Page 26 of Ravaged From Fate

Caspian keeps his head down and continues along his path. I drive alongside him for another minute before I dare to speak again.

“You sure you don’t want a lift into town?”

“No.”

I’ve reached the end here. I can’t pressure him anymore unless I want to be an asshole.

“See you around, Caspian,” I say before putting my foot down on the gas and speeding past him towards East Springs.

Strange guy...

I keep an eye on him through my rearview mirror until he finally fades into the distance.

I want to find out more about the guy. He’s hiding something, I can tell, and the last thing East Springs needs is for those gang members to keep popping up in town searching for him.

I just know that if trouble comes to my town, then I’m going to have to be the one who has to clean it up.

13

CASPIAN

I’m standing outside the boxing gym, and I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. It’s like that Clash song I’ve played a million times…

Should I stay, or should I go?

That conversation with Elsa on the side of the road the other day has got me thinking that maybe I should come back to this place. Maybe I should learn to deal with and live with my aggression. I mean, that’s why I’ve left Los Angeles, is it not?

For too long I have been afraid of what I’m capable of when I lose control and my fists are raised. Maybe the confines of a boxing ring might be the right kind of environment to understand what’s boiling deep inside. Let it out in a controlled way.

Maybe it’s exactly what I need.

Damn, Elsa. You’ve planted thoughts in my head. No one does that.

She really did put the idea in my head. I didn’t want to talk to her on that road because I was scared of revealing myself to her. The kind and gentle way she talks to me – like I am an actual human being and not some musical product to make money from – somehow breaks down my walls and makes me want to tell her everything about myself. I’ve really never felt that way with anyone else before, and it frightens the hell out of me. I had to be curt with her on that road just so that I wouldn’t crumble and potentially tell her something I do not want her to know. Somehow, Elsa’s hold over me is overpowering.

I purge all thoughts of the pretty nurse out of my head and take a step inside East Springs’ boxing gym.

Juniper sees me first. She smiles at me from a punching bag she has just been laying into only moments ago.

“Good to see you back, Caspian,” she says, her blue eyes regarding me with an easy curiosity.

Cyrus is lifting weights in the far corner. Juniper turns towards him.

“Caspian’s here, Cyrus.”

The giant Samoan drops his weights and strolls over, giving me a friendly fist bump.

“Welcome back, bro.”

“Thanks,” I grunt.

It’s a bigger welcome from the two of them than I expected after walking out so dramatically last time. They’re inviting me back in with open arms with no judgment, and I respect the hell out of that.

“What can I do for you?” Cyrus asks me. Juniper stops her exercising, listening for my reply.

“How about another sparring match?” I question.

A wide smile erupts on the Samoan’s face.