His knee slid onto her stomach.
Pain flashed through her abdomen.
Sarah's breathing became shallow.
She knew what he wanted.
He isolated her right arm.
She fought to protect it.
Then Derek's forearm crossed her throat.
His fingers caught the collar of her gi.
Sarah immediately recognized the setup.
Cross-collar choke.
She tried to defend.
Derek tightened his grip.
The pressure came suddenly.
Too suddenly.
Sarah's eyes widened.
She tapped.
Once.
Twice.
Hard.
Derek didn't release.
Sarah tapped again.
"Tap!"
Nothing.
Her heartbeat accelerated.
She slapped his shoulder.
The room seemed to grow farther away.
The fluorescent lights blurred.
The sound of the gym disappeared beneath a rushing roar.
Her body panicked before her mind could catch up.
He isn't letting go.
She tapped again.
Harder.
Derek pulled tighter.
And Sarah realized something terrifying.
He wasn't testing her.
He was punishing her.
The edges of her vision darkened.
Her fingers weakened.
Her last coherent thought was simple.
Someone has to stop him.
Then everything went black.
Four Seconds
Sarah came back to consciousness coughing.
Air tore into her lungs.
She rolled onto her side, clutching her throat.
For several seconds, she couldn't understand where she was.
Then the ceiling came into focus.
The lights.
The mats.
The gym.
Derek.
Her chest heaved.
Her throat burned.
Tears filled her eyes.
Not emotional tears.
Her body was reacting to oxygen deprivation.
She coughed again.
Derek stood over her.
He was tying his belt.
Calm.
Unconcerned.
Almost bored.
"You've got to tap earlier, Sarah."
She stared at him.
Her voice wouldn't work.
Derek looked around.
A few people had stopped drilling.
Most immediately looked away.
"Don't let your ego get in the way," he continued. "In a real fight, nobody stops."
Sarah finally managed to speak.
"I tapped."
Derek shrugged.
"Too late."
Her eyes widened.
"No. I tapped immediately."
Derek smiled.
"Maybe it felt longer than it was."
He turned away.
"Who's next?"
Sarah sat against the wall.
Her hands trembled.
She looked around the room.
Nobody met her eyes.
That hurt almost as much as the choke.
Not because they had all failed to notice.
She knew they had noticed.
They had heard her tapping.
They had heard her struggling.
They had simply decided that silence was safer.
Derek cracked his knuckles.
"Come on. Who's next?"
No one answered.
Then a voice came from near the entrance.
"I am."
It wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
The room changed instantly.
Sarah looked toward the door.
A man stepped away from the cinder-block wall.
She stared.
"Cole?"
Her older brother walked toward the mats.
He had arrived ten minutes earlier to pick her up.
He had been waiting quietly near the entrance.
She hadn't noticed him.
Now everyone noticed him.
Cole was thirty-six.
Lean.
About one hundred and eighty pounds.
Black rash guard.
Gray athletic shorts.
No belt.
No academy logo.
No tournament medals.
No cauliflower ear.
At first glance, he looked ordinary.
But Sarah knew her brother.
She knew the stillness.
Cole didn't fidget.
Didn't posture.
Didn't glance around for approval.
He simply walked toward Derek.
Derek frowned.
"Who are you?"
"My brother."
Sarah's voice was barely audible.
Derek laughed.
"Then your brother should probably stay off the mats."
Cole stopped five feet away.
"She tapped."
Derek's smile disappeared.
"What?"
"She tapped."
Cole's voice remained calm.
"I watched."
Derek glanced toward the instructor.
Then back at Cole.
"Look, man. It's a contact sport."
Cole nodded.
"I know."
"People get caught."
"I know."
"Maybe she shouldn't be training if she can't handle pressure."
Cole's eyes hardened.
"She tapped."
The words landed differently the second time.
Derek crossed his arms.
"What's your point?"
"You held the choke for approximately four seconds after she tapped."
The gym became silent.
Cole continued.
"You knew she had stopped defending. You knew she was unconscious. You continued pulling."
Derek's face changed.
"You timing me now?"
"No."
Cole stepped onto the mat.
"I'm asking you to explain why."
Derek laughed nervously.
"Explain?"
"Yes."
"You don't get to walk into my gym and interrogate me."
Cole looked at him.
"Your gym?"
Derek's confidence returned.
"You heard me."
Cole nodded once.
Then he said the sentence that changed everything.
"Let's see how you handle it."
The First Lesson
Derek looked around.
He wanted an audience.
He always did.
He needed people watching because his power depended on them believing he was powerful.
"Fine," he said. "You want a round?"
Cole said nothing.