Petra Ironwood's Arc

Chapter 2 of 7

The next morning Petra dragged her barbell out to the yard again. She loaded it heavier than yesterday. Guy's window stayed shut, but she started her set anyway. Halfway through the first rep, she heard boots on gravel behind the fence. Viktor Krauss was back. The short, thick man from yesterday, the one whose pipe she had bent around her knuckles. He crouched behind her woodpile, watching. His scarred eyebrow twitched every time she breathed out. He had promised to come every day until one of them was done, and here he was, keeping his word. Petra racked the bar. She could not count reps with him circling. Every time she lay back, she pictured his knife coming down. Every time she stood, she caught his shape sliding between trees. Her arms shook on a weight that should have felt easy. That made her angrier than the knife had. "Viktor," she called. "You're ruining my set." He stepped out from the woodpile. He had a fresh blade this time, smaller, meaner. He said nothing. He just moved sideways, keeping the fence between them, waiting for her to bend over so he could rush. Petra thought about throwing him again. But she had thrown him yesterday and it had solved nothing. He would come tomorrow. He would come the day after. She needed the noise gone so she could grow. She left the barbell in the grass and walked inside. She heard him follow along the outside wall, boots crunching. She went to her bathroom, turned the shower on hot, and stepped under it in her shorts and sports bra. Steam filled the small room. She waited. The window above the tub slid open. Viktor climbed through and dropped onto the tile, knife first. He froze when he saw her. Water ran down her shoulders, down arms thicker than his thighs. She did not reach for him. "Oh, it’s you," Petra said. “Care to join me?” His knife hand shook. He looked at her, then at the steam-fogged room, clearly thrown off by the surprise. After a long second, he lowered the blade. Petra kept staring him down until he backed out through the window and disappeared.