Chapter 3 - Training

This is the third chapter of the book.

On the very next day as promised, Helena began training Alessandro. The moment Alessandro stepped out of his bedroom, Helena was standing outside waiting for him to wake up. “Woah. Good morning, Helena.” said Alessandro. “Good morning. Are you ready for your training Jonathan?” said Helena. “Yes. I am ready.” said Alessandro. “Let’s go.” said Helena as she led Alessandro to the basement door. Natalie and the others were waiting there for them. “Let’s do this.” said Sage as she opened the door and turned on the lights. Alessandro followed the witches down the stairs and watched them open a secret passageway. The lone demon then gasped and held onto his chest as he saw the entrance open. Natalie turned around, approached Alessandro and said, “Is everything alright Jonathan?” “I’m feeling uneasy. This is making me remember my horrible mother and what she put me through.” “It’s okay. We all care about you, Jonathan. Especially me. We would never put you through that. I’m sure that Michael will tell you that you must face what you’re afraid of. Come on. Let’s take this one step at a time.” said Natalie. “Okay.” said Alessandro as he held hands with Natalie and began to go through the passage. At first, the walkway was dark, but the torches lit up on their own. The memories of being punched by Striga flashed through Alessandro’s mind like a movie causing him to twitch. “It’s okay. They’re meant to do that.” said Natalie. “Okay.” said Alessandro as he breathed heavily. Alessandro continued to walk along the path with Natalie. As Alessandro headed down the passage, he noticed there were pictures on the walls. They each had the faces of women, but their eyes were painted over. Their names were written on bronze placards screwed on under them. With Natalie’s help, Alessandro made it to Helena and the others. “You did it Jonathan!! You made it!!” said Natalie. “I did it. I knew I can make it.” said Alessandro as he noticed that Helena was staring at a photograph in her hand. “Exactly!! You can do anything Jonathan.” said Natalie. “It took you both long enough. What kept you.” said Helena as she put the photo back in her pocket. “I apologize. Jonathan needed help. I just wanted to make sure he got here.” said Natalie. “Are you alright Jonathan?” said Helena. “I am.,” said Alessandro. “Are you sure? We can go back.” said Helena. “I’m sure. I want to master this ability.” said Alessandro. “Okay. Let’s move on.” said Helena. Natalie walked Alessandro to an empty circular room. There were lit torches around the area. The ground was made from bricks. “What is this place?” said Alessandro. “This is our training grounds.” said Helena. “Your training grounds. What do you do here?” said Alessandro. “We practice our magic here. It’s a better alternative than doing it upstairs.” said Helena. “I see. May I ask another question?” said Alessandro. “Yes.” said Helena. “Who were those ladies in those pictures we passed?” said Alessandro. “Oh. They are witches who used to be a part of our coven. They either died or left us to join the demons.” said Helena. “Why are their eyes covered?” said Alessandro. Helena and the others sighed as they heard Alessandro’s question. “Because…,” said Helena. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit a nerve.” said Alessandro. “No, it’s okay. We did that to them because we thought that it made us easier to forget them.” said Faith. “I see. Anyway, Helena I’m ready.” said Alessandro. “Right.” said Helena as she used her manifestation powers and summoned a demon right in front of Alessandro. The demon had green skin and was shorter than Alessandro and the others. Its ears were nearly three inches long. It was shirtless and it was wearing a pair of pants made of sackcloth. It grit its teeth and growled the moment it saw Alessandro. “What exactly is that?” said Alessandro. “It’s a goblin. It’s one of the weakest of demons. I figured I have you start on this one.” said Helena. “I see. Why’s it not attacking? How can you summon this thing?” said Alessandro. “Because it’s under my control due to my manifestation powers. With that I can conjure up anything that comes to mind.” said Helena. “I see.” said Alessandro. “Great. Now I want you to head to the other side of the room facing me.” said Helena. “Will do.” said Alessandro as he did as Helena said. “You got this Jonathan. You can do it.” said Natalie. “You go Jonathan.” said Zoe. “Yeah!!” said Faith and Sage. “Now Jonathan. I will order my goblin to charge at you. I want you to use your plunder ability and absorb its strength into you.” said Helena. “Got it!” said Alessandro. “Good. Now let’s begin. Get him!!” said Helena. And with that, Helena’s beast ran up to Alessandro as fast as it could. “Okay.” said Alessandro as he put out his right hand in front of him. Unfortunately, Alessandro’s powers didn’t work, and the goblin jumped on him. Helena called it off before Alessandro got struck with blows to the face. “Jonathan. Are you alright?” said Helena. “I’m alright Helena. I must try again.” said Alessandro. “Are you sure?” said Alessandro as he got back up to his feet. “Yes.” said Alessandro. As requested, Helena unleashed her goblin on Alessandro again. No matter how many times Alessandro had tried, his power of plunder didn’t work. “You know Jonathan, despite at the number of times you tried you can’t seem to give up.” said Helena. “Thank you, Helena. I just don’t understand why it won’t work like it did before.” said Alessandro as he punched the ground. “I have an idea, Jonathan. I want you to look at the goblin and pretend that it’s your mother about to put you through more abuse.” said Sage. “Pretend?” said Alessandro. “Yes. I want you to pretend that the goblin is your mother and attack. Visualize and attack. I’m sure your ability will work.” said Sage. “Okay. Helena let’s try again.” said Alessandro. “You got it. Let’s do this! Get him!” said Helena as she set the goblin at Alessandro again. Alessandro stared at the charging beast and Striga’s face came to his mind. The memories of the strokes of the whip that wounded him led Alessandro to place both of his hands out in front of him. At an instant, Alessandro’s hands glowed and a wave of power surged through him causing it to absorb the goblin’s abilities into his body. Feeling unable to do anything, the goblin ran and hid behind Helena. Helena then laughed, snapped her fingers and the creature vanished. “I did it. I did it.” said Alessandro. “You did. Well done, Jonathan. Well done.” said Helena. “Great job Jonathan.” said Natalie as she ran and hugged Alessandro. “Thank you everybody. Thank you for believing in me. Say Helena, I forgot to ask this. What was that picture I saw you looking at earlier?” said Alessandro. “I don’t mind answering that. Check it out if you want.” said Helena. Alessandro took the photograph from Helena and looked at it. The picture was of a bald African American man. The man was wearing a business suit. He had glasses and was smiling. He was holding three small children with him in the picture. “Who are they?” said Alessandro. “That’s my husband and my children.” said Helena. “Oh. They’re your family. What happened to them?” said Alessandro. “They were killed from a deadly truck crash.” said Helena as a tear rolled down her eyes. “I’m sorry Helena. Have you ever found out the driver of that truck.” said Alessandro. “No. The local authorities are still looking for that person. I have been believing ever since then that it was a targeted attack.” said Helena. “I wish I could find that person for you.” said Alessandro. “No, it’s fine Jonathan. Anyway, we sure do believe in you. Besides you and the others are my family now. Say we could try for even larger creatures if you want.” said Helena. “Yes, Helena. I would like that very much.” said Alessandro as he handed Helena back her photo. And with that, Alessandro spent the rest of the day training under Helena.