Arlo
I could tell it wasn’t going to work, but that realization came too late as the gun swung toward me and I heard the man’s words.
Stuck to the chair as I was, I could only flinch, trying to jerk away from a bullet I’d never be able to escape.
The gun went off with a roar, and I flinched, waiting for the blow, waiting for the pain before I dropped to the ground and bled out on the floor.
God, I hoped Matilda forgave me for making her watch me die.
But it never came.
I opened my eyes, feeling them bulge out of my head when I looked in front of me and saw Ward standing with his back to me.
I could see he was holding a hand to his chest, clutching desperately as he bent over.
A scream built inside me, but refused to leave my lips.
I realized what had happened as the first splash of blood hit the carpet.
“Warden!” Amelia shrieked in a voice so filled with despair and horror that I felt the remainder of the air in my lungs ripped out.
Ward took half a step forward, his legs buckling beneath him, and he dropped to one knee, still clutching his chest. Blood soaked his shirt as he collapsed onto the hand that wasn’t holding his chest. Terror locked my muscles as I watched his arm shake and he gasped for breath.
He turned his head and looked me in the eyes, and I felt another wave of horror as I realized he was trying to say something to me.
The scream inside me built upon itself as I continued to sit there, body still refusing to move even as Ward fought to hold himself up.
The edges of my vision became fuzzy, and the details of what I was looking at became all I could see.
It was as if my brain was zooming in on one thing at a time, and that was all it could manage.
Everything slowed to a crawl, and I turned my head up to watch the man raise his gun once more, prepared to send another bullet into Ward.
It was too much. I felt something inside me crack and shatter.
The scream trapped inside me found a path to the outside and carried more with it than I would have ever imagined.
It was no longer a scream but a howl that poured out of me as I surged up from the chair.
The armed man next to me jumped in surprise, but I wasn’t there when he grabbed for me.
There was only one target, and it was right in front of me.
The man who had come in here and attacked everyone, my parents, Ward, and then me.
The man who, in his grief-stricken madness and fury, had decided that a debt had to be paid, and it had to be paid in blood and death.
A man who was trying to take Ward from me, the newest and brightest point in my life.
Who was planning on taking the lives of everyone else here to prevent us from telling the truth about what happened.
That didn’t just mean Ward and me, but my parents.
Devon’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening just in time to react.
Except his hand jerked as if he couldn’t decide if he wanted to pull the trigger on Ward, or shoot me instead.
That hesitation cost him as I slammed into him with all my strength, all my horror, all my terror, and every bit of rage that had found its way out of me.
Devon was built solidly, but he felt like he weighed next to nothing as I felt him leave the ground, and my momentum carried me forward.
I was barely aware of where we were, but we finally stopped when he slammed into the hallway.
His breath came out in a weak gasp as his back collided with the wall with all the force I could muster.
A cry escaped him as he dropped to the ground in a heap, and the gun hit the ground with a clatter.
His hand reached out feebly, and without thinking, I stomped on it, hearing something break when I ground the heel of my dress shoe into his fingers.
With a snarl, I snatched up the gun and lashed out with my foot as he curled up to try to push himself to his feet with his other hand.
Another crack and his head snapped back, blood spurting from his face as he collapsed.
Booted steps behind me reminded me of the other threats, and I whirled around, hand clasping tightly to the gun and bringing it up to level at the first man I saw.
“Should’ve just shot me,” I warned him as his hands clutched the rifle he was holding against his chest as he ran toward me. “Back up. Now. I will not ask again.”
When I heard a groan behind me, I lashed out and felt my foot collide with Devon’s face again.
Savage pleasure flooded me, and I wondered if maybe, in his last moments of life, this was how my father had felt.
To feel the rage and sorrow in equal measure swirl inside him and drive him to acts he would have thought unspeakable.
It had taken an unspeakable act to get me to this point, so why not return the favor?
The dam had broken, why not let the waters flood out and wash away—
I bit back the urge to turn the gun on the man behind me, now groaning so softly it was amazing he was still conscious.
Instead, I kept my attention on the man in the mask.
“And tell your friend to stop inching forward. I’m furious, but I’m not stupid or blind.
I can see his shadow reaching the corner. ..for an ambush, I expect.”
The masked man motioned to his left and cleared his throat. “Look, we—”
“Are just hired men, I know,” I said, not caring that my voice was shaking.
“I don’t want to have to shoot anyone, I don’t want to have to kill.
So, how about this? You and your friend leave.
I don’t fight you, you don’t fight me, no one else has to get hurt.
You two leave, and we go on with our lives. ”
“That’s not going to stop you from telling the cops about us,” he replied.
“No, and that’s not my problem. For your sake, I hope Devon doesn’t know your names, because he’ll probably sell you out in a heartbeat, but again, not my problem.
I’m offering you a chance to get out of here and go as far as you can, maybe avoid the cops, maybe not; that’s your problem.
Do not make me pull this trigger,” I told him, pleading for him and myself.
Just this little taste of what could be lurking inside me was enough; I wanted to bury it without getting blood on my hands.
“I will,” I said softly, glad the gun only shook slightly.
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking the way I’m acting will keep me from doing what I need to do.
I want to live, and you know what? I want the people in this house to live.
And I want my parents to live. And if that means I have to kill you both to make sure that happens, I’ll hate myself every day after, but I will do it. ”
“Yeah,” the masked man said softly, glancing to his left and nodding, his hands coming up. “We’re going to take you up on that offer, I think. Better a chance of getting away than dying here, right?”
“In your shoes, I’d agree,” I said. “But you’re going to leave the guns. Set them on the table, and do it slowly. One at a time.”
I inched toward the doorway, keeping the gun on them.
The other man wasn’t far from the door, but backed up, his hands in the air as the masked man stepped forward and set the rifle in the middle of the table, and then his pistol.
He slowly reached for the knife he had somewhere along his stomach.
His hands went up again, and he backed up, gesturing for the other man.
He too stepped forward, took out his weapons to lay on the table, and spread them out before backing away.
The only difference between the two was that the second one had also carefully pulled a long knife from his boot.
“Now what?” the masked man asked calmly, and I couldn’t help but wonder what had brought him to this kind of life. He was clearly comfortable with violence and attempted murder, or...outright murder.
God, don’t think about it, don’t think about it. Focus on the men in front of you and deal with that. Get everyone safe, and then…worry about Ward.
“Now you leave,” I said with a deep breath that I hoped was steadying. “You leave this place, don’t look back, and no one else needs to be hurt.”
“Will do,” he said calmly. Maybe it was stupid, but I believed him.
“Do me one last favor,” I said as I backed into the hallway.
His head tilted. “What?”
“Leave the zip ties.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners. I knew he was smiling under that mask, and he turned to set a handful of them on the corner of the table. “It wasn’t personal.”
“That makes it so much worse,” I told him softly. “Now leave.”
He nodded, and the two inched out, their eyes dropping to Devon as they walked down the hallway.
I kept my attention on them even when I heard the front door open and close more forcefully than was necessary.
I was aware of Devon shifting on the floor and couldn’t help but give another kick, this time to his ribs, knocking the wind out of him.
God save me, I didn’t want to keep hurting the man while he was down, but I’d only got the upper hand because of the element of surprise and because I’d hurt him badly enough that he couldn’t move.
It had to be this way until I felt safe to move and get the zip ties.
“Warden!” Amelia cried from her spot in the dining room, and I forced myself to breathe. “Get him, damn you! My son is dying!”
“I’m aware,” I said slowly, hearing a vehicle drive off before marching into the dining room and grabbing one of the hunting knives from the table. As quickly as possible, I walked over to my parents, cut through Matilda’s bonds, and handed her the knife. “Get everyone free, please.”