Amicia was tied to a chair, still trapped in her seat. The pitcher of water and scrap of cloth loomed on the table. If she didn't spill what she knew then Esteban would use them to torture her. The problem with that? She truly didn't know anything about the man's daughter. In addition, Esteban didn't seem particularly trustworthy in this moment. No matter how much he tried to play himself off as gentlemanly. His fine clothes and genteel manners didn't mislead her into thinking he was a man willing commit extreme violence to get what he wanted. She closed her eyes and waited. It was soft but she heard it, a click of a door closing. He had left after trying to intimidate her. Truth be told, she was somewhat intimidated. She had to move fast.
Amicia stood up with the chair still attached to her arms. She almost fell back, but she tipped her body forwards so she could balance herself. The chair weighed heavily on her back. If she didn’t train as regularly as she did, Amicia had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to budge with the chair. Moving was awkward, but she slowly spun around to align the arm of the chair against the table. The arms of the chair were connected to its back at only one point. If she could just slam the chair against the table in the right place, she could break her left arm free. However, the ropes around her wrists were attached to the chair. Even if this worked out perfectly, her free arm would still be attached to a broken off portion of the chair. Better than being glued to it, she thought.
Amicia psyched herself up. You can do this, Ami. You can do this. One big motion all at once. She twisted her body, pulling the chair with her. With as much force as she could muster, she threw her shoulders back and pitched her hips to the right. The chair crashed against the table with a loud, BANG!
Shit. The noise was deafening in this quiet room. There was no way her captor didn't hear it. The chair didn’t immediately snap off like she had hoped. Have to hurry, she thought. Amicia repeated her motions, slamming the chair against the table again. Luckily the table was heavy and solid enough to not move despite her abuse of it. The second time she slammed against the table, She heard an audible crunch coming from the chair. She wiggled her arm around. There was definitely more give now. Her left arm could slightly sway left and right. She'd gone from pretty screwed to slightly less screwed. It was working!
She was on her 5th attempt when she heard a door open to her right. Now that she was standing, she could see the door was to her right. Earlier, her sitting position obscured the door's existence from her. Amicia estimated she was a good 10-12 meters away from it. Amicia didn’t see any come in just yet. He would be here soon though. Her back strained as she hurried. She rammed the chair against the table one last time and pulled her hand free. Yes! The chair fell to the ground now that it was no longer as tightly laminated to her body. Her other hand was still attached however. It pulled her down with it as it dropped.
As Amicia pulled at the knot tying her other arm down, the door to her right finally opened. Amicia could see Esteban come in with an icy demeanor. He took in the scene of Amicia breaking out. Amicia pulled at her last bonds in a panic. She might’ve freed one of her hands, but she was still a sitting duck. Wordlessly, Esteban pulled out Amicia’s own knife from his coat. He thew the blade at her neck with a practiced motion, deciding to kill her and try again with the next cultist. This one was too much trouble.
Amicia’s eyes widened as the knife came towards her. She raised her hand out in front of herself. Please don’t be a fluke. Please don’t be a fluke. Just as she’d hoped, the blade twisted unnaturally in the air. The handle of the knife slapped against her palm and she gripped it tightly. She didn’t pause for one second as she brought the blade down on the knot trapping her arm. The knife sliced through the tangle of rope. The edge cleaved away the mass of knots as if they were made of butter.
Amicia pulled her arm free just in time to see Esteban rushing towards her. The man came on like a freight train. He would be on her in seconds. Amicia knew she’d be in a bad spot if he reached her. He was both bigger and stronger than her. He'd also proven that mercy was not something he held in high regard. She still remembered being knocked out by a blow to the chin. She couldn’t fight him while trapped in this compromising position.
Amicia looked at the pitcher still on the table. With lightning speed, she snatched it up and chucked it straight at Esteban’s face. The move took him by complete surprise. He’d placed all his chips on reaching her before she got free. He paid the price for his hubris. The glass pitcher shattered against his skull. Fractured shards of glass dug into his face. The water inside the pitcher added more force to Amicia’s throw. The initial impact of the pitcher almost broke the man’s nose.
Esteban screamed horribly, “AAARRRRGGGHH!”
Amicia ignored his pained cry as she cut off the remaining rope on her arm. The piece of wood stuck to her dropped away and clattered on the ground. She relished in the sensation of having both hands free. She bent down and cut away at the ropes keeping her feet stuck together. Amicia pulled the remaining ropes away, finally liberating herself and regaining full movement. She stood back up just in time to see Esteban grab her by the neck with both hands. He took her off her feet and carried her off. He shoved her up against a nearby bookshelf. The impact of it caused dozens of tomes to slip off their perches. His hands were a steel vise as they choked the life out of her. She gagged in response.
“You could’ve chosen the easy way, Danvers. Now? Now, I’ll make sure you suffer,” Esteban said. His face was a gnarly mess of glass shards, cuts, and blood. The bridge of his nose bent unnaturally, adding a sickening aspect to his visage. Amicia's eyes watered as the man strangled her. She pounded down on his arms with her fists, trying to force him to release her. His hands didn’t budge in the slightest. She could feel each individual finger pressing down on her neck as she choked. She strained against him, kicking him in the stomach to no effect.
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Just as she was on the verge of blacking out, she let her arms drop, giving up on trying to pull him off. She opened her palms, forming a slight cupping shape. Quick as a cat, she clapped the sides of his head, aiming for his undefended ears. Esteban felt a sharp popping sound in one ear and he recoiled back at the sudden strike, letting Amicia go. He covered his ears and went down one one knee. He wobbled as he went down, a ruptured eardrum made him sway uncontrollably. She gasped for air, holding onto the bookshelf to steady herself. Her blow disoriented her opponent. She was free of him, for the moment.
Esteban started getting back up, still staggering. Pushing herself off the bookshelf, Amicia pressed her advantage. She took this opportunity to pounce on his back. She wrapped one arm around his neck. With her other arm, she locked in a rear naked choke-hold on the larger man. She wrapped her feet around his torso, hooking in her position. She wrenched back forcefully on his neck. Amicia squeezed as tight as she could while she still had the advantage.
Amicia growled into his ear, “Fuck you. You piece of shit. You were gonna waterboard me! Let's see how you like choking!”
Esteban thrashed around, trying to throw her off his back. She kept holding on tight. He swayed back and forth as she pressed her weight onto him. He was still strong enough that he could still move even with her hanging off his back. He tried to reach back around and punch up at her. She moved her head away from his clumsy blows. When his punches failed, he grabbed her arm with both hands, pulling down on it so he could breathe. Amicia tried to resist and squeeze tighter but he was surprisingly strong for a man his age.
When Esteban found a reprieve from Amicia’s stranglehold, he turned his back towards a bookshelf and ran backwards as fast as he could. Amicia looked back to see the hard wood shelves coming towards her. Just as he was about to ram her into them, Amicia abandoned her position on his back and dropped down to the floor. She fell into a forwards roll that enabled her to spring back to her feet. More books fell to the ground as Esteban slammed himself into the shelves.
Amicia held up both fists while Esteban shook his head, rubbing the back of his head. Amicia ran up to him as he recovered. He saw her coming for him and swung down at her head. She faded to the right, avoiding the left cross. Amicia slipped in an uppercut from below his arm, catching him right in the chin. She pulled back and delivered two blows to his ribs and another jab on his nose.
Esteban grunted at her fierce flurry of strikes. She went for another punch to his head, but he dodged. When she overextended, he grabbed her hand. He pulled her forwards, forcing her off balance and out of position. Amicia had no guard up as the man headbutted her in the face. As she reeled her head back, he drove his fist into her stomach. Amicia felt something come up her throat as the hit landed. Esteban let her arm go so he could kick her in the chest, pushing her back and off her feet. She rolled backwards, landing in a heap a few feet away.
As Amicia got back up on all fours, she looked up to see Esteban running at her. He drew back his leg as he came up. He was going to kick her right in the head. As he started his kick, she ducked back down. Esteban’s leg whiffed up and over her. Amicia capitalized by jumping up and catching the back of his leg on her shoulders. As she stood up with control of his leg, Esteban started tilting backwards. Suddenly, he had no balance and was in a vulnerable position.
He tried to punch at her despite having his leg trapped, but she just bent backwards away from him while keeping control of his appendage. Giving him a vicious smile, Amicia jabbed him right in his unprotected crotch. A merciless blow that made the man scream in pain, almost as loudly as when she had thrown that pitcher at him. After the jab, she swept her leg up to kick out the back of his knee. The sweep was fast and hard, knocking the taller man off his feet. Unceremoniously, Esteban fell on the ground. His head bounced on the floor.
Amicia climbed on top of his prone form, taking a full mount position. She sat on his chest, placing both knees to his sides. She rained down punches on his face. She got in rapid succession of blows. Then Esteban jerked his hands up, blocking his head from her attacks.
Amicia she kept hitting him and hitting him, trying to get past his defences, Eventually, she began to lag. Her first hits had done some real damage. She could even feel small cuts on her knuckles from where she pushed the glass further into his face. Still, she couldn’t keep it up forever. She wasn’t strong enough to get through Esteban's guard despite her superior positioning. Amicia breathed in heavily as her escape and subsequent fight caught up to her.
Esteban waited, timing her hits until he found an opening. He swung at her from below as she was drawing back for another punch. He caught her right across the mouth. Esteban’s punch landed heavily, pushing the young woman away from him. She fell backwards and to the left.
Amicia was on her back, She rubbed her mouth with her hand and it came away bloody. Esteban came for her now that she was prone. He tried to get on top of her, reflecting her own earlier manuever. Amicia pushed at his stomach with her feet, keeping him back. He powered through her legs and she wrapped her legs around his torso.
Esteban punched at her 3 times. Each hit felt like a hammer on her arms as she blocked them. On the third punch, Amicia grabbed onto his arm, pulling the man forward unexpectedly. She transitioned her legs from his torso to above his shoulders. As Esteban fell forwards, she wrapped her legs around his neck. Amicia caught him in a triangle choke. A leg pushed on his carotid from above while she used his own arm to choke him on the other side. He yelled angrily at her, but she ignored him. She reached forward and pulled his head down, choking him even harder. Amicia cinched up, waiting until her triangle choke prevented the blood in his body from reaching his head. She didn't have to wait long before Esteban stopped struggling altogether.
Amicia kept clenching until she was sure the man was truly unconscious. She even gave him a slap in the face for good measure. When he didn’t respond, she finally let go, pushing him away with her feet. She fell back flat against the floor and pressed her hands against her face. Amicia sighed in relief. Araña's training had won over the big game hunter and she'd proven nothing could hold her down. Especially a man as hollow as Esteban Romero.