Chapter 9

Jaxon

It had been almost two weeks now and Hope was still at the camp. Jaxon had sat next to her scar in the corner. "Sis, I need to ask you something and I need the truth, no bull shit cause I know when your lying."

She swallowed hard. "Okay, ask away."

"How long?"

"How long, what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Hope. How long has that fucker been using you as a punching bag?"

Tears pooled in her eyes, slowly falling off her face.

"I know this is hard for you, sis, but you need to be honest and truthful so I can deal with this and whoop his sorry ass."

"Since the first day of school?"

"Did you tell anyone?"

She shook her head as a no.

"And this Caleb guy?"

"Don't hurt him Jax, he was doing his best. He was trying to protect me."

"Well, he didn't do a good enough job."

"He didn't do it while he was around. He waited til I was alone."

"I see. May I ask why?"

"I don't know, maybe he hates me as much as I hate him."

He looked at Scar, who nodded. He nodded, turning back to Hope. "That's not an excuse, sis." He took her hands in his. "I called mom. She knows you've been having trouble at school with bullies. She assumed it had stopped but it hasn't, has it?"

She shook her head to say no again.

"I thought as much. He hit you before I arrived, didn't he?"

Tears fell off her face as she nodded a yes.

"You need to repot him, angel, before it gets any worse." Scar commented.

"I..I can't. They won't believe me, they only have mine and Caleb's word against his and his dad won't believe he did it. Nor will mom. He's so far up his dad's ass. It's unbelievable, he wouldn't believe his own son was a bully. Maybe I should've kept my mouth shut and my opinions to myself, then this wouldn't be happening."

"You really think that, sis?"

"I don't know what to think. All I know is we hate each other and I need to fight him back so I don't look weak."

They looked at each other and nodded.

"Once you get the all clear, we'll begin your training. I warn you, Scar will push you hard to breaking point.'

"And that's the truth angel, so be prepared to work hard any time you feel you're struggling. Let me know and you can take a breather, okay."

"Okay and thanks."

"Don't mention it, Angel."

"We had best be going sis, we have a lot of stuff to do before training Monday."

"Don't do anything stupid Jax."

"Who moi?" He smirked. "Me never. Have faith in your older brother."

They hugged before she had her painkillers lying down closing her eyes. They left her room, closing the door silently behind them.

"So, what's the plan, Jax?

"We're going after the fucker and were going to teach him a lesson."

He grinned evilly.

They walked outside, getting into the car and driving away from the camp.

~

Josh fell to the floor as the punch came hard and fast, so he had no time to react. Caleb stood shocked. He knew Hope's brother was pissed, but not that pissed. Maybe she'd confided in him and told him what had been going on. Josh slowly pulled himself up. The next punch hit him even harder. Scar watched from a distance in the jeep they hadn't got long and it was a two-hour ride back, but neither of them expected him not to be alone.

Maybe this Caleb was not the guy Hope thought he saw as he was with Josh when he clearly was as angry as him.

He plunged into Josh, almost leaving him for dead. He turned himself to Caleb, who'd just stood there unresponsive and shocked, not his usual self, he was usually so composed and had Joshua's back, not this time.

"And here I was thinking you thought a lot about my sister."

"I do."

"Yet you're here with him."

"We just left our friends. We.."

"I thought you were different, but you are just like him."

"No I'm not. I'll always protect her."

"You've already done a fantastic job of that."

"You going to beat me too?"

"Nope. I'm going to let you call an ambulance, but be warned, if you tell them who did this, I won't hesitate in finding you and pounding your ass, are we clear?"

"Crystal."

Jax nodded and walked away.

He got into the car and Scar pulled away. "So who was that he was with?"

"Hope's other half."

"And he's hanging with that prick?"

"They're friends."

"He needs to get his priorities back in check."

He nodded in agreement. The ambulance passed them as they left the town, heading out towards the city.

Scar

After another week of torture and boredom, I finally got to train. Now the doctors have discharged me and my ribs have finally healed, and the bruises have finally gone. "So are we ready, Angel?"

"We are. I can't wait."

"You won't be saying that once I show you what I have installed for you today."

"Anything is better than being stuck on a hospital bed.'

"True." He looked at me. "So are you ready for this, angel?"

"I'm ready for anything, Corporal Stevens."

"Glad to hear it, angel.'

"You do know my name is Hope, right?" I questioned him.

"I know. I prefer angel."

"And why's that?" I inquired.

"Cause you look like one. Now come my angel, let's get started, we've got a long day ahead of us, so let's hope you can keep up."

"Of course I can."

He smirked. It was an evil smirk. Jaxon had warned me these guys could be tough and he held no bars back. When it came to training, he was the best at it, and he took it. Upon himself to train me. Though after three weeks I would be training with everyone else, I would still be training alone with him. He scared me a little bit. Jaxon had complete faith in the guy they had both been through hell on the front line and saved each other countless times. They had each other's backs and that alone owed my respect.

He was a well built man in his early twenties with a scar across his face. I dare ask how he got it. I was afraid to. It made him look more intimidating and scary. He'd been nothing but polite and friendly with me, but he also had another side to him. Jaxon had warned me not to piss him off. Although he liked joking around, he would not tolerate tardiness. He liked perfection. I just hope I could live up to his expectations and give him what he wanted. "Are you okay, angel?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure you zoned out a little."

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

"I just don't want to let you down."

He looked at me with one eyebrow raised. "You won't, Angel, just be yourself and try your best, it doesn't always come all at once. You will learn more as the weeks go on and you'll grow stronger, I promise."

I nodded.

"Well, here we are angel."

I looked up at the assault course. "I have to go up there?"

He smirked. "You do. You're not afraid of heights are you?"

I gulped. "No not at all." I lied.

"Good, this course takes thirty minutes, but seeing as it's your first attempt it may take longer, let's see what you've got."

"Sure."

He smirked watching me as I climbed up the ladder my ladder. I felt my whole body shaking. Get a grip. You can do this. You have to prove you can do this Hope or you'll fail and you'll fail him.

"That's it angel, keep going."

I looked at the zip wire as I got to the top. I had to walk across the bridge and type rope first, shit.

"You can do it angel, I'm here okay."

I nodded.

I placed my hands on the ropes either side of the bridge, making sure it was steady, taking each step with caution as he egged me on. I then beat them heavily as I got off the bridge onto a pedestal. "You're doing great Angel."

I took the next set of ropes in either hand. This was going to be more difficult. I made sure to put one foot in front of the other, balancing as the rope moved.

Shit.

"Keep going Angel, you can do it."

I nodded and swallowed before taking the next step and the next.

"Good girl, now all you've got to do is get up there and zip down."

I nodded before looking at the next set of steps. Shit, why did they have to go so high?

I swallowed again, grabbing the steps, pulling myself up them one step at a time til I got to the top. I looked at the zip wire and the ground was a bad move. Everything started spinning.

"It's okay Angel, just remember I'm here okay, and once you push off you'll soon be with me. Remember to use your feet to stop, okay."

I swallowed nodding. I don't know why. I'm sure he can't see me from way up here.

I grabbed the zip wire, making sure I positioned myself correctly on the handles before pushing off the wind made me gasp as it hit my face and the g- force caught my breath as I zipped down the line to the bottom, touching the ground with my feet, letting go of the handle.

He clapped. "Well done angel, you did it in an hour considering that you're scared of heights."

How the fuck did he know?

"Who told you?" I stuttered out.

"Your brother may have mentioned it. But you really should've told me."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine Angel."

"No it's not. I want you to be proud of me."

"And I am, angel, you put your fear to the back of your head and continue to do the course. You'll get quicker."

I gulped. "So I'll be doing it again ?" I stuttered out.

"Yes, it will help you overcome that fear of yours and you will learn to trust yourself and your surroundings."

"O-Kay."

He smiled. "Come on, let's grab something to eat, and this afternoon I'll teach you how to fight, okay."

"Okay."

He smiled and I followed him to the dining hall where everyone was sitting eating until we walked in and all eyes were on us. "Don't worry about them angel, they're just curious because you're a new face."

"Okay." I nodded nervously.

We both got something to eat and drink. We sat down and Jaxon came and sat by us. "So how was your morning?"

"Good."

"You didn't work her too hard on her first day, did you?"

"Nope, we did the assault course."

"All of it?"

"Nope. I'm saving it for another day." He smirked.

There's more?

"I hope you meant the zip Scar."

He smirked. "Too late."

"You know she's scared of heights."

"The best thing to start her off with is to get rid of fear."

"The worst if you ask me."

"She has done pretty well."

He looked at me for reassurance and I simply nodded. "So what have you got planned for this afternoon?"

"I'm going to teach her how to fight."

"So soon?"

"She's got a lot to learn in these six weeks and, to be honest, it is not enough."

"I agree, but those are the rules. She can come back next year."

"I may drop by when I have leave to help her out if that's okay."

"It's okay with me. I'll just have to warn mom first."

"Sure, she'll like me. Everyone does."

"Sure they do."

Scar nudged Jaxon and they both laughed. "I'll let you have the use of the gym I use so you won't slack, okay."

"Okay."

He smiled and we continued with our lunch.