Cassidy wordlessly pulls another blade from her jacket.
I gravitate closer to her, voice barely audible in the storm.
“Let it play out.”
Her eyes stay locked on the man approaching through the rain.
The man reaches the dogs and wrenches one of the chains taut with a yank.
“What the hell’s wrong with you!”
Lightning ruptures in the sky.
Abruptly his eyes catch directly onto ours through the darkness.
A confused crease forms between his brows.
I don’t hesitate and aim my Glock and fire.
A muted gunshot dissipates into the storm.
The man devolves into the mud.
Before the body even hits the ground, Cassidy tears out of the tree line.
Rain lashes against her as she sprints across the property straight for the house, black boots splashing through mud while thunder shakes the sky overhead.
“Reap!”
Too late the pit bulls rupture into agitated barking beside the body.
Another porch light turns on and spills over more of the yard.
Voices inside rise immediately as a chair crashes over.
“What the fuck was that?” One of the men shouts.
Movement surges past the windows.
I take off after her, Glock raised as we cut through the storm to the porch.
The front door is thrown open again.
Another man comes out fast holding a handgun low near his thigh.
He barely has time to register Cassidy charging straight at him before she drives the blade into his throat, unrelentingly.
A strangled, wet sound tears from him.
Blood pours down the front of his shirt, mixing with rainwater while Cassidy rips the knife sideways with brutal force.
He collapses against the porch railing.
She shoves him off without losing speed.
His body crashes down the steps into the mud below.
“Holy shit!” someone screams inside.
