SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL (COMPLETED)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN (Trainings)

"Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it." - J.K. Rowling

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Elodie's POV

I never get tired.

Never. I won't be getting tired. I would never stop. Even if these trainings were so hard. Even if this man who was training me was an asshole from the very start.

I never forget a face. I would never forget him because he was the asshole that didn't let me inside his house that fateful day. Kung pinakinggan lang niya ako. Kung kinausap lang niya. Kung pinabayaan niyang gawin ang trabaho ko. Hindi ko mararanasan ang lahat ng iyon. Hindi ako magtatagal sa lugar na iyon. Hindi ako masisiraan ng kotse at lalong hinding-hindi ko matatagpuan ang mga lalaking iyon.

Lalong lumakas ang pagsuntok ko sa kaharap kong punching bag. It's been weeks since I started this training. It was hard. Ang hirap. Ang sakit sa katawan. Ang dami ko ng mga pasa sa katawan dahil sa matitinding pahirap na naranasan ko sa mga ginagawa namin. Sometimes I wanted to give up. Because what we were doing was a crash course of every trainings that should be done in years. But these pains were worth it. Every bruise, every pain I felt in my body was like a trophy that I've been keeping for myself.

Humihingal na ako habang patuloy akong sumusuntok. The dents that I was leaving the punching bag were deep. And I wanted more. I wanted to release this anger. I wanted to feel the pain on my knuckles. I was thinking it was the faces of the monsters. They beat me. They punched my face like it was a punching bag. And I wanted to do this to them too. I wanted to break their noses. I wanted to crack their cheekbones. Hindi pa ako nakuntento sa pagsuntok lang sa punching bag. I started to kick it too. Tinutuhod ko. Isa. Dalawa. Sunod-sunod hanggang sa ako din ang mapagod.

Weeks of training with Martin was like a routine. He was a man of few words. Hindi nga kami nag-uusap kung hindi tungkol sa training. Dito siya nakatira pero halos hindi ko ramdam ang presensiya niya unless mag-uumpisa na kaming mag-train. Doon siya natutulog sa isang kuwarto sa labas ng bahay. He was sticking to his job. My father said that he was an ex-military, and he has lots of trainings kaya fit siya sa trabahong ito. True enough, I was impressed on how he moves. He knew what he was doing. He was not gentle to me. He was teaching me every self-defense moves that I could learn. And I was learning it by heart.

Because Evie Marie couldn't be as soft as the dead Elodie.

"Elodie, honey."

I gave the punching bag another hard punch before I stopped and looked at the man who said my name. It was my father. Nakangiti pa habang nakatayo sa pinto ng training room na ipinagawa niya dito para sa akin. May hawak siyang bulaklak at alam kong masaya siya na makita ako.

"Dad," pilit akong ngumiti sa kanya. "I told you not to call me Elodie anymore.

Napailing siya at lumapit sa akin. Iniabot ang bulaklak tapos ay humalik sa pisngi ko. Marahang lumayo sa akin at tiningnan ang kabuuan ko.

"You look... different." Titig na titig siya sa akin.

"Because I am different." Tanging sagot ko at hinubad ang suot kong boxing gloves. Inumpisahan ko ding tanggalin ang hand wraps na nakabalot sa kamay ko. Nakita kong may tuwalya na tumapat sa mukha ko. Iniaabot ng daddy ko sa akin.

"Is Martin training you well? Marami kang natututunan?"

Tiningnan ko ang namamaga at namumula kong kamao tapos ay tumango.