14. The Forsaker
Chapter fourteen
The Forsaker
Zeke
I watch in horror as Abe uses the crutch to swing wide at Sammy, but before he can make an impact with his body, another shot gets fired from within the room, and whizzes by Abe’s head, and he has to duck. “ABE! FUCK!” I scream frantically, as the bitter taste of terror coats my tongue and fills my throat. The sound of men shouting, and gunfire, erupts from outside, spurring people to lose their minds and panic, trampling over each other to get to safety. I watch as a terrified, sacred wife falls to the floor, and her husband steps right on top of her without a backward glance, in his haste to flee, and leaves her behind, screaming and injured. My eyes briefly connect with Abe’s frightened amber ones, before he’s lost in the stampede from the departing crowd. No, shit, I can’t lose him, but I also have to get to Dinah. My head slides back and forth, rapidly attempting to decide who is in more danger, and the choice is taken from me as Sammy fires the gun again at Dinah, misses, and stalks forward, ready to take her down.
I push and shove frightened people out of my way, as adrenaline fills me, compelling my body to move quicker than my healing injuries would typically allow. I don’t hesitate to throw myself at Sammy’s back, landing partially on his lower body, and propelling him with a harsh bang to the floor. He tries to kick back at me and lands a hit on my aching ribs, but I refuse to be dislodged. I wrap my arms around his waist and hold on tight, as he attempts to regain his feet. “Stop, Sammy! You don’t... want to do this. You don’t... don’t want to hurt... Dinah,” I huff out, my ribs protesting every word. I know that I’m dealing with the consequences of my actions, back to haunt me. I left him behind to my father’s sadistic pleasures. I abandoned him, and was rewarded with the forgiveness I desired from the love of his life, and all he received in exchange was the death of who and what he was. This monster before me is my doing, as much as it’s my father’s.
Sammy’s large, scarred hand reaches backward and grabs a fistful of my hair, causing my neck to arch painfully, and our eyes to meet. Emerald green blazing into dark blue orbs filled with turmoil and derangement. “Ezekiel... just the... fucker I want to... kill.” Sammy uses his feet to kick me, as he flips our bodies so I’m no longer on top of him, but now partially being held down by his large body, and furious rage. Up close, he looks even worse, and I can see more of the extent of his injuries; he has bruises on top of bruises. His eyes are dilated, and bloodshot with broken blood vessels, and his pupils are large, as if he’s on something. The scar on his jaw is more prominent and ugly with the bruising, and as he snarls at me, I receive a glimpse of broken teeth inside of his mouth. I’m surprised he’s still even alive, never mind trying to kill Dinah and me, for leaving him with my father. He uses his grip on my hair to slam my head onto the stone floor, and for a moment, darkness threatens to take me away, and I have to fight to stay conscious. I compel myself to hold on to him, using all my remaining strength to cause him to dislodge his hold, ripping strands of my hair off in his stead. “I don’t want... to hurt... you, Sammy!” I pant, as I regain my knees and throw a punch at his jaw, forcing him to release his hold on the gun, as I scramble to get to it on my hands and knees.
“TOO. FUCKING. BAD!” Sammy lands a punch to my shoulder, that has me face-planting on the floor. “I want to fucking hurt you!”
Dark blue fills my peripheral vision as Dinah comes dashing towards me, a fierce scream on her lips as she leaps through the air onto Sammy, not caring how she lands, or that she’s bleeding from her gunshot wound. She takes us both down with her in a tangle of limbs, and long, heavy skirts. The air is shoved out of me, with the impact of my body once more hitting the stone floor, and Sammy’s pained groan sounds in my ear. “Sammy! Sammy, please!” Dinah’s cries can be heard over the chaos surrounding us. More rapid gunshots ring out, and the sound of men fighting and dying, forces me to raise my head and look around, despite my precarious position. Where the fuck is Abe? I swear if that fucker has gotten himself killed, I’ll march into hell and beat his ass.
There are men and women dressed informally, like regular civilians, holding guns and shooting at Brotherhood guards, and high-ranking officials alike. What the fuck is this? Who are these people? I don’t have a chance to think through the possibilities, before Sammy throws Dinah off of him, and lands blow after blow on her face and chest, with heartbreaking detachment. He’s going to fucking kill her! Dinah isn’t fighting back though. She’s allowing him to hurt her. Her impassioned and hurt blue-gray eyes stare up at him, the monster he has become, as he tries to bring death upon her.
“Whore. Liar. Abandoned me. Monster!” Sammy spits words tinged with madness and blood, with every strike he lands on Dinah. I grab onto his elbow and squeeze with all my might, preventing his next punch. “You’ll kill her. You... love her...” I don’t get another word out as a large, dark shadow launches himself at us, and causes Sammy to slam into the ground. “Kill you! Don’t touch her!” The wrathful voice lets me know it’s Abe, as my head spins and my vision dims, with the impact of my forehead also hitting the stone.
I force my battered body to scramble away from Abe, who’s fiercely trading blows with a manic Sammy, both of them looking half-dead, but still trying to eliminate each other. My vision doubles, and I have to dig my fingers into the cold stone floors, to stop my head from spinning and my stomach from spewing. I reach for Dinah, who just lies there, her eyes at half-mast, and already swelling, from one of Sammy’s vicious punches. Her nose is gushing blood down her beautiful face, probably broken, and her lip is split. Tears slide from the corners of her eyes, disappearing into her dark hair, and through the commotion all around us, I can hear the sound of her wretched sobs. I wrap my hand as delicately around her shoulder as I can, avoiding the rapidly darkening stain, and try to force her to sit up. “Please, Snow. We have to get out of here.”
“He hates... me. He thinks I abandoned him... wants me... to die,” her tearful cries are my undoing, and despite all the danger around us, I scoop her into my arms and cradle her to my chest, as I grit my teeth to fight against the spasming pain assaulting me. “He’s confused, and I think they’ve done something to him. He doesn’t hate you, Snow.”
“Kill her, must... kill her!” Sammy snarls at Abe, as he tries to move away and closer to Dinah. He grabs hold of a fleeing Brotherhood official, shoves him at Abe, and makes for Dinah once again. I use my body as a shield between them, rising unsteadily on my feet, and shoving Dinah behind my larger frame. “You don’t want to hurt her, and I don’t want to hurt you, but if you touch her again in anger, I will fucking end you, Sammy!” I shout, fury invading me like hot lava. I’m sorry for what he has suffered, and my role in it, but I won’t allow him to continue to hurt my wife. She doesn’t need my protection. She’s strong enough to stand on her own two feet, and face the monsters of the world. Regardless, she has earned it, and I will lay down and die, if it means she lives.
Sammy releases a demonic-sounding laugh. “You got what you wanted, didn’t you, Prince Charming? You got what was mine !”
“Sammy, please, I love you. Tell me how to help you. Tell me what they’ve done to you?” Dinah’s voice pleads, as she tries to push me out of the way to face Sammy once again, but I’m not having it. Something is wrong with him, and he is no longer the man she remembers who loved her. Right now, under the influence of whatever my father has pumped into him, he’s foaming at the mouth, and ready to murder her. “ Now you care?! You fucking lying whore. You can’t fool me anymore with your words. You are a Judas, a forsaker, a villain, Nightstar, and I wish I had never laid eyes on you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spy two uniformed Brotherhood guards approaching us with guns drawn. I’m almost positive they’re David’s men, and they’re coming to make sure that Dinah, and we, don’t make it out of here alive. Just as I’m about to force Dinah to the floor, both their heads explode in shards of blood, bone, and brain matter all over us, and their bodies hit the stone. My head swivels as if in slow motion, and my eyes feel like they are going to bug out of my head, for the second time in a short period. I can’t believe what the hell I am looking at.
“ Mom?! What the fuck are you doing here?“ Abe questions in a shout, as he dodges a punch from another guard.