Oxygen

Chapter 12 - Combat training

As I dragged Jordan to the kitchen to get some food, I remembered something from the dream.

"Wait, you have another sister?" I ask, referring to the girl called Emily he mentioned.

"Yea, I have three sisters actually. Carol, Emily and Andrea. Andrea and Emily don't come home very often, but their on the way back from out here to help out the family. This is Emily's house" he explains. No wonder it's so clean.

"Wow, is there anyone else I haven't met?" I ask, curiously.

"Actually yea, Eric and Jasper are going back from Canada in a couple of days, they live together. Their all older than me".

Jordan really does have a big family. I say this to him, telling him all my thoughts, and he replies "They're your family now, too". It feels good to have a family, to be loved by so many people, and to have people who want to protect me. This is the best family I've ever had.

•••

After having breakfast and getting dressed into grey tights, white top and a black jacket, Jordan takes me outside to practise.

We find a small grass patch in the forest, by the river. Jordan has a knife with him, as well as a few twigs from the fire to practise with.

"Okay, first things first" he says. I stand with my feet apart, ready for action. "How hard can you punch?"

I laugh at this. He can't be serious. "I don't even know if I can punch" I laugh hysterically, trying to catch my breath.

"Oh dear" Jordan exclaims, laughing too. "We'll start with a basic punch then".

He holds out his hand, standing in the perfect stance for attack. He shows me how to punch, and how to make it effective on the other person.

Then he stands me in front of him, to try it out myself. He holds his palm out flat and says "Punch".

I take a step back, and with all my might, throw a punch, straight at his hand. I feel the power of the punch as the smack sound comes from the contact.

Jordan winces in pain, as I stand proudly with my arms folded. "There" I say, and he looks up and smiles from his hunched over position.

"Okay, that's clearly too easy for you, how about we try the knife?" He asks, with a challenging look on his face. I'll challenge you alright.

"Oh, you just watch, Grandpa" I say, laughing so hard I can't stand. I roll on the grass, cracking up at my own joke. Wow.

Jordan helps me back up and we start with the knife. He shows me first, throwing the knife with a flick of his wrist, and hitting the trunk of a tree straight on.

"Easy" I say, but Jordan doesn't look convinced. I throw the knife and miss the tree by about a meter.

Jordan laughs at me now, rolling over onto his side. "Ha!" He says, proud of himself.

I roll my eyes as far as they will go, and pick up the knife. I help Jordan stand up, and point the knife at him.

"You just wait" I say, trying to scare him. "I'll be throwing it at you soon". "Bring it on" he says, taking the knife from me and kissing my forehead. "You'll get it right" he says, and I agree.

After a few hours of practise, we go inside and have some lunch. This is going to be the hardest excersize of my life.

I wipe a towel across my forehead, and hand it to Jordan. He cleans the sweat from his hands, and chuck's the towel in a laundry basket.

"Tired?" He ask, amused. "Yea, just a bit" I say, breathing heavily. "Shall we go and rest for a bit?" Jordan asks, and I nod.

He carries me bridal style to the bed, and opens the covers to put me in. I lay down, closing my eyes, and fall asleep peacefully. There are no dreams this time, and it makes me worry a little bit.

•••

A few weeks have passed since then. I'm getting better at the combat, we're training with swords and guns now.

Charlie is coming tomorrow, Jordan's cousin, to help with the training. We are really close to the third stage I think, so hopefully we can get out of here soon, and I can see my Mum and Evelyn again.

In the spear of the moment, I decided I wanted to paint. It's been a while since I've painted, or even touched the stuff, but today I'm going to try.

I look through the draws in the kitchen, and find a pallet and brushes. In another draw I find a few tubes of paint. Yellow, green, blue and white.

I carry the equipment outside, and pick a tree to paint on. I squirt some of the paint onto the pallet, and mix it to make the perfect shade.

"What are you doing?" Jordan asks me, coming out from the house to have a look. "I'm painting" I say, and continue stroking the brush up and down the trunk of the tree.

"I didn't know you painted" he said, staring at the picture I was creating. "I used to paint all the time, the pictures on my wall at home are ones I painted. After the car accident, I stopped. I guess it just made me think of them, when I painted. But this time, I want to do it. It doesn't hurt me anymore".

He nods his head, "Okay" he says, and kisses me on the neck before walking away.

I spend a couple of hours painting, until it starts to get dark. I turn on the light on my phone, and continue.

When it's done, I step back and take a look. The green grass stands out from the rest, with swirling yellow flowers filling the hills with colour. The sky above is a light powder blue, making the daylight shine, peacefully.

Jordan comes back out to check on me. "Wow, this looks amazing" he says, coming up to me and giving me a hug from behind.

"It's not my best work, but-" I start. "It's amazing for a painting on a tree" he says, and I nod.

I pull my hair over my shoulder and brush my fingers through it. "Come on, let's go inside, get some rest", Jordan suggests.

"Yea, come on" I say, and drag him to the door. This place is the place we will fall in love, I just know it.