Hello everyone! I am back with a new chapter.

Enjoy!

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"Today, we will start a new regime. Most of you will find it an easy exercise. The others might find it hard."

Anna swallowed audibly when he looked at her while saying the last words. She knew her physicals aren't strong like the others. She was the black horse in that camp but she was determined to prove them wrong and work hard to gain her position here. She forced herself to pay attention to Jasper's speech.

Hunter leaned closer to Nicholas and whispered in his ear.

"Why on earth is your dad holding this cane?"

"I would like to reassure you that he is holding it as an intimidation factor but knowing my dad I would advise you to prepare yourself to receive some strokes now and then."

Hunter exhaled deeply and responded.

"You were right, this camp is getting harder and harder."

The two of them were snapped from their conversation when Jasper blew his whistle and shouted.

"We will start with a mile run. Get ready. RUN."

With those words, everyone took off.

The first laps were easy for them since it was morning and their energy was full. However, as they continued running, the distance seemed endless.

Diana was the first one to stop to catch her breath, only for Jasper to strike the side of her leg with his cane.

"Did I give you permission to stop?" he spoke harshly.

"No sir," she spoke with a wince on her face from the pain in her leg.

"So you had better continue without stopping." This time, his words were directed to all the teenagers.

When Jasper was out of earshot, Lillian ran beside Diana and asked her in concern.

"Are you okay?"

"yes, I am fine. But I don't think I can keep going." She responded breathlessly.

"You have to be freaking kidding me. I thought the medieval ages were over. But MR. Jasper decided to bring us back one hundred years in time. Anyway, from where did he buy that thing?" Lillian exclaimed as she joined Anna in the backline once more.

"Lillian, I can't keep this rhythm. I am getting tired and the pace is quicker than yesterday." Anna said fearfully.

"Anna, you need to keep moving. The purpose of this exercise is to keep moving. If you can't run anymore, then just walk." This time Hunter was the one to answer her.

"Why are you here? He will notice you are stalking and strike you," she asked confusedly.

"I am not stalking in training. Besides, I am here to make sure you won't stop moving." He gave her one of his dazzling smiles.

Anna just stared at him. She was mesmerized by his beauty. He was very handsome and has a certain charm surrounding him. His blue eyes were light with sparks dancing in their depths but at the same time, they hide many unknown feelings. Even when he was running, his black hair was swept back to perfection. Her eyes traveled down his chest and she blushed at the way his sweaty shirt hugged his board muscles. She was wondering how they would look like if he took off.......

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the swish of Jasper's cane in the air. She closed her eyes anticipating the pain that would cross her leg. But the pain never came. She opened her eyes slowly to witness an eye staring contest between Hunter and his uncle while the cane rested on the former's arm. She looked around her to see the others' reaction but everyone was running and ignoring the situation like it didn't happen. After another moment, Jasper spoke with his dark voice.

"Watch it."

Hunter started running again and Anna hurried after him.

"I am sorry," she said quietly.

"Don't be. Just keep your focus and try to continue this run."

Anna wasn't used to this intense training but tried her best to keep going without stopping. Every time she stopped to catch her breath, Hunter would come in time and take the hit instead of her. She tried to convince him to stop doing it, but he just brushed her words off and urged her to keep going. By the time Jasper blew his whistle announcing the end of the run, Anna was the only untouched one.

"You have fifteen minutes of water break then we will resume our training."

When Anna was sure Jasper was out of earshot, she allowed herself to collapse on the floor. She saw a bottle of water placed next to her. When she looked up she saw Hunter leaning against the wall watching her with his beautiful blue eyes. She smiled at him and opened the bottle. The cold water was a welcome guest to her very dry throat.

The fifteen minutes' break ended too quickly for everyone likes. This time, Jasper came from his office accompanied by Jackson who was wearing his usual smug expression. When the two came to the center of the yard, as usual, Jasper was the one who addressed them.

"Now, we will do a series of different exercises. I expect perfect performances from all of you."

Jackson smiled evilly and snapped his cane against his leg.

"Don't worry children. Before you start any performance I will give you a demonstration of the exercise you should perform. Then you will get the chance to do it on your own. If you do it right from the first try, then you are lucky and don't need any instructions. But if you get it wrong, don't worry we will help you master it by the end of today." Jackson spoke coolly then snapped the cane against his leg once again in a warning gesture.

"Oh my god! Jasper turned my brother to a freaking sadist. I will kill the two of them by the end of this day." Lillian exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Who on earth gave them the idea of doing this? It looked like we are slaves to them." Diana joined her cousin in her distress.

Before Lillian could comment on her words, Jasper started giving instructions.

"We will divide you into two groups. One will be supervised by me, the other one will go with Jackson."

Everyone crossed their fingers when Jasper started listing the groups.

"Hunter, Aiden, Matt, Diana, Anna, Nicholas, and Tatiana will go with me. Cain, Camille, Lillian, Brad, Nick, Carl, and Eric will train with Jackson."

Each group went to his respective trainer. The ones with Jasper stood at attention waiting for instructions.

"First we will start with 50 push-ups"

They took their positions and started doing the exercise as best as they can. Jasper didn't show any mercy, he would strike anyone who made the slightest mistake then he would correct them. Anna and Brad were the two who suffered the most, Anna for her lack of experience while Brad's mouth landed him in unneeded trouble.

Anna let relieved breaths when she finished her set of push-ups. It seemed like her best wasn't perfect in Jasper's book. The word WEAK was written all over Jasper's face when his eyes met hers. She looked down at her feet and avoided his gaze. At that moment, Anna wished she wasn't on Jasper's team.

Looking over the other side she observed Jackson's group. They were training as hard as them but at least they appeared enjoying themselves even if they received their fair share of corrections.

"Now, we will try another drill. Assume your position and give me 50 pull-ups." Jasper instructed.

Like the first time, Anna struggled a lot to continue her set. She didn't receive as many strikes as the first time which was progress for her but the look on Jasper's face swabbed the little happiness he felt.

For the last round of exercises, they did another 50 squats. When Jasper blew his whistle announcing the end of today's session, the two groups assembled waiting for farther orders.

"Good job everyone. You did well on your first day here". Jackson praised them with his usual cocky smile.

"For this week, we will continue with the same exercises every day. The purpose of this program is to strengthen your physics. I timed each one of you and I expect you to shave time from your performance every day. Also, we will increase the intensity of our training to see how much you can endure. As for now, you have two hours for rest and lunch, Dismissed." Jasper spoke with authority.

Hunter didn't miss the dejected look that crossed Anna's face as she passed him to go to her room. As he was going to grab her hand to speak with her, Jasper's cold voice stopped him.

"Hunter. My office, Now."

Hunter exhaled deeply and followed his uncle to the office. When they entered, Jasper took his seat behind the large cheery wood desk that took the majority of the space, while Hunter stood in the middle of the room having already a general idea about the topic his uncle would discuss with him. And he wasn't disappointed when Jasper spoke his next words.

"what the hell you think you were doing in training? Is this camp a joke to you Hunter?" Jasper scolded forcefully.

"I didn't do anything wrong, uncle." Hunter stated with certainty, his eyes never wavering from his uncles'.

Jasper got up from his chair and faced the window that took the entirety of the wall. He didn't speak for minutes looking at the scenery in front of him. When Hunter grew tired of waiting and decided to break the silence, his uncle beat him to it and asked.

"Do you think she will survive our world if you made it your mission to coddle her and shield her from any danger. Answer me, Hunter, does she have a chance of living among us if she can't take a simple hit as the strike of a cane?"

Jasper watched in satisfaction as the reality of the situation dawned on his nephew like a ton of bricks. He didn't give Hunter the chance to contemplate his words and resumed talking.

"I neither know what is the story behind your affair with that girl nor what made Jacob adopt her out of the blue nor will I force you to tell me the truth, it will be your father's job anyway. But let me tell you something important, son. If you care about her, let her face the brutality of our world. The pain of my cane is incomparable to a ballet piercing her heart and taking her life away."

Jasper knew his words were too harsh for his nephew to take at once but this is his style. He doesn't show mercy and would lay the facts without any filters. He waited for Hunter to speak but when the latter didn't show any signs of response and kept his expression blank, he looked at him and said sternly.

"You can leave and I hope my words would get to you the easy way because next time, our meeting won't be in my office but it would take place in the ring and then I will make sure my words are engraved in your head the hard way. Am I clear?" Hunter knew too well the tone in his uncle's voice. The man wasn't threatening him; he was promising him his fate if he continued his disobedience. Jasper was a boxing champion and would beat the life out of him if they faced each other. Even professionals won't stand a chance in front of his uncle. He is the king's ring and if you weren't a crazy man, you will avoid him at all costs.

"Yes, sir." Hunter made sure his voice was steady and didn't show the internal wince his uncles' words brought.

With those words, Hunter took his leave and headed to his quarters while Jasper's words kept replaying in his mind. He knew Anna needed to adjust to their life and became stronger. But seeing her face contort in pain every time jasper's cane would make contact with her leg broke something in his chest. It was the first time he felt pain from someone's agony. He witnessed his father torture people before. Heck, he even inflicted pain with his bare hands on others but not even a hair moved on his body.

So, why was he now interested in the well being of some stranger? Why was this foreign feeling invading his soul?

What in the name of God is my problem? Hunter shook his head to get rid of Anna's big blue eyes. He needed to focus on his mission and make sure everything would work like planned.

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Anna accompanied by Lillian entered the classroom where their séance with Ayla would take place. They seated at the second row of tables. Anna looked around the place and saw everyone chatting between them. When her eyes caught Hunter's, she gave him a soft smile but to her complete shock, he looked away from her and continued chatting with his cousin and another boy. Anna ignored the little pang in her heart and tried to convince herself that Hunter was busy and didn't notice her. But the moment Tatiana joined their group and start chatting and laughing with them, Anna felt her heart aching.

Anna didn't dwell for long on the matter as Ayla entered the classroom with a warm smile. She put her briefcase on the desk and turned to her audience.

"Welcome everyone to my class. I hope you will enjoy your time with me. Our first lesson will be in mathematics and more specifically, solving equations."

Ayla laughed softly when she heard the groans from the teenagers in the room. She started writing multiple equations from different degrees on the blackboard.

Anna was shocked looking at the beautiful woman in front of her. The first time she heard jasper's wife would be her teacher, she thought the woman would be grouchy and arrogant. But Ayla was a good person and seemed to be warm and kind. It still leaves her flabbergasted how nice women like Karen and Ayla are married to scary men like Jacob and Jasper. Maybe it was love that knotted them together. After all, they say "Love is blind".

When Ayla was done writing, she turned to them with the same warm smile and spoke.

"I will give you a chance to think and solve the problems on the board. You have twenty minutes. You may start."

Anna looked at the blackboard and smiled. Finally, they were doing something she was excellent in. Let's see who is the strongest here. She thought with a happy smile on her face. She cracked her fingers and started writing on her notepad.

Seven minutes later Anna dropped her pencil with a soft thud and announced.

"I am done."

The looks of utter astonishment brought her unimaginable satisfaction. Even Ayla looked a little taken aback by the girl's words but she quickly composed herself and spoke softly.

"Okay sweetie, let's hear your answers. Can you recite them?"

Anna could see the doubt in the woman's eyes. She didn't blame her. It was nearly impossible for any ordinary person to solve them in seven minutes. It was a record time even for intelligent people. But Anna wasn't intelligent, she was a prodigy and she damn well knows it.

Anna raised her chin high and answered without a single hint of doubt.

"For the equation number one: X=8, Y=5. The second one: X=0.3665, Y=2.2985. The next one: X=8.25, Y=6.3584, Z=6.148615." and so on Anna continued reciting the answers until the very last one.

Everyone was looking at Ayla expectantly waiting for her evaluation of the answers.

Ayla looked at Anna with a proud beam on her face.

"Good job darling, your answers are correct and precise."

Anna was very happy when Lillian and Diana started clapping for her and everyone joined them while looking at her with respect and intrigue. Finally, she was able to gain her place here even if it was just in class. But when her eyes landed on Hunter, she found him engrossed in a conversation with Tatiana ignoring her completely. Even Nicholas who didn't acknowledge her since their first encounter nodded at her and gave her encouraging thumb-ups. She looked away from their table with another crack in her heart.

"Are you okay?" Lillian asked concernedly when she caught her friend's sad expression.

"Yes, I am fine. Did you finish your equations?" Anna smiled at her, praying Lillian won't prey any farther.

"I am stuck on the last two. They are pretty hard."

Anna was thankful when her friend dropped the matter and was eager to offer her help.

"I will help you solve them. For the last one, you need to subtract the same amount from the two sides." Anna took her pencil and started demonstrating the idea to Lillian.

After that, the session ended too fast for Anna's liking. They remained in their seats waiting for Edward to come. Anna wasn't too surprised when the man who entered the classroom was as intimidating as Jasper. It was true he wasn't wearing the same scowl Jasper had on his face all the time but his cold blue eyes were enough to send shivers down her spine.

Unlike Ayla, Edward didn't say a word and start right away writing on the board. When Anna read the words written with bold letters, she was sure her jaw touched the floor.

"You have to be kidding me," Diana grumbled.

"I think the men in our family had gone nuts." Lillian joined her.

"Welcome everyone to my class. Our first unit will be divided into two chapters, the first one about torture, its definition, the first time human used it on each other, and generally, it will be history. The second one will cover the types of torture and the difference between them. Also by the end of it, you will know what kind of torture you need to use when you are confronted by different situations. As for the second unit, we will practice our theory lessons in real life. Do you have any questions?"

Anna didn't know what shocked her more, the way Edward was talking about inflicting pain on a human being, or the enthusiastic response from her so-called classmates. She was afraid of what would come next and quite honestly, she wasn't eager to find out what the future was hiding for her.

Anna was ecstatic when Edward declared the end of his lesson even if he gave them the first assignment of the day and even if it was an essay about the oldest types of torture known to humanity.

Anna went with Diana and Lillian to the cafeteria to have a snack during their second break of the day before the last training session with Jackson. They brought packs of cookies and orange juice then took their seats on a table at the far end of the room.

"When will we go to the library to work on dad's assignment?" Diana asked while taking the first bite of her chocolate cookies.

"The better question is, who on earth gave your father the idea of making a module with the name "TORTURE"?" Lillian laughed.

"I thought Jasper was scary but your dad and his calmness made him look more twisted than anyone I saw before." When the two girls didn't say anything and just stared at each other, Anna realized that her words might have offended Diana considering she just called her father a psychopath in an indirect way.

"I am sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean any disrespect to your father" Anna apologized.

Her words did it and both girls burst in laugher. Anna looked at them confusedly and wished they would stop attracting attention to their table. Lillian was the first one to recover from her hysteria.

"Don't worry darling, none is taken. You didn't offend us. They are our family and we know how much their minds are twisted and their hearts darker than night." Lillian spoke with her usual carefree self.

"So when will we go to the library?" Diana repeated her earlier question after she gained control over her emotions.