Betrayal Is My End

Chapter 4

Timothy

We were outside again, Dylan thought it was good to train me on any terrain. Hand to hand was his specialty, he didn't have any specific fighting style, he'd mastered each of them and brought them to the table when he needed. Jake, on the other hand, was a master of the blade. Didn't matter what kind it was, he knew them all. He trained me with weapons and Dylan trained me with my body, it was hard and after the first session, I was throwing up but I'd built a sort of tolerance.
I couldn't believe it'd been a little over a month since my family left me, Dylan and Jake became my new family. They fed me, took care of me, if I was bad then, they punished me. "Your form is getting better," he said breaking into my thoughts. I smiled softly and he spoke again, "pretty soon you'll be able to hold your own against anything." I smiled at his praise, Dylan was a hard teacher but when he gave compliments- he meant them. I took a deep breath and sighed, "is it hard?" Dylan asked quietly his voice was soft as he spoke almost as though he didn't mean to say it and I turned to him, "it was- at first. I didn't want to admit that they actually had abandoned me, I wanted to believe they were going to come for me."
I worried at my lip and he smiled softly, it was a sad smile. He wanted to comfort me, that much was clear. His arm wrapped around my shoulders, and we sat together in a comfortable silence. Dylan had become my new Jason, he took care of me and made sure I was safe. Jake was there too, he was hard and didn't like failure but he took care of me too. Dylan was just around more.
Today was the first time I was going to talk with them to explain everything I knew. My stomach was in knots, why? I thought bitterly, I don't have to feel bad. They abandoned me. This is my new family, I have to do right by them, I have to gain their trust.
"Yea, I get that," he says slowly. It takes me a moment to realize I've spoken my thoughts aloud and now Dylan os answering them. He continued now and I could tell he was speaking from experience, "you wanna believe your family will always do right by you and save you when you can't save yourself. The truth is? You can't trust anyone to do good by you except yourself."
He paused and chewed on his lip, worrying he'd said too much but it's not. I lean into him showing support and that I want him to continue, after a moment, he does. "You have to be the one to care for yourself, put yourself first, and make sure you are taken care of before you can even hope for anyone else. If you don't, who will? I'm not saying they didn't try. Or that you should have animosity, I'm just saying maybe this is what you were meant to do."
I nodded when he was done, truly understanding what he was saying. He didn't speak just to hear himself, that's what I liked about being with Dylan. He was a quiet person who observed everything but didn't really speak. When he did speak his mind, it was sincere and I really valued what he had to say. He lived through this, abandonment, and death before and knew how to handle it.
I felt my mind start to wander, it was a nice clear summer day. We were drifting towards the end of July into August now, normally it was absolutely, ridiculously, hot but today there was a decent breeze that fended off the heat. Their training area was different than the high tech one we'd had back at the base. Instead of climate changing capabilities theirs was just a simple large rectangle chalked down on the ground almost like a tennis court. There was a circle in the center, and some bigger circles spanning out from it.
Grass surrounded the area, over to the side of the court there was a big cupboard that held any kind of weapon you could ever want. The top half of it was smaller hand held items such as daggers, switch blades, knives. The bottom was a whole mishmash of swords, axes, maces, and even a bow and arrow. I remember my shock when I first saw it and learned what was inside.
Dylan taught me hand to hand and we would spar here for hours, he trained my body. When we first sparred, he flipped me and pinned me in two seconds flat.
As time went, I got a little better but still had my problems. He broke one of my ribs in the second week and the next day, I started my training with Jake. The pain was excruciating but, still, I fought. I lost and failed horribly. We went at it like this for weeks, Dylan one day, Jake the next. Over and over until I moved up just a smidge in their mind. Today was different, today was the day I was going before Jake's crew to tell them all I knew. Today was the day I became one of them. Part of the family. I took a deep breath as Jake walked up to us, he smiled and held his right hand out to me.
As he did, I saw a tattoo on his wrist, Dylan- I learned- had the same as his brothers'. Johnny had insisted they get it to prove their family ties. It was a tattoo of their family's crest I've noticed, since being here, that all their staff and crew had the same tattoo. It was amazing to me how close they were. I wanted to be a part of this too.
"Ready?" He asked with a smile, I took a deep breath, "I think so." I let him pull me to my feet and into a hug, he wrapped his arms around me and held me for a moment. It was proof Jake was warming to me, he never touched anyone aside from Dylan. He hated physical contact.
I felt as my body stiffened at first before relaxing, I didn't want to but it was just a natural reaction, now.
Jake chuckled and ruffled my hair, "I know you're worried, but you don't need to be."
"You're just going to meet them, we have a proposition for Jerome but we don't want to go in blind." My stomach churned, "y-you wanna work with Jerome?" He sighed and put his arm around my shoulder as we started walking from the training ring, "there's a war here, us vs. them. Now, granted, Jerome had drawn a line in the sand and made our own us vs. them, however I'd like to move past it- for now- and work together to get rid of the government that rules over us. Not to mention the snake in their garden."
My mind spun at his words, but slowly they made sense. I nodded to him, "I want to protect Jason, and Tsu," Jake smiled. "I know you do, and to do that I need the truth. Just that, once you do tell the truth, I'll set a meeting up with Jerome and we'll go from there."
We were near the room now, the house was cold and silent but I liked it that way, it wasn't overwhelming like the base with Kai. As his name went through my mind, my blood boiled, he failed me. I forced myself to be calm, I can't ruin this. Jake needs me to be calm. Jake squeezed my shoulder and I looked to him, "sorry. Just getting lost in my head," he chuckled at that and shouldered the door open.
The room was full of onlookers, and I paused not certain suddenly, whether or not I wanted to go in. "Can I-" I stopped and bit my lip, he frowned. "Hey," he said and turned to me, "what's wrong? I'm right here, do you want Dylan? I know," he looked over my shoulder and licked his lips, before lowering his voice, "I know you two are closer. I can get him," my eyes widened and I looked up to see not Jake the mafia lord or even Jake The Butcher. I saw Jake, the big, older understanding brother.
"I-it's not like that," I mutter and he smiled pulling me into a hug, "it doesn't have to be. Dylan is your rock here, don't be ashamed. Now, can you do this?" I took a breath, "I think so. When I do, will I become part of the family?"
He smiled, "kid, you already are. You're getting your mark, don't worry." I looked at him shocked and he nodded once. I couldn't help but smile as I felt relief flood my veins. "What are we waiting for?"