When Hell Runs Cold

Chapter Fifteen

Alysia groaned as she felt a sharp pain to her side. She opened her eyes, blinking slowly so her surroundings would become clear. She felt another sharp pain to her side, and frowned when she saw the source of the pain— April's foot.

She quickly got off the couch, narrowly missing another kick from sleeping April. She yawned, her eyes falling upon the two bottles of wine the trio finished last night. She winced at her throbbing head.

Alysia stumbled over to the kitchen cabinets, taking the container of aspirin from the shelf and shaking out a few clear blue tablets into her palm. Grabbing a plastic water bottle from the fridge, she placed the pills in her mouth, chasing it down with the cold water.

She shouldn't have drank so much.

Placing the half-drunk bottle on the countertop, Alyisa tried to remember the events from the previous night. Vaguely, she remembered April sobbing while watching the Titanic, and then her wildly giggling about hedgehogs. She shook her head, sighing as the throbbing continued.

She must've been the first to blackout.

Alysia glanced over at the couch when she heard April groan. April's head rested on Jules' shoulder, her arms wrapped around her waist in a bear hug. April would be embarrassed when she woke up, that was for sure. 

Alysia looked around the living room, looking for her bag. When she saw that it, over by April and Jules, she tiptoed over to them, lifting April's leg to get her bag. She looked over at Jules, surprised when she noticed the small tattoo peeking out from under her shirt.

It seemed familiar in a way, but Alysia shook her head, before leaving.

Now she had to deal with Nathan.

***

By the time Alysia got to the base, Nathan had already arrived, and stood with his arms crossed, waiting for her. She rolled her eyes, before wincing at the bright lights in the base. "Stop looking at me like that."

Alysia placed her bag on the couch before flopping down right next to it. Her head continued to pound, each throbbing sensation like a hammer on the inside of her skull, threatening to crack.

"Get up. We need to train. Especially since you skipped."

Alysia groaned again. "I didn't skip. I just forgot to show up."

Nathan grabbed her arm, pulling her off the couch. "That's basically skipping." He pushed her towards where she had left her stuff. "Go change in the bathroom." When she didn't move, he grabbed her clothes, shoving them into her arms, before pushing her into the bathroom.

Before she could protest, he left, shutting the door behind him. Alysia rolled her eyes. "That's basically skipping." she mocked, trying to imitate Nathan's deep voice, and rolled her eyes again. "Jerk. Let me be hungover in peace."

She quickly changed, catching herself when she nearly tripped over her jeans. She looked in the mirror, frowning when she saw how bad her hair looked. Muttering obscenities under her breath, Alysia raked a hand through the strands, and pulled it up into a high ponytail.

She pulled open the door, "Happy?"

"Whatever." Nathan muttered. "Let's just start training." He walked over to the punching bag, gesturing for Alysia to walk over there. "What I've noticed from your last training session, is that your stance is horrible. And you're clearly not the best at combat."

"Wow, thanks, Carstairs."

"Just stating facts, Lockheart."

Alysia scoffed. "Well unlike you, I don't run into the fight. I have better things to do. Like get money."

"Just throw a punch."

"At you? Because I'd be glad to do that." Alysia smiled innocently at him, her smile turning into a grin when he gave her an unimpressed look.

"Punch the punching bag."

Alysia threw a punch at the punching bag. "Now freeze." Nathan commanded. Alysia sighed, keeping her fist against the punching bag.

Nathan shook her head in disappointment as he eyed her stance. Alysia narrowed her eyes. "Well? Are you gonna say anything?"

"Your stomach and chest are exposed. Even if you punched someone, they could easily punch you in the solar plexus. And that would put you at a severe disadvantage, because you'd have the breath knocked out of you. Literally."

"So, do I just put my other arm up in defense?" Alysia asked, putting her other fist up in what she thought was a defensive stand.

"Yeah, but not like that." Nathan stood behind her, his chest pressed to her back. His breath fanned over the nape of her neck, and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What are you doing?" Alysia questioned, her voice harsh.

"Stop. Just stay still." Nathan said, when Alysia tried to turn around. "I'm trying to fix your stance, Lockheart. What do you think I'm doing?" He adjusted the position of her right fist. "You need to put this higher up so part of your arm is covering your stomach and your fist is covering your chest."

Nathan changed his focus to her other arm, turning her fist over. "This is the better way to punch. Your way was just a jab." He squeezed her fist. "This needs to be tighter, and your arm needs to be tense, but not locked. It's pretty flimsy right now."

Nathan stepped away from her. "Try that again. Remember everything I just told you."

Alysia exhaled and nodded.

Strong stance.

No jab.

Defense.

She kept everything Nathan said in mind as she threw another punch at the punching bag. "So how was that?" She went back to standing normally, arms crossed as she looked at Nathan.

Nathan's lips curled up in a slight smile. "Better. Maybe you won't get your ass kicked."

Alysia raised her eyebrows. "Who kicked whose ass at your parents house?" She scoffed. "I vaguely remember you shouting "damn it!" a few times. But maybe that was all part of my imagination."

"Definitely your imagination." Nathan retorted, clearly holding back a smile. "Don't recall any of that."

"Whatever you say, Carstairs. Whatever you say."

Alysia jumped when an alarm started to blare. The continuous beeping making her head start throbbing again. "What the hell is that?"

"That, Lockheart, is your first official day as a hero."

Alysia's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

Nathan's eyes had a flicker of excitement, which was odd, because there were only about four emotions that she had seen from Carstairs: Annoyance, boredom, and disappointment, and the occasional smile that usually came from him beating her in training. 

"There's a suit for you on the table. So suit up."

Happy Friday! I hope you all had a great week! This week has been hectic for me. How was your day?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to vote, comment, and share if you enjoyed! We're so close to 1k reads on this, which is crazy, so thank you so much!

QOTD: What's your favorite color?

My favorite color is either a dark blue or dark purple!