Fighting a New World

36

Carter's POV

My eyes shoot open while my heart beats out of my chest. I gasp for air as I clawed my way out of bed. I get tripped and tangled with the sheets but it barely slows me down.

Callum stirs behind me but I don't pay him any attention as I stumbled to the spare bedroom.

I don't have time to let myself think as my fist makes contact with the bag for the first time. The force was nearly enough to make the bag hit the wall but I don't stop there.

You seriously call that a punch, Jax's dad's voice echoes.

My next hits come harder and faster until my wrist is nearly killing me.

That's better, now fucking aim. Break the guy's nose right off the bat and get it over with.

My scattered punches begin to tighten into a condensed area but I don't stop.

There you go. That's my little fighting machine. Now keep at it. You keep going like this until I come back to get you.

My mind goes blank as I stared at the bag, my punches never slowed or got weaker as I imagined the bag as a random face.

His nose was bleeding and with every hit more blood poured down and collected on my hand. His lip was busted and his eyes were nearly swollen shut. Bruises lay up and down his temples but he still wouldn't pass out so I continued.

Sweat dripped into my eyes but I only blinked it out until it was running down my face. My chest felt like it was on fire and my lungs begged for me to stop but I couldn't.

You keep going like this until I come back to get you.

He should be home soon.

He probably just went on a beer run. His favorite spot was only a few minutes away so he'll be back any second now. This whole thing was just an obedience test. Do what he says and be rewarded or take it easy and pay the price.

Just a few more minutes and then you can stop.

My chest heaved while my vision blurred for a second. It became hard to focus but my hits never softened. The ground felt like it was moving to the point where I was having trouble standing but I forced myself to push through it.

Only a few more minutes, then you can stop.

"For fucks sake Carter fucking stop!" A hand grabs mine before turning me around.

My hand pulls away and before I can stop it, my fist is connecting with the person's face.

He falls to the ground, cupping his cheek before looking up to me.

I go to climb on top of him when his hair moves off his face and I realize its Callum.

My heart stops as I take everything in.

Liam and Ryder stare at me from the door while Callum looks like he's trying to gather his thoughts.

"It's not your fault," Callum starts as he tries to come closer but I'm already backing away.

Then I felt it.

Someone was on the couch.

I don't spare him another glance as I fall back and push the next person up.

The second I'm on the couch I was gone.

My feet lead me to my room without me having to do anything. The next thing I know, I've shoved myself into the small closet as tears raced down my face.

Callum's POV

My jaw hurt.

I'll admit I wished we could have come up with something better and
I knew it was a stupid idea but nothing else was working.

We had tried everything we could think of but he didn't acknowledge anything at that point. His knuckles had already started to bleed and he looked like he was about to pass out so time was starting to run out.