It’s absolute chaos inside my head and in my goddamn house.
Sharlene has always had it out for me. Since the first time she saw me, she made no bones about it either. She’s always trying to get her boys to leave me or stay away but this is next level bullshit. I’m so glad my mom isn’t here to see this. So thankful Dad isn’t too, he’d unapologetically rip her to pieces.
Dressing as quickly as Colt did, I swipe my phone trying to reach Talon as I race after the two of them, hoping to catch Colt before he hurts his mom. My call rings out.
Rounding into the kitchen ready to help Colt, the most unexpected sight stops me. Sharlene. Not Colt.
She stands in my kitchen, right in front of me, an awful look on her face. The level of hatred I see makes me feel sick. And scared.
“Where’s Colt?” I ask, trying to figure out what she’s done to her own son, what she’s going to do to me.
I take a step backwards, and her eyes narrow on the movement and her lips lift as she goes to say something, but we get interrupted by desperate banging on the outdoor sliding glass door.
My eyes jump to the noise. I’m relieved but at the same time realisation hits. He’s locked out, while I’m locked inside.
Now I’m terrified. I take a step away.
She laughs abruptly before taking a step towards me, “No one can stop me from killing you now. You are nothing but garbage, Raney. You are a disgusting piece of trash, and you’re done with my family.”
The adrenaline flooding my system makes my reactions sluggish and my thoughts out of alignment. Looking down to see if I have anything to protect myself with, it takes a moment to register my phone, but the second I do, I’m calling Reid. Thankfully, he answers. “Reid, I need you to get to my house, right this minute!”
“Stay away!” Sharlene shrieks over the top of me.
Ignoring her, I try to talk again, but my panic makes my words rush out unintelligibly. “Reid, your mom’s here.”
Before I can repeat myself again, she launches towards me and I fucking haul ass.
Colt smashes his fists against the glass, yelling frantically, but I have no option but to bolt in the opposite direction. She’s clearly intent on chasing me down. And she’s fucking fast. Whenever I can, I check over my shoulder, but she’s so much closer than I expected. And it’s pretty obvious she’s done talking.
My arms are pumping, and in the midst of trying to run for my life, I forget I have Reid on the phone. I can hear him screaming from my handset and, behind me, I hear the glass shattering before Colt’s voice gets louder too.
I feel relieved that they’re coming. It’s short lived when I get shoved in the back. She’s so freaking strong.
Her shove sends me sprawling, and I bounce off the dining room wall, managing to catch myself from falling, and race away. Except she’s on my tail again. This time she grabs a handful of hair to stop my escape.
She’s got me trapped, but it’s pretty clear I need to get as far away from her as possible. Swinging around blindly, I manage to hit her hard enough to free myself. We end up in my room, and one of Colt’s hockey sticks trips me up. She shuts the door behind her, locks it too.
I can’t get up; she nabs the stick I tripped on and towers over me. All I can do is roll over to try to protect myself.
I can feel Colt’s feet pounding over the floor as he thunders towards my room, yelling that he’s coming to help. Reid’s on the phone, but I can’t understand a word he’s saying. I’m so relieved they’re both coming, but at the same time it’s pretty clear that they’re both going to be too late. Way too late.
I watch in terror, frozen on the spot as Sharlene swings the hockey stick. Like a ninja does a sword, it sails through the air in an arc.
The first hit against my ribs is so fucking painful I swallow the scream. The second she spins the stick to drop the heel against my knee, I bellow out as pain explodes. Unable to move a muscle, I watch helplessly as she swings the stick again. It happens in slow motion but even then, I only get to raise my hands. It’s pointless, the blade slices right through my defences.
But Sharlene’s not done, she pins me down with a knee on my chest to scream and slap my face. “You are not fucking good enough for them, you piece of fucking trash.”
She stands up, and I think she’s done, that I might be okay. Except she’s not done, and I won’t be okay. Laughing as she raises the stick, she waits until her arm is pulled right back, “You’re nothing but a dirty used cunt.”
Blistering pain steals everything from me. It’s like an explosion, a collision of screaming pain, so extreme I can’t do anything. Not a thing. I’m lost in a state of terror and a whole world of pain as a black tunnel of light appears. The darkness sucks Sharlene away. The hole expands until it’s the only thing I see.
It consumes me, which is good, because I’m done hurting.
ChapterFive
KING
Apart of me wants to rip these kids to pieces and scatter their remains to the corners of the globe. But that’s the fucking issue, isn’t it? This shouldn't be happening, and the crap people do to each other is also something they should not have to be dealing with at their age, but it is.
