AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He didn’t move at all, so I lowered the crutch and went for my phone. The second I turned, it started to ring, and for whatever reason, the sound somehow shattered the tight lock I had on my emotions.
A sob burst in my chest and bled out of my mouth, a cross between a wail and a moan. I gulped in air, but it was like my lungs had holes in them because, even as I dragged it in, it seemed to leak right back out.
I focused on the phone, knowing it was Ben calling and wanting so badly to answer.
I quickened my steps, putting more weight on my broken ankle than I should but not caring about the consequences.
Something heavy and hot slapped around my ankle, shackling me like a heavy-duty chain. I screamed and went to shake it off but realized quickly I couldn’t lift my good leg without compromising the bad.
“No!” I wailed, kicking out anyway and then pitching forward the same way Chalene had. I slammed into the floor, but I didn’t stay down, rolling onto my back and using my cast as a battering ram as Director Fields tried to attack me.
I only caught him in the chin, which seemed to piss him off. He leaped on me, straddling my waist and wrapping his hands around my throat to squeeze. Blood streaked over his face, creating an uneven trail to his mouth where it slipped over his lips and outlined his teeth. His eyes were crazed, and the gray hair on his head stuck up at odd angles where it wasn’t matted with blood.
“You stupid little girl,” he growled, voice cracking. “You never should have gotten in my way.”
My eyes bulged as my airway compressed. Panic tried to steal rational thought, and I fought it off as I slapped and clawed at the man’s arms as he tried to choke the life right out of me. I bucked and wrestled, my body draining quickly of energy and air.
In the distance, my phone went off again, and it was like a jumpstart to a dead battery, giving me just enough fight to try again.
I whispered something, something that made no sense.
His grip loosened just a fraction as he leaned in. “What?”
I grabbed his head and dug my thumbs into his eye sockets, the squish and roll of his eyes making me gag, but I kept up the pressure as he wailed and lurched off me.
Wheezing, I scrambled back, scooting on my ass across the floor, trying to get away from him as fast as I could.
My back hit the counter, and I used it as leverage to stand, not once turning my back to the man writhing on his knees.
“I’m going to kill you!” he roared, bursting to his feet and rushing me. I reached across the counter and grabbed the pair of scissors out of a small basket near the computer.
He grabbed me by the throat and yanked me away from the counter. Our eyes met in a clash of defiance. I swung my arm, sinking the sharp end of the scissors into the soft spot of his shoulder just behind his collarbone.
Shock lit his sinister eyes, and we stared at each other for a fraction of a second before he let go of my throat and stumbled back.
“Jess!” The sound of Ben yelling my name was accompanied by the violent shaking of the bells on the front door. I sagged upon hearing his voice, gasping for breath, and I stumbled backward, falling into the counter.
Director Fields dropped to the ground, contorting in pain, his hands hovering around the area the scissors stuck out of his neck. He coughed, and blood splattered his lips.
And then Ben was there, his body filling my vision and blocking out everything else. His hands were warm and steady, his shoulders a solid wall to lean on. I started crying the second he pulled me against him, melting a little because he felt so safe.
“What the fuck is going on in this evil church?” he bellowed, clutching me to him like I might disappear.
Matt reached into Ben’s chest, hands grabbing my face to gently pull it out so he could look at me. “You okay? Tell me you’re okay.”
My lips wobbled. I was so lucky to have them. “I’m okay, Matty.”
Sirens wailed in the distance, proof Chalene had made it to safety. I gasped, the force of it dislodging Matt’s hold on my face, but I didn’t fall because Ben still had his arms around me.
“Jesus Christ!” he yelled, getting a good look. “Why are you so bloody? Get a goddamn ambulance here now!” he demanded to anyone and everyone who was listening.
“Chalene,” I said, not even worrying about the blood because it wasn’t even mine. “Where is she? Chalene!”
Ben pulled me in, his arms so tight they nearly cut off circulation. “We don’t know a Chalene, P.” He panicked over my head. “She’s lost her mind again.”
A laugh bubbled up inside me, but it came out like a sob.
“All right now, baby girl. I got this. I got you. Don’t you worry about a thing. Just stand here and let me hold you. Snot all over my shirt. I got you. No one’s getting through me.”
