Story page 132

Dane and the Bryan Brothers ©

Part 1

Dane

The Brothers

You'd have thought that being new in a school; a body would know how to avoid trouble. Such wasn't the case with Dane. It wasn't that he went looking for trouble, but it sure seemed to find him easily enough. This time, it was with the Bryan brothers, Flint and Steele. Flint was known by his flaming red hair and Steele, well his arms spoke for themselves. The trouble all started in gym class, the last period of the day.

Dane was a natural athlete, his body genetically prepossessed for muscle and strength. In addition, he was an accomplished gymnast, already being considered for the next summer Olympic team. Now Flint and Steele, well they were little more than nine months apart in age and being so close, they'd turned natural brotherly horsing around into a winning wrestling team, first place at state 3 years running for Steele, two years for Flint. Most of their opponents were whipped before they ever even got onto the mat; the two Bryan boys had such a strong reputation. Worse, they took no prisoners. They went into each and every match with only one thought, winning. Losing was not an option.

Now this particular day, in fact Dane's first one at the new school, the physical education class was learning wrestling moves. Of course, having both Bryan boys in the class, the coach called on them to demonstrate almost every move. Finally, Dane was called to the forefront, his opponent, Flint. The two were pretty close in weight and height, but as Dane took off his shirt, the whole class whistled and catcalled in appreciation for what could only be called an Adonis looking upper body. Not impressed at all, as the two boys went to the mat, Flint was all over Dane, quickly taking him to the floor, then covering him in an easy pin. But before the coach could slap the mat, Dane simply heaved Flint skyward, like he was doing a bench press, and tossed Flint off. Oh the whoopla that exploded in the room at that move. No one, and I do mean no one, had ever pulled such a stunt against Flint. But before Flint could turn the match into a full fledged brawl, the bell indicating shower time rang and the coach stepped in, sending the class to the locker room. Dane was picking up his discarded jersey when a hand grabbed his arm. The grip was like a vice grip, fingers digging into his bicep. Dane tried to tighten his muscle but the grip on his arm prevented it. Dane looked up into the face of an angry Steele.

"This ain't over, newbie," Steele hissed at Dane. "Not by a long shot." With that, Steele let go of Dane's arm and followed the rest of the class out. Dane stood for a moment massaging his bicep. A track of five bruises, one where each of Steele's fingers had pressed in, was already starting to show on his skin.

Dane decided to forgo the shower, heading on to his gymnastics practice. By the time the practice released, evening was well on it's' way to darkness. Dane headed home, book bag over his shoulder. At least he'd been lucky; very little homework had been assigned his first day. As he strolled along, his tunes playing on his iPod, Dane was oblivious to his surroundings. That is until he heard someone shouting at him. He pulled out his earplugs, turning toward the noise. There on the front porch of the house he was passing were the Bryan brothers graciously striking a pose for him. Dane tried to ignore them, intending to walk right on past, but suddenly, his way was blocked by Steele, the boys imposing mass standing right in front of Dane. A back step and Dane felt the hot body of someone behind as well. He knew it could only be Flint.

Suddenly, Flint grabbed him from behind. With instant reflexes, Dane managed to raise his arms before Flint was able to lock him up in a fearsome bear hug. Defending himself, Dane twisted at the waist and with extreme quickness and the strength of a well bred athlete, his elbows caught Flint on each side of his head. Within seconds, Flint had lost his grip and was struggling to stay on his feet, the blows nearly knocking him senseless. A strong back kick, straight to Flint's gut, and Flint was down on his ass, sucking for air from the unexpected blow.

That's about the time Dane discovered why Steele had the name he did for Steele punched him so hard in the gut that Dane was sure the fist in his stomach was going to pass all the way through, allowing Steele to grab and snap his backbone. Dane went to his knees, fighting the gorge that threatened to explode from his throat. Like Flint, he too was sucking for air. Steele grabbed Dane by the hair, yanking the hapless boy's head back. Dane saw the fist coming but couldn't seem to do anything about it. Steele's fist landed straight in Dane's face and as it pulled back, it took Dane's consciousness with it. Dane slumped, held up only by the grip Steele had on his hair.
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Coming to, Dane felt like he'd been run over by a Mack truck. His jaw hurt like hell and his gut felt like a jack hammer had been taken to it. He had no idea how long he'd been out, nor where he was. Last thing he remembered was the look of Steele's fist heading toward his face. Wherever he was, it was dark and dank, and had a distinct smell of sweat, maybe even urine mixed in. As he raised his head, a sound from across the space in front clicked audibly and suddenly where he was became bright, awash with light from over his head. Dane closed his eyes against the brightness. When he was finally able to open them, he found himself to be in a brick enclosed room, a set of stairs to his right, washer and dryer to his left, joined by an upright freezer. In front of him was a well worn wrestling mat and further on, a set of barbells, a bunch of weight plates, and a workout bench. Dane quickly realized he was in someone's basement.

It was at this point that Dane tried to move, which was the same moment he realized he couldn't. His arms were stretched up and out, his wrists tied to something that looked like old bed springs. His feet, also spread out, were tied the same way. He gave a mighty shake at his bounds but only managed to make a great deal of noise as the springs rattled against the bricks behind them.

"Hey, is anybody here? Can anybody hear me," Dane shouted. Suddenly, music came on, the beat overflowing until it caused the very air in the room to vibrate. Then a body stepped out of the shadows by the steps.

"Shout all you want, no one can hear you." Dane gulped as he recognized first Steele, soon to be followed by Flint.

"What do you guys want? Let me down from here!" Dane tried not to sound afraid, more authoritative, sure of himself. Steele stepped in real close, his mouth twisted with a sneer.

"Flint has some payback coming, friend. Once he's done, then we'll see about letting you go." That said, Steele stepped back, taking a seat on the weight bench. Flint strolled up. Dane could see that he wore some weight lifting gloves. They were worn, the leather cracked, no longer supple and smooth. Without warning, Flint dropped into a boxing stance and within 30 seconds or so, had delivered just as many punches to Dane's abs. Of course, Dane had a well developed eight pack and after the first blow, he'd tightened his muscles, managing to keep most of Flint's barrage from doing much damage beyond turning his outer skin red. Flint slowed down his rhythm, bringing himself under control. At the same time, he increased the power behind each punch. It took an impressive 129 additional blows before Dane finally caved and his abs no longer able to withstand the punches. Flint had slowed considerably as well, his face and upper torso drenched in sweat, his red hair stringy and damp. But he wasn't going to quit until Dane had nothing left. That took an additional 42 punches before the only reason Dane was still standing was the ropes that held him in that position. Steele walked over, once again grabbing Dane by the hair and jerking his head up. Once again, Dane was unconscious.

"We'll let him sleep that off," Steele said as Flint peeled his soaked gloves from his hands. "Then it's my turn." The light flicked off and had Dane been conscious, he would have seen the two brothers ascend the staircase that led into the kitchen above.

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End of Part 1

Part 2