Angel of Fire - the Breath of Immortality - Book One #Wattys2014

The Punisher

Chapter 1 - The Punisher

"Pick up your heels, Chaos!" Mr. Gonzer barked from the covered sideline bleachers. I glared at him in mutinous silence as I jogged past, half frozen and soaked to the bone.

I didn't just have a problem with authority figures in general, I had an even bigger issue with teachers on a power trip. Once, just once, I wanted to be the one dishing out the discipline to give Gonzer a taste of his own daily torture. If I was granted one wish, I'd use it to rip the roof off the bleachers, allowing him to experience firsthand how it felt to get blasted by a torrent of rain and mud. Just the thought of him covered in ooze made me all warm and tingly inside.

Too bad I never got what I wished for.

Not only was he the high school's gym teacher, Mr. Gonzer was also the principal, as well as a former Navy Seal. Some even say ex-mercenary. Nicknamed the Punisher he made...uh, more like forced all Freshman to run the mile through the pouring rain for basically two reasons. First, because he wanted to show us who was boss. As if we needed reminding. And second, because torturing his students with the lame Michigan weather at the beginning of each new school year was somehow supposed to build character, while also improving our attitudes.

Personally, I disagreed. Running in near freezing temperatures through the pouring rain didn't do a thing for my crappy attitude. It just made me cold, wet, and extremely prone to bad behavior.

On the last lap around the track I led the pack far ahead of my classmates, but it wasn't enough for Gonzer. Rounding the final turn, I heard him bellowing his disapproval for my so-called poor performance.

"C'mon, Darlin'. You can do better than that. Dig deep, Chaos!"

Nobody likes a monkey on their back. Especially me. I needed to fix that. So I decided to do just what he said.

I dug deep.

Gritting my teeth, I switched to an outside lane on my right and headed straight toward a giant mud puddle threatening to flood the bleachers where Gonzer had perched himself, so conveniently sheltered from the storm.

Anger spiking, I picked up speed as I approached. The instant my foot hit the water a fierce heat surrounded me, drawing pent-up energy deep down inside like a bomb ready to go off. The wimpy splash I'd intended to cause somehow morphed into an explosion; the effect reminding me of a stone tossed in water so that the energy spilled out in ripples creating a shock wave.

Only it didn't stop there.

A low bass drop made my ears pop as the rain soaked ground shook violently under my feet. Scrambling back to the track, I had to keep on running just to stay ahead of the earth shattering energy now biting at my heels like a heat seeking missile locked on a target.

Oblivious to the destructive power heading his way, Gonzer only seemed to care that I'd veered off course. Fumbling for the shiny silver whistle he always wore around his neck, the shrill sound it made as he blew it struck my ears as I shot past the finish line like a bullet.

The expanding blast reduced Gonzer's beloved shelter to a pile of splintered rubble in seconds, along with twenty rows of bleachers as if purposefully aimed.

Bulls-eye!

Heart slamming furiously against my rib-cage, body feeling like it was on fire, I skidded to an abrupt halt and spun around in hope of catching even a tiny glimpse of his reaction.

I wasn't disappointed.

The assault on my hearing was a small price to pay for the pleasure of watching his face, which at first appeared to be a mixture of half-embarrassment, half-shock, morph into an extremely satisfying look of pure rage, as the rest of the class fast approaching the scene took turns jockeying for position to gawk at Gonzer.