No!I want to scream. He isn’t supposed to be here. I need him to be all right so he can take care of Rachel. Rachel will need a parent to love her and look after her. As she turns toward him, raising the gun in her hands, I swing the chair into her head and hear a crack.
“Now!” I shout at Rachel.
Our daughter runs in between where Ashley is lying on the floor and through the door. Rick pulls Rachel into him, holding her so she can’t see the mess her mother made out of another human being.
“It’s over,” he says softly. “Don’t look.”
“I had to,” I mumble as my whole body shakes. I had to kill her. It was her or me. I just wanted Rachel to escape. I never meant to kill anyone. I’ve never killed anyone before, and I never want to ever again.
I can’t stop staring at the mess on the floor.
“Come here,” Rick orders, still holding our daughter tight in his arms.
“I had to,” I whisper.
And then everything goes black.
