There’s this eerie feeling that prickles at my skin and has my blood turning cold.
Chaos should be ensuing throughout the estate. Especially if the security crew witnessed what I’m sure they did on the cameras. There’s no way it wasn’t already reported to pa.
Which only limits my time on finding ma and getting us out of here.
I stay close to the walls as I make my way to the staircase that leads upstairs. Ma either stayed in my room or returned back to hers.
I take the stairs two at a time. On light feet I run down the hall and open my bedroom first.
Sweet relief comes over me as I find ma sitting on the bed. Her back is to me and she’s looking out the window. The very same window I escaped from.
“Ma, we have to go,” I tell her urgently. She doesn’t move. Just sits frozen on the bed.
Something’s wrong. Something is completely wrong here.
I hurry over to ma and when I spin her around her mouth is sealed with duct tape and her hands are tied.
As I begin to carefully rip off the tape I hear the click of a gun come from the room.
I whip around fast to the sound and find pa pointing a gun at me ready to kill.
I aim my gun back at him. “Lower your gun, pa.”
He doesn’t. I don’t expect him to. He’ll never answer to no one but himself. He's proven that time and time again.
“You betrayed me, my sweet girl.” He sounds torn. And I don’t know what to do with that.
I push my feelings for the pa, the little girl who knew aside. He’s long gone. And maybe he always has been. “You betrayed me first.”
“By not giving up everything I have worked for, for you?”
“By not making me a priority over the family,” I say bitterly. “You could have saved me pa.”
“By surrendering!” He thunders. It feels like a slap to the face. “This is why you could never lead. Niall knew when to make the hard calls. He understood the family above all else!”
“And he’s fucking dead. Just like you’re about to be.”
Pa laughs humorlessly. “You don’t have the guts to kill me, Imogen. It would make you a leader. Something you’re not.”
“You know,” I begin as tears cascade down my face. “I could have possibly forgiven you for not rescuing me. But abusing ma. I can never forgive you for that.”
“The bitch—” I pull the trigger.
We both stare at one another stunned. His hand comes to rest upon his chest where I shot him. When he removes it, it’s covered in blood. He stares at his hand and then me.
And I don’t think. I act.
I unload the clip into pa. His body jostles from the impact of the shots before he falls to a helpless heap on the ground.
My fingers shake as I remove the remainder of the tape from ma’s mouth. She doesn’t look at me. She stares at the pool of blood surrounding her husband. Her now late husband.
I crouch down in front of her and force her to look at me. She stares at me woodenly. I think she’s in shock. “Ma, I need you to stay with me, okay? We’re going to be okay.”
She doesn’t respond. I usher her to her feet and lead her out of the bedroom.
I take one final look at pa. He gives one final breath before his eyes fall shut and his head slumps against his chest.
Don’t think, Imogen. Don’t think.
