Shadows Peak |✔

Chapter 28: Jasper

Jasper found himself skipping breakfast, opting to spend his morning in the gym. Barely past sunrise, he was the only one there and took advantage of the peaceful moment; not having to worry about a crowd of observers who were probably dying to ask him what it was like being friends with a "terrorist".

He was sweating profusely as he punched the sand-filled bag that hung from the ceiling.

Four days. Four excruciatingly long days with no progress!

Each hit resulted in small streams of sand escaping through cracks of the leather-cased punching bag.

What hope do I have? Whoever is responsible for this probably had the footage deleted.

Grains stuck to his sweat drenched chest as he moved.

What was I thinking, giving her false hope that I could clear her name?!

Jasper kept throwing jabs until he let out all his built up frustration.

The sound of loud clapping filled the empty gym, causing Jasper to turn around.

"Nice effort, Pierce. But, there's always room for improvement when it comes to you."

Jasper fought back the urge to respond, not wanting to waste a minute of his free day on Baron.

"Maybe I could give you some lessons. You know, teach you how to throw a real punch," Baron taunted, throwing jabs and hooks into the air with perfect form.

Jasper shook his head, gathering his things so he could leave as soon as possible. He could sense Baron getting edgy at being ignored, but Jasper had more important things to worry about.

He was walking past Baron, almost to the door when he froze mid-step at what Baron said next.

"It's a real shame Sydney's not here. Even she could teach you a thing or two. I'm sure you would have liked that," he said suggestively with a wicked grin on his face. "Rabbit's are hard to catch, but I hear they're delicious. Even I'd let her show me some...moves."

Everything in Jasper told him not to react; he knew Baron was just trying to get a reaction out of him, but he couldn't help himself. Hearing him talk about Sydney like that pushed him over the edge.

He turned around and marched right over to Baron; each step making Baron's victorious smile grow bigger.

Without saying a word, Jasper connected his fist to Baron's face.

"I warned you not to mention them! I told you that if I heard you say even one of their names I'd-"

The wind was knocked out of him before he could finish his sentence when Baron tackled him to the ground. All of Baron's weight landed on him, causing his vision to blur from the force.

Jasper ended up taking three punches to the side before he was able to land one on Baron's jaw.

Dangit!

He was extremely disappointed when he didn't hear the cracking of bones upon impact, but realized he needed to focus. Unfortunatley, he was too late and caught a knee to the stomach.

"Hey, hey, hey!" a man yelled from a distance.

Jasper recognized that the voice belonged to Mick, the gym owner.

"You two, knock it off!" Mick yelled.

Jasper froze, but Baron got one last punch in before doing the same.

Honor-less prick.

It took less than ten minutes before Sergeant Payne arrived. Jasper tried to convince Mick not to call him, but the old man wasn't cooperative.