Keeper of The Lost Cities: Book 9: Showdown

Chapter 16 - Keefe's POV

"Punch harder!"

"You punch like a girl!"

I stop torturing the punching bag and wipe the sweat off my forehead. "I've been punched by a girl. That's a compliment."

"Fair point." Liam tosses me a water bottle, which goes down my throat in less than thirty seconds. Then he tosses me another one. I've officially learned how to twist the caps off of bottles without taking your boxing gloves off - don't take the caps off. Take something sharp, stab the lid, then squeeze the water into your mouth.

"Ready?" he resumes his stance behind the punching bag. I'm not ready to keep punching, but if I said that, Liam would tell me some story about how when he was doing this, he'd go on for hours without stopping. I have no idea how true that tale is, but I'm not in the mood of listening to another similar story, so I nod, roll my shoulders, and get back into my own position.

Liam starts a timer and I start punching. At first, it was a bit hard, considering Liam was asking me to be violent, but then he told me to pretend that the bag was Bangs Boy. Then it got easier.

"This time, I want you to go slow and make sure your punches aren't just hard touches."

"Isn't that what a punch is?"

Liam rolls his eyes. "No. This is a hard touch." he comes over and not-very-lightly whacks my shoulder. Liam's a big guy, so it actually hurts. "This is a punch." He screws the punching glove, and punches the bag so hard its seam rips a little. "See the difference?"

I nod. "Do I have to rip the seam?"

He frowns. "No, why would you ask that?"

"You ripped the seam."

He mutters something along the lines of this is why I don't do this anymore under his breath. "If I don't fix that, even a baby can tear it apart."

"I wanna see that!"

"Shut up." Liam leaves the room to get whatever it is he needs to fix the punching bag, which finally gives me some time to sneak off the stuffy gloves that have been covering my hands for the past two hours. It feels good to move my fingers again.

I allow my mind to wander around and get lost in the "pointless" world of thoughts (hey, I think thoughts are pretty important), and I wonder what and how I ended up boxing. Then I remember last night. Then I remember why last night was last night. Then I remember That Idiot.

Some bug decides that's the best opportunity ever to go buzzzzzz in my face. As upset as I am right now, this bug just signed its death warrant.

Without thinking, I slam my hand back into the wall, squishing the bug without.

"STOP MURDERING THE WALL! IF YOU NEED TO MURDER SOMETHING GO PUNCH THE PUNCHING BAG YOU'VE BEEN PUNCHING!" Dr. Daniel yells from the other room.

But I'm not listening.

I'm staring at my hand like I've gotten some new powers.

Liam finds me like that five minutes later and asks me what happens.

"I just squashed a bug. A living thing."

"So?"

"Liam, I don't feel guilty."

A/N: Short chapter compared to the last one, I know, sorry!