Under The Vile Moon by D.C. Habib

Author:D.C. Habib [Habib, D.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: NIGHTMARE CURATOR
Published: 2023-12-27T16:00:00+00:00

***

Working as a school nurse, Mom found my father a job as a wrestling coach at my high school. He was a perfect candidate due to his experience in combat. I joined the team because every inch of me wanted to impress him, squeeze whatever love I could out of his stone heart. Under his command, the gymnasium was an army barracks. No one took high school wrestling seriously in the city. He lived for it. We were child soldiers in his eyes, every match a bloody battle. He would shout and come alive in the heat of competition; conflict was all he knew.

Wins started rolling in and our team started garnering a country-wide reputation. I had grown by then to be the tallest kid among my peers. Despite my size and ambition, my father did not find me worthy to be the team captain. His name was Jeffrey Hault. He was a year older than me. Medium height, blond, and extremely lean. The teen was a natural-born athlete. He took in my father’s training like scripture and became a fiend on the mat. No matter how hard I trained or how many matches I won, Jeffrey was immovable as my father’s protege.

In my senior year of high school, my mother was fed up with her corpse of a marriage. She asked for a divorce and my father obliged without contest. After he moved out of town and into the city, I only saw him during our trainings. Obsession for his approval grew. The longer he withheld it, the harder I yearned for it. Hate became my religion and training its worship. Nothing else mattered. I was a wraith who only existed on the wrestling mat.

One night, before a regional championship, my father asked me to stay after hours to help Jeffrey prepare for an upcoming match. I obliged. After breaking my nose in a prior match, I had to wear a faceguard that I despised. A half mask, made out of leather and sports foam, tightly strapped around my head to protect my nose and eyes. I hated for my father’s star to see me weak.

We started drills under the gym’s neon lights. Practicing grabs, holds, and reversals. The longer the training went, the more intense I got. A darkness slithered in me, staring at the boy at arm’s-length. I wanted to pulverize him.

“Coach, don’t you think Andy is going a bit rough?” he asked my father mockingly.

“Do you think your opponent next week is going to hold back? You want me to ask him, mid-match, to take it easy on you? Get back on the mat, Jeffrey,” he ordered, and the teen obeyed.

The captain was quick and technical, but I was too big for him, too angry. With every lock and choke I pushed harder. Jeffrey kept looking at my father for a reprieve and he received none. Finally, he became angered and charged at me. I was serene. Using his clumsy momentum, I reversed his attack with an arm drag of his wrist.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.