Uncontrollable

Chapter Thirty-Four

Groggily, I pulled myself out of bed and stumbled toward the door. When I opened it, a man I'd never seen stood outside, tapping his foot impatiently.

His eyes glowed a fiery red and his thin lips were turned into a frown. His hooked nose suited his cold features well.

"I assume you're Ryder," he said, disdain filling his tone. The bulging muscles covering his arms and legs flexed at my name.

I nodded, acutely aware of the stench the man carried with him.

"I'm Duston," he said, not bothering to shake my hand. "I'm also supposed to be training some girl named Vanessa, right? Where the hell is she?"

The way he spoke about other people made me want to throw up, and my face must have shown it because he scowled.

"Don't look at me like that. You have one of the darkest souls I'm aware of. Just go get Vanessa," he said, rolling his eyes and looking off into the distant jumble of metal.

I sighed and walked towards Vanessa's room, knocking lightly on the door.

"You can come in," Vanessa called, her voice showing no intention to come get the door.

"We have to go to training," I said.

"I'll be out in a second," she answered. She came out in a loose tee-shirt and sweatpants.

"This is Duston," I introduced, showing her the man. He looked back at her for a second and then turned back around, looking away from us. She scrunched her nose, making a face of disgust and I just nodded slightly.

"You guys will need to get into exercise clothes. This won't be like anything else you've experienced before. There will be work out clothes in your dressers." He still didn't make eye contact or look towards either of us.

We exchanged looks before parting into our separate rooms. I quickly changed into the work out clothes that were folded neatly in my dresser just as he'd promised. Placed next to my door were all black sneakers which I switched into quickly.

I stepped out and Duston and I waited in silence until Vanessa came out of her room wearing tight black pants and a lightweight workout jacket. She was in identical sneakers to mine, her long blonde hair tied back into a pony tail.

"Good," Duston said, examining both of us, letting his eyes linger on Vanessa's breasts. When he peeled is eyes away, he walked down the path in the opposite direction as us, signaling for us to follow him.

Reluctantly, I walked in his wake, breathing through my mouth to reduce the amount of his smell that I inhaled. Vanessa matched my pace.

"Did you see him looking at me?" she asked in a whisper that only I could hear. I nodded slowly.

"I don't like him. I don't like him at all," I answered quietly. He still hadn't looked back towards us as we turned and made out way down a flight of stairs.

"It's too bad he's our only choice," Vanessa said, distaste filling her features. "If they had a different trainer, I would choose them over him in a heart beat."

We had fallen further behind him. When he looked back, he told us to hurry and then kept walking.

"Does he even know what he's training us for? He's barely spoken," Vanessa said, bewilderment filling her voice.

"I'd hope so because I don't wanna waste my time with this idiot if he doesn't know what to train us for," I whispered.

"Stop whispering and get up here. I have things to go over with you," Duston called, continuing on walking without looking toward us. With an annoyed sigh we caught up to him. The scent was nauseating now that we were so close to him.