Seraphina: Initiation (4 page)

Sliding to a stop that could have landed me
on a major baseball league, I
’
m in a
defensive stance preparing for danger. Nate finally catches up to
me again and without missing a beat adds, “See that branch above
us?” He points above my head and I nod, “
Well,
I want you to jump up and touch it.”

Looking up at the branch, it
’
s at least ten feet high. There
’
s no way my 5
’
6” frame
can reach it. To amuse him, I try anyway. I crouch down low and
throw all my weight up. Hitting the ground in failure, I wasn’t
even close. I try again and again until I realize I may be going
about this all-wrong. Remembering a kung-fu movie I had seen once,
I get the feeling maybe I have to think outside the box. Taking a
few steps back I get a running start towards the tree, I jump up
and kick off that tree towards the tree parallel to it, kick off
that one as well, I
’
m finally high enough
to reach out and grab the branch. Gripping it tight in my hands I
pull myself up onto it. I place my hands on my hips and smile down
at Nate in a triumphant stance.

“Great!” Nate yells up at me, “Now jump back
down!”

Jumping down I expect to hurt my shins, but
I land on both feet with catlike grace. I smile at myself again for
a minute before I turn to gauge Nate
’
s
reaction. Only when I turn around he
’
s
not there, suddenly I feel someone grabbing me from behind. I
struggle with him as he closes the arm he has around my throat and
begins to lift me off my feet. Instead of giving in, I
’
m still close enough to the tree that my feet can
touch it. I run my feet up the tree before me and back flip over
him, breaking free from Nate
’
s grip.

“
Good
! Now
let
’
s go back to the house; I’ll show you
more defensive moves.” He states over his shoulder before breaking
into a run.

Laughing to myself, I should have known that
was coming. He did specifically ask me why I didn’t fight back when
the first Demon had attacked me. Then the same thing happened
during the second attack. I should’ve expected he would drill it
into me until it becomes second nature. I
’
m able to catch up to him in seconds, run past him,
and beat him to the house. I leap up the five steps and enter the
house, locking the door behind me.

When he finally reaches the house I make him
knock on the door for me to open it. I open the door slowly before
teasing, “Oh, so glad you could make it, do come in slow poke” as I
gesture dramatically in a curtsey for him to enter. We share a
little laugh before he heads to the side of the large staircase
that leads upstairs. He reaches his hand out to the wall and opens
a door out of what seems to be nowhere. Staring at the door, I
never would have noticed. It fit perfectly into the wood paneling
of the architecture. Following him, the door leads to a flight of
stairs going into the basement. Peering out over the railing as
I
’
m descending the steps, the basement is
all white cement and it is set up like a training facility. There
isn’t much to see because it seems to be just an empty space to
train. Reaching the bottom step I notice the floor isn’t cement as
I thought, it’s bouncy almost like a turf of some kind. Turning
around taking it all in when, I notice that along the wall of the
stairs is a vast display of weaponry. Starting from large swords to
small daggers and ending in tiny knives and throwing stars. I’ve
reached out to touch a dagger that stands out to me with a
jewel-encrusted handle when I hear Nate clear his throat behind me.
Spinning to face him, I see him standing in the center of the
basement on what looks like the middle of a target painted on the
floor. Seeing him standing there with his muscles flexing under his
black tee shirt as he watches me walking up to him I can
’
t help the flush of color that floods into my face.
He must read my emotions once again because I see him smile and
look down before glancing back up to meet my eyes. When I finally
reach him, he becomes serious and I try and remember how important
it is to focus on training. He gives me a stern look before
reaching out with one hand, trying to grasp my throat. Reflexively,
I grab his wrist and duck under his extended arm before flipping
him over my back. He smacks to the ground with a thud and a
cough.

“
Good
!” is the
only thing he says in reinforcement before climbing to his feet and
attacking me again. This time he runs towards me before spinning
around into a kick. I jump backwards out of the way just in time to
miss his foot, before I reach out, grab his ankle, and twist it.
His whole body seems to twirl with his ankle before he somehow gets
a hold of himself in the air and lands on his feet again. Without
hesitation, he comes for me again. This time,
I
don’
t wait for his attack. I meet him half way and at the
last minute, throw my arm out and move to the side, clothes-lining
him. He looks up at me from his back, gasping as I offer him a hand
up. He slyly smiles before taking it, but instead of pulling
himself up, he pulls me down. Only I don’t fall, my body seems to
somehow tuck itself under and roll back so that I
’
m on top of him again with my forearm against his
throat.

“Good, you
’
re
learning your instincts!” He states raspy against my arm before I
pull it back, kiss him on the nose, and climb to my feet. I can
feel the smile creep into his cheeks at the affection I showed him
before climbing to his own feet and shaking his head trying to get
stern with me again.

“Remember Sera, the best offense is a good
defense. Wait for me to come to you!” He tells me fully returning
to training mode. I nod while motioning with my finger for him to
come towards me. A smirk crosses his face as he heads towards me in
a blur, I stand defensively but as he reaches me he spins around me
and has his arm around my throat. I feel his bicep pressing against
my airway as I struggle beneath his grip. I
’
m trying to push his arm away when he pulls me
backward off my feet and I get desperate. I
’
m scratching at his arm now I can feel the blood
fading from my face. When suddenly my arm reflexively extends and
my elbow slams backwards against his ribs. I hear a crack and his
arm releases me, but I don
’
t stop
. It
’
s as if I have
to prove something and I
’
m saving myself
from all the times that I couldn’t defend myself. I land on my feet
and twirl into a roundhouse kick that smacks him across his face.
He falls to the ground and I can see him coughing in pain. Coming
to my senses, I run up to him and drop to my knees beside him.

“Oh my God! I
’
m
sorry I didn’t mean to!” I mumble pulling his head onto my lap.

“It
’
s okay Sera!
I’ll heal. You did good!” He barely spurts out in between breaths.
I sit staring at him for a few minutes making mental comparisons
between this and my dream, mentally kicking myself the entire time.
After what feels like an eternity, I hear his ribs crack back into
place as his body begins healing itself and I can breathe again.
The skin on his lip heals over and he finally takes a deep breath
in before I help him to his feet.

“You have no excuse to die from
strangulation now!” He jokes wiping the dry blood from his lip and
putting his arm around my waist as he walks me back upstairs.
“You
’
re so in tune with the senses
already it
’
s as if…” He lets the sentence
drift off as his thought processes continue inside his head. We
walk to the kitchen and I walk ahead of him to open the
refrigerator door, only when I glance in I find that it
’
s empty. I look over at Nate leaning against the
counter and he laughs before sending me a sexy smirk and telling
me, “Look again.” I glance back and sure enough it
’
s fully stocked with food. Long gone are the days
when I question him, I just grab some sliced turkey and close the
door. He has a loaf of bread in his hands by the time I turn around
and we stand side by side in the kitchen making our sandwiches.
When I’m finished, I prop myself up on the counter next to the
fridge and fold my legs while I eat my sandwich.

“So, what
’
s next
on the agenda for the rest of the day?” I inquire into the next
level of training. I thought this would be exhausting and annoying
like working out, but surprisingly I find it kind of exhilarating
learning all that I’m capable of.

“More hand-to-hand combat,” he peers his
blue eyes up at the sound of my question and mutters in between
bites.

“Haven
’
t I beaten
your butt enough?” I scoff sarcastically and immediately see his
mouth drop. He throws the remainder of his sandwich down on the
counter.

“I was going easy on you! Not anymore tough
stuff!” He defends grabbing my wrist and dragging me off the
countertop, I pop the rest of my sandwich in my mouth and let him
lead me. Never wavering in his grip I
’
m
brought back down the steps and to my surprise I
’
m in an already altered training facility. It looks
like it
’
s under construction scaffolding
from floor to ceiling, dim lighting, and various clear tarps all
about. I
’
m guessing he
’
s trying to step up the danger. “Okay, bring it on
short stuff!” he taunts me jumping up to a metal beam above me.

I can
’
t help but
laugh, I’ve never seen this competitive side of Nate before.
It
’
s my turn to smirk as I start into a
run, jump, and grab hold of a beam before swinging to the next one
and the next like it was a playground
’
s
monkey bars. When I reach the last beam, I swing up onto it before
jumping up to the next beam and we begin this little game we’ve
started. I can
’
t seem to see him through
all the tarps so I slowly make my way from beam to beam in silence.
I’m quietly slipping under tarps and making my way around listening
for anything that would alert me to where he is. I’m about halfway
to the front when I see it, a glimmer of chestnut hair through a
tarp to my right. I make him out below me, inching closer to where
he can obviously sense me. I have to do something to catch him off
guard! I rack my brain for attack options, but instead decide to
follow my instincts like he
’
s instructed
me. I leap down to the scaffold just above him. Gripping my hands
around the beam, I swing my legs and kick him off his beam. He
locks eyes with me right before impact and he
’
s able to grab hold of the beam below him on his
fall down. Sending me a look that makes my insides flip, he climbs
up onto the beam before jumping up to the next one and the next one
until he is lost somewhere in the darkness above me. He
’
s going to try and get me back I can feel it, I
can
’
t help the giggle that escapes my
mouth as my nerves get the best of me. I continue to dash across
the length of the beam not even attempting to be quiet,
I
’
m just trying to get away from where I
last saw him. Pausing when I reach a wall, I turn to listen for his
whereabouts. It
’
s
eerily silent and I know he
’
s up
to something. I crouch low and try to make him out through the
beams before me. I hear a slight noise above me, but I
don
’
t acknowledge it. I can feel him
inching closer on the beam above me as anxiety is rising inside me,
but I pretend not to notice. A noise escapes his throat as he jumps
down onto me. Only when he gets there I
’
m
on the beam to the right of him and playfully push him. He catches
his balance as he grips the post between us and uses it to swing
his body around finding himself on my beam now. I take a step back
to make room for him, but instead he swings into a kick. I duck and
slip off the beam, but instead of dropping to the floor
I
’
m able to grab the beam in my hands,
swing back up, and kick him in the chest. He catches his balance
faster than me and he just steps onto the beam perpendicular. As
soon as I
’
m on my feet again, he goes in
for a punch at my face. I duck just enough to feel the wind from
his fist. I grab his wrist and pull him back onto my beam going in
for a knee to the chest, but he deflects it and goes in for another
jab this time to my chest. I jump back grab his wrist again and
flip him around me and throw him against the post behind me with my
elbow at his throat. I smirk at him,

“Who’s kicking whose butt?” I mutter in
between breaths close enough to his face to see his grin in the
shadow.

He calls my bluff and pushes me off him with
both hands. Instead of falling on my back, I turn into a backflip
and another until I reach the opposite post. He begins to run at me
and I run to meet him beginning this dance of ours. He throws a
punch and I duck before jabbing at his chest, but he grabs my wrist
to spin me around him. Somehow during that spin I extend my leg and
kick him, he takes the kick and flips backwards before coming at me
again. We are spinning and twirling in these offensive-defensive
moves jumping from beam to beam until I decide its time to end
this. Nate is coming up into an uppercut from where I last knocked
him over. I lean back just enough for him to miss, then grab his
wrist and throw him down onto the floor below. He falls to the
ground and the momentum makes him slide all the way to the edge by
the stairs. I jump down and I’m on his chest before he’s able to
get up. Our faces inches from touching, I can feel him trying to
catch his breath his body rising falling ever so slightly with me
on top of him. Our closeness is once again making the butterflies
inside me flutter about aimlessly.