Page 86 of Falling Too Late

Pam shook her head and turned away from me. I didn’t know why she was even taking this class when it was obvious where her mindset was.

“How many times should we hit them?” Cary, another girl who had joined a few years after me, asked.

“Depends.”

Her eyes were steady with mine. “On?”

Cary was a quiet girl.Hauntedwas the look in her eyes. She’d showed up one day and had taken every class she could get into ever since. First, she would just stand back and watch. Slowly she got comfortable enough to start working one-on-one. I had my suspicions about her. I kept my eyes on her. Searching for the signs.

“On if you want to keep fighting that demon forever. Or if you want it to stop. My suggestion, hit them until their face is caved in.”

The class went on longer. Eventually some people left, and a mat opened. Mario and I stepped up to it. We always ended each class with a demonstration, showing what all the skills we were teaching would look like when they became proficient.

People started to surround the mat, a good crowd forming. We circled each other, hands out in front of us. This time, I made the first move, stepping in and throwing some jabs at him, trying to get an opening where I could force him to the ground. He easily maneuvered his way out of it.

“Gonna actually get me to the ground this time?” I jeered at him, a grin on my face. Fighting was a rush that I loved. It made me feel powerful for just a little while. Like my past never happened.

“I’ll get you on your back, you’ll see.” Mario smirked and I rolled my eyes.

Mario stepped first and I managed to sidestep him. My first instinct was always to go on the defense. Block, evade. It took a few moves to get myself ready to go on attack.

Out of the corner of my eye, a large figure stood taller than anyone in the crowd. Without thinking, I turned my head, locking eyes with Alex.

Pure hatred was on his face.

And then Mario took the opening to kick me right in my stomach.

All the air left me, and my vision went fuzzy.

“Wren!” I heard my name, followed by shouting.

Everything blurred. Mario loomed over me. “Fuck, are you okay?”

A loud ringing started in my ears. I turned my head and saw the figure’s back. He was walking away.

It can’t be him. He can’t be here. Alex is dead.

Twenty minutes later and I was finally sitting up, sipping water. The students had filtered their way out once the chaos had ended.

“Wren, talk to me.” Mario was crouched in front of me, concern filling his face.

Marshall, the gym owner, was there too. “What happened?”

“We were just going at it on the mat, and she didn’t block my kick. Knocked her out,” Mario explained.

“Wren?”

I looked up at Marshall, and a red blinking light caught my attention.

“Cameras. I need to see the security footage,” I wheezed the words out, still trying to catch my breath from the blow.

I felt like I was going insane. Not once in the five years since Alex’s death did I see him or hallucinate him. Sure, there had been times I hoped that maybe he would walk around the corner like this whole mess never happened, but I never actually saw him.

Mario and Marshall looked at each other, but they didn’t argue.

I stood behind Marshall as he pulled up the footage on the office computer. He rewound it till we saw Mario and I step up to the mat.

On the screen, I stared at the crowd carefully while Mario and I circled each other. I looked about ready to give up when, on the edge of the feed, someone’s shoulder appeared just as I got kicked to the ground.

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