Page 9

I swallow thickly because I was thinking the same thing.

This is bad. This is really, really bad.

“I want you to get your phone and call 911,” I instruct and guide her over to the closet again. “Hide in the very back, put some clothes or boxes over you. Don’t come out until the police get here.”

She grabs hold of me and I feel her nails dig into the skin on my chest.

“You have to come with me. What if he shoots you? Come with me, please I’m scared,” she pleads.

I bring her in close and kiss her tight against the lips.

“I’ll be okay. Go!” I shove her into the closet and close the door.

The stomping hits the top of the stairs and only a few feet from the bedroom door. I look around the room with only a few seconds to find something to defend myself with. Over by her computer I see a baton the dancers use in some of their routines. I quickly grab it up. The moment my hand is around the object the door to Remi’s room is kicked open, almost ripped off from its hinges.

“What the fuck are you doing in my house?” Mr. Carter yells, spittle flying out of his mouth.

His eyes are wild and unfocused, his face flushed. There’s blood all over his uniform top and hands. I don’t think I’ve ever been as terrified in my life as I am right at this moment. He turns his head, looking around the room.

“Remi! Come out right now!” he bellows and I pray she stays put. When there’s no movement or sound from her, he turns his attention back towards me. “Bad day to be at my house.” He narrows his eyes my way. “Where is my daughter?”

“She had to run next door to get something from the neighbor,” I say, hoping the lie doesn’t show and gives us a few more minutes before the police get here.

He bares his teeth. “She’s just like her mother, always worried about others instead of what is waiting for her at home.”

“Is Mrs. Carter okay? I thought I heard something fall earlier.” It must have been the wrong thing to say because he brings the gun up to his forehead and rubs the barrel against the skin.

“It’s a shame you had to be here, boy,” he says, then moves the gun off his forehead and points it right in my face.

I can feel my eyes widen and all the air in my lungs halt. For a split-second, time stands still, and then my fight or flight kicks in. I grab his wrist and shove it away from me just as he fires. The bullet lodges behind me in the wall. With my other hand I bring down the baton nailing him in the head, hoping that it’s hard enough to knock him out. But the opposite happens and it seems as though it just pisses him off more as he lunges at me.

I’ve got height and about thirty pounds on him as we both struggle to get the upper hand. I’ve never been in a fight before but I hold my own as he tries to punch me with his free hand. My grip on his wrist holding the gun tightens. I know that if I let go, he’s going to shoot me then turn it on Remi when he starts looking for her.

Somehow in the struggle, we both end up on the floor after he shoved me up against the wall. My head feels like it’s swimming under water but I keep pushing forward. I’ve got his occupied hand above his head when the gun goes off. For a brief moment I look up to make sure it didn’t aim towards the closet when he clocks me with his fist. My eyes fill with dark spots and my body pauses. I watch in slow motion as he brings the gun down towards me. A voice in the back of my head is telling me to fight, to get up and win. Mustering up all that I can, I grab the top of the gun and twist it at the last second. Two rounds are fired as the prisms reflecting in my vision start to take over. I hear a grunt but am unsure if it was from me or Mr. Carter.

The sound of sirens can be heard off in the distance as my body falls on its back. I take a few deep breaths and gaze up at the ceiling. The creak of a door echoes in my ears and a gasp sounds.

“OHMYGOD! Rhett? Rhett, are you okay?” I hear the sweetest voice I’ve come to love.

Once I feel like I’m not going to pass out I sit up and turn to the side. The moment I do I wish that I didn’t. Mr. Carter’s body is lying there in a pool of blood with two bullet holes in his neck and face. I’ve never seen anything so gruesome before in my life. It’ll be an image I’ll never be able to rid from my brain.

“Rhett!” Remi’s panicked voice brings me out of my stupor and I slowly get up and make my way over to her. She immediately latches on to me like a monkey and buries her face in my chest sobbing uncontrollably.

I hear a door being kicked in and the sound of several footsteps start to fill the house.

Thank God this nightmare is finally over.

Victor, Idaho ~ 16 years old

“Clear!”

“Clear!”

I look up right in time for several officers to come into the room. They have their weapons trained in front of them and when they see Remi and me they halt their movement but don’t put down their guns.

“Drop the gun!”

“Drop the weapon!”