Hidden Essence Book I - The Bloody Moon

Chapter XVII

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Three weeks. Three more weeks have passed and every night was the same. Close your eyes just to open them again five minutes later. Yellow and gold, he's here. Inside of my head. I can sense his presence. I can't get him out. Every day I've tried, but I failed. Even after three weeks I'm still failing. By now I am just letting it happen. He's here, he can hear what I say, see what I look at, feel what I touch and there is not one thing I can do about it. I hate it, hate him, more than I did before. I now know that it'll be impossible for me to erase him from thought unless I finish him. And that's exactly what I am planning to pursue. His death. I'll erase him from this planet, I swear I will. I just need to focus. Focus on the trainings even though he is roaming around my thoughts. The extra difficulty won't be easy to overcome, but I will eventually. I know I will. I won't rest until I get what I want. Not this time. 

"Come on, Raven, you can punch harder than that, can't you? Harder! I didn't train a sissy!" She yells as I hit the punching bag as hard as I can. I'm sweaty and hot, but noneless determinated to punch that bag to the concrete. My movements have become very sly and quick, thanks to the trainings. I've been on a sort of bootcamp these weeks. Lifting and throwing, punching and dodging, pushing and pulling. I've gone through every type of physical exercise possible. My muscles are so big compared to when I first got here. They're not the body builder type of muscles, that would just look absolutely terrifying and hideous, but they are of a decent size compared to what an average woman has. I've acquired an awful lot of strength and swiftness too. I don't know if I can compare myself to a werewolf yet, but I think I'm very close. Becka has been an excellent trainer. Who would've thought, hey? I'd hate to admit it to her, but I honestly am so grateful for the help she has given me. Without her, I would've never upgraded my body like this and I would've never been so close to accomplishing that holy grail wish of mine. I would've probably stayed the weak and defenseless little kitten. "I like it when you're mad, you're like a cute little kitten when you do that." He had said. The memory is vage, but it's still there. It shouldn't be, he shouldn't be in my head, but he is. 

"Raven!" I look up and dodge the towel that is being thrown to me. Becka's scowl is the next thing I see. "Where is the concentration? I've been calling your name for a minute already..." She snarls. Ugly voice, so ugly. "It won't happen again." I say mostly to myself. It won't. Becka nods firmly and I continue the exercise. Hold on Sage, you can do it. Punch as if it's him you're punching. And I do as I say. The more I strike my target, the more it turns into the one I really want to strike. I punch frontways and sideways as I knock the last pockets of air out of that bag and it eventually hits the floor as I knock it from the ceiling. I place my hands on my knees and I bend down a little as I pant. "Better." She compliments as she ligthly taps on my back. My heartbeat is quick and for once I am enjoying it. Stern footstepts near the training room, they're from George, but he's not alone though. I straighten my back with much effort and turn around to see them entering the room, him, Michael, Jonas and Zach. They're all dressed for a training. Oooh, this is interesting. I see a smile tug at the corners of Zach's lips as he checks out the punching bag. "Becka, Sage. I'll have to interrupt your training, because it seems like our calculations have wronged us. The Bloody Moon is way closer ahead of us than we thought." George starts. "How close?" I ask monotonously and he sighs. "There's only two weeks left." What? "What!" Becka shouts. "You said we had at least a month ahead of us. What do you mean, two weeks?!" Becka exclaims, irritated obviously. I couldn't agree more with her though. We need more time, to train, to prepare. "Calm down. The predictions that were done, have been sabotaged somehow. I am just as shocked as you are, but do not panic, we're going to speed up the schedule a little and everything will be allright." He assures us, all though I am not really convinced. Becka doesn't seem to be either as she growls deeply and kicks at the punching bag. "I can't believe this." She mutters. "Me neither Becka, but we don't have much of a choice right now." George retorts and she just snorts and turns her back to him. She sure has quite an attitude towards her Alpha. A thing I've learned is that George usually chooses to ignore it, just like I always chose to do. "Okay Sage, so what I wanted to do is to immediately form you for combat." When he says this, something in me jolts up. Combat, finally. The last step to revenge. "So here I have my crew, they've all been formed for combat years ago, mostly in wolf form. I want you to fight them and attempt to take the upper hand during combat." He says and I nod. "Don't worry for the first fights, they will not be alloud to shift and you will only be able to use your own body as a defense." He explains. "Like sparring..." I point out and he confirms by nodding. This sounds interesting. "Okay, so you got the gist of it, let's begin." He says and Becka sighs deeply. I place myself in the center of the room while the others surround me. "Becka you're up first." George orders. "Are you serious? She is not even done training yet and you want me to put her down... This is ridiculous." She scoffs and stings my ego. I have trained long enough, I can take her. She places herself nonchalantly in front of me, a few feet away. I place my arm in a defensive manner in front of my upper body and fully concentrate on her movements. "So the objective is to get your sparring partner to the ground. No need to inflinct unnecessary wounds." George specifies and I nod one last time. My eyes register every single one of her movements. The disgusting smirk on her face tells me off, but I know better than to let myself be distracted by that. "Are you going to come at me or are you too afraid to... Raven." She snaps. No way. I gradually make my way to her as she continues to praise herself. I punch towards her but she catches my fist mid-air and spins me around before she kicks me on my back and I land on the floor. Well, that was quick. I quickly stand up and position myself the same way as before. "Don't let yourself be distracted by foolish words. They will often be thrown at you, but you have to manage your feelings to avoid them." George explains and I take into account what he says. Don't let yourself get carried away, Sage. Focus on what's important, revenge. This time she is the one to surprisngly attack me, but I'm able to step out of the way just in time. I spin around and lay my eyes on her as if she was a prey and I a predator. Her back is turned to me and I take the opportunity and launch myself at her, but she turns around too quickly for me to register and she manages to grab me by my arms and throw me at the other side of the room. I land on my back and moan when I hit the floor. Gosh, what the hell is even happening? "Opportunity is great in a fight, but so is patience. You have to be patient and not jump at every opportunity that is given to you. As a great fighter you have to be able to distinguish the perfect opportunity from the other ones." George explains once again. I pick myself back up and go back to the center of the room. Becka's venomous smirk is showing off again. This is too annoying for words. I want revenge not silly fights with a barbie doll. Becka slowly walks up to me, casually, as if nothing was going on and her attitude itches underneath my skin. I have to stay focused though. Don't get distracted by foolish words nor foolish attitude. When she is as close as I want her to be, I make a quick step forward, but she expects it as her hand reach for my charging body, but what she didn't expect wass that I would pull back immediately, leaving her hands empty. As she is caught off guard I swat her hands out of my way with my left arm and with my right I aim for her jaw. She dodges it though which I wasn't expecting and she kicks forward against my stomach making me land on my back once again. "Unprecitability and confusion. Twoof the most dangerous weapons in combat. Nicely done, Sage, but know that they can be used against you as well." George says and Becka chuckles at this. "Oh this is pathetic. How is she learning anything by getting knocked down everytime..." Becka cackles and Jonas laughs along with her. That's it, I'm not just going to allow them to laugh at me. I swing my leg across the floor and with that make her tumble down. I then quickly jump up and launch myself onto her as I pin her hands to the floor making it impossible for her to move. She tries to wriggle herself out, but my grip is firm and I refuse to let her go. She looks extremely pissed. "Look who's pathetic now." I snap and she bares her canines at me. I roll off of her and position myself safely. "Becka, cut it. Well done, Sage. You've chosen the right opportunity." George compliments and Becka huffs along with Jonas. of course they have nothing better to say. Michael is giving me his usual friendly smile. He's also up next. George motions him towards me and Michael makes his way in front of me. 

"Same exercise, different opponent. Begin." George calls and Michael's smile drops instantly. I don't get carried away by it as I try to focus again on his movements. He then swings his arm to hit me in my stomach, but he misses as I jump back. He is less careless than Becka as his attacks follow after each other quickly. I avoid most of them, his fingertips sometimes brush against me, but I don't back down. After a series of hits I block one of them off and push him away from me as hard as I can. He doesn't get as far as I wanted him to be, but he does get destabilized a little which gives me a little bit of time to figure something out. I try to kick him further away, but he grabs my foot before it hits him. I try to stay balanced, but he pulls me forward to eventually fling me across the room. I roll over the floor multiple times before I lay on my back and try to catch my breath. "In tough situations, try to be inventive, figure your way out and most of all don't waste any time." George advises and I stand back up. Michael is going to be difficult to overpower. But I will eventually, I have to. I start sprinting his way. He seems to not know where I'm going with this attemp, but that is exactly what I want him to think. Before I reach him I notice that he is positioning himself stabile enough and that his hands are open. When I'm only a feet away from him, I jump up high in air and flip over him, a trick I have been practising day in day out with Becka. I land on my feet and twist myself towards him, he has no idea that I was going to do that. I then jump on his back and I cling my body to his, squeezing his neck with my arms and wrapping my legs tightly around his waist. He tries to pull me off, even to throw me off at some point, but I resist as if my life depended on it. I squeeze harder and harder, almost making him choke. "Can't breathe, you've won..." His throaty voice brings out. I release him and jump off of him and he falls to his knees whilst panting. I look at George and see a very satisfied smile on his face. Nice. "You make quick progress. I don't think the lack of time is going to be a problem if you continue like this. Very impressive." He compliments and I nod. The words sound as sweet as the soon to be revenge. Continue like this Sage and you will have your reward. "Water break." George says and we all do as commanded. I do it to quench my thirst, they do it because of the Alpha authority he puts in every sentence. 

Jonas and Becka have isolated themselves in their own little corner. It's better that way, I don't need two annoying bugs flying around me. Michael is still out of breath, but he seems okay. Zach hasn't spoken yet, which I find quite odd. I don't really want him to, because I have nothing to say to him, neither to them, I don't like talking, but I thought he was a chatty person. He looks like one. I open my water bottle and gulp it down entirely. I also dry off my sweaty body with my towel. "Nice guns." Michael compliments me and taps my left arm. I reflexively pull my arm away even though I didn't mean to. "Sorry." He quickly says and I somehow feel a little guilty for being so repulsive, but I refuse to weaken myself. I can't backtrack, I can't break down. I've built these strong, solid walls. I won't see them crumble down anymore. I bluntly nod and he awkwardly smiles back. He's awfully nice, but he can't be an exception. I can't make exceptions out of them. They help me to accomplish my mission, they train me, offer me a stay at their abode, but what if this is all an act... I can't fully trust them, I won't ever fully trust anyone. I can't risk it anymore, it's too painful, too dangerous. Now I am cautious about how I deal with people. I just have to make sure they trust me, but I always have to have a plan B if they betray me. Under no circumstances I will trust them. "I'm up next, you think you will be able to handle it?" Zach challenges. That cheeky little bastard actually thinks he can intimidate me? I watch as he puts a taunting smirk on his still very handsome face. Distraction, delete yourself out of my system. I don't reply and simply turn my back to him. I have no time for silly challenges, I'm not five anymore. 

"You know, it's okay to smile sometimes..." He whispers in my ears before he heads back to the center of the training room. His words cut like knives, but luckily I am used to bleeding. 

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