Lethal Hearts Where Killers Meet

CHAPTER 3: Reassuring Presence

CHAPTER 3

“Everyone, listen up!” Finn’s voice was warm and welcoming, a stark contrast to the cold hostility of the arena. He stood beside Lauren, a reassuring presence. “This is Lauren. She’s new, so go easy on her.” His gaze swept over the other recruits, lingering for a moment on the bully, a sneering brute named Jarek. “We’re a team here. We look out for each other.”

Lauren felt a flicker of gratitude towards Finn, but Jarek’s scornful laugh quickly overshadowed it. "Look out for her? She can't even stand on her own two feet!"

Finn ignored him, turning to Lauren with a smile. “Come on, let me show you around.” He led her through the labyrinthine tunnels, explaining the grueling daily routine: combat training in the mornings, followed by tactical exercises, and then weapon practice in the evenings. “It’s a lot, I know. But we all started somewhere.”

Finn, true to his word, became Lauren’s guide. He introduced her to the sprawling complex, a hidden world beneath Evershade’s streets. She met the other recruits, a mix of hardened veterans and fresh faces, each with a story as scarred as her own. Finn explained the brutal training regimen: combat drills in the arena, endurance runs through the winding tunnels, and late nights studying tactical layouts.

Jarek and his friends, the so-called Bully Boys, never missed a chance to mock her failures, their cruel laughter echoing in the training halls. One day, they hid her training dagger, and another, they tied her shoelaces together just before a drill, causing her to sprawl onto the hard-packed earth.

"What's the matter, little bird? Lost your wings?" Jarek taunted, his face a sneering mask of cruelty.

Lauren, her palms scraped and bloody, pushed herself to her feet, her humiliation a hot, bitter taste in her mouth. She could feel Ryle’s cold, unreadable gaze on her, a silent judgment that was more painful than any of Jarek's taunts.

“Why is she even here?” One of Jarek’s friends hollered as they laughed at her, “Scrawny bitch.”

One evening, during a sparring session, the ringleader of the Bully Boys, none other than Jarek, was paired with Ryle. Jarek, feeling emboldened, taunted Lauren from across the arena, mimicking her clumsy movements. Lauren was on the sidelines, her bruised body aching, her confidence in tatters.

A cold fury, slow and deliberate, built in Ryle’s eyes. Jarek, seeing her, couldn't resist a final jab. "You're lucky she's not your partner, Ryle. She'd just get in the way!"

The clang of steel against steel echoed in the arena as Ryle and Jarek’s sparring match began. Their movements were a blur of calculated aggression, but soon, Ryle's attacks grew sharper, his eyes locking onto a point just beyond Jarek’s shoulder.

"She reminds me of her," Jarek grunted, parrying a hard blow. "That little sister of yours, Ryle.” He chuckled humorlessly, “All fire and no training."

Ryle's lips thinned into a hard line as soon as Jarek spoke and tried to agitate him. His response was a brutal strike, a powerful blow to Jarek’s shoulder. Jarek cried out, his arm twisting at an unnatural angle as he fell to the sand, clutching his shoulder.

"She’s just a child," Jarek gasped, his face contorted in pain. "Why are you so angry about this?"

Ryle loomed over him, his voice a low growl, "She’s not a child. And she's nothing like my sister."

Jarek chuckled dryly, “Are you being a p***y now, Ryle? Over that damned girl?” He mocked.

Ryle didn't just spar; he fought with a controlled, savage intensity. He struck Jarek with a blow that was far too hard, leaving him sprawled on the sand, clutching a dislocated shoulder.

“Now who’s a pussy.” Ryle spoke angrily.

Later, as they worked on their training gear, Finn approached Ryle, his voice a low murmur. "That was... unlike you, Ryle.”

“What do you mean?” Ryle questioned, his tone monotone.

Finn shrugged his shoulders, “You're usually so precise. You didn't hold back on Jarek at all."

He simply shrugged, his face a mask of indifference. "He dropped his guard. Sloppy. That's how you die in the real world."

Finn paused, a question in his eyes. "Was that for her?”

Ryle didn’t face him, “For who?”

“The new girl?" He looked toward Lauren, who was struggling to sharpen a dagger.

His eyes narrowed, a silent warning. “Why would I do that for her?” Ryle asked, also glancing at Lauren with no interest. “Look at her, doesn’t even know how to sharpen a knife, nor hold it.”

Finn answered, "She’s new. Of course, she won’t know.” He paused and waited for Ryle to respond, but he didn’t, so he continued, “But one thing is for sure, she reminds me of your little sister.”

Ryle glanced at her once again before looking back at Finn, “Are you trying to be funny?” He spat.

Finn chuckled, shook her head, and responded, “No, actually not. The same stubbornness.”

Ryle's knuckles went white on his whetstone. He didn’t look at Finn. "Don't ever speak of my sister again," he growled, the words sharp and final.

The topic was closed immediately, the irritation clear on his face, but the message was not completely lost on Finn. Ryle’s harshness was a shield, a wall he built around his own pain, but for a brief moment, it had been a weapon aimed at a bully who dared to mock a vulnerable girl.

Ryle’s eyes gazed at Lauren almost as if he hated her, and he hated her presence. Finn watched as Ryle stormed away, leaving Lauren standing alone, feeling awkward.

He walked over to her, a comforting presence. "Don't mind him," Finn spoke, his voice gentle. "He's always like that. He just… doesn't like having people around him."

Lauren watched as Ryle's back disappeared down the hall. "It feels like he hates me," she whispered, the words a raw confession.

"It's not you," Finn assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle pat. "He just sees himself as a loner. He sees everyone as a rival, an obstacle. It's just his way."