Hiding in the Dark

Chapter 3

Luckily, no one comes after me when I leave the room. I made my way to my bedroom without running into anyone and I close the door behind me. Throwing my book bag by my desk, I walk to the bed before flopping on top of it. I'm absolutely exhausted but I force myself to get back up and take a shower.

Walking out of the bathroom with only a towel around my waist, I almost jump out of my skin when I see my father standing by my bed. "What the hell, father?!"

He just rolls his eyes. "Don't speak to me like that. I need to discuss something important with you. Get changed and meet me on the third floor in the training room."

Father walks out after speaking and I'm left thinking about what he is planning. Taking my time to get dressed, I wear a pair of shorts with a sweatshirt before leaving to go meet my father.

Walking up the stairs, I start to think about what my father could possibly want. Maybe he is going to force me to start working now. Maybe I have to start dating another girl that he chooses. Maybe I will get my own car. Who was I kidding? He would never buy me a car because he doesn't trust me. I seriously need to find a way to gain some money to buy myself a car. The car rides with Lorenzo and Savio suck.

I finally made it to the training room and I open the door to see many people huddled around a circle that looks like a fighting ring. Seeing my father and two older brothers on the side, I make my way towards them.

"Ahh, Nico. I'm so glad you decided to join us." My father says once he notices me. I internally roll my eyes. 'Like I had a choice.'

"So, what am I doing here?" I asked, getting right down to the subject.

"You will be fighting today. I want to see how well you can fight without any training." He said, making me freeze in my spot.

"You will be fighting one of our newcomers who have just passed stage 3 out of 4 of the training process." He continued, as if I wasn't freaking out. "Julian! Make your way inside the ring."

Lorenzo pushes me towards the ring and the crowd separates so that I can get through. Meeting me right in the middle was the person I'm assuming was Julian. A buzzer goes off immediately and Julian charges towards me. I quickly block his punch before sending one of my own, which hit him in the shoulder. Stumbling back a little, he quickly recovers and lands a hit in my ribs. 'Thats gonna leave a bruise,' I thought.

Ignoring the pain I felt at my side, I send a kick towards his stomach, sending him to the ground. However, he gets up once more and lands a right hook on my face. I can feel that my lip was bleeding but I was not going to lose to this asshole, regardless of the fact that he is better than me. My father is trying to test me and I am not giving him anymore things to look down on me for. I give Julian a punch and can hear a crack before he falls on the ground, holding his nose that was definitely out of place.

I see my father and older brothers come towards me. My father pats me on the shoulder and says. "Nico has won the fight. Congratulations, my son."

Beyond pissed, I shrug off his hand and walk out the room. How dare he force me to fight someone? How dare he say congrats to something that shouldn't even be praised.

Going to one of the bathrooms, I look in the mirror to see a dark bruise already forming on my cheek and my lip slightly bleeding. Grabbing a washcloth from one of the cabinets, I run it under warm water before dabbing at my lip. Once the blood is gone, I throw the red stained towel into the garbage can and grab another one. This time, I run it under cold water and place it on my cheek, trying to get the swelling to go down a little bit.

After I'm done, I let the cloth dry on the faucet before leaving the bathroom and going up to my room. Pulling out a pair of clothes, I get changed into a pair of jeans with a button up shirt. I was still in a lot of pain but didn't want to take any pain meds because I was planning on drinking.