Octagon Project 1: Melody Halloway

~-19-~

"Your shoulders are too stiff. " Mel called from where she stood, leaning against the wall near the door in a relaxed manner with grey stretch pants on and a dark blue tank top that made the muscle in her shoulders stand out. She was cleaned of all the blood or even any sign of what she had done earlier and it concerned Roy. Sure, they were murders, but torture was a scale he wasn't expecting to be a part of this life. Particularly in Mel. Vanessa looked back at her, slightly winded from the exercises Roy had her do to test her core, max weight, and endurance.

"You do know that I took Judo growing up, right?" She asked. Mel shrugged.

"I took Taekwondo and Kickboxing. Then learned some Kendo, jojutsu, and Krav Ma Ga while I was training here. Your point is?" Mel countered boredly. Vanessa tried not to stare at her in shock. Who was this woman?! Or for better terminology, what is she?

"Care to give a demonstration of jojutsu?" Roy asked, grabbing two of the strong three foot long wooden sticks that were on the far wall and tossing one to Mel who grabbed it as she walked up and pulled off her socks to give her feet more grip on the blue mat. Vanessa stepped back and crossed her arms as someone came through the door behind her.

"Aw, I love it when they spar like this!" Dean said excitedly as he poked his head back into the hallway. "Hey! Justin, Zack! Mel and Roy are sparring again!" He called out. Justin joined them a good two seconds later, whereas Zack took his sweet time and came as Mel and Roy began to circle each other like hungry wolves over fresh prey; each waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Is it really such a big deal when they do this?" Vanessa asked, already bored by the inaction of the two housemates.

"They hardly ever do this." Zack stated emptily with his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, putting most of his weight on his good leg. Dean nodded in a fast manner with large eyes as though to clarify what Zack was saying.

"Or if they do it often, we wouldn't exactly know about it." He added. Vanessa felt Zack stiffen behind her as Dean said that and she wondered if it was because of his leg or because of what he felt internally.

"Not to mention, neither of them are scared of hurting each other. So it really adds to the fun." Justin piped in, winking at Vanessa. As if on cue, Roy made the first move and struck his stick down at Mel's ankles. She jumped over it and held the stick straight across her chest as she went to push Roy over. His stick came up in the nick of time to block it diagonally. Mel's face compressed as she pressed harder on her staff to bring him down. He didn't budge. After a moment, Roy saw her push weakening and pushed up, leaving her ribs exposed. Quickly tilting the end of his stick and smacking her side with a hollow sound emanating. Vanessa flinched for Mel's sake. Mel's face tightened and she clenched her jaw, backing away. Roy began to lower his staff again and Mel blocked it, twisting her own staff under his and beating it away, glaring. They did this for some time, smacking each other when they could and blocking each other at other times, pulling one or the other down.

They began to circle each other again and this time, Mel made the first move as she swung the staff towards his face. He ducked and drew his own to her legs, knocking them out. She collapsed and Roy pinned her down with their sticks crossing over her chest.

"You're losing your touch." He commented with a jerk of his head. Mel took a quick breath and huffed out a menacing chuckle.

"You're underestimating me again."  She said quietly, raising her face just enough to make Zack uncomfortable. Roy furrowed his brows and Mel shifted her staff to slip an end under his and whack the side of his face. Justin, Dean, and Vanessa cringed for his sake as he recovered and Mel pushed him off of her, hitting his side and knocking out his knees. He brought her feet out from under her at the same moment and she collapsed on top of him, her staff being blocked by his. Wrapping his legs around hers, Roy rolled over to where Mel was then pinned again. He cocked his head at her with a smile and she rose an eyebrow, lifting up her knee with just enough force to get him to loosen his grasp on his staff. Managing to pull his staff out of his hands, she pushed him to the side, containing his legs with her feet and holding both the bars to his throat. He froze and then surprised her with a punch to the same area he hit pretty hard with the staff earlier. Mel grunted from the pain and as he rose his fist again, she knocked it away with a stick before containing it and keeping the other to his throat.