Fighter { Book 3 }

Chapter 14 - Crying Wolf

Hey guys,
I know I haven't posted in a month but now that exams are over, I'll try to post once a week. Sorry for the long wait and any mistakes, I was in a hurry to upload a chapter, so there. I'll fix the mistakes by tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

I wake up and rub my eyes while sitting up. I'm surprised I'm awake before my alarm. I take my phone to see it's only 6:30; since it's supposed to be a day off I thought we could start training late, but I guess I'm not getting anymore sleep. I sigh before getting out of bed and washing my face and change into some comfortable clothes. I take a sketchbook and chalks from my art supplies and go to the window seat. The sunrise will be soon and I haven't had the chance to just relax and draw. So I draw back the curtain a little and wait for the sunrise. After about ten minutes the sky starts changing its color and I start to draw. As I finish the last few details my alarm starts ringing, I turn it off quickly, before keeping my things away. I take a bow and a few arrows; that I bought with me; and leave the room, as I shut the door I see Jer coming out of his own dressed to train. "Ready?" I ask him and he nods with a smile. I smile back and we leave the house; leaving the bow and arrows near the door. Pain shoots through my leg and I remember, I was shot. "I don't think I'm going to be able to run today." I tell Jer. "Why?" Jer asks. "I don't feel that well." I tell him. Jer gives me a look and I sigh. "Fine. The wolves found me yesterday and I was shot in the leg." I tell him and his eyes widen before he glares at me. "We're going back now and you're going to rest." Jer says and grabs my hand starting to walk back. "Jer come on.  I promise I won't practice, I'll just help you, you can't miss training. Okay?" I tell him not wanting him to miss practice since I know he's still scared Andrew will come and he'll be too weak to defend himself. "You promise?" Jer asks stopping. "I promise, I'll just sit and help." I tell him and he reluctantly nods.

Jer goes for a run and I sit near the stairs. "Wow, that's a lot." Jer says after I finish telling him about all the Fighter chaos and I nod. We were both heading a little deeper into the woods to practice archery. "I know. It's also scary to think that these people actually trust me to keep them safe." I tell him. "You didn't have to tell me all that." Jer says and I nod. "I know but I don't want any secrets between us, not anymore. This affects you too maybe not like it affects me but still; you deserve to know." I tell him and he smiles. "Thanks. Can I be there when you do the spell?" Jer asks and I nod. "Of course. I'll need some moral support." I tell him and he nods. Jer takes the bow and an arrow, he nocks the arrow and I help him correct his posture before he shoots. The arrow lands on the lower part of a tree, it was no where near to his target. "Well done." I say and he gives me a look. "What? It didn't hit the ground so it's a good shot." I tell him and he laughs. "Thanks, I guess." Jer says before taking another arrow. After shooting three arrows that get a little closer to the level of the target, Jer suddenly stops. "What's wrong?" I ask him as he lowers his bow looking unsure. "You said that we shouldn't hide anything, right?" Jer asks and I nod. "Yeah. Why?" I ask him. "Then tell me what you meant when you said that for two weeks after the... incident all you did was self destruct." Jer says.

"Okay. But then you have to tell me what's been troubling you. I see it you know, the way you're always looking around, the way you always stay close to someone and how you sometimes look at me or Jenna like you're completely heartbroken." I tell him and he sighs but nods and sit down opposite to me. "After Jason almost raped me..." I start before pausing as Jer practically flinches at the word, it's another thing I noticed how he almost always uses 'incident' or just leaves a blank when taking about Andrew. "I know it's difficult to use the word like it's a curse or something but that's what happened. Anyways, after I came back home with Ares and Noah; I took a burning hot bath and practically scrubbed my skin off, like it could somehow scrub him off too. But then the memories started playing in my head and that's what happened, for the next two weeks all I could see, hear or feel was him; his voice, his hands and his face. No matter what I did I couldn't wash him off or erase him. All my nights were filled with nightmares of him, but they were different; sometimes he would finish what he started and sometimes he would just kill me. I nearly burned myself, cut my hand and side stepped towards a moving car because I wanted it to end; because I wanted to forget and it seemed so much easier; like dying was salvation. Ares and Noah wanted to help but they didn't want to push too far until they had enough. It was the first time in two weeks that I cried because I wanted to not because of a nightmare. I told them everything I could put into words and I felt relieved a little. They helped me feel a bit better everyday." As I tell Jer all of this my mind goes back to everything that happened but the memories don't scare me, they don't make me feel trapped and I feel a little relieved.