Chapter 10: I have to get stronger.

'Get up. You're weak and you know it. Deal with it. Get stronger if you want me to see you as an equal.'

My eyes fly open and I sit up. I'm in John's room. I look into John's mirror on the wall and see that I'm naked aside for some bandages covering up a wound in my abdomen.

I prod it and feel no pain. I peel off the strips of cloth and look at my stomach. There is no entry or exit wound where the bullet would've struck me. It's perfectly healed.

I look in the mirror again and take in my reflection with a critical eye.

My skin is pale and slightly gray.

I cover my breasts and get out of the bed. I go into his bathroom and find my clothes. Aside from my underwear, my shirt and tights are shredded.

I pull on my panties and clip my bra and go back to John's room. I rummage around in his drawers for a second and pull out a pair of sweatpants and a shirt.

On it has his DJ logo, a flaming skull with two axes behind it. I slip on the shirt and pants and make my way downstairs.

In the living room, Tanya, the girls, and John's mom are sitting on the sectional watching the news. I come up behind them and look at the screen.

A security video of what happened at the research facility is playing with an anchorman commentating over it.

"Oh my god…." John's mom, Sharon, puts her hand over her mouth. "John….How could you do that….?"

Tanya notices me in the reflection on the TV.

"Maddy! You're awake! How are you?" Everyone else turns as well. They let out gasps of shock.

"Twi says you weren't supposed to wake up for another few days, let alone walking. How are you feeling?"

"I feel great actually. My stomach is fine. No pain at all." I lift up the shirt revealing my midsection. They all make audible noises of awe.

"That's amazing!"

"How is that even physically possible?"

"I don't know how it happened." I shrug. I put the shirt back down. "Where's Bruce?"

They point downstairs. "He's working out. He's been on a diet since you were shot."

"How long has it been?"

"Almost 2 weeks." My eyes widen in shock. Had I been asleep for 14 days?

"That must be why I'm so damn stiff." I stretch to add emphasis.

I exchange a few more words with the girls and then I head downstairs to find Bruce.

I hear grunts and look into the pool room. Bruce is there on John's benchpress, in spandex shorts.

He looks up as I walk into the room.

"Madds? What are you doing up? You should still be asleep."

I lift my shirt and point to where the bullet had hit me. His jaw drops and he rushes over, putting one hand on my hip and the other where I got shot.

"Oh my god. Thank you whoever is in charge of the world."

"When it happened, I heard….John. He told me I was weak and that if I wanted him to see me as an equal, to get stronger, and challenge him."

"Challenge him? The hell does that mean?"

I shake my head. He stands up and holds my face in his hands. He leans down and kisses me. I kiss back.

He pulls away and looks me up and down.

"I'm glad to see you're good and well, but I have to keep training. John beat me too easily. If he had punched me with the same force that he'd slapped me with, I'd be in the hospital."

I look at him for a while.

"I understand. I also need to get stronger. We all need to." He looks at me questioningly.

"What do you mean?"

"Before this morning, some random person had come to me in my sleep with a prophecy. It said that you, me, and the girls are all going to have to fight him."

"Who?"

"John."

We're silent for a minute.

"We'll definitely need to train if we're gonna beat him." I nod. Que cliche workout montage music.