After arriving home, I was greeted by my dad who sitting at the kitchen table. His head was down reading some files from work. His forehead was wrinkled and his nose was scrunched up in confusion. His warm blue eyes were distant when he glanced up at me. There was a sadness in his eyes that couldn't be ignored. I wasn't expecting him home so early today from work.

"How was school today?" He said, trying to hide his emotions from me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, knowing when my dad is upset.

"Oh, it's just work. I was assigned to a new case and it's very stressful." He said as he continued to glance at the files spread across the table.

Even when my dad wasn't a work, he was working. He was one of the best detectives I knew and he has dedicated so much time to the police department. My dad being too invested in his job is one of the reasons that my parents aren't on good terms. My mom was always stressed about his job and never seeing him. If my mom gave my dad a choice between her and the job, I honestly couldn't tell you which he would pick. He loves them both so much.

"Why is it stressful?" I asked, sitting down at the kitchen table with him.

"This monster has been kidnapping girls from ages eleven to sixteen around this area. This guy leaves no trace whatsoever. We haven't found any bodies, so we don't believe he has killed them, but where they are being held is unknown." He frowned.

"Wow, that's terrible." I gasped.

I never understood how someone could kidnap or kill someone, even if they deserved it, which I'm assuming these girls didn't deserve to be kidnapped. These terrible crimes were all over the news and it makes me sick thinking about a person kidnapping young girls like that. I wasn't necessarily worried, but it did make you think more about it. These terrible crimes were happening in my town.

"I need you to be extra careful because this guy has been taking girls from around here. If you notice anything weird, you need to tell me." He said, giving me a stern look.

"I'm always careful, Dad." I smiled, trying not to show the sudden worry that my dad caused.

"You have self-defense soon. We're about to leave, so go get ready." My dad said as I kissed him on the cheek and went to get changed.

I have been in self defense since I was a little girl, something I had to deal with since I was a police officers daughter. My dad said that he would always make sure I had the abilities to protect myself and I guess now with this guy on the streets self defense wouldn't be a bad idea. Before I knew it, it was time to leave and I got into the car with my dad. We drove to the police station where they had private secessions for people who wanted lessons.

My instructor was Kyle Olive. He was a close friend of my dad and our family. He was thrilled to train me, because we were so close. He was still young when I first started my lessons. I remember he first started to be my only trainer when he was nineteen and I was thirteen. He was new to the police station and had gotten close to my dad. After a while, my dad didn't want anyone training me by himself or Kyle. Kyle had become close to our family and was like the older brother I never had.

I was in my training clothes which consisted of black elastic shorts and a purple sports bra and a tank top. My hair was in a ponytail but it was still past my shoulders in length. My dad said he had to return the files and fill out some paper work while we trained. I walked into the padded room where all the training was held. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Kyle. His back was to me, which was the perfect opportunity to scare him.

I quickly ran up behind him, ready to scare him but he always had great hearing and sensed my attack. He spun around, taking a step towards me, causing me to crash into him. I would have fallen to the ground if he hadn't caught me. I started laughing, as I held onto his arms, as I regained my footing.

"How did you know I was coming?" I whined, playfully hitting him on the arm.

"Being a police officer, allows me to be aware of my surroundings." He smiled, his bright blue eyes staring into mine.

"I'll scare you one day." I challenged.

"We'll see about that." He chuckled as he got out the equipment.

"Ready to start?" He asked, knowing that we needed to start focusing.

I nodded as he held a large foam pad in front of him, which I knew meant to practice my kicking. I got lost in the training, taking my anger out of the pad with several strong kicks, almost knocking Kyle down, since he wasn't expecting it.

"Are you okay?" He asked, noticing the more aggression in my kicks.

"Several things are messed up currently, but I have no control over the matters. But I'll be fine. This allows me to get my anger out." I replied while giving the pad several more kicks.

I made sure after every kick to touch my foot back to the ground so Kyle couldn't grab onto my leg and pull me down. Trust me; you only make that mistake once. Kyle would yank me to the ground if I wasn't careful enough. He was serious when it came to my training. He was like my father when he wanted to make sure I was fully prepared to protect myself. I was grateful that he took my safety seriously.

Whenever I trained, I forgot everything and just focused on my target. Though this time was different, I had made a mistake of thinking about my mom and her fighting with my dad. Instead of kicking this time, I went to punch him in the chest area, but he managed to catch my hand and force me to the ground by pushing my wrist backwards so that I would have to go down. He quickly got on top of me to straddle me. I had made a stupid mistake.

"Never lose focus when fighting Kelly. You could make a mistake that could cost you a fight and your life for the matter." He scolded, but I already knew what I had done.

I knew he wasn't going to get off of me, he wanted me to get him off. He never made anything easy for me. He was by far stronger than me, which is why I had to play it smart. I had learned that your hips are very powerful and despite him being stronger, I was able to throw him off of me. Despite age, weight or strength your hips can most likely throw anyone off who isn't expecting it. Kyle would be expecting it, but he acted like he didn't.

I jumped to my feet with him following my actions as a I got into my fighting position. Instead of punching again, I kicked at where the shin would be which would knock down most people. He still had the pad hooked up around him but used his hands to throw some punches. He would really hit me too. He said that it would teach me to fight and protect myself. At first when I was learning, he would go in slow motion but now he goes in full motion. He had only really hit me once, which I learned quickly from. I blocked his punches with my forearm and threw a few more punches. I felt myself being stronger and more powerful.

"Now how do you take me down?" He asked.

I kicked the pad where his groin would be and in the shin some more. He faked going down and I stood over him, watching closely. He grabbed my ankle and yanked me down to the ground. I let out a small yelp and fell hard to the ground. I laid on my back and he was leaning over me smirking, knowing he had outsmarted me.

"Some guys know to wear a cup and several kicks in the shin would hurt but wouldn't necessarily stop someone from yanking you down by the ankle." He said helping me back up to my feet. Thankfully, he knows when to stop and help me up.

"What do I do then?" I asked.

"Well, instead of watching him on the ground, punch and aim for the throat and face. All you have to do it hit someone in the throat to really hurt them and to get away. If you hit someone enough in the face, you can knock them out. Never just stand and watch them." He said taking off the pad.

"Now let's fight without the pad." He said.

"Are you sure?" I asked, not really wanting to fight him and accidentally hurt him.

"You can hit me and I can hit you. Fair enough?" He asked.

"Okay." I agreed, preparing myself to fight against him.

I wasn't sure how we were going to fight or how hard he would go, but I had to try my best. I needed to know how to protect myself so if anyone tried to hurt me. It makes sense to practice these situations so I will know what to do in real time and not with a pad.

"Let's act like I'm going to kidnap you." He said, and I knew he was probably doing this because of the kidnapper on the loose my dad was telling me about. This case was the talk of the police department.

I nodded and he wrapped his arms around me so that my back was to him. He could take a hit and so I elbowed him in the stomach and he let go of me. I turned and he stood ready to fight. He came at me and I dodged his punch. I returned one but he also ducked out of the way. He threw one at me and I blocked it with my arm. I threw another punch and he caught my fist in his hand.

He used the same move as last time where he bent my wrist back. I kicked at his legs but he had backed up as he forced me to the ground. I went to the ground because he would break my wrist if I didn't. I was on the ground and had my legs up, ready to kick him if he got any closer. My wrist was slightly throbbing but I ignored it.

"Do you stay down or get try to get up?" He asked.

"Stay down and kick if you get close and when I have the opportunity to move and get up I take it." I said still holding my feet up. He said nothing but grabbed one of my legs and I frantically kicked but he didn't let go. I stopped kicking as he spoke.

"I could break your leg right now, easily. I just have to bend it this way." He said bending my right leg that he had to the left slowly. I cringed in pain as he moved my leg back into place.

"If I did it faster, it would be broken. Next time, crab walk back quickly and try to get up. Use the kick and stay down as a second option. Now try to stop me." He instructed.

He went the same side as the leg he had and tried to get on top of me again. I used my other leg and kicked him and rolled away from his grasp. I got to my feet and he was still on the ground. "Don't watch your opponent." I ran over to him and kicked him in the stomach. I went for a punch in the face but he stopped me as if he knew I would go there.

"Don't always go for the easiest move." He said twisting my arm so that I was on my stomach and he had my arm behind my back twisted so that I couldn't move.

"It's better to hurt your opponent first, and then go for the easy knock downs like the throat and face." He said getting off of me so that I could get up.

I went over and got a drink of water. I was tired but learned to tough it out. Kyle had set up a punching bag and I went over to it. He said to punch it until he came back. He left the room and I went to punching. One, two, three. One, two, three. I counted to myself as I took all my anger and tiredness out on the bag. I hadn't even heard Kyle come back in until he grabbed me from behind and took me to the ground. I let out a yelp in surprise, as I laid on the ground.

"Always be aware of your surroundings." He said standing over me.

This made me think of earlier when I tried sneaking up on him. When I tried to get up, he simply pushed me back down. I groaned, as I attempted to get up again but he wouldn't allow me. I was exhausted from school and the lesson that I didn't have much energy left. He must have seen me not trying because he frowned as he stared down at me.

"Don't give up." He said as I stopped trying to get up altogether.

I thought about the things he had told me today and then I crab walked back and quickly jumped to my feet. He smiled and praised me. I was now up and fighting him again, throwing punches and kicks. I hadn't really hit him or kicked him because he was extremely fast. He managed to get behind me and pull my hair so that I would fall and I hit the ground hard. He straddled me again and held his fist above me.

"No fair. You don't have hair to pull." I said referring to his short chocolate brown hair, that I couldn't get any leverage on if I pulled. He got off of me and said, "Most guys don't have long hair though. You can't rely on that as a defense."

Kyle had a point but if he had long hair, I would so pull it. I knew I couldn't rely on that but surely if it was available I would use it to my advantage. I didn't disagree with him because then I would hear a lecture on how if I ever got attacked and only used that I would most likely be killed and so on.

"Now for some endurance. Twenty push-ups." He said.

I hated endurance, especially after a hard training. I groaned, not ready for this. I did the pushups but struggled at the end. Next, I lifted some weights. As I was lifting the weights to build some strength, though being tiny it probably wouldn't even help against someone who was ten times larger than me, but I did it anyway.

"So I heard about the case my dad's on about the kidnapper." I said as I finished with the weights.

"Yeah, very bad case. It has the whole department talking for sure. Bet's that's why your dad wants you to train more. Just be careful. You're doing very well here." He praised.

"Thanks, Kyle, you're not that bad yourself." I said laughing.

We walked out to my dad who looked ready to leave. I went out to the car and sat for a few minutes while Kyle and my dad talked. It took everything I had not to fall asleep, though I always felt great after my training with Kyle.