A half nakedmanstood drenched in sweat, in the middle of a crampedroomfilled from top to bottom withweights, themansquattedand the bar on his shoulder bentunderthe strain ofweightsthey carried there size’s being that of truck tires rubber and all, as themanbegan toraiseonce morehis jaw was clenched tight,whilehis face distorted,whilehiseyesnarrowed, his whole body shook as he struggled toraise,morefinally with a full minute passing he made it back up, heinhaledand lowered himselfonce more, hiseyesnarrowedevenmorewhilefire and vigor burned itself deep within hiseyes, the only audible noises in theroomcame from him and the floor that squeakedunderstress, he grunted with eachsquatwill breathing sharpening, timing his breaths so whenfallinghe wouldinhaleandexhaleuponfalling.


    “2996”


    Thiswasa sharp and quickshoutthemansaid as hecommencedanothersquat, over the next 4minutesanother4shoutswhere expelled from hismouth.


    “3000”


    Upon completing his set of squats, the man threw the weights off his shoulder.They hit the floor cashing everything to shake with a slight tremor, the man stood still breathing heavily, his height was not tall nor short as he stood around 5 foot 8.While his muscles were not overly big, they were extremely well defined, it could be said that there was not an ounce of fat on him, he continued to breath though in a more controlled manner, he’s crest glisten as it followed the lifting and falling of his breathing, the man’s hair was a jet black while his hair was a raggy and sweaty mess, his pale skin glistened in the fluorescent light, his well-defined jawline stood out causing his normal looking face to look more attractive, all in all this man looked to be in his early 20s, but to people''s surprise this man was not in his early 20s but in fact in his early 30s, this man''s name was Jacob.


    The ragged breathing had begun to settle down to a manageable level, so Jacob walked over to a table and dragged out a chair to sit on, this table sat in the conner of the room, embed in the pillars of steel, as Jacob sat on a wooden chair with a drink in his hand, he moved the bottle to his lips before downing it, the cold water cold his desert like mouth, as well as cooling his body, the drink disappeared at a visible rate in less than 10 seconds it was half gone, Jacob wanted more but has no choice but to separate from the beverage, as soon as his lips were free his gasped for air while regaining his breath once more he thought to himself.


    “Damn,I''m gettingnowwhereIhavenotmade any improvements in over 4months,notapound, push up or squatmore.”


    Jacobs oncepainedface had now become visibly angry,he’shandclenched theedgeof thetableveins beingtoprotruded from hisarm, whilehe’sfingersslowlybegan tosinkintothetable,theysankdeeperanddeeper, as thesoundof crunching boards rang out, aftersinking2inchesintothetableheawokefrom hisangerand retracted hishand, what was leftwasa noticeable notch in thetablethatfollowedhisfingers,itlooked as thoughithad beencutby asaw.


    “Shit,Igoing tohavetofillthat in,I''lldoitlater,”


    Jacobsattherethoughhewas no longerangrythatdon''t meanhewasnotticked,hetookbreathswhilehedrankthecoldbeverage, ashedranktherewasa slightpainin hischestbut hiswholebodywas inpainso how couldhetake noticeofit, over thenextcouple ofminutesthatpaingrewworseandworseuntilhefinallyrealizedthattherewassomethingwrongheclenched hischesthisfingerdug intohisskinevengripping his rib cage.


    Hejumped outof thechairbut ended upcrashedinto thetowersofsteal, withthissudden shock thetowersfellatop ofhim,hundredsofpoundsofweightrained down on hisbody, thudsrang outas everythinghithim, thefloorormoreweights, and like that within less than 5secondsJacobwaspinnedunder theweights,thepainheoncefeltwas now tripled ashefeltitboth inside and outside hisbody,hewas cut open in many spotsall overhisbodycausinghimto bleed,allthishappenedwhilethepainin hischestgrewcounting to rage.


    Therewasawarmandbittertaste in hismouth, hismouthbegantofillwiththisliquid,therewas so much of his thathewasunableto swallowanyofitanditsimplyleaked outof hismouth,Jacobhadsurprisedhisurgetoscreamhowever barley thatwas, not being a man to sit idealhetriedtomove, only tofindevengreaterpaincausinghimtofreezehewasunabletoholdtopainbackany moreas ascreamrang out,soundinglike a drying bearitwouldmakeanyone''s bloodfreeze,thisscreamwas slightly gargledcausingittosoundevenmorehorrifying.


    Next Door Neighbor


    “Geezagain withthis,”


    Theyoungwomencomplainedto anotherfemaleshe wasraginglike abull.ThegirlcomplainingwasGrace.The other was Jessica.


    Grace continued tocomplaingettingmorebulllike themoresheyelled,sheglancedat theclockit’s bright led screen read 11:43.


    “We canreporthim to hislandlord, ifhewon''t listen to reason,”


    Jessicarepliedwith a little bit of a smirk,gigglingasshesaid this.


    “HeyI''m not tryingtogetacuteguy like himkicked out, even thoughhe’s super annoying whenhe''sworking out,he''sstillgreatto talk to.”


    Gracereplyingwith a slight grin on herface.


    Jessicarolledhereyes.


    “I don''tgetyou sometimes.”


    “I don''tgetyou sometimes.”


    ReplayedGracewith a playful giggle


    Jessica stared at Grace not showing any emotions, looking coldly at her almost starring holes into her head, Grace started back with a more playful yet serious face they stared at each other for several seconds, the silence between them stretched foraextended period of time the only noise that could be heard was the screams of a certain annoying neighbor, almost at the same time they both burst into a fit of laughter.


    Theylaughedforalmostafullminute beforetryingto calm themselves, both struggling toholddown their laughing fits.


    “When he’s done screaming will go over andtellhimoff again, it''sagoodchance tomakehimtakeus todinnerascompensationforruiningour precious sleep,”


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Gracesaidstrugglingnottolaugh


    “You cangowithoutmeI''mnotinterestedin having dinner withhimbut that doesnotmeanIdon''twantanyfood,soget sometake outformewill youroutat it.”


    Jessicacommentedwith herfacewascomposedand with some playful elegance.


    Grace glanced at theclockagain 12:09


    Theychatted astheyidealedwaiting for the screaming tostop.


    Weightfilledroom.


    Jacobscreamingwasdying down, even thoughhewas in great pain,hecould almostno longerscream.


    “No oneiscomingtohelpme, No one iscoming,Iamgoingdie,Idon''t want todienot please.”


    Realizing he would die soon if he did not get himself out of this mess he stopped his useless screaming and clenched his jaw as hard as he could he tried to push himself up to no avail.


    “Ican’t stop or elseIwill perish here.”


    Using almost all the strength, he could muster he was able to drag his legs underneath his body, he felt his broken legs shoot with pain, but he had to use them it was eather some pain or death, planting his feet onto the floor he slowly started to push his body upwards, it was like a squat but it hurt 100x more, hot burning electricity wracked his legs, it felt as if ice picks were puncturing every pore in his legs, his lungs burned, his heart pained him at every beat, his head was foggy, and vision has going black.


    Whatever limithehad before had beencompletelyshattered, asheliftedhigherandhighertheweightbecamelessandlessuntil a bloody figurecompletelyemerged from thepilesof ironweights.


    Hestoodtherebloodpouringout ofhismouth, brushes all over hisbody,somecuts and heavybleeding, broken fingers,sometwisted joints andlimbs,hestaggered forwardunablyto stophimselfhehit the floor head first,bloodcoveredhisface, buthedraggedhimselfout oftheweightroom, and towards the front doorleavingbehind asmirdbloodtrail.


    Grace and Jessica’s House


    “Hefinallystoppedscreaming.”


    Roared Grace herfacewas full ofanger, herblueeyesglaredat theclock12:56


    “It''sbeenover an hour letsgoJessica we''regoingtomakehimtakeus to a 5-star restaurant for this.”


    Grace stomped towards the front door withshortsand a tank top onnot evenbothering tochange.


    Even Jessica, who was usually relaxed, looked a little peeved, walked out wearing around the same.


    Astheywalkedoutthe front door,theyfeltthe cold Autumn night,theyshudderabitfrom the sudden change intemperature, but marchedforward,nonetheless, thestreetswhereilluminatedby theyellowglow of thestreetlamps, theyellowlight caused Graces flowing blond hair thatwentto hershoulderstolookgolden, with theadditionof her a slight shade to herpaleskin, a slender yetcurvybody, boobs beinga littlebitmorethan a c cup, herfacebeing averyhappyfaceone who always lovedbeingwithfriendsorfamily, andblueeyesshecouldbedescribedas anangle, averypissed offangle.


    Jessicafollowedrightbehind her,havingjetblackhair straight down herbackand satrightabove her but,hadaperfectlypaleskin,shewasa littlemoreon the slender side compared to Grace, being able to seemoreof her frame,havingperfectlypaleskin, boobs beingaroundb cup, herfacewas sharp notlooking tomess aroundtoo muchlookinglikeshecouldcontrolanymanifshewanted to, hereyeswhereadarkshade ofbrownalmost beingblack, andundercertainlightingconditionwouldbea glowingred,underthislightingconditionshereyeswerered,shecouldbe describedsimplyas adevilor asubcubis.


    Theylived on the edge of thecitysohouseswheremorespread apart,itwouldtakeaminuteofwalkingtogetto thehouse,sothetwotalked abouttheywouldorderat therestaurantwhiletheywalkedundertheblacksky,whentheyarrivedat asmallhouse, Gracetookthe initiative toringthe doorbell,shethen stoodtherepatiently or as patient asshecouldwhenshewaspissed, after aminutesherungitagain andbanged onthedooryelling.


    “Weknowyou''reinthere.”


    As they waited, they commented on how it smelled like someone died in there and that he should take a shower more often, another minute passed with no answer Grace becoming inpatients ringed the doorbell again before yelling.


    “If you don''t answer in 30secondswhere coming in.”


    Gracelook atthedooreyesfierce and sharp, as iftryingtolookthrough thedoor, whileGracewasactinglikea oz,Jessicastayed calm asshewaitedlookingatthedoorwitheyesthatlooked likeanoldwiseelder,likethat 30 seconds hadpassed, beforeJessicacoulddiscourageGracefrom bargaining inshehad already rushed into thehouse, after a little thinkingJessicafollowed shortly,sheenteredthehouseasGracecontinued to yell for Jacob, astheyenteredtheycommitted on how bad itsmelledin thehouse,theywould be scolding him later about proper high gean.


    “Jacob stop hiding youoweuse dinner from all your screaming”


    “I bet you''re in here aren''tyo----”


    “Aaaaagh.”


    Jessicabloodranacoldassheheard, a sharp high pitchscreamecho through thehouse, it was filled with terror, and panic,Jessicasherushedtowardsthescreamgetting herselfreadyfor anything, but whatshewas about toexperienceshewould never have beenreadyfor and in lessthan15secondsshefoundherwaytowardsaroomandshovedthe door open,shesawashortblondhaired girl on herkneesshakingand crying, asJessicatorehereyesaway from Graceshenoticedalotofredliquidthana young man, lying on thegroundhis limbshorribletwisted, aredsubstance slowly leaking out fromhimand aredsmudgedprotrudingfrombehindhim.


    “Aaaaagh.”


    Another high pitchscreamranthrough thenight.