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My cry of shock and fear was cut off as the arm around my neck tightened to the point I couldn’t breathe, let alone make a sound.
Without thought I stepped back and slammed my foot into the attackers instep as hard as I could, but considering I was in fluffy slipper boots, it was pretty pathetic. It earned me a grunt of pain and the arms around me jolted loose enough for me to quickly twist my body. I pushed my arm up to break the hold completely and rolled forward, just as I had practiced with my brothers so many times.
Panic was consuming me, stopping me from thinking straight. All I could feel was terror and my own heartbeat, both pounding through me.
I rolled over the bed, landing on my feet at the other side. I looked up as I fought to make myself take a breath and could just make out Kailan’s huge, shadowed frame across from me in the darkness.
“Kailan!” I gasped as I fought to keep reality in my mind, rather than the past it was fighting to confuse me with. “It’s me…it’s Evie!” I couldn’t see his face in the darkness, but I was sure he was trapped in a nightmare, just as I had been when I attacked him and Harris days earlier.
For a moment I thought I’d woken him up, and I actually released the breath I had been holding, but then he lunged forward. I ran for the door, sure I could make it out and to one of the other’s rooms before he reached me, but I underestimated how fast Kailan could move.
I cried out, but I was too slow. A hand wrapped around my throat, stopping me dead halfway to the door. I was lifted clean into the air, then slammed down so hard on the bed my teeth smashed painfully together with the impact.
Being pressed down by my throat like that was too much and I lost all grip on the present as the past consumed my fear filled mind. Once again I found myself in that cold, dingy, crumbling bathroom, being held down under water in that tub by Soloman.
I clawed and hit at the hand holding me as I fought to breathe. I kicked my legs and flailed as my instincts screamed at me to get free and find air!
My knee made contact with something, so I kicked out again harder, and finally that hand released and I sat up gasping and coughing, desperate to breathe.
I didn’t give myself more than a second to take in the much needed oxygen before I shot up and just started running. Fear was in complete control and I didn’t even take the time to consider I wasn’t in the bathroom any longer. I just needed to get away, and fast. My brain was telling me this was my chance to escape Soloman and I had to take it. There was no logic. No reason. I just had to get out of there.
I ran down the hall and almost threw myself down the stairs, stumbling at the bottom, but remaining upright. I saw the door straight ahead and ran for it, throwing it open and fleeing the house, just as I heard loud banging and yelling somewhere behind me. Panicked I lost my footing and tripped myself up on the steps, tumbling down all three of them and landing in a heap on cold concrete.
I dragged myself up, ignoring the warm blood pouring down my arm and the throb in my ankle. I looked around me as the bitterly cold night air stabbed at my bare skin. There was a fence. I didn’t know if I could make it in my current state. Instead I decided I had to hide. Soloman would be right behind me. If I ran he would catch me. I had to hide.
I ran around the building and tucked myself into a tiny gap between the garages and a fence line. It was so narrow I could barely fit my body into it. I scratched the shit out of my bare arms and legs as I squeezed myself as far down as I could, then slammed a hand over my mouth to quiet my frantic breathing. Please, I begged, please don’t let him find me. I can’t go back. I can’t.
ALEKS
I leapt awake, woken by a loud crashing that instantly had me on alert and reaching for the M22 I kept in the top drawer of my nightstand when I slept. I locked it away during the day for safety, but at night I needed it close at hand to be able to sleep.
I sat up and put on my glasses, looking to check that my gun was loaded and ready to go, even though I already checked before I put it in the drawer when I went to bed.
I slipped from the bed and moved across the room in complete silence, every bit of my training kicking in. When I got to the door I opened it just a fraction and glanced out. I was relieved the lights in the hall were on, since I could see fuck all in the dark since I lost half my vision. I looked down the hall towards Evie’s room first, instinct telling me that if we had in intruder, it was the fucker who was after her.
Just as I was about to step out into the hall, Kailan’s bedroom door was thrown open so violently he almost took it off of the hinges. He came storming out and I moved, ready to back him up, sure he too was worried for Evie at hearing the ruckus.
“Kailan,” I whispered, not wanting to alert whoever could be in the house to our presence, although it was pretty pointless considering the din Kailan had made exiting his room.
He turned to me and the look on his face instantly alerted me to what was actually going on. He was asleep, but not. He was in a night terror and had likely been the one crashing about, trapped in the horror of our past once again.
“Kailan?” I said more calmly as I slowly moved to place my M22 down on the side table, realizing it would not be needed.
Nick’s bedroom door opened behind me just as Kailan leapt forwards towards me. I braced for impact, knowing the huge fucker was going to take me down hard.
“KAILAN!” I yelled as he hit me like a MAC truck, taking me down to the ground and pressing his forearm into my throat hard as I gasped for breath.
“Harris, get out here!” Nick roared as he leaned down to wrap his arms around Kailan and attempted to pull him from me. Nick and I were both pretty big guys, but nowhere near as big as Kailan, and with me incapacitated, Nick was going to need Harris.
I roughly tapped at Kailan’s arm, hoping to wake him, but not wanting to hurt him, the whole time unable to breathe, my adrenaline spiking and telling me to do something more.
Then Harris burst from his room. He instantly took in what was going on and reached for Kailan. He was the only one of us big enough to stand a chance of getting Kailan off of me. With Nick’s help they wrenched him backwards away from me, and I coughed between huge gasping gulps for air as I sat up and righted my glasses.
“Rush! Wake the fuck up, brother!” Harris yelled as he and Nick wrestled him. Kailan fought both of them aggressively. He was trapped deep in whatever nightmare he was reliving, and I hated seeing the pain and fear all over his face as he fought like hell to get free of Nick and Harris’s holds.
I jumped up and ran over to them, grabbing Kailan’s face and making him look at me. I tapped at his face to bring him around, not knowing what else to try.
“Kailan!” I yelled. “It’s okay. You’re home! Wake up! You’re home, man. You’re safe.”
