Chapter Eighteen
794 Words
Alison stood in front of the mirror, her hands shaking slightly as she grabbed a black fitted T-shirt which was part of the clothes Nicholas got her. Her mind raced; what did he mean by ‘fight’? She thought of many scenarios and it didn't end pleasant.
She sighed defeatedly, using her hands to brush back her hair before eventually leaving the room. Nicholas was still where he was waiting in his constant black outfit with his expression unreadable as usual.
“Let's go,” he said, not even sparing her a glance. He headed out and she followed suit quickly.
The evening breeze hit Alison as she reached outside. It was slowly getting dark and her mind raced of so many possibilities. “Was he going to punish her, or was it some kind of test?” “Where was he leading her to?” “ What if he was sick of hiding and wanted to turn her in?”l Her stomach twisted as she thought of so many things.
Nicholas suddenly stopped walking and quickly turned startling her a bit. “ You need to learn how to defend yourself”
“Defend myself, from who” she said before she could stop herself. It was only when the words came out, she realized how stupid she probably sounded.
He gave her a sharp look but didn't say anything. His saying things just made her feel the bad men were already here. Of course, she knew she was in danger, but the talk of the fight made everything so real now.
“ I'm going to teach you how to fight so you can defend yourself” Nicholas continued
“ What if someone gets hurt?” she questioned. She hasn't been involved in any physical fight in all her life. She wasn't a violent person.
Nicholas let out a humorless laugh “ You are supposed to hurt someone, that's the aim unless you want to be the one hurt instead, if you hesitate, you die”
“You being weak is a huge problem, you only slow me down,” he added bluntly. The words infuriated her. She wanted to yell at her and shout that she wasn't weak.
She mustered all the strength within her to stop from saying anything. She knew she was angry but what he said wasn't entirely false. She had no chance against those big bad men and she really couldn't rely on Nicholas to always protect her.
“So what am I gonna do?” Alison muttered.
Nicholas stepped closer to her “ First lesson, always be prepared for attack”
Before she could process what happened he moved quickly, grabbing her wrist and twisting it. A sharp pain shot through her arm and she gasped, stumbling backward.
"You are too slow," he said flatly.
Her shock quickly turned to anger. "You could have warned me!"
"No one will warn you, you have to be prepared. Try again," she said, her anger boldly written on her face.
Alison looked at him but clenched her fists, determined not to look weak this time.
Nicholas smirked: "Okay, now let's see if you can hit me.”
Alison hesitated a bit before attacking him, throwing a punch right at his chest. He dodged effortlessly, grabbing her wrist again and twisting it. She screamed as he pushed her forward, causing her to stumble.
"Your movements are predictable, anyone who sees you can guess what you're going to do."
She fought back, breathing heavily. "You like it, don't you?"
Nicholas raised an eyebrow, "I'd rather be doing something more useful, but I'm stuck with you, the least I can do is make sure you don't kill yourself."
His words stung her but she pushed away the pain his words caused.
"One more time," he ordered.
This time, she didn't rush as she did before; she tried to recall what she had watched in movies. She moved faster this time, looking for a kind of opening. She aimed right at this rib.
He caught her hand mid-air.
“ Nice”. He admitted “ but not good enough”
Without warning, he swept her legs from under her. Alison groaned as she hit the ground, pain shooting up her spine.
She groaned, lying on the ground, looking at Nicholas.
"Get up."
She grimaced as she stood up. "We'll do this every night." She said but it sounded more like a question.
"Every day until you learn."
Alison sighed. "Excellent, I can't wait."
Nicholas studied her for a moment, then turned and headed straight for the house.
"Wash yourself, this is just the beginning, we start again tomorrow"
She watched as he disappeared through the doors.
This was going to be a tough week.
- Writer
