RULE NUMBER 6

A whimper escaped from her lips as she tried to get up. She struggled to fight the pain that her legs emitted, but it was almost impossible. She knew she had to get up or else it would end up bad for her. Staring up at him with a grimace on his face, she couldn't hate him, she just couldn't. She wasn't trained that way. She was trained to worship him, all her life, to do whatever he asked her to do, to obey all the rules because he was her master after all.

"Get up" he ordered in a deadly whisper. His middle-aged face held a look of disdain as he looked down on her. He was ready to end her there and then and Aanya knew he had the power to do so. No one could question him, and no one could save her.

Aanya exhaled deeply as she struggled to get up. She finally did it, she was on her feet again with her fist clenched as she stoodready to fight. The pain she felt on her ribs was excruciating as a result of the constant assault on them, but she couldn't show it. She had to finish training before tending to her injuries. That was the rule, and breaking the rules equaled death.

She limped over to where he was and spread her legs, ready for a fight. She stared at him for a while, trembling in fear. He was going to hit her again, she knew. He was too good at it, and she was just an amateur. She attacked first as she charged toward him. She flung her legs in the air and went in for a kick, but just as she suspected, he was too fast. He held her by the leg and flipped her around, impacting a great force on the leg. She cried for help as the pain that he was inflicting on her was unbearable. He finally let go of her, and she fell to the floor as her leg was already wobbly. She crawled away from him. She wasn't ready to go through another episode of pain because she knew that no matterhow hard she tried, there was no way she could fight him. He was just too fast and calculative for her to decipher.

"Too slow" he noted as he beckoned on her to get up. Aanya gulped, staring at him with fear written on her face. She couldn't do it anymore. The pain she felt was already enough, and she knew that he wasn't going to stop until he finally broke her. He walked over to her when he discovered that she was still finding it hard to get up. He bent down to her level and roughly grabbed her hair, causing a whimper to escape from Aanya's lips. She looked up at him with a heavy breath, and he had a sly smirk on his face.

"You forgot rule number one, Aanya" he whispered close to her ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine. "Never show weakness" he left her hair and walked slowly away from her. He stopped a few meters and turned back to her. "You aregoing to the outside world, and you are already forgetting your basics. Pathetic".

"No Master, I did not" she cried. She knew the consequence of disobedience, and she wasn't ready to face it." I could never forget the rules"

"Really?" He said with a look of mockery on his face. "Why don't we do a recap? won't have you lagging in the outside world because if you do, I'm sure you know the consequences that follow".

"Yes, master," she said, nodding continuously. He walked back slowly towards her and bent down to her level once more. He brought his hands to her chin and caressed it slowly.

"Rule number 2, never let anyone find out about your identity," he said, and just as Aanya had suspected, she was giving a resounding slap on her right cheek. This was her punishment for being reminded ofthe rules. She tasted something metallic in her mouth. Blood, she gasped.

"Rule number 3. Kill anyone who finds out about your identity before your master finds out," he said, and another slap followed.

"Rule number 4, never look down on your prey, they could strike when you least expect" her face had been already bruised up, preparing herself for another strike. The metallic ring on his finger made things worse for her as it kept on creating injuries on her delicate pale skin. He hit her again across the face, and that forced tears to well up in her eyes. She blinked rapidly, she couldn't show her weakness. That would only make things worse for her. She gritted her teeth, ignoring the pain she felt, and looked up at him, emotionless.

"Rule number 5, no friend allowed" he placed his index finger under her chin and lifted her face, swaying it to the side asthough he was trying to access her. She didn't fail to notice the look of satisfaction on his face as he assessed the injury that he had inflicted on her face. He smacked her again and she fell to the floor, groaning in pain. She coughed out repeatedly with blood proceeding out of her mouth.

He smiled and got up from where he was and walked away from her. She could finally breathe. She adjusted her hair that had already stuck to her face as a result of blood and sweat, and she tucked it behind her ears. Her training clothes were messed up with dust, sweat, and a bit of blood. She looked up at him again as he walked away from her, but he suddenly stopped and turned to look at her.

"The most important rule of them all. Rule number 6" he spoke. "NEVER FALL IN LOVE"

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