BLOOD CLICKER
CHAPTER 6 — AFTER THE HIT
Evan passed twenty-five thousand clicks while asleep.
He found out at 6:42 in the morning.
25,164
His heart beat.
+125,165
Evan rubbed his eyes.
Twenty-five percent.
More than twenty-five percent, technically.
He didn't feel transformed.
He'd stopped expecting to.
Getting stronger had become strangely quiet.
His body simply did things better than it used to.
He moved more cleanly.
Recovered faster.
Learned faster.
Noticed more.
Remembered more.
His balance corrected mistakes sooner.
His hands went where he wanted them with less wasted movement.
And Heartbeat I kept adding to all of it.
One click every minute.
Whether Evan thought about Blood Clicker or not.
He opened his notebook.
The last thing he'd written remained underlined.
CAPABILITY DOES NOT DETERMINE CHOICE.
Under that, from an earlier chapter:
Better reaction speed can execute a bad decision faster.
Evan stared at it.
Then closed the notebook.
Ray noticed the difference immediately.
"Again."
Evan jabbed the mitt.
Pop.
Cross.
Pop.
Step.
Jab.
Cross.
Move.
Ray changed the target.
Evan adjusted.
"Again."
Faster.
Evan repeated it.
Ray lowered the mitts.
"You're practicing at home."
"A little."
That was true.
Shadowboxing.
Footwork.
Nothing dangerous.
Ray looked unconvinced.
"You've improved a lot."
Jalen sat nearby wrapping his hands.
"He's annoying."
Evan looked over.
"Good morning to you too."
"I'm serious."
Jalen stood.
"You were terrible like a week ago."
"Thanks."
"You were."
Ray pointed a mitt at Jalen.
"Don't make him confident."
"Trust me, I'm working on it."
Evan smiled.
Normal.
For once, the gym felt normal.
No guns.
No hospital.
No wrecked cars.
Just gloves hitting bags.
Shoes against mats.
People getting tired.
Ray correcting somebody's stance across the room.
It was one of the few places where mistakes were expected.
You made one.
Someone told you.
You tried again.
Evan liked that.
Ray looked between him and Jalen.
"Technical round."
Jalen stood.
Evan's smile disappeared.
"Actual sparring?"
"Light."
Ray looked directly at Evan.
"Light means light."
Evan nodded.
"I know."
"I mean it."
"So do I."
Jalen climbed into the ring.
"Don't worry. I'll protect him."
Evan followed.
"From what?"
"His confidence."
They touched gloves.
Jalen was still better.
That hadn't changed.
But the gap had.
Evan recognized the jab sooner.
Not because he had magically become an expert.
Jalen had shown him that jab dozens of times.
Evan remembered it.
Jalen changed rhythm.
Evan adjusted.
Body shot.
Evan blocked late.
Jab.
Slip.
Cross.
Evan stepped away.
Ray watched quietly.
Jalen feinted low.
Evan didn't react.
Jalen feinted again.
Nothing.
Then he jabbed.
Evan parried.
Jalen smiled.
"There you go."
Evan stepped in.
Jab.
Jalen slipped it.
Evan almost threw the cross.
Stopped.
Jalen had been waiting for it.
"Good."
They reset.
Evan's heart beat.
+1
He ignored it.
Jalen attacked again.
Evan blocked.
Moved.
Countered lightly.
Glove touched Jalen's shoulder.
Nothing hard.
Nothing uncontrolled.
Ray nodded.
"That's enough power."
Evan understood.
He was stronger now.
More coordinated.
More efficient.
A movement that felt normal to Evan didn't necessarily land normally anymore.
He had to learn restraint along with force.
They continued.
Jalen still caught him.
Evan still made mistakes.
But now Jalen had to build them.
Feint.
Change distance.
Break rhythm.
Make Evan think one answer was coming.
Give him another.
Evan loved it.
Not getting hit.
The problem.
Every exchange contained something.
A question.
A wrong answer.
A correction.
Experience.
Jab.
Slip.
Cross.
Block.
Jalen stepped inside.
Evan turned.
Jalen's glove touched his ribs.
"Got you."
Evan grinned.
"Barely."
"Still got you."
They separated.
From somewhere behind Evan—
BANG!
The sound was enormous.
Something heavy had hit the floor.
But Evan didn't know that yet.
His body heard:
GUNSHOT.
The convenience store came back.
Not as a thought.
As reality.
Glass exploding.
His mother screaming.
The gunman's arm turning.
Evan's heart slammed against his ribs.
Jalen moved.
He had already been stepping toward Evan.
His right glove came forward.
Probably a jab.
Light.
Controlled.
Evan didn't see Jalen.
He saw a threat coming toward his face.
His body moved before the rest of him returned.
Slip.
Step.
Rotate.
Counter.
Everything he'd improved worked together.
Vision.
Reaction.
Balance.
Coordination.
Strength.
Timing.
Experience.
Fear.
Evan's right hand hit Jalen's jaw.
Hard.
Not sparring hard.
Not controlled hard.
Every part of Evan committed.
Jalen's head snapped sideways.
His feet left their position.
He hit the canvas.
The entire gym stopped.
Evan froze.
For half a second, he didn't understand.
Then Jalen didn't move.
"Jalen?"
Ray was already through the ropes.
"BACK UP."
Evan stepped backward.
"Jalen?"
"Back up!"
Ray dropped beside him.
Someone shut off the music.
Evan's gloves suddenly felt enormous.
Jalen lay on his side.
Eyes closed.
No joke.
No immediate complaint.
Nothing.
Evan's stomach dropped.
"No."
Ray checked him.
"Jalen."
Nothing.
"Jalen!"
Evan moved forward.
Ray snapped:
"Don't."
Evan stopped.
His hands started shaking.
"I didn't—"
"Call 911!"
Someone ran for a phone.
Evan stared at Jalen.
His brain began replaying the punch.
Shoulder.
Hip.
Foot.
Rotation.
Contact.
He knew exactly what he'd done.
That made it worse.
"I didn't mean to."
Nobody answered him.
Jalen made a sound.
Ray leaned closer.
"Don't move."
Jalen's eyes opened slightly.
Confused.
"What—"
"Stay down."
Jalen tried lifting his head.
Ray put a hand near his shoulder.
"No. Stay still."
"What happened?"
Evan's throat tightened.
Jalen didn't remember.
At least not immediately.
Evan backed into the ropes.
Someone had dropped a loaded barbell outside the ring.
That had been the sound.
Not a gun.
A weight.
Just a weight.
Evan looked at his gloves.
Twenty-five percent better reaction.
Twenty-five percent better movement.
Twenty-five percent better strength.
Twenty-five percent better coordination.
Twenty-five percent better ability to turn fear into action.
And he'd hit his friend before he understood what was happening.
The sentence from his notebook came back.
Better reaction speed can execute a bad decision faster.
Evan closed his eyes.
"No."
Mara reached the gym before the ambulance left.
Evan was sitting against the wall.
His gloves were gone.
His hands weren't.
He kept looking at them anyway.
Mara crossed the room quickly.
"Evan."
He looked up.
She crouched in front of him.
"Are you hurt?"
He shook his head.
"Jalen?"
"They're taking him."
"What happened?"
Evan couldn't answer immediately.
Mara's face tightened.
"Evan."
"I hit him."
"I know. What happened?"
"There was a noise."
He swallowed.
"I thought—"
The gunshot returned.
"I thought it was the store."
Mara stopped.
Evan stared at the floor.
"He moved toward me."
His voice got quieter.
"I hit him."
"Was it an accident?"
"Yes."
The answer came instantly.
Then Evan shook his head.
"I mean—I chose to punch."
Mara frowned.
"I didn't choose to hurt him. But I punched him."
Ray approached.
His expression was different than Evan had ever seen it.
Not furious.
That might have been easier.
Tired.
Guilty.
Mara stood.
"How bad?"
"They think concussion."
Evan felt sick.
"He's awake?"
"Yeah."
Ray looked at Evan.
"He was out for maybe fifteen seconds."
Fifteen.
Evan looked away.
Ray continued.
"His mom's meeting him at the hospital."
"I want to go."
"No."
Evan looked up.
Ray's answer had been immediate.
"I need to apologize."
"Not right now."
"But—"
"Not right now."
Ray crouched enough to meet Evan's eyes.
"You want to apologize because you feel guilty."
Evan said nothing.
"Jalen doesn't owe you making that feeling better today."
That hurt.
Because Ray was right.
Evan looked down.
Ray exhaled.
"And I'm responsible too."
"No."
"Yes."
"You didn't hit him."
"I'm the coach."
Ray looked toward the ring.
"I saw you progressing fast. Too fast. I should've slowed things down."
"You couldn't know."
"Neither could you."
Evan's head snapped up.
"That doesn't make it okay."
"I didn't say it did."
Silence.
Ray stood.
"No contact training."
Evan swallowed.
"For how long?"
"Until I trust you to control yourself."
Evan stared.
"And until you trust yourself."
That one landed harder.
The ride home was silent.
Mara drove.
Evan sat beside her.
Neither turned on the radio.
His heart beat.
+1
Evan closed the notification.
A minute later—
+1
He closed it again.
Then another.
+1
"Stop."
Mara glanced over.
"What?"
Evan realized he'd spoken aloud.
"Nothing."
His heart beat.
+1
He wanted the numbers gone.
For the first time since resurrecting, Evan didn't want to become stronger.
He didn't want another fraction added to his reaction time.
Didn't want another improvement in strength.
Didn't want better coordination.
His heart beat.
+1
"Stop."
Mara pulled into a parking lot.
The car stopped.
She turned toward him.
"Evan."
He stared straight ahead.
"I said I'm fine."
"No, you didn't."
He looked at her.
Right.
He hadn't.
Mara waited.
Evan pressed his palms into his eyes.
"I hurt him."
"Yes."
No comforting lie.
He lowered his hands.
"I could've hurt him worse."
"Yes."
Evan's voice cracked.
"I didn't even think."
Mara looked at him for several seconds.
"Then that's what you deal with."
"What?"
"You figure out why."
"I know why."
"Do you?"
"The sound."
"That's part of it."
Evan looked away.
Mara continued.
"You've spent weeks trying to make sure you're never helpless again."
His chest tightened.
"And now?"
She looked at his hands.
"Maybe you need to learn that being able to act doesn't mean acting is always the answer."
Evan said nothing.
Mara started the car again.
She didn't tell him everything would be okay.
Neither of them knew that yet.
Sophie was waiting at home.
She knew before Evan entered.
Someone had called her.
Evan could tell by her face.
"Is Jalen okay?"
"Awake."
"That's not what I asked."
"I don't know."
Sophie swallowed.
Evan walked toward the stairs.
"Evan."
He stopped.
"What?"
"Don't disappear."
His jaw tightened.
"I'm going to my room."
"That's what I mean."
He turned.
"What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know!"
Sophie immediately lowered her voice.
"I don't know."
Evan looked exhausted.
She looked scared.
Neither had an answer.
Sophie stepped closer.
"Was it because of the gun?"
Evan froze.
She understood too quickly.
Not everything.
Enough.
"The noise?"
He nodded.
Sophie looked down.
Then back up.
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"It's not okay."
Evan almost laughed bitterly.
"Great."
"But it makes sense."
"That doesn't make it better."
"I didn't say it did."
Same sentence Ray had used.
Evan looked away.
Sophie touched his arm.
He flinched.
Small.
Barely anything.
She felt it.
Her hand immediately dropped.
That hurt more than the punch had.
Evan went upstairs.
He opened Blood Clicker.
25,607
He stared at Heartbeat I.
PASSIVE GENERATION: 1 CLICK PER MINUTE
"Disable."
Nothing.
"Turn it off."
HEARTBEAT I IS A PERMANENT UPGRADE.
Evan's stomach sank.
"What?"
PERMANENT UPGRADE.
"I don't want it."
No response.
"Remove it."
UNAVAILABLE.
His heart beat.
+125,608
Evan stood so quickly his chair rolled backward.
"No."
+1
A choice he'd made days ago.
One click per minute.
Free growth.
He'd thought it meant he wouldn't have to obsessively press the button.
He hadn't thought about wanting to stop.
That was the consequence.
Not punishment.
Blood Clicker hadn't tricked him.
The upgrade had said passive.
He'd chosen it.
Evan opened his notebook.
He found the line from Chapter—no.
From days ago.
Choice. I still have a choice.
He stared at it.
Then crossed it out.
Not completely.
He wrote underneath:
SOME CHOICES REMOVE LATER CHOICES.
His hand shook.
Then he found another line.
First reaction isn't the only reaction.
Owen's words to Caleb.
Evan stared.
He couldn't undo the punch.
Couldn't unchoose Heartbeat.
Couldn't become nineteen-year-old Evan at zero clicks again.
But the first reaction wasn't the only reaction.
He picked up his phone.
Typed to Jalen.
Deleted it.
Typed again.
Deleted that too.
Finally:
I'm sorry. You don't have to answer. Ray told me not to come to the hospital unless you want me there. I hit you way too hard. I don't have an excuse.
Evan stared.
Then sent it.
No answer came.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Twenty.
His heart kept clicking.
+1+1+1
Evan hated every one.
Then his phone vibrated.
Jalen.
Evan opened it immediately.
I know you didn't mean it.
Evan exhaled.
Another message appeared.
Still pissed.
Evan stopped.
Then:
My head hurts like hell and my mom is threatening to murder Ray.
Despite everything, Evan almost smiled.
Almost.
Then the last message came.
Don't ask me to forgive you today.
Evan stared at it.
He typed:
Okay.
That was all.
No speech.
No promise.
No instant forgiveness.
Consequence didn't mean everybody hated him forever.
It also didn't mean saying sorry erased what happened.
Evan placed the phone down.
His heart beat.
+125,641
Blood Clicker appeared.
CLICK
Evan didn't press it.
For once, it didn't matter.
His heart would.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Whether he was ready or not.
Evan looked at his hands.
He had spent weeks learning how much twenty-five percent could do.
Today he learned something else.
Power didn't need to be enormous to become dangerous.
It only needed to arrive before control did.
BLOOD CLICKER
END OF CHAPTER 6