I should have kept my phone in my hand.
I shouldn’t have opened the door.
The door smacks into my face, hitting my lip and nose, disorientating me.I blink rapidly as I try to register what is happening and who the man is that pushes his way into my home.I’m stunned into silence when I feel blood drip from my nose.
“We finally meet, Mrs Hayes,” the deep, gravelly voice greets as he closes the door behind him.
My heart races as I slowly take a step back, cautious of the man in front of me, when a sudden coldness hits my core.An angry scar runs over his face and partially over his neck.His top lip curls up, and his beady blue eyes, cold and soulless, glower at me.A shiver runs down my spine as my eyes begin to water, my lip quivering.
This is the man who has made my husband’s life a living hell, the man they are searching for, the man who has Mina scared to leave her bubble.
Jaxon has always protected me from the dangers that lurk in the shadows, whether they’re only in my mind or outside.To protect me, he hasn’t shied away from informing me about the things this man in front of me is capable of.He told me as a forewarning in case this day ever came.He told me so I would know running would be fruitless.Talking to this man would get me nowhere.Jaxon told me so I would know to fight.He told me so I wouldn’t freeze, so I would know the severity of the situation.I would know to scream.
My time rooted to the spot in fear is over.
I scream.
I scream for help.
I scream for my husband.
I scream for my daughter sleeping in her cot.
I scream for the life I desperately want to keep.
Jaxon will come for me.
I reach for the lamp and swing it at the man who has tortured too many people.Who has nearly taken two lives from us.
The force of the blow sends a numbing shock up my arm, but I don’t let it stop me, swinging it once more at his face.
His face hardens, his eyes holding a glassy sheen as he snaps his hand out, reaching for the lamp I tightly grip onto.He twists the metal object away from me whilst I still clutch the neck with everything I have.It’s not until he twists enough that my wrist burns from the sharp angle that I have no choice but to let go.Bile rises up my throat when I hear it drop to the floor.I turn, slapping at his thick chest, at his face and his arms.He’s bigger, stronger, and isn’t facing the same tremendous fear that is rooted inside of me.He swings out his hand, backhanding me.The force jars me to the side, sliding slightly over the table running along our hallway.The mahogany wood stabs me in the ribs.Keys and ornaments fall to the floor, something smashing under my feet.
He wrenches me up.“He was warned I was not a man to be messed with.I told him what would happen,” he grits out, gripping me by the jaw and smashing me against the mirror hung on the wall.I cry out as it smashes on the floor beneath me.My ears ring, but in the distance, I hear her, the life I birthed, my love, our joy.His smirk turns sinister as he gets in my face.“He took a daughter from me.It’s only fair I do the same.An eye for an eye, right?Tit for tat.”
“No,” I shriek, clawing at his face despite being barely able to feel my limbs.“No!”
He swings me up and slams me against the wall, cracking the plasterboard behind me.I groan, but he’s lunging for me once more.I kick and scream in his face, not letting him win.
Jaxon will come.
“Don’t worry.You’ll be coming with me,” he spits, smashing my head against the wall, disorienting me.“We will have so much fun.”
I whimper when he gropes me, squeezing my boob until black spots flicker in my eyes.
No.
I try to knee him in the balls, but I’m not sure what I hit.He doesn’t make so much as a grunt as I keep fighting back.My arms ache as he drags me to the other side of the hallway and slams me against the mahogany side table once again.My hand skims across the wooden table, reaching for anything to use as a weapon.The glass bowl filled with gemstone hits my fingers, and I pick it up, swinging for the man in front of me with a bellow.The glass shatters over his cheek, cutting into the flesh near his scar.For a moment, both of us are stunned as he gingerly touches the wound.
Run.
His hand snaps up, gripping my neck until I can barely catch my breath.“You bitch,” he sneers, digging his fingers in harder.I claw at his hand choking me.
The door crashes open, the wooden frame splintering.Andrew’s eyes widen as he forcefully throws me to the floor.I shuffle away a little, panting heavily as I claw at my neck.
Breathe.
Barry, Jaxon’s granddad, our neighbour and friend, comes into view.He’s wearing his flannel shirt and linen shorts, and is holding a bat up as he storms in.He roars, swinging the bat at the man in front of me.I scream, covering my ears at the sickening crunch of the bat hitting flesh.
