Intertwine (Book 3)

Chapter Sixteen

Jess hovered over me, watching as I prepared myself to enter the ring.

"I thought you said your arms hurt?" Jess questioned me with more apprehension rather than her usual sarcasm.

"They do." I hunched down to tighten the laces on my sneakers for a secure fit. "But I'll manage."

Carl returned with a pair of boxing gloves and a pair of boxing mittens before he climbed into the ring.

"This should be nasty." Jess took a seat on the sideline. If they sold popcorn here, I was sure she would have it.

Ignoring Jess, I climbed into the ring. It felt bizarre, all so different being inside of a boxing ring. Especially when I had become accustom to training with Maya at the rear of the house.

Carl handed me my gloves. I slipped them on and tightened the straps around my wrist.

"Good. Good." Carl eyed me. My face scrunched up. "What?"

He noticed my sudden change in emotion but did not understand why.

"Nothing." It was something. It was the way he looked at me. The same face I was used to from many people; especially the surrounding ones.

It was the fragile, childish, pitiful look I received. A look I could not stand. A look I was ready to punch in to.

"Are you sure-"

"I'm ready." I focused in on the mittens, refusing to look him in the eyes to find that look again.

He lifted the mittens. Without another word, I swung, allowing my left hand to smash into the mitten. I swung again, my right hand connecting with the other with insane force.

Full blown punches. Not those gentle hits he probably expected from me.

One hit. Two hits. Three hit combination moves I was sure he did not expect from me.

“Good , ” Carl intervened. "You can add more than hands."

Without a moment to spare, I lifted my leg, introducing a forceful kick to the mitten. Punch. Kick. Punch.

I found myself escaping reality and falling into another world. A darker world. A world I sought to fight my way out of with forceful blows and agility. I had forgotten where I was and who I was. I forgot that this was nothing more than a simple exercise.

"Aniyah."

To me, I was fighting. I was fighting for my mother. I was fighting for my friends. I was fighting for Jason. I was fighting for everything to be right.

"Aniyah."

I was fighting against the darkness. Fighting to punish those who have done wrong. Fighting to destroy those monsters that had destroyed me.

"Aniyah!"

I stopped at the moment. My chest rose then fell as I struggled to catch my breath. Carl was staring at me. So was Jess. Eyes that no longer labeled me helpless but more fear and concern for me now.

“Are you okay?" Carl asked me again. A question I was tired of answering with lies.

"I'm fine."

I removed my gloves before I shoved them toward Carl and climbed out of the ring.

"I will meet you at the car, Jess." I walked away, ignoring the many calls of my name...

I turned the faucets. Water drizzled from the spout, allowing me to cup it into the palms of my hands. I closed my eyes before I splashed my face with the water.

I looked up and into the locker room mirror, watching as water dripped from my face.

After drying my face, I returned to the locker to retrieve my things to leave.

"Hey?"

I turned.

“What ?" I struggled and pulled to free my gym bag from the narrow locker.

"You can kick my ass but struggle to get your bag out of a locker?"

"What are you even doing in here?" I question, refusing to glance over my shoulder to acknowledge him again. "This is the women's locker room."

“I know. I designed it." He chuckled. "But I'm here because I want to know what has you so...so...so crazy."

"Crazy?" I stopped. "Crazy?"

"I didn't mean it like that." He tried to clarify.

"You don't know enough to call me crazy."

He did not understand what I was dealing with. Carl did not understand what had me stressing day in and day out. He did not understand how I walked around, revealing only a quarter of what I knew about the world that surrounded him.

“I’m sorry. I mean, I was just concerned."

"Don't be please." I didn't need another person who felt concerned for me.

I pulled at my bag again with enough force. The material hooked on to a stray nail. There was a slight rip at the material before my bag and its content went falling from the locker.

My change of clothes. My phone. My keys. My papers. My stake. A bottle of holy water. My cross. A book titled ‘supernatural’.

I scrambled to the floor. Determination had told me to gather what I could before Carl witnessed.

I covered my things with my clothing. My holy water. My cross. I reached for my stake and book. Before I could reach it, Carl snagged them up from the locker room floor...