Keep Fighting, Tracci Fisher [books to read for self improvement .txt] 📗

Jason stood over me still swinging the knife. The knife was getting closer to my face. I put my hand up to protect my face. My hand started to sting as the blade cut across my palm. Jason stopped and turned the blade around watching the blood drip from the sharp tip. I put my hand down and watched the red overtake my palm.

Jason was so distracted by the blood that I was able to tiptoe a couple feet away before his focus turned back me. I was his limping prey and he was the predator preparing for a final, fatal pounce. He lounged at me, but his hands only found the air. I was running down the sidewalk again with him panting behind me. My hand was bleeding profusely, so held it up against my shoulder to try and stop the blood loss. 

I was losing speed again. Seeing that I was near my neighbors house, I cut through her front yard and ducked behind the bushes against the house nextdoor. My breathing was loud and heavy; I put my uninjured hand across my mouth to muffle the noise. I crouched down against the brick exterior of the house. Jason's monstrous shadow against my neighbors house made me flinch. He was slowing to a halt right in front of the house. I started through the yard towards me. I stopped breathing and sat as still as stone to increase my invisibilty. He stood near the bush tightening his hand around the knife. He looked around and then stared toward my house. He whispered "coward" under his breath. The word stung like my hand.

"Did you hear me Walker?! You're a damn coward, and you have always been a coward!" He screamed. "Why don't you finish what you started here?! Why don't you come over here and stand up as you did back there?! I'm heading back to that kid and I'm gonna tell him that his so-called savior turned out to be nothing more than huge coward!"

He stood there watching my house. I saw someone peek through the curtains on my back window. It looked like Rachel. Jason saw the curtain move.

"I see you Walker!" He shouted, "I see you, you damn coward!" He put emphasis on coward.

I hated that word so much.

Rachel closed the curtains. The bedroom light turned on in my neighbors house. Jason turned and ran back down the street.

I stood back up when I knew he was down the street. My neighbor opened her curtains and looked at me. She looked frightened by my injuries and reached for her phone. I watched her dial 9-1-1. I heard a door open and someone calling my name. Rachel was standing in the doorway.

"What the hell is going on?!" She saw my bruises and covered her shocked expression with her hand.

I thought about the boy back by the trees and I bolted forward still holding my side. Rachel called after me.

"Where are you going Alex?!"

But I was already down the street. Knowing that Jason had a headstart, I started running as fast as I could after him. He was rounding the street corner when I got back on the sidewalk. I yelled his name, trying to get his attention. He glanced back my way, but he didn't stop. I rounded the corner after him. I saw something coming at me from the corner of my eye. Jason's fist made a connection with my temple. I felt myself falling to the ground; my ears were ringing and my head felt numb. I put my hand to my temple. My fingers were red when I pulled away. Jason appeared out of the shadow of the building. He was cackling  under his breath.

"I knew I could coax you out," he grinned, "you're too much of a martyr to let that weakling get clobbered."

He circled around me cracking his knuckles and planning his next move.

"That's your biggest flaw Alex, you're too nice. You think that maybe you can start a change in the world by protecting these geeks and losers. You're just standing in the way of the natural order."

I sat up and wiped the blood from my head. "You're wrong, Jason."

Jason knelt down with his face an inch away from mine. 

"I know I'm right. I know everything that goes on in the stupid little head of yours." He pushed his index finger hard  into the center of my forehead.

I pushed his finger away. "You were right about that, but that's not the whole plan." I stood up carefully; my legs still felt weak. "That was my first plan, but lately, I was thinking about how I was going to accomplish this task." I limped over to the building and leaned against the cool brick wall. I could tell that I had Jason's full attention now. "There's one positive outcome of being a martyr to a bunch of bullied kids."

"And what's that?" Jason cackled nervously.

"People look at you as a role model. They started to think 'hey, if he can stand up to those jerks then I can too,' and they feel more confident. But wait, that's not all. They start finding others like them and get together; that way they're never alone, which makes them less scared of guys like you."

Jason's face went red. He ran at me full force cursing my name. He tried punching me in the stomach, but I blocked his shot. He pushed me to the ground and kicked me in the side. I watched him pull his knife out of his back pocket and taunt me with it. "Why don't I give you a new scar on your face to match your hand." He cocked back his hand and tightened his grip on the blade. The glow of the street light behind me gleamed in the steel blade. 

I looked into Jason's eyes as I laid with my back pushed against the blacktop. All I saw was hatred. There was no sign of hesitation in his eye; no reason or hope for him to pause. I knew that if I didn't do something soon, I was a dead man. I shifted to the side and pushed Jason's arm out from under him. I rolled to the side as he fell to the ground. He hit the pavement face first. The knife fell from his hand and scraped against the ground.

I stood up quickly to get the upper hand. Jason rolled onto his side and put his hand to his nose. There was blood on the concrete. He sat up and wiped the blood  from his face. I looked down at the knife still gleaming from the street lights. Jason went to reach for the blade, but I kicked it away before he could grab it. The blade slid into the shadow of the brick building and was engulfed by the darkness. I stood over Jason; the tables had been turned. The power felt odd. Jason was just watching the path of the blade with blood running down his chin. He looked back up at me. His cursed through his teeth as he stood up. I stepped back by default, but then I took two steps forward, decreasing the distance between us.

Jason wiped the blood one more time, leaving a red stain on his jacket sleeve. "What now, mr. hero?"

I took another step forward. "I just want you to back off and leave these kids alone."

"And what are you going to do to enforce that, huh?" he cackled.

"I'll fight you. Let's make it an even fight and keep weapons out of it."

He laughed in my face. "How is a coward like you going to win in a fight against me?"

I took a couple steps to the right. Jason followed my moves and stayed facing me. The only way that I would make it out is if I  I distracted him. I decided I would try to take away his power. "I going to win either way."

He stopped laughing. His eye widened. "What do you mean that you'll win either way?"

I snickered. "If I were to beat you in a fight, then you lose and leave us alone. If you kill me, which going by the  fact that I pretty much ruined your life with that last fight you probably would, then you would go to jail because the police should be here soon and there are witnesses that saw your face. And if you were to run from the fight, you'll be a coward. It's that simple."

 He stopped for a minute and just stared at me. I saw him ball his hands into fists so tight until his knuckles were white. Well, atleast I tried. I squared up and prepared for the fight. I was waiting for him to speak, or throw the first punch. He just started laughing again.

"What's so funny?"

He put his hands up. "I have nothing to lose. My family already hates me. They wouldn't give two shits if I went to jail." He kept opening and closing his hands. "How bad could it be, right." Jason lunged forward at me with his right hand cocked back ready to go. I moved out of the way, barely missing his fist. Jason lost his footing in the lunge and tripped. I squared up again and waited for him to get up. He looked at me and I could see the anger in his eyes. He started running at me. I didn't have time to move out of the way and got tackled to the ground. I landed on a root and hurt my back. The pain made it hard to get up. When I tried to get to my feet, Jason kicked me in the ribs. As I laid there in pain, Jason cracked his knuckles. He sat on top of me, holding my arms under his knees. 

"Did you really think you had a chance?" He threw a punch that connected with my cheek. "You of all people should know that weaklings like you and all of your friends should just shut up and accept your fate. But for some stupid reason, you thought it would be a good idea to be brave."

As he talked, I wriggled my right hand free. I could tell he was getting ready to throw another punch. "It was worth a try." He cocked his hand back again and let it go. I saw it coming towards the left side of my face and moved my head to the right at the last moment. His fist conncected with the concrete to the left of my face. I could hear his knuckles cracking. Jason pulled his hand up and cradled it. He was distracted by the pain so I made my move. Quickly, I jerked to the left, knocking him down. He kept holding on to his hand, oblivious of what was happening. The tables were turned. I quickly sat on top of him, holding his good hand down. He looked up at me. His eyes were watering. His expression looked angry put His eyes just looked tired and defeated. I throw a couple punches and then a couple more. All the anger that had been building up in me was coming out. I kept throwing punches and lost count. I felt like I couldn't stop and then I was pulled off of him by Emily. She pulled me away and held onto me.

"It's over Alex, it's over." She said.

I could hear sirens in the distance. They were coming closer. I looked over to Jason. He was out cold on the concrete. I crawled over to him and checked his pulse; he was still breathing. His face was bloody and swelling. I checked my own face. There was a cut on my forehead and my cheek was swelling. My hand was still bleeding. I tore off a piece of my shirt and wrapped it around my hand. As the sirens got louder, I remembered the boy at the trees. I got to my feet, holding my side and