His eyes jerks to mine, and he shakes his head. “Fuck no. I’m by your side on this one, brother.”
Knowing that he won’t budge, I look back down to Cash. “Are you ready?”
“Get it done,” He barks out, his voice filled with pain and a hint of fear. Defeat is written all over his face, as if he can see the Reaper standing over his shoulder.
Sliding my knife across Cash’s throat, I watch as my father’s blood pours onto the floor. As his body slumps against the chair, I wait for regret to fill me. Instead, relief comes. After years of living with his shit, knowing he put my woman in danger, the fact that he’s gone and I’m the one that ended him doesn’t leave me with an ounce of remorse.
Placing my bloody knife back at my side, I turn away from Cash. “It’s over. Let’s get my woman back.”
Do or Die
Shay
Marcus is screaming as he pushes me down onto a cold metal table, “You’re mine, always mine.”
“Leave me alone,” I shout trying to pull away from him.
He shakes his head as he pushes a long knife into my side. “Never.”
I scream out in agony as my blood covers his hand. “Go away, just please go away.”
His head shakes back and forth and he shouts his denial. “I’ll never go away. I’ll always be here. You’ll always be by my side.”
“No, no,” I plead as I try to pull away from him, trying to force his hand from my side. Instead, he pushes the knife in deeper, causing my whole body to convulse in pain.
Stars dance before my eyes as I gasp for breath. “You’re killing me.”
“I’m making you better; I’m making you Gwendolyn.” His hold is tight as he cuts off piece after piece of me, sending waves of pain through my body.
Tears fill my eyes, when I realize I’m going to die. “Please stop, please don’t do this to me.”
An evil smile spreads across his face as he whispers. “I will, if you open the door.”
I want to cry out, ask him what door, but his free hand is suddenly covering my mouth. I shake my head, trying to make him move, but he holds firm. Leaning over me, he whispers, “Let me in.”
Just as the knife digs deeper again, my eyes jerk open. It takes me a second to realize that I’m still in the safe room. It had all been a dream, everything but the pain. It’s overwhelming; it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Even with my limited knowledge, I know there is more wrong with me than just a few broken ribs.
With each breath I take, the pain nearly causes me to lose consciousness again. Just as I think I can take no more, a cough makes it way up my throat. My mouth suddenly fills with blood. Rolling my head to the side, I spit it out but the taste lingers on my tongue. My mind runs in circles, trying to figure out what is wrong with me.
I take in a deep breath; pain instantly fills my body. Even though it hurts to breath, I’m not struggling to get air in. If my broken ribs had punctured a lung, I would be struggling to breathe. Since I’m not, I don’t think that has happened. Still, I know something inside of me is bleeding and that can’t be good. I try to think of something that will keep me alive until Bowie gets here, but there is nothing I can do but wait for him.
The sounds of something or someone beating on the door draws my attention. For a second, I think it might be Bowie but the sounds of Marcus’s voice kills my hopes and proves that part of my dream had been reality. “Let me in.”
Never, I whisper out as I pull in a pain filled breath.
“Open the door, Laura.”
I almost laugh when I hear him say that name. For years, I was Gwendolyn to him and now he finally calls me Laura. I want to scream out, tell him my name is Shay, but I don’t have the strength. Instead, I do my best to ignore it. Trying to focus on something else, I think of Bowie. His beautiful blue eyes, his gentle kiss, the secret smile that he doesn’t share with anyone but me. I have to see him again, have to tell him I love him again and hope to hear it back.
“Open this door now,” Marcus bellows, drawing my attention.
My eyes instinctively move to the door. My fear spikes as I wonder if he’ll get in. With the shape I’m in, I wouldn’t be able to fight him. I doubt I’d even be able to scream, not that anything I would do could stop him from taking me away.
I watch the door for a second before I realize that, even though I can hear him beating on it, the door’s not budging. He could bang on it all day, and he’d never get in. Still, I know I’ll have to come out sooner or later. I just hope I can hold off until Bowie gets here.
The sounds start to fade as my eyes start getting heavy again. Realizing that if I close them they may never open again, I try to think of something to do to stay awake. I reach for my water bottle and try to force a drink down my throat. I can’t seem to swallow it, no matter how hard I try. In fact, all it does is cause me to cough again. The pain is so extreme that I give up the idea of trying to force the water down.