Training

Iliana walked into Clara's room and she dropped her bag on the bed. She left the room and walked down the passage that led to her parents' former room. After walking down for a while, she stopped in front of one of the walls.

On this wall, a huge painting hung. Moving her hands upwards, she pressed on a button on the painting's frame and the painting moved upwards revealing a brick wall behind it. She pushed one of the bricks on the wall and the wall opened to reveal a door. Typing in the passcode, the door opened to reveal a dark room. Stepping in, the door closed behind her, the brick wall took its place and the painting slid back down.

Iliana discovered this hidden room when she was six years old. She had told her parents about it and they told her it was for security purpose. Therefore, it became a training spot for Iliana whenever Clara trained her.

She looked around the dark room, her pupils adjusting to the darkness around her. Moving to the centre of the room, she spotted what she was looking for. Curling her fingers into a fist, she hit the punching bag in front of her with all her might.

Remembering the events of the day, she made each punch harder than the previous. She kept on hitting the bag even when the handkerchief around her hand started getting soaked in blood again. She heard the door opening and glancing at the direction of the door, she continued her punching without a stop.

"Reveal yourself." She said calmly.

Suddenly the lights came on to reveal a feminine figure.

"Iliana, I knew you would be here."

Walking closer, she saw Iliana's hand and grabbing her hands off the bag, she opened her palms and untied the handkerchief to reveal bloody cuts on her hands.

"Goodness! Iliana, what are you doing to yourself?"

She went to the bathroom and grabbed a disinfectant to clean the wound and wrapped it up with a bandage from the first aid box that was in the bathroom.

All the while, Iliana remained motionless and her eyes without focus.

"Iliana! Iliana! What happened this time?"

Instead of answering her question, Iliana collapsed into her arms and a worried Clara hugged her while stroking her back.

"What happened Iliana? Please talk to me dear."

"I am tired Clara. How long do I have to wait for all of this to be over? I am fed up of being a slave in my own house. I am tired of behaving like a naive idiot in front of my aunt and uncle. I am tired of working so hard everyday and having someone ruining it. I...I..a..am...."

Interrupting her rambling, Clara said, "Iliana, we still need to be patient. If we do anything now, all the preparation for our plan for the past five years will go down the drain. You need to get stronger than you already are. It's just for a matter of time Iliana, everything will be fine soon."

"I played with my knife today." Iliana said with a mischievous smile on her tear-stained face.

"Hmm, I did teach you well. So tell me, what happened?"

"Well, that foolish, slimy old man touched me and I just pricked him with the knife a little bit." Iliana said satisfactorily.

"Are you sure it was just a prick?"

"Hehehe, let's forget that, but I did gain something. I will always get paid now."

"Mn, very good."

"Iliana?"

"Hm?"

"Where is your necklace?"

"It is right......uhn? Where is it? It must be here somewhere. Maybe it fell down."

After searching the whole place for it, they still couldn't find it.

"Clara, I really need to find that necklace. My mum told me to always wear it. Even though the last time she said it, it was just a dream, when I was six, my father told me to never take it off, and now..no.. now, I need to find it."

"Iliana, calm down. We will find it okay? Let's go back now. It might be in my room."

Putting off the light, they stepped out of the room and returned to Clara's room. After searching the room for five hours, there was still no sign of the necklace.

"My necklace is gone! The only thing I had to remind me of them is gone Aunt Barbie. They are gone now. They aren't with me anymore."

"Of course not Lia. They are always with you. In your dreams, in your heart and in your mind. That necklace doesn't determine whether they are with you or not. You have been working for a very long time, come here."

Iliana moved closer to her and Clara after cleaning her tears, held her face in her hands saying, "Iliana, for us to succeed in our plans, you need to be stronger than this. We need to find those papers very soon. The earlier we find it, the better. We need to show the world that there is a hidden gem in the Williams' mansion."

"Yes Clara. I will become stronger. I promise to control my emotions from now on. But what about the necklace?"

"We will find the necklace soon. We will, now go to sleep." Clara said patting her to sleep.

*******************************************************************

"My Goodness!! What happened to your arm?" A woman said rushing out to help her husband with his bag.

Breathing nervously, he replied, "It is nothing honey. I bought you a new phone, roses and a new dress for our anniversary. On my way back to the car, some goons attacked me and tried to steal the gift package from me. I struggled with them and got stabbed but they still stole everything."

"Oh dear! You shouldn't have gone through that much stress. Don't worry, the fact that you wanted to buy me something is enough for me. I am just glad that you are okay. You should have just let them have it."

"Of course not, I bought it specially for you and now it is gone." The man said looking regretful.

"It is okay as long as you are fine. Common let's go inside."

"Yes dear."

'Foolish woman, I can't believe she believed such a far-fetched story. I didn't even remember today was our anniversary till my phone's calendar reminded me. Thank goodness I am safe. Now I just have to deal with that foolish girl.' The man thought to himself while smiling.