“He said it was my fault. That I should stop struggling,” she croaked, slamming her hand over her mouth to try and catch the uncontrollable sob. “It hurts.”
I wasn’t surprised.
She’s lucky they weren’t infected or deeper, but as they were, I knew they were going to leave scars. She was going to have to live with that reminder every single day, right where she could see it. I sure hoped this girl was strong. The suffering she’d endured was something a lot wouldn’t survive. But I knew a little something about pain, and I knew if there was a place she was going to get through it, it was going to be with a club full of protective men and women. Men and women who weren’t afraid to fight to keep her safe, to make sure she gets what she needs, and to help her find what she deserves.
Now I just had to get her home.
“Let’s go,” I announced softly, shuffling toward the stairs. They were steep as hell, and it took a few minutes for us to reach the bottom, especially with my body still fighting against me. Inhaling deeply through my nose, I reached out for the handle of the door at the bottom, slowly blowing the breath of air out again as I eased it open an inch and peeked outside.
Given we were holed up in the attic space, I figured this was Beta Beta’s third floor. I hadn’t been this many floors up before, but it looked much like the floor below.
The staircase going down was right at the other end of the hall, and the house was surprisingly quiet, so we took a deep breath and slipped out, hurrying down the hallway, pausing once to check a bedroom with the door open but finding it empty. With the both of us now in socks, we slipped and slid across the hardwood floors because my sprained ankle wanted to scream at me every time I put any kind of pressure on it, and Thayleah had to try and take part of my weight.
I felt weak.
“Has anyone checked on them?”
Thayleah’s back went straight like a steel rod at the sound of his voice, her eyes growing wide as the footsteps slowly made it up the staircase.
Pain forgotten, I grabbed her arm and dragged her back into the open bedroom behind us, easing the door shut. Not enough to close it completely in case he heard, but enough to give us time.
“I’ll check! I haven’t seen Avery in a while. Maybe her and I can catch up.”
I knew the voice was Cooper. That slimy, sleazy little punk was like a fly. Constantly buzzing around, taunting you, driving you fucking crazy. Until you either sprayed or swatted him.
“The door is open,” Thayleah hissed, and I cursed under my breath for being stupid enough to not shut it behind us.
The second he saw that he was going to ring the fucking alarm.
The footsteps grew closer, and I spun, searching the room for anything I could use as a weapon, my eyes falling instantly on a white and red baseball bat that took pride of place on the wall with black scribbles that looked like signatures decorating it from top to bottom.
Probably important ones.
That I was about to ruin.
I guess today, we are going with swat.
“Stay here, don’t move until I tell you to come out,” I ordered, holding Thayleah’s gaze as I shuffled toward the door with the bat now tossed over my shoulder. “If I yell, run. You take the bat. You run. And you swing it at anyone who gets in your way.”
She shook her head, but I nodded. “You can do it.”
Her bottom lip trembled, but I didn’t have the time to walk her through this. The footsteps had reached the top of the stairs, and they were about to pass by the door we were behind. Holding my breath, I slipped out—the adrenaline finally kicking in and rushing through my body as I slipped in behind Cooper just as he looked up from his phone and saw the attic door open.
I planted my feet and drew back, my rib pain currently numbed by my fight reflex and the way my body was determined to stay alive.
He spun from the left, and I swung from the right, meeting him in the middle just as his big fucking fat mouth began to open, no doubt to let out some fucking scream about us escaping. The connection with his skull sent vibrations straight up the bat, shockwaves moving up my arms and through my body.
It was the dead weight I didn’t consider.
The heavy thump as his body hit the floor, loud and hard.
“Let’s go,” I hissed under my breath.
Thayleah scurried out and grabbed my arm as we moved past the body. He was still breathing, which almost made me want to take a second swing, but when I thought about it for that second, I remembered that when all this is done, and they realize Cooper’s part in this, he was the kind of guy that was going to make someone incredibly happy in prison.
When he becomes their bitch.
And that thought made me smile.
Thayleah and I hit the stairs, both pausing for a second and catching the look on the other’s face.
We ditched the socks. This time we moved faster, the voices we could hear sounding further away. We hit the second story, and for a second, I could see down the large staircase to the foyer where the front doors were located. Where Shotgun had busted through not that long ago to save the day once again and rescue Holly and me from this hell hole.
I hooked my arm through Thayleah’s, preparing to run straight down and out the front doors.
We just had to make it to the street.
To a place where there were people.
Witnesses.
Help.
But the doors flew open before we could even take that first step, and I knew it was him instantly. The way Thayleah stumbled back told me the kind of energy he had. That meeting at the grocery store I had felt it.
The arrogance.
Misogyny.
Laughing at someone else’s pain.
It was psychotic.
And it was about to come for us.
We backed away, my eyes searching the hallway, every single door shut.
His first step.
Second step.
I had to choose one, so I reached out, forcing the nearest one open and ducking inside.
Empty!
“The bed,” I whispered, quickly noting the way piles of junk seemed to be packed under it—the perfect hiding spot. “Go,” I whispered, getting on my knees and trying to silently clear a path through some guy’s empty suitcases and stacks of pornography, so Thayleah could wiggle inside, doing the same with my body beside her and the bat still clenched in my hand.
We’re thrown back into darkness again.
Back into that cell we’d just escaped, but at least this time, we had a fighting chance. This time, the playing field was more even, and when he swung, we could swing back.
And we would.
The footsteps rounded the stairs and began up to the third floor. Though, they only made it halfway. The sound that took over was almost demonic. This laughter. The deep rumbling chuckle echoed against the walls and the hardwood floors. “I should have known better, Avery!” Garrett called out loudly. “I should have known you’d be one of those ones.”
One step back down.
Another.
And another until he was back on the second floor.
“You know those ones, Avery? The ones who fight back. Who waste their energy on thinking they might be able to win?”
I squeezed Thayleah’s hand, trying not to let the dusty floor get up my nose as we lay there, listening to him move up and down the halls. Whether he was searching for us, I wasn’t sure, but one moment he was pacing the hall, ranting about me, and the next he was frozen on the spot.