Darkness is a blanket that covers all our secrets. Its the area where the monsters hide and secrets lie. In the darkness is where the evil of the world is born, its where it lurks and waits until the perfect time to strike. It is this darkness that reaches out and lures the ambitious in, corrupting them all while it nest in their souls.
Their is a reason why great mysteries happen in the dark, the sense of fear and unknown that accompany it tell an intriguing tale that pulls the audience in and keep them craving more. It is the darkness of the large empty warehouse that is most important here. The two small lights hanging at least twenty feet above the dated wrestling ring. The light breaks the darkness, and in the light is our new focal point. The young tag team of Rhett Dawson and Sawyer Wade soon to be known to the world as Against the Grain or ATG for short.
This duo are not on the best of terms, they aren’t exactly what one might call friends. They have trained together for the last couple of years but their is an apparent lack of mutual respect between them. Still as they stand and pace in the dim light of the other wise empty warehouse the darkness waits, bidding it’s time until it’s herald arrives.
“Are you going to say anything,” Rhett’s voice was calm as he spoke to his new team mate but the distress was hidden in the nuance. He understood how Sawyer felt about him and he honestly wasn’t sure what he could do about it.
“Will it change anything,” Was the blunt and gruff reply of Sawyer Wade. The two men where similar in height and build, they learned from the same man thus had similar in ring styles but at their core they could not be any different.
Rhett shrugged as he tossed his arms up, both men in street cloths stood at the center of the ring. Sawyer was pacing, his annoyance was obvious. Rhett was at his wit's end as he replied “you know this wasn’t my idea right?,”
Sawyer didn’t have time to reply. A door in the distance could be hard slamming hard, the darkness was stirring, the darkness was about to make it’s intentions known, it’s herald had arrived.
Both men’s attention quickly shot towards the noise, loud footsteps echoed in the otherwise empty warehouse signaling the appearance of ‘Carter’ from the shadows. With him were two other men, both well over 6 foot tall and pushing 300 pounds, all muscle.
“Carter,” Both members of ATG spoke in unison as he came into the light. At this point Sawyer had stopped pacing and his mentor had his full attention, he made sure to add “We have been waiting for you,”
Rhett was not as talkative, he kept his mouth shut in deep reflection as the made who insisted on simply being called Carter entered. Things had moved fast for Rhett since Carter had entered his life. He was tall, lean and impossible to read most the time. His poker face was unbreakable. To him every conversation, every moment was juts another hand in life's big game. He had come to Rhett about two years ago when he was lost deep in his own darkness, with him came promises of light.
“You should know by now Mister Wade,” Carter spoke very even kill and unemotional “That if I require you to wait, then you will do so, and do it patiently. Now I have come here to get in one last workout before you two begin your grand debut,”
“Workout?,” Sawyer almost exploded as he gritted his teeth and spoke “What you need is to fix this mess. I am not a tag team wrestler, I do not need to be hindered by this rookie. You need to let me do what you trained me for and become the greatest wrestler of this generation,”
“That is exactly what I am attempting to do Mister Wade,” He replied still very cool “You two both have limitless potential that needs to be tapped but I have taken you about as far as I can in such controlled environments. It is time you face real opponents, in real matches, with real stakes,”
You could almost see the steam as Sawyer boiled over, he had respected and listened to Carter for near a decade now. He felt it was his time and that whatever Carter saw in Rhett was still far from groomed and ready for the ring. Especially if that meant that Rhett’s performance would effect his success directly. He took a few deep breaths before answering his mentor “I have seen live action. You have had me in Japan, Canada, Mexico, The Uk, the states of course, hell even did a few months in Australia. I understand how this works,”
“Yes I have, a lesson that you failed miserably when you got your knee shattered in Japan,” His reply was harsh and his tone fit it perfectly “You had a match won, a match against a man who you let get under your skin. You attempted to out brawl him and he made you pay. He made you take a year out of the ring to rehab because of your temper and ego. That is why you need Rhett,”
“With all due Respect sir..,” Rhett started and Carter quickly cut him off
“I have not asked you to speak Rhett,” His eyes cut at Rhett like daggers as he continued “ You two balance each other perfectly. Rhett is meager and unsure, but he is methodical and well trained. He understands nuance about matches that you seem to ignore. Your raw talent, power and intensity will help push him out of his comfort zone the entire time he will be able to keep you reeled in just enough. That is why you must work together,”
“That’s bullshit.,” Sawyer muttered
“You can always turn down your contract, leave my tutelage and go it on your on. I have taught you both everything you need to know to build a career on, you are free to go on without me if you think the student has out grown the teacher,”
Despite the harsh words neither man utter a word in protest. There was a strong awkward silence before Carter spoke again
“As I thought, now please get in the ring. This is ..,” He points to the men behind him then pauses “Actually there names are irrelevant. They are nobodies, today you have one goal. You will practice cutting off the ring. We will start a wrestling match as normal, your goal will be to keep the original man from tagging for 5 minutes. You will repeat this exercise until you get it right or I tire of watching you stumble over each other,”
The two didn't argue, they had been at it long enough they knew how this worked. The two large men walked passed Carter and got on the apron preparing for the competition. Both men towered over the members of ATG and were in much better physical condition. Visually it looked like a mismatch, in reality it was just not in the way one would of thought. What ATG lacked in size the two made up in raw talent and technical prowess. They knew how to take a human body apart, how to even the playing field and topple the giants that commonly resided in the squared circle. They understood how to slow down those who were faster, and quickly analyze the advantages of their foes to put into a plan that neutralized it.
These mammoth's were no match for ATG, but that was not the exercise. It was apparent from the start that ATG was missing the point. They bickered about who to start in the ring, Sawyer insisting that Rhett would only make him look bad. This bickering, lack of communication and general distrust would persist. As they slowly dismantled the larger men they never seemed to be able to keep them from tagging their opponent, and every time they did Carter would ring the bell and call for a reset.
Each reset only seemed to agitate the tension between the two. Each attempt seemed to go worst and worst, it wasn't long before they were an hour into the exercise. Both the larger men were hurting, tired and battered but despite constantly being out wrestled they were seemingly always able to take advantage of the rift between the two and make the tag before the five minute goal. This was when the darkness inside of Carter began to show.
He slowly walked up the steps onto the apron and enter the ring glaring at his pupils as they continued to bicker amongst themselves "ENOUGH!,"
His voice was loud, deep and echoed in the darkness of the warehouse. The two snapped to attention facing their mentor but neither man made eye contact. Carter took a pause looking them up and down his face twisted showing equal parts shame and disgust.
"You two are proving exactly why you need each other and you don't even know it. These two talentless oaths should not be able to do anything in the ring with you two yet due to your own egos, your self doubt, you lack of maturity you can't even hold them off for five pitiful minutes! Five MINUTES, you shame not just yourselves, not just me, but the legacy of this Carter Gardens!,"
He glared at Sawyer and through gritted teeth he continued "You need to learn humility Sawyer, if you ever wish to truly stand at the top of wrestling world. If you choose to achieve even half of your potential you need to learn to think before you act. You can learn that from Rhett, listen to him, let him be your throttle. If you can't agree to that then I don't want you representing me,"
His head quickly snapped towards Rhett as he pointed his finger in his face, his voice was uncharacteristically loud. "You come to me wanting answers. I have tried to show them to you, let you live in your family legacy but you are too scared to embrace it. Your family once dominated the ring, but further more they created the greatest units the wrestling world ever knew. Tag Team Wrestling runs in your veins Rhett. This is where you can make your mark, this is how you truly find your roots. Don't be scared Rhett, take charge in the ring and the respect you desire from your peers will follow,"
He takes a deep breath as he regains his normal composure before speaking again. "you two need to bond, I have canceled your flight to your first IIW show. It is time to go old school, in my day we used to bond on the road. Driving down the high way together, forced into co inhabitation with our team mates. You two will take one of my SUVs and travel together, hopefully by the time you get there you will have some simple nugget of what I am speaking of,"
He reach into his pocket and tossed a set of keys into the air. Sawyer caught them and the two stood in silence for a few seconds. Finally the silence was broke again by Carter "Go now before I change my mind about this whole Ordeal,"
The two did as told, heading out of the ring in silence they made their way to the black SUV that waited outside. Sawyer took the driver seat. The two pulled out in silence mostly as they hit the high way.
"We need to stop and get our gear," Rhett finally broke the silence
"Yea, but I need something to drink lets stop up here,"
The two cut through the dark roads for a few more minutes before pulling up to a convenience store. Sawyer parked at a gas pump and looked at his Partner "Go grab us something I will make sure we are topped off,"
"yea ok," Rhett replied and got out to head inside. However as soon as he opened the door he heard the SUV crank back up, he turned just to watch Sawyer speed out of the parking lot with his hand out the window shooting Rhett a bird.
"your fucking kidding me..," Rhett muttered to himself. Alone in the dark, with no direction and only the fear of his mentor to guide him. He pondered a few minutes, he couldn't call Carter he didn't want him to know. But there was one person he could call, the true shining beacon of light since he had started this journey. He pulled out his phone and brought up his contacts hitting a number and waiting a few minutes for an answer.
"Beckett..," He spoke when she answered "I need a ride,"
TBC
Daddy Marisol