I dodge the punch coming at me from the left just in time as the bell rings. Three minutes of the match were up and I was still on my feet, guess that's some sort of improvement...

The guy who was against me doesn't look that pleased, but he's called to another match immediately and so am I. We've been training in hand to hand combat for about three hours till now, and lucky for me, I'm not majorly hurt and I've managed to pass all the matches. I'm still trying to figure out my movements, all of my opponents just seem to know what I'm going to do next.

I wince mentally when I see that I'm paired up with Camille next. We'd had an argument back at the Roost when she'd nagged me about Robin, now she looked as if she was coming at me for vengeance...

I'm going against a Direct for my last match... Just great!

I take up my stance on the mat, she smiles at my defensive pose, taking a well-trained attacking pose that was meant to end this match with me probably lying on the ground begging for help, the referee counts down from five as we circle each other, the rest of the trainees too busy fighting matches to notice ours, a few strangled yells and scuffling about being proof of the fact.

We keep circling each other as the match starts, none of us wanting to give away any advantage we had in waiting. I kept my calm, knowing that since she was a Direct, her patience would wear thin if I kept this up. I noticed her rigid stance, the way her hands curved outwards, protecting her chest yet ready to strike if needed, her body completely faced towards me, her feet moving in sync with mine.

As I'd hoped, she strikes first, a slight tensing of her right arm warning me of her move beforehand. I dodged easily, punching her in the side when she'd left it unguarded. She stumbles back, surprised at first, then anger and her ego taking hold of her as she struck again.

People ought to make mistakes when they're angry, Ember

I smirked at what my father used to say, using it now as she left herself defenseless, trying to get back at me. I blocked one of her moves, smiling as she was caught off guard when I struck at her stomach, she hissed, leaping back to put some distance between us. I waited for her, knowing that I'd lose energy if I took her on directly.

She lunged at me, forgetting all about her stance, she was trying to get back whatever sense of pride she had in being a Direct by winning. Too bad, she's leaving herself exposed and giving me enough time to bring her down. I side-kick her right, sending her scuffling back a bit before I drove in a crescent kick with my left leg, sending her down on the mat with the force.

The bell rang, surprising the both of us. She got up, glaring at me venomously as she brushed herself off before joining the rest of the Directs.

Theodore called at us to assemble in the front, "You'll be allotted to teams based on your performance today. Each team will be working on your weaknesses for the next few months!"

Raul came forward with the list, starting to announce the team and the person in charge of the group.

"Faust, Davina, Chasin, Farell - with Evan." All the Directs on one team, except Camille...

"Alouise, Brendan, Brianna, Camille - with Jasper," Camille shot me a look, as if I was the sole reason she wasn't on the team of Directs.

"Gemma, Drew, Valerie, Emerson - with Risa."

"Kaden, Adrian, Will, Sumerin - with Francis." I winced. I was on the last team. Just great!

---

We were taken to another training room, a smaller one that fit only our team and our trainer, Francis. He seemed like the silent types for the most, but that's until we began training.

"Blondie with the girl and the other two together." He shouted, his voice rough and painful to my ears.

"It's Kaden." The boy paired with me ground out, probably tired of people calling him that.

Francis stepped upto him, his tone almost murderous, "This is my team. You are what I call you. And I refuse to remember your names until you've earned the honor."

Will mimicked him silently when the trainers back was turned to him only to receive a backhanded punch to his cheek.

"I see you, boy," Francis continues, "I'm the one who teaches you to stay alive for the next few weeks they call Death weeks. And it's for good reason that."

"Why?" Adrian asked.

"Never been a dry field in those weeks." Francis smirked, "At least one dies."

Will lets out an involuntary gasp.

"Never wondered why they're 20 of you from each sector, but only few make it out to the world?" He moves back. "Lesson starts now. You better learn how to land punches by the end of this hour or you'll be getting a demo from me. You work in pairs, learn defense and offence together."

"I'm supposed to hit her?" Kaden gave me a disgusted look, something at which I scowled at him in return.

"Is there a problem with that?" Francis arched an eyebrow, "I'll have you know, she managed to break one of my student's noses with a punch."

I look at him, surprised by what he'd said. I'd never!

"Lesson starts now!" He shouts, "Anyone stopping for a chat stays here for the rest of the day!"

He walks to a bench, sitting down, his legs propped up on a stool as he watched us.

So this is training? He's not gonna teach us anything?

A punch grazed my ear, making me step back in astonishment.

"Aw, is the girl tired already?" Kaden taunted. "What did you expect, me waiting for you to strike first?"

I growled lowly.

"Ooh!" Will called out from the other side, sharing light-hearted punches with Adrian. "Seems like you got her angry, K!"

Oh, I'll show you... I thought mentally, before lunging at him.

---

You know when they say 'It's easy to say but harder to do'? Yeah, that's what happened. All I showed anyone was how I couldn't punch even if my life depended on it. Which is why I'm still here at the training room while the others are probably having dinner, forcing my bruised body to land a proper punch at a punching bag way after training got over.

I know Francis is still watching from the scare I got the first time I tried to leave, I'm not trying a second time any day soon. My knuckles are hurting and the punching bag feels like it's made of wood. The room stinks of sweat and human scent. All in all, not a place I want to be in.

My stomach is calling for food like never before and I taste the blood in my mouth from where I'd bitten my tongue. That had happened when Francis had magically appeared when I was trying to run.

My punches land harder as adrenaline rushes through me as I think of all the things that make me angry. I imagine how mom and Caroline must be doing after I'd been abducted. I think of how Kaden had managed to hit me several times, but I hadn't returned anything that resulted in more than a scratch. I think of how I'm stuck with the last batch, with a bunch of idiots and a trainer who won't teach.

"Girl." I hear a voice from behind me and I turn around, striking a punch before I realize what I'm doing.

My eyes are wide and my breathing ragged as I stare at Francis, bewildered.

I was glad he'd caught my punch, slightly disappointed that he'd done it so easily though I'd practiced so hard.

"You should control yourself, amadán." He says. "Wasting your energy is one of the last things you should do in battle."

I pull my arm back, looking down at the floor.

"Look at me!" He hissed and I flinched to meet his gaze. "When you're talking to someone, you look them in the eye. Gives you enough warning to know when they're about to strike."

Is he... teaching me?

I cry out as a punch catches me square in the stomach, throwing me to my knees. Guess he just wanted to get back at me.

"Guess you still need to learn that," he shrugs. "You may leave, but don't you dare come a second late tomorrow."

I watch him warily as he leaves, before standing up, wincing as I dusted myself off before walking to the rooms that had been re-allocated to us based on our teams. I took the empty bed beside the door, glad that I had at least a wooden separation between the boys. Not that it blocked their loud snores in any way.

Tomorrow? I think I was more worried about how I'd make it through tonight.

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Hey everyone!

Shruti: What do you guys think of Francis? And what about the Death weeks? 😱😱😱

Next update next Friday lovelies! Keep reading and tell us what you think of the chapters 😉