He seems confused for a moment but quickly complies. He’s smart enough to unlock it before handing it over. My eyes skim over the screen, looking through the messages. There’s nothing that could indicate what Simmons is planning, and when I’m about to check his contact, I accidentally press the gallery icon.
My entire body freezes, and my thumb stops scrolling pretty quickly. The albums are filled with images of a girl. In some, she’s so bruised that it takes me a moment to spot any recognizable features. In others, she’s crouched in a corner of the room, wearing nothing but underwear, her cheeks stained with tears.
Her hair’s a mess, there are cuts all over her body, and she looks like she’s underweight. Then, I swipe, and all air leaves my lungs when I see the face of the girl clearly.
Those eyes aren’t something I could ever forget. They’re filled with rage, with pain, and most disturbingly — she’s fucking terrified. The device slips from my hands, landing on the ground with a loud thud.
The girl in the pictures is Blair.
“You motherfucker,’’ I hiss, hands clutching by my sides.
“Look—’’
That’s the last word that leaves his mouth. With a loud snarl, I lunge at him, my fist connecting with his nose. The sound of it cracking fills my ears, followed by the feeling of his warm blood on my knuckles. He tries to writhe underneath me, to squirm his way out, but I don’t let him.
My hands are hitting him wherever I can possibly reach, breaking his nose entirely, ensuring his ribs are cracked, and even going as far as slamming his head against the side of the car.
Swiftly, I get off him, grabbing him by the collar and forcing him to his feet. He’s panting, missing a tooth from my brutal assault, but it doesn’t deter me. In fact, it makes me want to see more of his blood.
All I can focus on is the insatiable rage that’s filled my mind, body, and soul completely. Cam wobbles a little, his footing off balance, and I grip his hair with my hand, slamming his face against the hood of the car.
“You sick, twisted, pathetic little cunt,” the sneer comes from the depth of my throat. My hand shakes in silent fury while I continue to slam his head against the car repeatedly, his blood splashing everywhere. My white shirt is coated in his blood, but it’s not enough. The motherfucker is still breathing.
With a deep breath, I release him and pull my gun out.
Instead of thinking about it, I start shooting every part of his body. From his arms and thighs to the side of his stomach, shoulders, and calves. Everywhere, he’d be able to feel the excruciating pain, without dying too soon.
The distance between us is little, almost nonexistent, and I no longer pay attention to the way his blood splatters all over me. My white hair has crimson all over it, my face is filled with specks of the thick liquid, some of it manages to fall into my mouth.
He falls down, groaning and crying in pain. The sound of his suffering only intensifies the rage inside of me. That’s probably the same sound that Blair had to give them time and time again.
It’s probably the same amount of physical pain she had to endure over the course of the past four months, and I don’t dare to even think of the mental pain she had to go through. She was all alone, and they abused her, forced her to relive the trauma she endured as a teenager, and I’m praying I get to her in time.
My eyes snap to the car as the other man pushes the door open, crawling outside. My movements are silent, and before he can register what’s happening, I kick him right in his face, causing him to scream out in pain.
Judging by his face, he’s Sam — Cam’s brother. How cute, two brothers will die on the same day. The rational part of me is screaming to just take one as hostage, to try and get anyinformation out of them possible, but the rage in me doesn’t let me.
The monster is thirsty for their blood, to see the life drain out of their bodies, to see the soul leave their eyes. And I don’t stop the monster. I cannot. I don’t want to. Because the monster in me exists to protect the woman I love the most, and it won’t stop killing until she’s back in my arms.
I shoot him, multiple times, until he too succumbs to wounds and falls to the ground. My chest is moving up and down rapidly, hands trembling as the adrenaline rushes through. I’m momentarily snapped out of my trance when Kaya approaches, her eyes slowly moving from two dead men to me multiple times.
“Uh… You done?”
I nod stiffly.
“Good. Let’s not waste any more time.’’
I look around, seeing the damage I did to our car. With a deep sigh, I run my hand through my hair, agitated. My hair’s grown longer since Blair’s been gone. Now, it ends just at the nape of my neck, a few strands falling over my eyes.
“We can’t use either of these,” I sigh.
“Don’t worry, Lucas is near. He’ll pick us up.”
“Isn’t his car packed already?”
Kaya shrugs. “Raven can go into the trunk for all I care.”
A small chuckle slips from me, though I quickly school my emotions back to neutral.
