Immortal Memory (Iris' Atlantis 1)

9: The Witch Town

Timothy

Three weeks.

I hit hard the sac. Right, left. Right. Dodge. Right. A drop of sweat approached an eye. I swiped it on my shirt. The sleeve was already rather humid. The movement was awkward due to the two bulky boxing gloves I was wearing. I hadn't even known I still owned them. But there they had been in the storage room, forgotten and alone with my ancient gym bag.

I hadn't slept.

I had tried to do an assignment still in the evening while Plume played his guitar in his own little mental world. But during the evening, the pointlessness of the task had eaten up almost all of my motivation. If I became a vampire, I doubted I would feel like continuing my studies. And if my family wasn't there, I doubted I would have the fire to continue either. And if I was dead, well... Suddenly school had seemed like a rather trivial detail.

And at eight in the morning after a sleepless night, it had suddenly seemed like the perfect idea to try discovering what things were worth living for exactly.

Front, back, front, dodge, front. I gave the sac a few tentative kicks. Very softly. Even then the thing swayed violently.

Endorfine. I had always responded well to physical activities. Even this body felt it. This body that wasn't mine. That was the underlying reason why I had given in to Valentina's practice.

Damnit.

I had known I couldn't...

No... I hadn't known. I hadn't thought.

The sac swayed as I aimed two more kicks at it. Even when I had aimed the second kick to counter the swaying movement. I was supposed to do boxing. I steadied it with my gloved hands and returned to hitting it.

I wasn't surprised. It actually made total sense.

If I had been a vampire.

"A vampire controlled by the human world is a dangerous vampire, Timothy. I will not allow my son to be dangerous if he doesn't choose to be. Drop."

Mo's words from three years ago rang in my ears.

Controlled by the human world. Mo wouldn't allow me to be controlled by the human world. She wouldn't let me be human. And there were three simple solutions to eliminating human control in my life.

I tried to jump kick the sac to the other end of the gym room. I slipped. And hit the less than gentle laminate floor ribs first.

A shocked laugh escaped my lips. I pushed myself to a sitting position, feeling lightheaded. Shameful enough, it seemed I had slipped on my own sweat.

Neither of the two other students had paid any attention. Both had music streamed into their ears and they seemed absorbed in their running cycles.

I was almost certain I hadn't broken anything, but I didn't feel like hitting anything anymore either. So I lifted myself off the floor. Without thinking, I took my shirt off and wiped the sweat off the floor with it. I had a towel in the bag, but it was at the other end of the room. And I wanted to shower. And I wanted a clean towel afterwards. The shirt wasn't exactly dry to start with. It wasn't a clean shirt anymore.

I walked to the changing rooms. As I went, I passed the dojo. The curtain wasn't drawn and I could clearly see a morning kettlebell session taking place. No Valentina. No Blizzard.

After the shower, when I came back to my bag to an empty changing room, I felt my ribs with a hand, pushing lightly. It kind of itched. But the hip felt worse. I would probably bear a huge bruise there in a few days. It would blend in well with the rest. I was still blotted white and purple after wrestling with Valentina. Bruises took time to heal. I had forgotten about that.