Hello Darkness

Chapter Twenty - Eight

Jab.

Jab.

Knee.

Knee.

Jab.

I find myself sweating through my shirt after fifteen minutes with Talum's coaching. He's randomly calling out shots to improve my reflexes. Maybe it was what we saw together that made him take me seriously, but I'm grateful he does. And he's not just telling me he'll protect me—he's showing me how to protect myself. My chest squeezes, and not from shortness of breath.

"You've still got it," he says, letting me catch my breath and tosses me my water bottle. "But what do you say, we test you on a real opponent."

"We've already done that. And, you're not a very challenging opponent."

He cocks his head and circles around my back. "Is that so? And what would you like—for me to flatten you in your own house?"

He circles around in front of me. "Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe..." His voice soft and low, and he lifts his eyebrow.

Half of me wants to feel his arms around me, but the other half—the sweaty half—wants to decline and squirm away.

I toss my water to the side and circle with him, never letting him out of my sight. "And what do I get if I take you down?"

"Well, that's not going to happen."

I lift my chin and smirk. "Are you saying your training isn't good enough?"

"My training is the best." He leans in, his breath tickling my ear. "But, I'm better."

His closeness steals my breath, but I catch it. "Oh, really?" I hold my hands up in surrender. "What's your wager?"

He crosses one arm and rubs the shadow of scruff under his chin with the other. "One for one."

I lift my eyebrow. "Deal." I've already told all of mine.

We circle once more then jab. He blocks it, so fast I didn't see his hand move. Left. Right. He stops each one.

I pull back and spin coming back to with my forearm aimed at his neck. He doesn't block this time. Instead, he ducks to the side and I collapse into him. His hands fasten around my waist.

I lose control of my body as I shake with laughter and squirm, trying to release myself from Talum's wiggling fingers. I can't remember the last time I've been tickled. But it feels so good to laugh. "Not fair!"

He lifts me over his shoulder and acts as if he was going to slam me onto the mat. Instead, he falls to his knees and lays me down gently, a blazing smile on his lips. "It's perfectly fair. I was teaching you a lesson."

"You were?" I come down from the giggling high, a stray laugh escaping.

"Expect the unexpected."

I wipe the sweat from my forehead. "I don't think I have to worry about him tickling me." His body still hovers just inches above mine. His eyes lingering on my lips. It's just a few inches. He could do it. I would let him kiss me.

I bite my lip as he rolls off onto his back, breaths heavy. My chest tightens, but it stings too. I found my neighbors dead just a few short days ago—their funeral is tomorrow, and here I am laughing in the garage, yards away from their home. Enjoying a moment of my life, when theirs was stripped away because of me. Lilly's life is destroyed. She's probably gone to sleep crying for her parents every night, and I'm laughing.