Roman Lacroix gritted his teeth as he held the ladder rung. He could feel his arms vibrating and his back aching. He was exhausted but he had to keep going. His black tank top was drenched in sweat and so was his face. He pulled his body forward and held the next rung hoping to push himself, but the energy just wasn’t there. Roman sighed and held onto it, trying to breathe slowly. He had chosen to do this to feel better. He had been working for days now, and pushing himself. Being here without Lydia or Ben was weird because they were always interrupting him every single time at the gymnasium. It was nice to be on his own for once and in a room filled with crowded people he didn’t know. Roman gritted his teeth and pushed himself up once more. His body responded, but his arms were on fire. He could feel them ache with each climb he made. Rock climbing at the gym had come into his mind last night. Having only thought of it recently, he couldn’t get it to his gymnasium so he had offered
Damon leaned against the desk in the office as the paramedics placed a bag of ice on his head. The other one pointed a tiny flashlight at his eyes, probably checking for signs of concussion. Damon was feeling weird. There had been an infiltration last night, but nothing was stolen. There was a man in the office last night dressed in black. He seemed to have been looking for something of importance to him. Damon had tried to stop him, but that hadn’t gone as planned. Now the sun was up, and the paramedics were trying to make sure that he was okay. The police crowded the office as they searched for anything that was stolen. One would think that it was a crime scene. “How many fingers am I holding up?” The male paramedic asked. Damon looked up at him holding out his index, middle finger, and thumb. “Three,” he said with a sigh. The male paramedic nodded and rose to his feet. He went to meet up with a police officer who was standing by the door. “How is he doing?” The officer aske
SHANGHAI, CHINA. Lydia stepped out of the car and gazed at her surroundings. The streets were busy with the locals. She wondered which part of Shanghai Roman had taken her to. When Roman had told her he was heading for Shanghai, she didn’t know it would be that same day. By the time they got home, Ben had already packed their stuff for them. Now, they found themselves roaming through the streets of Shanghai. Roman stepped out of the car and looked around. There was something wrong with Ben. He looked tired like he had been up all night. He was aware of that because he had been awake by the time Ben had returned and surprisingly that had been around 3 am. Roman didn’t bother asking because he didn’t want to intrude on Ben’s work. Whatever he was doing, he was sure that it was safe. “Where are we headed?” Lydia asked. Roman smirked at her. He grabbed her hand and walked through the streets of the town. They were heading towards a local area, and Lydia was feeling uneasy. “Why didn
Lydia woke up to the sound of groans. This confused her. She had thought it was from her dreams, but they seemed to be coming from outside the house. Lydia rubbed her eyes and sat upright. She looked at the empty mat by her side and knew immediately who the groans belonged to. Her eyes scanned the room trying to find a clock but there was none. She reached for her phone underneath her pillow and brought it out. Yawning as she turned it on, she was perplexed to see that it was only fifteen minutes past seven. Why would they be up so early?Lydia was contemplating going back to sleep, but she sighed and rose from the mat. Her back hurt because of where she had slept. The wooden floor was hard and cold. The mat barely did them any favor. Lydia wondered why Roman didn’t choose a Sensei who loved living in an actual house. Over here, they were living retro, and she wasn’t a fan of that. As she got outside, she found Roman and Nuo holding wooden sticks. Roman was standing in an offensive
Selena Rhoades stepped into the house looking around. She was back home once again, and she was glad this time Roman wouldn’t be here to stop her. When she heard that Roman had traveled to Shanghai, she decided to use that opportunity to search for the map once more. Hopefully, she will have better luck than last time. Selena looked at the chalk imitation of her father’s corpse and gulped hard. Flashes from that night came back to her. She felt guilty for leaving her father alone. If she had been with him, Viper Don wouldn’t have harmed either of them. And even if he did, she would be happy to die with her father. Without him, life was terrible. She could hardly focus in school. Her grades were dropping, and she was hoping that she would be able to finish on a high before the semester ended, but she didn’t know how possible that could be with Viper Don afterward. It was sort of impossible to keep focus while being reminded that someone was out to kill you. That was how Selena felt.
Roman held Nuo’s hand and he was slammed onto the ground wooden floor. He winced in pain and let out a low groan. Nuo looked down on him and smiled. Her long black hair was wrapped into a bun. Besides them stood Master Feng who had his arms folded. He was watching them as they were training. When Roman saw that he shook his head in disappointment, he knew he still had a long way to go. “You know I’m starting to think you’re taking this personally,” Roman said to Nuo. A bright smile flashed across her face making her light broken eyes shine. They were beautiful. Her pale skin was becoming slightly red because of the stress she had put her body through. It wouldn’t be long before she would need to rest herself. But Roman knew she was too tired to be tired. She was one of the best when it came to possessing endurance. Nuo could fight or train for hours without having to stop. It was impressive, and that was where Roman had learned never to give up. Her favorite saying was, “If your mi
Viper Don threw a glass at the wall and it shattered into pieces. The men who were seated behind his desk shivered in fear. They had expected him to react that way after getting the news from him. “What do you mean?” He asked. “We didn’t find anything,” Owen replied. Viper Don placed his hands on the desk. His face couldn’t be seen because of how dark the room was. Owen’s heart was thumping hard against his chest. He knew this had been a bad idea from the start. Choosing to work for someone like Viper Don only to disappoint him was the last thing he wanted to do. He had told Chris about this but he had insisted they would find the artifact. After convincing him for an hour to head Jack to the house, they searched it and found nothing. “Did you search properly?” Viper Don asked. Owen and Chris looked at each other. “Yes. Yes, we did,” Chris replied. “You’re lying!” Viper Don said, slamming his hand on the table. Chris and Owen shook in fear. There was no way Viper Don was going
“Just relax your body and reach into your mind,” Master Feng said. Roman nodded and closed his eyes. He relaxed himself and tried to reach for his mind. He had already begun his training. This was the third day, and he felt that he was approaching the end of the lessons. For the past three days, a lot has happened. Nuo and Lydia were now talking to each other and she was teaching her new lessons. As for him, he was stuck with his Sensei with Nuo barely speaking to him. Roman knew what it was about. She had gone off on him when he had won her. Roman had thought it was just her frustration from losing to him, but it was deeper than that. She was hurt, and he wondered what he had done to hurt her. “Focus, Roman!” Master Feng yelled. Roman gulped hard and nodded. He eased himself and shut out such thoughts from his mind, making it blank. Master Feng nodded as he saw this. “Good work, Roman. Now let your mind sync with your body,” he said. “Use it to command your body. The brain is th