WnW 2.4

He just hit me. My thoughts kept looping back to that realization, that another human being had just punched me. I’d gotten into scraps before with bullies in middle school, but that felt like a lifetime ago.

Aaron’s expression was neutral, relaxed like he handled violence as just another farm chore. He gestured. “Come on. Try and hit me.”

I took a breath, straightened up, and glared at him. “I’m not going to do that. I’m going to report you for assault and child abuse.”

Aaron’s arms lowered a little. “You need to change your thinking. Why are you thinking about going to the authorities?” Suddenly he took a stride towards me. I raised my hands, protecting my face. It felt like a hammer hit me in the gut. All the air was driven from my lungs and when I tried to gasp, no air flowed back in. I sank to my knees, fingers curling into the dirt as I failed to breathe.

“No one is going to save you from this,” Aaron said coldly. “So your options are to fight back or to give up and become my punchin’ bag.”

I finally sucked in air and felt my thoughts come rushing back at once. It’s just pain. I could handle pain. Compared to facing down a monster, this was nothing.

I slowly pushed myself up, watching Aaron closely to see when his next strike would come. He let me get up, hands at his sides.

“Your son’s name is Jason, right?”

“I told you, we ain’t talkin’.” Aaron swung again, but this time I was ready, stepping back and leaning out of the way.

I clenched my fists and raised them. “You hurt him.”

“He’s weak. He needs to learn that won’t be tolerated.”

My anger bubbled up from my gut. “He’s a kid! How… Why would…” My sentences wouldn’t come out. For a moment I thought I smelled a whiff of solvents. “Kids shouldn’t have to learn those kinds of lessons.”

Aaron flexed his fingers. “I’m just preparin’ him for what’s to come. You both should be grateful for the lesson.”

Calm down, I told myself. But it wasn’t helping. I wanted to hit him so bad. 

Aaron noticed my change in expression. “There we go.”

Thoughts rushed through my head. Martial arts I’d seen on TV, boxing matches, MMA. I’d never learned any, but I admired the footwork on display in those matches. That was something I could do. And reach was important, right? I was taller, my punches should have more reach.

Stepping forward, I feigned a jab at him. He didn’t even blink. I raised my leg and Aaron reacted, reaching out to grab it. So I dropped it and pivoted, stomping him in the chest with my other foot. He took a step back, grunting.

My confidence grew as I stepped forward. He swung a fist and I backed out of his range, then back in to kick him in the shin. I was quick on my feet, I could dance around him, never letting him-

Aaron charged at me, I backpedaled, caught off guard by the sudden aggression. I raised my arms, protecting my face, but he didn’t throw a punch, instead lunging low and tackling me. My back hit the stony ground painfully and I lost my breath again for a moment.

His fist crashed into my face, my head bounced off the ground and stars danced around in my vision. Aaron’s body blocked out the sun as he rained blows down on me. I did my best to defend, but he kept finding the gaps in my arms.

“Tryna… be… clever,” Aaron said, breathing out with each punch.

I tried to roll away but his weight was pressing down on me. Panic settled in, making my vision blurry. Desperately, I clawed at his face and he relented, getting off of me. I scrambled to get up, only for something to slam into my ribs, sending waves of pain through me.

“Stop thinking,” Aaron said. “That’s why you’re weak. To be a man is to act.”

He kicked me again and I curled up, protecting my stomach. “S-stop,” I gasped, tearing up.

“Words won’t save you. C’mon-” Another kick, glancing off my head. “Fight back!” he shouted. “Are you expecting me to have mercy? You grew up soft. Your parents probably coddled you. But this is reality, boy. You want this to end? You have to end it yourself.”

My eyes squeezed shut. The half-remembered faces of my bullies. Chase’s smile. My dad’s haunted eyes. The hurt wormed deeper into my heart. I thought I had found something. A purpose. But Chase had pulled the rug out from under me. It turns out I wasn’t brave, he had dulled my fear with his power. I couldn’t fight. I was helpless.

“Look at me!” Aaron bellowed.

Pain seared across my scalp as Aaron seized a handful of my hair and wrenched me up. “My God gave you a gift, just like me. But it’s being wasted. Show me your strength. Prove to me you’re worthy of being chosen.”

I kept my eyes shut, scrabbling at his hands, trying to make him let go.

He released me and I collapsed back to the ground, my breath hitching.

“Fine,” I heard him say. Then his grip settled on my arm, twisting it painfully behind my back.

“I’m going to break your arm,” he declared calmly.

“Stop it!” I cried out.

He only put more pressure and I gasped. It felt like he was going to tear my arm off. The pain kept building, climbing up in a spiral, searing like fire.

I retreated deeper and deeper inside my mind, trying to find respite. But the fire was there too. The pressure built and I felt something break inside me. My thoughts were wiped clean and all was silent for a moment. 

Rage spilled forth. It ripped through my veins, it beat against the inside of my skin, screaming with an all-consuming voice, I want out.

I set it free. I felt my skin tear open and something broke free. It sounded like a hundred dry branches snapping, a crackling roar, the sound of lightning made of broken bones.

The pressure on my arm was released. I was free. I lurched forward, trying to run and only getting a few steps before I fell. I rolled, something jamming painfully into my side. Opening my eyes, I saw Aaron, standing in front of the barn entrance. One arm hung limply at his side as he hauled the barn door open. Blood gushed from several spots, holes like he had been gouged by a bull’s horns. His hand was split open between the third and fourth finger.

For a moment, I glimpsed his expression. Shock, but also satisfaction. Then he slammed the barn door shut behind him.

I rolled onto my back, raising my arm to block the sun. The silhouette of something rose into view. It looked like the branch of a dead tree, bereft of leaves. Hardly good for shade, I thought.

A face came into view. It was the boy, Jason. He just stared at me.

“Hey,” I mumbled through swollen lips.

“Why did you do that?” he asked. His expression was sullen.

I winced as I sat up. My shoulder ached and I felt sore all over. The heat of the incredible anger I had felt was still present, like the coals of a fire. “Just so you know, it isn’t normal for a parent to beat up their kid.”

“Just so you know,” Jason shot back. “You didn’t save me from anything. He’ll just make it worse next time.”

Jason held his arm, where red marks still showed where Aaron had grabbed him. The kid had scrapes and bruises all along his arms and legs.

“Shit,” I said. “Does he do this to Gail too?”

Jason shook his head. “Just me.”

“Why?”

“I haven’t shown him my gift.”

“What is this gift that everyone keeps talking about?” I asked, frustrated.

Jason looked up, eyes wide. He pointed to my arm. “That’s a gift.”

I looked down. Ivory white bone protruded from my forearm. Had I broken a bone? I don’t feel anything. The bone didn’t resemble what I recalled from human anatomy class. It extended a short way and then forked into two smaller extensions. At the end of one was another fork, small and ending in sharp points that still had blood on them. Aaron’s blood, I realized. 

With shaking fingers, I felt around where it exited my skin and found that there was no blood, no pain. It was an antler, growing out of my arm.