Six months had passed.

To Teresa, it felt like six years. The daily dose of pain, fear and workout had extracted her body of any fat that may have been within her. She could feel her legs getting heavy every time she woke up, her head raging with pain every time she slept and her body all tired out every time she ate. It was torture.

To make it worse, she had got absolutely no information. Every time she was sent out to do stupid missions with the other guards, she was blindfolded until she met the others. It was basically taking part in the mafia gang war. She saw the guards around her kill every moving object when she was with them.

Oh, she killed some too but didn't regret doing so. They were all the other mafia men.

Her phone had been taken away, and she had no access to communicate with anyone at all.

Nor had she seen the three guys she had met on that first day ever again. It was like they were never there. Of course, she didn't exactly talk to the other guards. They were insects to her, and she was afraid she might squish them if she spoke to them. The last thing she remembered of them was that large mansion. Presumably where they lived, or maybe it was just a house.

All she was sure of was that they were still in San Jose. By the small earthquakes that occurred occasionally, Teresa guessed they were somewhere in or close to Almaden Valley. She had never been to San Jose before but living in Sacramento, she had heard loads about the earthquakes and tremors happening here.

All of those six months, Teresa felt as if she was simply doing the dirty job. A pawn in the games of the Shadow Killers. Her only place was at the warehouse; where she trained and lived in all those six months.

Yes. She was in a warehouse. Alone. To be trained. There was barely even a window here. Just big circular holes near the ceiling for airway, indicating if it was day or night. Her watch had stopped working long ago, and she wasn't given batteries. It was just a big room with a bathroom near her bed and the rest of the space being the training arena. It was a wide space and had enough place to fit in a small dining table where she ate her dinner.

The brutality and professionalism during her stay here told her that her mission hadn't even begun yet.

To top it all off, her nightmares didn't help her condition either.

Teresa kept seeing a figure in her dreams. Some were sad and happy; some were dark and frightening, and some were just the sound of something breaking. It was all anonymous to her. The dreams had started to come to her almost every day now. It used to be once or twice a week back in Sacramento. Now it was more of a daily occurrence and more exhausting. She'd often wake up with beads of sweat around her head and breathing hard as if she ran a marathon.

She was still deep inside her thoughts when a sharp rap on her head brought her back to attention.

"You need to be more vigilant than that if you want to survive this"

She turned her head to see her trainer. The only one with whom she talked to and who was decent. It was Terry, the very man she found as a threat to her life. He turned out to be a very gentle and soft-spoken person. Those biceps had never been misused upon her.

"Hey Terry," she said apologetically. "Sorry I was just-"

"Nervous?"

"No... I was just lost. Sorry"

Terry stood in front of her. His biceps bulging wider than it already was as he crossed his arms before his chest. Teresa often had sudden urges to see if both of her small womanly palms could encircle those arms. She was just glad she never took an actual hit from them.

"It's okay. You just have to remember all that I have taught you in these months. You're not the best of my students but you are definitely a survivor. They'll never catch you if you are careful," his deep voice was thick with concern.

They? He meant the cops or.... Did he mean the gang?

Teresa smiled nervously. She had gotten used to his vague manner of speech which gave off the feeling that he knew more than he was letting on. She had learnt not to think too much on it. For her sake.

She had actually grown fond of the olive-skinned guy who had not a strand of hair on his body. Nevertheless, the fact that the mafia was a terrible and dangerous place to be in, she found Terry totally the opposite. At the end of the day, he would always give her something sweet (ranging from a candy to an entire piece of cheesecake) and talk to her about herself. Her problems, nature and her strengths.

That was something no one talked to her about without being led on. Not even Eds.

"So let's go," his voice boomed, and he held his huge palm out for her.

"Okay"

She handed him the blindfold as she always did. She took one last look at the sunlight peeking in from the holes. She started to turn around, but Terry shook his head.

"You won't need this anymore. We trust you enough"

Good to hear that.

Terry pushed open the door, and as Teresa looked up at his dark brown eyes frightfully for a second, she noticed something strange after six months of knowing him.

He had a slightly crooked nose and his eyes... they were hooded. It looked so fatherly on him that her fear lessened in intensity.

The afternoon sunlight suddenly burned down on her body, and she gasped a little from surprise and nostalgia.

She blinked twice to confirm that she was seeing right. They were standing right across the street from the mansion she had seen the day before. She recalled the dark brown texture and the beautiful build of the house. It was literally laughing at her face. Yet she starkly remembered being sat in the van and driven for some while before entering the warehouse.

Took me for a little round these fuckers.

"I thought we lived in some remote mountain far away from human life," she pointedly told Terry, clearly pissed.

Terry smiled down at her sheepishly.

"That's how we lead people off the track. You can go in now. That's your home now," he egged her, giving her a little push towards the street.

My home is quite far Terry.

She looked around and found the streets stretching out on either side. There were many trees around, and they simply scared her. She couldn't see any other house except the one of course. Everything about her surroundings made her feel very lonely. She trembled at the thought that escaping from here was going to be an immense ache in the head.

Teresa didn't move, so Terry took hold of her hand and guided her to the house. He slowly got behind her and held her firmly by her shoulders before the house. The HUGE house. Then he bent close to her ears and whispered his last warning. Or so she believed it to be.

"Go and do what you came to do. Hopefully all those sweets will pay off because you shouldn't get distracted from the sweet talks in here. Speak with caution and tread lightly as a cat. Be strong and beware.... God be with you"

With that, he quickly trudged away from her, whistling a very familiar tune. Teresa realized what song it was just a second later.

It was Mr Bakshi's favourite tune! What the-

*

Seth looked at the clock once more. She should have been here by now. Punctuality was something he solemnly held in importance.

"Why do you look nervous?" Jordan questioned him curiously.

Seth gave him a judgemental look. He still didn't trust the woman.

(She has a name)

I don't care.

"Why on Earth would I be nervous?" he answered egoistically.

"I don't know man, you're weird," Ben piped in as Jordan simply shrugged.

"We have the test you know. If she fails it, you know where to put her," he heard a high-pitched voice remind him, but he barely paid any heed to it.

Seth sighed. He was used to Karen's constant babble.

He didn't understand the total point of that test. The only reason none had been recruited other than the regular men, was because of the tests. But this one was a bit different. He had come up with it specifically for her.

"Is it the same this time? Does she have to walk through burning coals to collect a dollar or fight a wild boar to collect a diamond from its nest? Which is it?" Karen asked in a completely bored voice.

"It's different Karen you know that. Don't get on his nerves, he'll shoot more holes than the ones you already have," Ben scolded jokingly.

"I can't believe how lame that was. Oh. My. Gosh," she responded, rolling her eyes.

"Why did you choose her though?" Seth asked for the millionth time again.

Jordan smirked nevertheless.

"Did you see the fire in her eyes? She's a keeper that one"

I saw fear too Jordan, why didn't you see that?

"She's here!" Ben announced. Excitedly. "Let's see if all that training was worth it."

"She literally broke your ass the first time you met her. Go drink your baby milk," Karen teased.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?!" Seth growled, making both of them flinch.

"Right sir."

As the four of them looked expectantly, the door slowly opened up to present a very different woman than Seth remembered. She was toned down so much he almost felt bad for her. It looked like Terry had removed every inch of softness from her figure. She stood there before all of them looking like a piece sent from heaven. The only familiarity he saw was the same old hostile and sharp dark grey eyes. Seth's own heart ba-dumped a little harder as their eyes met.

It's okay. My heart had a little sneeze.

As she came in, Seth mentally prayed to luck.

Will she be able to do it?

I don't want to see her die just yet.

*****

Ah I am exhausted. This was a long one. I'm sorry if this chapter was mentally exhausting.

What do you think about the new characters that I just introduced? Karen and Ben??? And does Terry appeal to you? He a little sus honestly.

And thanks a lot for the 200 reads honestly I am so happy about it! This chapter is dedicated to @ShinningMoon09 for being there from the start! Loads of love for that support! Now vote on this chapter and I shall call it a night too!