Broken Nightmare

Chapter 26

  I ducked as a hard fist came for my face. Crouched, I swung my leg to trip Liam, only to have him dodge it and grab my ankle, making me stand up on one foot. I used the momentum against him and spun into the air, knocking him in the chest with my other foot. I leaped backwards, doing a flip and steadying myself with my hands.

Letting go of my foot, Liam stumbled back, clenching his chest and smiling at me for a second while catching his breath. In an instant, he was back in front of me, aiming another punch for my midsection. I deflected his blow by jumping to the side, and latching onto his wrist, and twisting it behind his back.

Liam jerked his leg out and hit my knee, making me lose my balance and let go of his arm. He spun rapidly, charging into me and knocking me onto the mat in a heap.

I ignored the ache in my head as it hit the mat and kept going. I kneed him in the stomach and used his momentary distraction to roll on top of him, grabbing his hands and pinning them to his sides, sitting on his legs.

Liam didn't fight me, even though we both knew he was five times stronger than I was. He could have easily overthrown me. That's why I had to learn to use momentum instead of brute strength while fighting—I was too weak to be considered dangerous otherwise.

"Time!" Claire and Derek shouted simultaneously from the corner of the wrestling room, signaling the end of our match. "Liam—8. Elana—12." I smirked and got up, offering him a hand. He grabbed it, but hardly used my support as he got up.

"Good job, little sister. Next time, I won't go so easy on you."

We both knew I could have won, even if he did try to overpower me there at the end. I let it slide, though. I strode over to the coat rack on the side of the wrestling room to grab my over-sized hoodie and sweat pants, slipping them on over my tank top and shorts.

"Your turn," Liam said, pointing at Claire. She eagerly jumped up from her spot in the corner next to Derek and yanked off her own hoodie and sweats. We were alike in more ways than one.

Claire and Liam have been wrestling ever since she woke up six days ago. At first, he was surprised at her strength and skill, getting his butt whooped every time. Then he started to figure out how to use momentum and actually stood a chance. Granted, Claire still always won.

I took Claire's chair and signaled them to start as Derek pressed start on the timer at the same time. In the matter of seconds, Claire had Liam's body pinned to the floor, unable to move. His face was red with either struggle, anger, or embarrassment, but at this point I could guess it was the latter.

The moment Liam arrived, Spencer tried a bunch of things on him, trying to figure out why his mind control didn't work. Spencer tried time and time again to wipe his mind of just the simplest things, but just hours later, he would remember it again. We still have no clue why, but in the meantime, Stephan wanted some to take some self-defense like I had to. Only they wanted him to work more on using momentum, not guns like I had to. Junto was his instructor, but Liam still insisted on practicing with us every day before dinner.

Derek pressed stop on the timer, proving they only wrestled for a few seconds. Jumping up, Liam and Claire started another match. Derek pressed start and the wrestling match began. Claire lunged at Liam, grabbing for his legs. He jumped to the side, spinning around on top of her and crushing her with his weight. Claire twists under him and flips her body so their positions are reversed. Twisting his arm, she uses her extra strength to turn him around on the floor so his back is on the mat. Liam bucked against her, trying to keep his back off the mat. However, with Claire's extra strength, he had no choice but to admit defeat.