CHAPTER 31 - TESTS
"I must say, this break up of yours wasn't intentional. I'm very pleased. You're finally accepting that Ryan will marry you." My mother mused with a sly grin on her face as she looked at her manicured nails. My mother never wore those nails since father died, is she going to go back to how she was before? Kind? Generous? Ha, as if I would fool myself again.
Shaking my head, I cracked my knuckles as I took a few steps towards her. Her guards stepped in front of me, armed with guns, blocking my way. Ever since I went outside to the Lower District, I'm now casted off as an outsider. She doesn't care what happens to me now- even if I die. If I come back, she'll try to fool me to do something else. Her business deal is complete.
She no longer needs me like she did before- when she was with father. She's colder now, brutal and cunning to never feel anything again. This was my last time to say what I wanted to, I could tell her everything that I've hidden for years. Clenching my fists, I walked past the guards, standing my ground. They turned to my mother, waiting for her approval with a wave of her hand, and they withdrawn their weapons. Little did she know, I could take them down now but I'll hide my training for now.
"I didn't agree- you forced me to. You would've never done this if father was around. You're not the same. After this, you're nothing but dead to me."
Ryan entered, looking at my mother with piercing eyes, waiting for her answer. I wonder if he heard the conversation, he smiled at me as we met eyes. I smiled back at him, glad that he was here. Even though I didn't want to marry him, he is a good friend and cares for me. These appearances are fine- for now.
"Hold your tongue, you uncultured swine!" Mother said, raising her voice at me. Before I could say anything, I saw Julie in the corner and exhaled in relief. "Business deals- as always. Are you questioning my power? Would you like to be like your father? Because that can always be arranged- in the cells."
"Why you little- why mention him right now?" I said as my blood boiled, "he died in a fire not because of his lack of power. The cells are perfect for me right now, as long as I'm away from you and your schemes."
"Well, shall we, dear?" He said, trying to stop my mother from continuing. I wasn't hurting from the breakup with Anna. This was all an act- an act that we've been playing for a year.
Now, the day is finally here- marriage. My mother's goal is complete. But is the business deal? My heart ached, my mother won again. When will I get out of here? Why did she mention Bailey? She hates him since she was 'weak' for him. I mean, she was in love with him and now that he's gone she treats everyone unjustly. The loss hit her harder than we all anticipated, now she doesn't want to be hurt again. Before that, she was much kinder. Helping everyone. Just because she lost something, doesn't mean she should hurt others to not feel anything like that again. When will she learn? Father will never come back to her even if he was alive. She has changed into a monster.
"Of course." I said as I kissed Ryan's cheek, ignoring my mother as he waved at her.
We walked outside into his car, she waved us off with a smirk on her face. Ryan looked at me with a small smile before driving off.
"Your mother is fucking possessed." He said as he changed the gears and glanced at me for a moment.
"No shit. Why do the business deal?" I muttered before running my hands through my hair and sighing, "It's been a year and you haven't told me."
"To find my brother and for money." He answered as he looked at me with a smile before saying the last few words, "And to protect you."
What Tracy said soon made sense when we first met. My mother must've come here to help but as time passed she exploited them all. Took all their money. Only because she regretted not being able to pay for the medical care for my father. When in reality, it was never needed.
"Our plan to save Adam?" Eagle said before Tracy retrieved a map from the table and placed it on the floor as she straightened it out.
"Follow this path, it'll lead us closest to the base and then trail off by going into the grasslands. We'll take a few backups and scatter them around the area. Hoping that the best approach is at night and head for all the windows to find Adam and to get in." Tracy explained, looking at the both of us after pointing on the map to show where we were going.
"So assault." I said before grinning slightly, "that shouldn't be too hard."
"Yes, that's true. After all, we have two of their higher ups."
Eagle looked at Tracy with a small smile as he rubbed his hair with one hand, his hair flopped onto his eyes. He didn't say anything and stopped looking at Tracy to stare at the map intensely.
"You might see Hannah." I muttered, wondering if she would have the guts to kill her own sister if she has to.
"I hope not since my men made sure of it. Her shift isn't on tonight."
"Alright." I said before getting up and wiping my tracksuit bottoms.
"Eat up and meet us in the training room when you're done. It's time." Eagle said as Tracy smiled for the first time in a while.
Eagle and Tracy remained on the floor with their legs crossed, the sound of my footsteps leaving echoed in my ears as I walked out of the door.
As I entered the training room, Eagle stared at me as he crossed his arms. Tracy cleaned the swords with a cloth before covering it with a wooden case and chucked it to Eagle who passed it to me.
"What's this all about?" I asked, putting my hands in my pockets and leaning against the wall.
"Your test against us." Tracy said, never once looking away and frowned slightly. Eagle laughed nervously before scratching his nose.
"Against both of you?" I muttered, thinking how I haven't been in a proper fight since that day. How could I go against people who have had more training than me? And how will I win against two people? I felt my doubt sink into my bones until Tracy walked towards me and rubbed my shoulder.
"Yes, if you can do this, I'll have full faith in you." She said before smiling.
Eagle looked at the floor as he clenched his fists.
"If you fail this, we're not going." He muttered after meeting my eyes then glancing away while kicking the floor.
My heart rose as they said that, if I fail we can't save Adam. He'll- no. Stop it, I'll do this.
I counted down from ten, preparing myself and breathing in. Eagle swung his sword at my head. I ducked and blocked it with my sword. Tracy separated us both and dropped her sword for hand to hand combat instead. She kicked it as she grabbed my sword and twisted it out of my grip, Tracy flipped it around so that she was holding the grip of it before stabbing it in my stomach. I doubled over in pain as Eagle and Tracy swung their swords at my back. Rolling over, I dogged both of their hits and took Tracy's sword that she left on the floor.
Standing up, I kicked Tracys kneecaps as she fell to the floor. Eagle grabbed me from behind, suffocating me. I thrashed my legs before swinging my head at his face. He grabbed it as blood rushed down his face. I punched him in the throat and he fell to the floor. Tracy stabbed at my legs, my knees buckled but I remained standing. I swung my sword at her as I tried to breathe properly and withstanding the ache in my arms. She thrashed hers against mine and I stepped back as she continued to swing at me. As our swords were against each other, I kicked her stomach and swung my sword at her waist.
Turning around to see Eagle as he stood up, he swung their sword at me. Not long after, Tracy joined him. I grabbed either end of my sword and pushed them off with everything I had left.
Sweat dripped down my face as I panted heavily. They fell backwards, we all dropped our swords. With ten minutes remaining, Eagle kicked my stomach again and a memory invaded me. Ignoring it, I grabbed his leg and twisted it before pinning him down. Tracy grabbed her sword, swinging for my head. I dodged it as she hit Eagle instead. Getting up, I twisted her arm as she kicked my shin. Pulling her hair, I kicked the back of her knee as she was kneeling. Eagle was still on the floor when I pulled Tracy's arm behind her back and pinned her to the ground. She slammed her hand against the floor in defeat before shouting in pain.
After I rose to my feet, I landed straight back onto the floor and wiped the sweat off my forehead.
"You've learnt a lot- well done." Tracy said as she hugged me.
"If only I could have known this before." I muttered under my breath before hugging her tighter, trying to stop myself from crying.
Only behind the scenes, that's when I'll cry. No one will see me. Then I thought about Georgie being with me at night, who heard my cries and she was like me. Crying behind the scenes. No one will be able to comfort her when she cries on her own in that room.
"Why do this?" I said as Eagle moved around slightly before groaning in pain with each movement he made.
"You were restraining yourself because you know us." Tracy said, "thing is you could be going against someone you know. Even if it might seem cool to have a gun and to kill them on the spot, just remember that you're killing a mother's child, father, son or daughter. You're killing family. So when you aim it at someone, remember what you're making their family lose."
When she said those words, my mindset changed. I can't be ruthless. Was I ruthless before? Is that why Hoyt is trying to hunt me down? He has his reasons right?
"Let's pack and we're going- tonight. That was some good work there." Eagle said, interrupting us.
We made our way back to the living room, Georgie was with Grant as usual reading. Once we closed the door, Grant continued to read as Georgie looked at all of us. Our scars, bruises and the sweaty state of our bodies.
I headed for the kitchen and took my ration of rain water. We couldn't have the bottled water since we needed it for the long journey ahead. The saltines sat on my dry tongue, almost making it unbearable to have but I had to otherwise I'll end up fainting again.
Eagle unzipped his training tracksuit which was identical to move. He ran his hands through his broken hair, which now looked black since it was drenched in sweat. My legs ached as I headed to my room to take off my clothes. I faced the window with my back to the door. Tracy was also getting changed into the same dirty clothes we had been wearing for weeks now.
After we made ourselves comfortable and had our lunch, we sat on the sofa talking about ourselves for once and about the fight. My legs sunk into the sofa, even though it was overused, I felt all of my pain and aches fade away temporarily. If only I didn't have to stand up to leave.
The door knocked.
Tracy opened it, raising her eyebrows at the sight of our gang men. They entered with troubled faces. Two other people were tied up and blindfolded. I noticed their tattoos immediately. It's them.
It's time.