit the ground.

  “Couldn’t you have warned me?” I asked.

  “Will your opponent warn you?”

  “Fine,” I snapped, thinking I was clever as I hooked my arm around to hit him. He raised his arm and blocked me as if my arm was no more than a fly.

  “You must always be prepared,” he repeated, and his arm came swinging around again, stopping just inches from my face.

  “Thanks for not actually hitting me,” I commented, my eyes wide as I stared at his fist. I wondered how much damage it would have caused had it made contact. The thought made me cringe.

  He shook his head and moved around me again. He slid my arms into place quicker than before as if he was already becoming frustrated with me, “Again.”

  This time I was prepared to block him and actually managed to strike him while he was striking me.

  “Much better, but not good enough,” he commented as he slid around me again. I had a feeling I was going to be exhausted by the time Hunter let me stop, and boy was I right. His training left every muscle in my body screaming for days, but he wouldn’t let me stop. He pushed me harder than I had ever been pushed before, and I was actually enjoying it. The pain in my muscles was no competition for the confidence that I might be able to defend myself.

  Chapter 26

  It was at times like these that the waiting would kill me. My mind couldn’t stand still for a moment’s time, and I felt as if my eyes were unbearably wide open to my past. I couldn’t keep my mind on the words of the book I had in front of me. They just read as jumbled letters; just as jumbled as my thoughts. I found myself standing by the window staring at the gray sky while I wondered what Hunter was doing out there in the woods. I wondered what kind of torture he was submitting himself to under his father’s orders. I shivered as I watched my breath frost the window in front of me. I kept thinking about the fact that Hunter was training me to defend myself against God only knew what. Who would be sent after me next and would we escape in time to avoid it? It was only twelve and the gray sky was saying snow without actually showing it.

  “Hey there,” Mara greeted me as she came in the door and made me jump. I inadvertently threw the book I had been holding to my heart across the room, “Whoa, I didn’t think I would scare you that much.”

  Her blonde eye brow rose in suspicion, but she shrugged it off.

  “I was thinking. I know that’s a scary thought,” I snapped as I picked up the book I had thrown.

  “No need to get nasty with me,” Mara reached her hand out for my book, “What are you reading? Antony and Cleopatra?”

  “Shakespeare.”

  “I know,” Mara replied, a smile coming to her face.

  “Right,” I retorted.

  “You want to come down and watch a movie with us?” Mara asked.

  “I’m fine.”

  “You look upset Kate, and it’s going to be hours before Hunter and the boys come in—that is unless it snows,” She stepped next to me and looked out the window, “When I can’t stand the TV anymore I disappear too—except I just go to our bedroom and watch the ceiling.”

  “You seem to be the only one who doesn’t hate their husband,” I commented, putting my head against the cool glass.

  “Maybe I am,” she answered, and from the look on her face I realized she would never say more than that, “but don’t let the others know that I do, and I won’t let them know you love Hunter.”

  Our eyes locked and her smile was sincere and sad.

  “I never said that,” I stumbled to find words. I wanted to ask if it was that obvious.

  “You didn’t have to,” she shrugged, “Movie?”

  “No, I think I’m going to get some stuff from the store and the kitchen. Maybe I’ll make a batch of cookies or something,” I explained, still holding the book to my chest.

  “We just got a shipment of winter clothes in, so you should probably hop on that before the other girls discover it,” Mara suggested, turning and walking out the door.

  By the time I had gotten some warmer clothes from the store and gotten the things I needed for cookies there was already two inches of snow on the ground. I stuck my tongue out at the sky and let the flakes melt there. Hunter might be back soon if it kept up like this. I sighed and went up the steps, trying to push a completely new set of thoughts out of my mind thanks to Mara. That one four letter word was the one that I thought I would never feel in any way shape or form. Especially after my father had ordered Trevor to pull the trigger on me. I hadn’t really thought about the way Hunter made me feel until the moment Mara had said the words. I knew I was attracted to him physically, and come on, who wouldn’t be? Yet, his personality was even better than his looks. He was an amazing person in every way, even if not everyone could see it. I knew that from the moment I had gazed into his intense ocean eyes I had felt something, but I hadn’t thought to put that word to it. Love was something that people wrote about, but never really happened in our world. Maybe that was because it was different for everyone. I had feelings for him, which were beyond my control, but love? He was my hope; the only one that existed in the war rotted world we lived in, and God I prayed that I was his. The thing Mara hadn’t said was that she thought Hunter loved me back. The thought hit me in the gut, and I found myself sitting at the kitchen table chewing my nails while staring at the wall as I tried to ease the feeling away.

  “Kate, Kate?” Hunter called, coming in the front door.

  “In here,” I said with my nail still stuck in the corner of my mouth and my eyes still glued to the wall.

  “You okay?” Hunter asked as he obstructed my view of the wall,
his head cocked and his arms crossed.

  I couldn’t stay in this mood with him looking at me like that—muscles taught, vein in his forehead bulged in worry.

  “Of course, I was just bored waiting for you,” I explained with a smile. The feeling had vanished the second I looked into his eyes. I hoped that was a sign.

  “It’s snowing,” his eyebrows rose, “You know what that means?”

  “No, what?”

  He rushed into the bedroom and grabbed the sweatshirt I had picked out earlier. He threw it at me along with a pair of gloves, “It’s battle time.”

  “What?” I asked.

  He pulled on a black hooded sweatshirt leaving the hood over his head and then pulled on black gloves.

  “Ready yourself for battle. Men versus women. It’s the first battle of the year,” he explained, and his enthusiasm was contagious even though I was still clueless.

  “Still confused,” I responded, zipping up the sweatshirt and pulling on the gloves.

  Hunter pulled the hood over my head and rubbed my cheek.

  “I’m going to kick your adorable ass,” he joked as he slipped his hand into mine and dragged me out the door.

  “What makes you so sure you’ll win?” I asked as we neared the field that I had watched the men and Hunter practice hand to hand combat on day in and day out. In the middle of the snow coated field there were at least seventy five people, and the women were certainly outnumbered by the men.

  “So the POW came to join the fight,” Rob commented with his arm wrapped tightly around Mara’s waist.

  “I think we stand a chance against you guys with Kate. She’s a lot tougher than any of us know,” Mara commented, looking at me with a calm that irritated me.

  Her eyes fell on Hunters hand still entwined in mine and one of her eyebrows raised a touch. I took a deep breath and dropped his hand before anyone else could notice. I didn’t need anyone else to observe what Mara had. It would only give them ammo against me.

  “Alright, is everyone ready?” Hunter asked, clapping his hands together. He seemed unaware of my abrupt drop of his hand.

  “Yes, Sir,” everyone replied in unison, and I was struck by how much control Hunter had over the group.

  Hunter leaned down and whispered into my ear, “Kicking your adorable ass.”

  I rolled my eyes and smacked his arm, “Cocky.”

  “Is that a challenge?” Hunter asked, his eyes enthusiastic.

  I stood on my tippy toes and put my hands on his shoulders to whisper into his ear, “Of course it is, Hunter.”

  “We’ll see who wins,” Hunter responded, his voice tinged with silent laughter.

  “If I win you don’t get any of my cookies that I was planning on making from scratch for dessert tonight,” I said, winking at him as I turned.

  “I choose winning over cookies,” Hunter retorted as he smacked my butt. I turned on my heel, my eyes narrowed, “Sorry, it just slipped.”

  I charged at him knocking him to the ground and grabbed a handful of snow, “You asked for it.”

  He looked up at me laughing, “You wouldn’t.”

  “Yes, I would,” I assured him, but before I could thrust the snow in his face he had somehow managed to grab my arm and twist himself on top of me.

  “You’re lesson today is never to threaten with delay, for it allows your opponent time to formulate a defensive strategy,” Hunter chastised as he pinned me to the ground. A whistle echoed through the frozen air distracting Hunter enough that I managed to loosen my arm and smother the snow into his face.

  “I win,” I teased, smiling underneath him.

  He blinked twice and spit the snow out of his mouth, “I guess so.”

  “Your lesson today is to never underestimate me,” I joked as he gave me a hand to stand up.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Hunter replied, his hand slipping slowly out of mine.

  I had to take a deep breath as I turned to walk to where the other women were. My heart was hammering against my chest, and I struggled to keep it from showing on my face. My eyes met Mara’s, and she was smirking in a way that made me want to throw a snowball right in her face too.

  “So how does this work?” I asked as the women spread the circle they were standing in so I could join.

  “We fight until they give up,” Mara explained.

  “What would make them give up?” I wondered, looking over my shoulder at the group of men. Hunter was looking at me with the smuggest smirk I had ever seen, and I couldn’t help but stick my tongue out at him. He shook his head and laughed as Rob punched him in the shoulder.

  “They want us so much they can’t stand it anymore,” Amy responded, a black eyebrow arched in way that I assumed she thought was sexy.

  “Shouldn’t take too much,” Mara said as she pointed at her eyes and then at Rob. He was already staring at her as if he wanted to race across the field and kiss her.

  “So do we have a plan of attack?” I asked just as a snowball smacked me right in the butt, “Ughh! Is that the only target on me?”

  “Apparently,” Mara yelped as the group dispersed, running to the nearest trees.

  I looked over my shoulder at Hunter who had his hands in his pockets as he looked up at the sky.

  “You! You’re going to get it!” I yelled, and as his eyes met mine his lip arched up on one side.

  I grabbed a handful of snow and launched it at him. It landed short though, and he just shook his head at me as he lurched forward and grabbed a handful of snow. It flew into the air before I could react and hit me right in the chest.

  There were snowballs blurring into the gray air like an endless stream of low lying clouds, and I had to duck as I raced towards a tree for protection against the onslaught that was being propelled at me.

  My mind was racing as I tried to think of how I could actually get a snowball anywhere near Hunter when he was so far away from me. My only chance was to dart between the trees as quickly as I could when someone else was moving, so that I could use them as a distraction. We all wore essentially the same color sweatshirt, so we all blended into each other. Mara was at the tree next to me, and I could see she was getting ready to run to where I was. Just as she did I ran, passing behind her as a snowball hit her right in the side. I looked out from the side of the new tree that I was at and saw that my strategy had worked. Hunter was propelling balls of snow at Mara instead of me. I raced to the next tree and peeked out again.

  “That’s Mara,” Rob shouted to Hunter elbowing him in the side, “Your girl disappeared.”

  Hunter looked around at the trees, and I ducked before he could see my smiling face.

  Two more trees and I would be close enough to hit him. I made it to the tree I had aimed for and found myself only ten feet away from him. It seemed I had mastered the silent running that Hunter did so well, or the snow was helping to muffle my elephant feet. I needed premade ammo if I was going to overtake him, and I hurried to make several snow balls in front of me.

  “Where the hell did Kate go?” Hunter asked Rob.

  “How am I supposed to know? I was just watching Mara until you started to aim at her too. Now I don’t know where she’s disappeared to either.”

  I looked to the side of me and Mara was two trees over.

  “Good one,” she mouthed.

  I shrugged, picking up two of my snow balls and throwing them at Hunter’s head.

  “What the?” Hunter reacted as he looked over at me.

  I smiled and threw two more at him, “You give up yet?”

  “Never surrender!” Hunter yelled as he rushed towards me pelting snow balls at him as fast as I could.

  He tackled me to the ground laughing, “Do you give up?”

  “Never,” I replied as I threw handfuls of snow in his face.

  Hunter pinned my arms to the ground, “Now?”

  I shook my head.

  “A compromise?” Hunter suggested.

  “What kind of compromise?” I a
sked, narrowing my eyes at him.

  “I help you make the cookies, and I get to eat some too.”

  “I like that compromise,” I replied as he rolled to the side of me and we both sat up.

  “There’s one more thing,” he said, and when I turned my head he thrust a snowball softly into it.

  “Sometimes I hate you,” I huffed.

  “Come on; I had to,” he said as he leaned in and wiped the snow off my face. That pretty much fixed any anger that I had into pure joy.

  “Fine, I forgive you…This was really fun,” I responded as we walked away from the slew of snowballs that were still being thrown.

  “It’s times like these when we can finally forget how much we hate each other…even though it doesn’t last for long,” he said, looking over his shoulder as he put his hand into mine.

  “Yeah,” I seconded as I looked ahead of us where Mara and Rob were walking inside the house laughing.

  Chapter 27

  The snow was too deep for the men to do any outdoor training, so they had joined us in the common room. I knew I was going stir crazy, but I could see it even more in Hunter’s eyes. His eyes flashed between me and the darkness that hung over him in the whispered conversations with his men over the pool tables. I had strained my ears to hear them speaking so many times over the TV that I didn’t have to try at it anymore. Most of the time the conversation was about training schedules and what orders were to be given next. Other times it was so crude I stopped listening as soon as I heard it. This time my ears picked up my name in their conversation.

  “Kate’s banging Hunter, but I’m starting to think she’s not a prisoner at all. You couldn’t have her if you wanted her. You couldn’t force her to do something she didn’t want to,” Charlie commented, his voice deep and not in the slightest way respectful. The thought of being forced to do anything as POW was disgusting to me, and I knew Hunter felt the same way from the look on his face.

  “I think you need to stop thinking. You’re hurting your brain,” Hunter stood, “Kate, let’s go.”