The basement lights hummed with a low, fluorescent buzz. Cain stood in the middle of the training floor, shirt off, sweat rolling down his spine. His fists were raw from striking the reinforced post, blood smeared into the wood, each impact louder than the last.
He didn’t look human in that moment more like a machine grinding itself against the limits of flesh.
Seth leaned against the wall, arms crossed, face hard but eyes restless. He’d been watching for almost an hour, waiting for Cain to stop. But Cain didn’t stop anymore. That was the problem.
“Yo, Cain,” Seth finally called, his voice low and edged with something close to fear. “You tryin’ to beat that pole into sawdust, or you just waitin’ for your bones to snap?”
Cain paused, breathing heavy, shoulders rising and falling like p
