My Personal Hell, D. Richardson [ebook reader browser txt] 📗

that wasn’t good enough for them. I was grabbed by the back of my shirt and thrown into a nearby wall. I slid down, barely able to breath.

In the few seconds it took them to reach me, I managed to stumble to my feet. Using the wall to keep on my feet. Until I took a punch to the stomach. I doubled over trying to draw a breath. But they kept going, until I coughed up blood and fell to my knees. So far I had managed to keep silent. But this was by far the worst beating I had taken in my life.

My hand was flat on the floor while the other cradled my bruising stomach. I felt them back off, giving me a chance to get my bearings.

“I didn’t tell you to stop!” Bastion yelled. But one of them, Dalton, spoke up.

“She’s done, Bastion.” I looked up, right into Bastion’s eyes. I did my best to stay calm, but I was seething. He sent six full grown, fully trained men after me. Without so much as a warning. He set me up.

“No, she’s not. Keep going.” They continued to protest, but stopped abruptly as I started to get to my feet. Silence filled the room, making my heavy breathing the only sound in the room. I looked up from under my lashes, as every muscle in my body screamed. All of the men, with the exception of Bastion, looked at me like I was either crazy or unnatural. Both were probably correct. But I didn’t care, about anything, my mind was completely blank.

One of them pulled back and aimed a fist at my chest. But somehow, I caught it, twisting in the last second to hit him across the face with the back of my upper arm and elbow. He fell back and another took his place. This time I didn’t catch the blow, instead I blocked it, and retaliated with a punch to the solar plex.

When he doubled over I kneed him in the face, sending him back to a standing position. Then punched him in the jaw, sending him to the floor.

Once those two gained their feet again, they all regrouped. Allowing me to get away from the wall. They surrounded me again, this time taking it seriously. They were all fully trained, with years of experience on me. There was no way I could win. It just wasn’t a possibility.

But I could sure as hell deal some damage in the process. And I did, but when I hit the floor again, thanks to one of them sweeping my legs out from under me, Bastion called a halt.

I just laid there for a few minutes, on my stomach. Letting the cold floor cool my heated face, and just breathing. Until a hand entered my line of sight. I took it without thought and as he pulled me to my feet, I immediately regretted it. My body was on fire. Everything hurt and it was a trial just to take a deep breath. I doubled over almost instantly. A few seconds later I was eased down into a chair.

I was still leaning forward when Bastion crouched down in front of me. I should have been angry at him. Hell, I should have wanted his head. But I was drained, feeling nothing but exhaustion.

“Sometimes, we have to break through the walls before we can learn from the experiences that led to their construction. I had to find a way to strip you down to your basest form so you could escape the prison of your own making.

“I’m sorry it came to this, but I’m not sorry for my actions. You have so much potential. I saw it the first time I laid eyes on you. You had this look that said one day you will be great. Now…I can help you become better than great. Now, you can be the best,” his gaze never left mine throughout his entire speech. And when he was done I gave him a nod to express my understanding, and then he was gone, replaced by a bottle of water. I looked up at Dalton and took it with another nod of gratitude.

“I’ve never seen anyone take a beating like that and get back up. I don’t know if you’re insane or just that damn good. Either way, if anything ever goes down, I’m on your side.” I swallowed half the bottle while he was talking, and when he was done I gave a slight chuckle which hurt like hell. He answered me with a grin.

“You’ve got a hell of right hook,” Macon said as he rubbed his jaw and grimaced. He was the one that I kneed in the face. He had a black eye forming but he smiled down at me all the same.

“Imagine what she’ll be like after she gets some training,” Nevin put in and all of them had a good chuckle. All I could do was smile and take another drink.

“Seriously though, respect,” Justin said, holding out his fist. I met his with mine and nodded my thanks. I just didn’t know if my vocal chords would work properly yet. Finally, Alex and Jacob popped up with a large first aid kit. The first thing they did was wrap my hands. Both of which were bruised and bloody, and they had to put two of my knuckles back into place.

They couldn’t decide what to do with my torso, I was bruised all over. So they settled on wrapping my ribs, just in case any of them were broken instead of just bruised. They had all steered clear of my face, which was probably so my current state of health wouldn’t be too obvious. I ended up having to borrow a loose fitting t-shirt from one of them. Mine was torn and soaked in blood. Plus, it was form fitting and the bandages would have shown through.

Oddly enough I didn’t mind any of them seeing me without a shirt on. It wouldn’t have mattered in any case. I couldn’t change it without their help. And they didn’t seem to really notice anyway. They were really just acting like I was one of the guys.

I didn’t know that Sadler was standing in the doorway, watching. And had been there the entire time. If I had known, the look of contemplation on his face probably would have made me nervous. But he didn’t make himself known. And he left right before I walked out, got in my car, and drove home.

That night at dinner, which I didn’t have to cook, everyone noticed my bandaged hands and stiff movements. Drake gave me a knowing look, a gleam of pride in his eyes as I’m sure Bastion called him right after I had left. But I told them I had fallen during dance practice, and that seemed to satisfy most of them. Well, the females and younger males anyway.

Asher and Adrian looked doubtful. Then again. They had gone through the same training. They knew what combat injuries looked like. But none of them pressed the issue, so I was content to act like they believed me. It was just simpler at the moment.

The next day I was completely healed. I had never seen anything so miraculous as I unwrapped all of my bandages before getting in the shower. There wasn’t a single scar or mark on me, aside from the ones that still riddled my back. But I’d grown used to those.

Unfortunately the healing had come with a price. I had slept until noon. It was the weekend so I wasn’t worried about school, and I had the day off from work. Bastion had told me that I didn’t have to have another lesson until the following week. I was free for the entire day. So I made the last second decision to use my Jacuzzi tub instead of the shower for a change.

By the time I was done, I was relaxed and content. I had just finished dressing when there was a light tap on my door. I called for who ever it was to enter, and Asher stepped into the room.

“Good afternoon,” his voice was soft and filled with enough sarcasm to choke a bear. So I smiled at him.

“I know I slept late, I guess I was a bit worn out.”

“You have been busy. Which is why I thought this might a good time to entice you into taking a day off?” he asked, leaning against the wall.

“What did you have in mind?” It seemed silly, but I felt a rush of excitement.

“Do you trust me?” I felt my smile disappear, all I could do was blink for a moment. My mind had gone blank. It was such a loaded question even though he meant it in jest. It was impossible for me to take it as such. “Dumb question. What I meant was are you willing to let me surprise you?” he amended and I felt my shoulders relax. My blank stare was replaced by a small smile.

“Sure.” He nodded his head towards the door and walked out. I grabbed a light leather jacket, a gift from Drake, and followed him out. And then followed him out to his car, which still made me drool a little. Though he still hadn’t let me drive it again.

By the time we reached our destination it was almost three. The sun was out, warming the afternoon air just enough to take the majority of the chill from the air. So I left my jacket in the car as he got something out of the trunk.

The scenery was beautiful, and fall was well underway. We were in a clearing surrounded by trees and bushes that were well into their color change. The grass was still that vibrant green thanks to the occasional shower, and the soft ground rolled into a small hill that ended in a sheer cliff.

I stood at the edge and looked down. At the bottom there was what looked like a shallow river. If anyone tried to jump into the water they wouldn’t make it back to the surface. At least not alive.

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to come eat?” Asher asked from back at the top of the hill. I turned to look at him, but he was sitting on the ground.

Well, he was sitting on a blanket anyway. Scattered next to him was a wide arrangement of food. He had everything, from fried chicken to chocolate éclairs. It was a feast, and I was starving.

About halfway through he made the joke about me eating like a pig. So I smashed a piece of devil’s food cake in his face. He sat there silently for a few seconds while he blinked. Trying to remove the icing from his eyes with dignity. As he began to wipe the sweet stuff away he started to growl.

At first it was just a low rumbling deep in his chest. But as the moments ticked by it got louder and louder, until a flock of birds erupted from the trees. The entire time I sat there watching him, struggling to hold in a smile. I lost the struggle just before he lunged for me. I jumped up laughing and took off in the direction of the trees. The clearing was huge with plenty of room to run.

I had no doubt that he would eventually catch me. He was stronger, in better shape, with far more training under his belt. But even then I didn’t run as quickly as I could have. I wanted him to catch me. So when his arm went around my waist, I was already braced to hit the ground. I was laughing when he pinned me to the grass, and used his free hand to tickle my side.

When I had laughed so hard my chest felt like it was on fire, and I was begging to be released, he let me go. Only to