Caught up in your web

01

Here I am, once again, alone at the gym. The air hangs heavy with the scent of chalk, the cold air brushed against my sweat glistened body. As I walk to the edge of the mattress, I took a deep breath and try to regain focus amidst the fatigue and frustration, this time I'm going to stick it. I position myself, preparing to do the floor routine that I've poured all my heart and soul into - the countless hours of training, the early mornings and the late nights I've spent perfecting my moves.

This routine is more than just a series of flips and twist. Performing these moves perfectly is the prove of my dedication - a testament to what I've achieved after I pushed myself through fatigue, frustration and fears. I'd be lying if I say I don't get the nerves every time I'm about to begin. The fact that I'm still feeling it, act as a reminder that I'm about to do something beyond my comfort zone. If I stick this, then I'll acknowledge that I have Improved my skills as a gymnast.

The routine flows seamlessly, I moved with precision, grace, and confidence. Doing one move after the other, so far so good. But here comes the hardest part, the Double Layout 2 1/2, if I can just nail this , then my routine will be perfect. I was feeling good going into the move, but then halfway through it, I started to doubt myself, a little bit, but it was enough to ruin my focus and I messed up the landing, another failure - the 26th of the day.

Have you ever get this feeling where you know you're able to do something, that if you do this part just a little bit better, then that's it? you've perfectly did what you wanted to do. But it also frustrated you that you never did that part just a little bit better even after countless tries? yeah, that's the feeling that gnaws through me right now.

I stand back up, tired, frustrated, but determined. I was going back to the edge of the mattress when I saw the clock, it was late, really late that I almost couldn't believe that I've been in the gym for that long. So I decided to call it a day and started to clean the gym before I went home, luckily there's no class tomorrow so I don't have to worry about getting up late.

I put on my jacket to ward of the cold night air and begin to walk home, usually I'll listen to music as I walk but it's already so late that I don't feel safe doing it. As I was passing by an alleyway, I hear a loud crash coming from the back of it. "Whoah!!", I flinched a bit at the loud noise, I mean who wouldn't when it was coming from a dark and creepy alley. But then I hear a grunt just a moment later, my fear has turned into curiosity and worry, is somebody hurt back there?

I'm contemplating of going through the alley and checking if there's actually someone who's hurt or just continue walking....

Fuck me and my altruistic self, if I leave now this will only weigh on my conscience...

So I started walking through the dark alley, trying to be as quiet as possible, I did not see anything so far, but there's a corner up ahead. I hug the side of the wall and try to take a peek from around the corner as slowly as possible, if it turns out to be some shady or creepy shit then I can just quickly run away without being noticed, I hope....

But then I saw it, a person wearing some sort of costume, crashed onto a pile of boxes, and it looks like they're unconscious, my eyes widens and I sprint towards them.

"Oh fuck!!, what happened to you?!?" I said as I got closer to the body, it was a girl. A part of her mask has been torn, revealing a blonde hair and a piercing on her right eyebrow. I can see that she's still breathing, although heavily. So, amidst the panic, I started gently tapping her cheek to try and wake her up. "Hey, can you hear me?? If you can, just hold on okay??", as I take a closer look, her body looks badly beaten, and she's bleeding from a couple places.

"Ooh goood, okay, ummm, you're badly hurt" I begin to panic, wondering if she'll make it, "I uhhh, I'm going to call for an ambulance okay?? I'll stay with you, so hold on until they arrive". Before I could type in the number, I felt something grabbing the sleeve of my jacket, I immediately looks up and noticed that she's awake, and with all the strength she has left she finally spoke, "No.... hospital...." she said faintly. Her blue eyes pierced through me with so much determination.

I don't know what her reason was to avoid going to the hospital, but, if she doesn't want to go that much then I can only comply to her request. "Alright, I wont take you there, but you still need to get treated, so I'm taking you to my place, okay?" the girl could only nod as she begins to lose consciousness.

"Alright y/n, you can do this... probably" I mutter to myself, my heart racing with a mixture of worry and panic. I remove my jacket and place it on the floor beside her. My hands tremble slightly as I carefully lift her, and place her on top of it, trying to put the jacket on her so that she's protected from the cold air. My palm slide beneath her shoulder, one hand gently supporting the back of her head and the other cradling her chest using my forearm. A gentle shift, and her upper body settles against my back as I positioned myself to carry her.

As I stand, I adjust my grip, shifting her just a bit to find a more secure position. "Ugghhh," she groans softly in response to the movement. "Shit, sorry, sorry, I know it hurts" I whisper, my voice filled with concern, as I start the slow walk towards my apartment.