The Kidnapper

Chapter 18

Blair

The first three days of my training were really hard. My whole body was sore, Clea forced me to push it harder than I ever did. I was on my fourth day, and my whole body was so numb, I could barely feel my limbs.

My training lasted for four hours. The first two hours were dedicated to my body, and the other two were for dealing with situations.

For the body part, I exercised for one hour by myself at the gym - that was my favourite part of the training because I got time to myself and I wasn't getting bossed around for once - and when that was over, I headed to training room where I trained with Clea and her friend, a tall, intimidating man named Joseph. They taught me how to throw knives, how to climb, we did archery, and much more. It was tough, and it was exactly like what I imagined the military to be.

After the exercise part was over, I'd be dead exhausted but I had to head over to a small classroom, followed by Clea - she followed me everywhere. I had two 'teachers': Ralph and Mitchell. They were the only ones who didn't treat me like complete dog shit. They taught me how to deal with various situations, like how to get away with murder and other things.

Before and after my training, Leighton still liked to make me work as her maid. I cleaned almost every room - there were some rooms I wasn't allowed to go into - and scrubbed the floors every single day, even when they were already clean.

Right now, I was with Joseph and Clea, and we were learning how to climb buildings fast, using wall made for rock climbing. I had gotten slightly better at throwing knives, but climbing was very difficult for me.

"-And this, is where we train," I heard Leighton's voice behind me.

I had to keep climbing, so I couldn't look back to see who she was talking to and I wondered if it was Taylor.

"Taylor, say hi to Joseph, he's very dear to me. And you know Clea. Obviously, you remember Blair right there. She is an old friend!"

So it was Taylor? He was alive after all! How was he? I'd been wondering how he was doing for so long!

I hurriedly climbed down the wall and ignored Clea as she yelled at me to get back and continue my lesson.

"Leave her Clea!" Leighton hissed.

I walked towards them and stopped two feet away from them, not wanting to get too close.

Taylor was as pale as a paper, and his eyes were red from exhaustion. He had deep dark circles and his lips had also lost colour. His hair was thin and unhealthy. What had Leighton done to him?

I noticed that Taylor was looking at me with question marks in his eyes. Shit! He probably thought I had gone insane, or that Leighton corrupted me.

"Hi Taylor," I murmured shyly.

He didn't say anything but he nodded and smiled a little to acknowledge me.

"I was just showing Taylor around, Blair," Leighton said, smiling big. "Would you like to join us on our tour?"

"I can stop my training?" I asked.

"Yes, you're excused," she said. She snapped her fingers to get Clea's attention and yelled: "she's coming with us, her training's over for today!"

She turned to me and looked at me with cool eyes. I was used to it. "Go and get dressed. You have five minutes to meet us at the kitchen."

I nodded and ran to my room, where my clothes were sprawled on the bed and quickly changed into my jeans and white shirt - those were the only clothes I owned.