“Annalise? Where are you?”
“My apartment,” she sobbed. “I... I called 911...fifteen minutes ago...they haven’t come...he’s drunk or maybe he’s high or something...he broke the table trying to get me... only got to the bathroom before...”
A loud bang echoed through the line, followed by a scream I felt in my soul.
“I’m on my way,” I said, already grabbing my keys. “Stay on the line. Do not open that door. I’m coming.”
Remi was already standing; eyes locked on mine.
“What’s wrong?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Annalise. She called the cops. No response yet. Boyfriend’s drunk and raging. She’s trapped in the bathroom.”
Remi was grabbing her jacket before I finished. “Let’s go.”
“You don’t have to...”
“I do. You keep her talking, and I will drive.”
We didn’t stop to argue. Just ran.
The apartment complex was in one of the worst parts of town. Run-down buildings, peeling paint, cars with garbage bag windows. The kind of place the city forgot on purpose.
I slammed the car door and sprinted up the stairs. Remi was right behind me, boots pounding concrete. I didn’t hear sirens, not even in the distance.
Apartment 2C. That’s where she lived.
We heard the shouting before we even hit the top step.
“Open the fucking door, you bitch!”
A fist hit the wood, another scream from inside.
“Annalise!” I shouted. “It’s Ava!”
“Don’t... he’s still...he’s...”
The door opened suddenly.
Not from the lock. From being kicked in.
Remi.
She wasn’t waiting. She booted the door in and was moving before I could react.
And then I saw him.
He was barely coherent. Big. Built. Rage leaking out of every pore. His face twisted with fury. Pupils blown out wide and glassy. High.
“You’re the whores that have been in her head, huh?” he spat.
“Leave. Now,” I said, voice low and firm, eying the path to the bathroom. “Cops are on the way.”
“Cops ain’t shit,” he growled, stepping closer. “I got a solid thirty minutes ‘til they care. That’s more than enough.”
He moved toward me fast, and I braced, but then Remi stepped between us.
She didn’t think, hesitate, or falter.
