Odessa was gasping for breath as she pushed herself to finish her run. It was a grueling run and longer then her usual daily run. The men around the training field watched her, the younger with surprise and awe and the seasoned men with respect and pride. These men came here to learn from her family and their training was harder then most. The indoor field here was open 24 hours a day but was rarely empty. Classes and training often revolves around client schedules so the odd hours were normal. And she had completed each course, many multiple times, since she began training at only six years old.
Here on this compound she was a shining example to the pupils of what dedication and hard work could achieve. Her Grandfather had told her that she was born for this with her icy attitude, a stubborn streak as deep as the oceans and a determined jaw. Yes Odessa had been picked and trained by her family early on. Before she was old enough to officially train at the compound she had been in class with her older cousins. Even there the elders had noticed her talent. Over the years she sharpened herself into the model example for their academy. However her Grandfather also felt that she had become obsessed. He may have been right, in the last six months Odessa could count on her hand the number of times she stepped off the compound or had been away from the academy. Instead she trained harder and pushed herself and her students to their limits. They called her a robot, a killing machine, and an icy witch when they didn't think she could hear. But it didn't matter to her. Training and working hard kept her to tired to pay much attention the the constant emptiness of her heart.
It had been just over six months since they day she was sure her heart had stopped beating. Six months since she had fallen on the sidewalks with a pain so sharp in her heart that she almost hadn't been able to stand again. However she knew that it hadn't been her who was hurt. But by the time she had arrived it had been to late. Her sister was already dead. And she hadn't been there.
Orchid had been the one person who had never let her cold personality push her away. Of course as her twin there was no one who knew he better. And Odessa should have been able to tell that something was wrong with her sister. She failed her sister again. Three years ago her sister almost died because Orchid had trusted the wrong person. And her sister had kept that person a secret even from her. Had she been better would Orchid have told her, would she have been able to prevent the disaster that started the end of her sisters life?
She sucked air in forcefully between her teeth. It tasted stale on her tongue and she felt her heart thudding against her ribs almost desperately. Swearing under her breath she kept moving slowly cooling herself down getting herself pulled back together. She was slipping ever closer to falling apart, but she wouldn't do it here. Not here where everyone saw her as a pillar of unyielding strength. They didn't need to know how empty she was inside how cracked and broken she really was beneath the surface. How off balance she really was. Having a pit of anger, guilt, and resentment where a heart should be made appearing calm almost impossible. It helped that she's long learned to hide any signs of her emotions from her face. Showing emotions had only made her a target for her older cousins cruel words. Odessa has changed herself quickly blocking her reactions the pain and the hurt so no one would see how he got to her. She's done so well that summer they had all lived at their Grandparents estate due to Grandmothers waining health, that by the end no one but Orchid could tell how she felt.
Orchid had been her opposite. She was clumsy, dainty, and easily distracted during training. She wore every emotion on her face for the world to read but believed the best in people. After she their thirteenth birthday she had been released from lessons in all forms of combat as even the elders knew that the family's business would not suit her. Instead they had sent her away from the compound to live with heir Uncle where she would learn something more suited to her gentle nature. She took lessons for violin, piano, cooking, and even a ballroom dancing class before she took up painting. Her world lit up and she had been so happy attending an art school where even her teachers said she had natural talent.
Odessa finished her cool down exercises and without speaking to anyone she walked to the locker rooms. She needed a shower and a quick meal before she would check up on the instructors notes and reports for the day. Her father might be officially in charge at the compound but he had never been one for paperwork. And in her quest to stay ever busy it was one activity that gave her body a physical rest but supplied her mind with a distraction. The woman's locker room was almost empty and only half the size of the men's. Woman who qualified to train with them were rare and women who chose to stick it out after the first few courses were even more rare. But she was changing that. She scouted put possible candidates sending out one of her two trusted aides to approach the women she thought might be interested and helping them apply if they chose. They always had to get in on their own merits, she simply let them know they had the option.
After a quick shower where she forced herself to empty her mind in a meditative like state, she dried off quickly leaving her Auburn locks to fall loosely down her back. Her hair was getting rather long and she thought it might be time to get it cut, but that meant either leaving the Compound or risking cutting it herself. Neither option seemed very appealing and so it stayed long. Despite how impractical it was considering her training.
She grabbed a quick meal to take up to the office where she planned to pour over paperwork until the late hours of the night before trying for some much needed sleep. She had a class to lead tomorrow as the trainer had needed the day off for a family matter. It was already dark outside and her half eaten dinner had long gone cold when something happened that she didn't expect. The small black phone she kept at her waist actually rang.
Knowing that since this was her private line and only family and one or two others had the number she answered it immediately. "Hello."
There was only the sound of someone sucking in a breath in response. "Can I help you?" Her mind whirling she tried to think of who could be calling. It wasn't a number she recognized.
A moment later a man's voice came over the phone. He sounded lost, defeated and ever bit as broken as she felt inside. "I don't know but I hope you can. Three years ago I got this number from, well you I hope. You said if I needed help to call and after today I could really use some help."