Don't Look Down - Book #1

Chapter 1 - Old Beginnings

"Hi." he says.

"Hi." I say back. I then kick him swiftly in the leg, and he falls to the ground.

"Ow!" he let outs.

"I am just doing what I am supposed to." I say, and hold my hand out to pull him up. He refuses it, and we put our guards back up.

"Well, I didn't know that we were starting yet." he says.

"You heard the whistle, didn't you?" I ask him. When the whistle blows once, it means that we practice the skill we have just learned with our partner. When it blows twice, it means that we switch partners.

"Yes but I don't think that it was a fair fight. I wasn't ready." he says.

"It doesn't matter, I followed the rules." I say.

"Whatever, I'll get you next time though." he says, with a confident smirk.

Then a loud whistle blows, and we all look to the front of the room. "Alright! We are done here today. I will see you all tomorrow." our instructor says. He has a loud firm voice.

I go to my bag, and get my water bottle to hydrate. "Hydrating is very important, Avery." my father always says to me. "This is a very important key to your training." he says.

I pack my things in my bag, and start walking out the door. We all got the same bag at the beginning of the year, with all of the same things in it. I walk to my house, and go through the door.

My parents see me come in, and my Father asks, "How was your training today?"

"Fine." I say. They have been waiting for me everyday, at home since my training had begun.

"Fine? So does that mean it went well?" my father asks.

"Yeah, I guess so." I say.

"Did you have any problems with any of the training? Were you not able to do some of it?" he asks very quickly, which catches me off guard for a moment. He can see my hesitation. "So it did go well?" he asks, after a few moments.

"It went well. Why does it matter so much?" I ask him.

"Because this is important to-" my father says almost yelling, before my mother cuts him off.

"Brandon!" my mother says quickly, and the room goes quite.

There is a tension in the air, and I am not quite sure what is going. My father then says, "I'm sorry for yelling." and then there is another pause. "Goodnight." he says, and then leaves the room.

I then look at my mother and ask her, "What was that about?" I hardly ever see my father like this, so it is unusual.

She looks at me for a few moments, before saying, "Don't worry about it Avery, just go to bed." Then she also leaves the room.

I just stand there, and wonder what that was about. Everyone gets training in combat starting at the age of 10. It lasts until we are 14 years old. This is just the 4th week I have been in training, so I do not know much yet.

"Okay." I say to no one but myself, and head to my room.

The next day, I walk to training like every morning. I walk inside, and set my bag down. In the front of the room, there is a man, and two officers.