Page 17 of Vow of Hate

I frown. His tone of voice is troubling. Dark and low. Dangerous.

“What?” I whisper.

“You can use your imagination.” His eyes lower down to my breasts again. “Just give me a favor and I’ll help you.”

“What kind of favor?” I ask, even though I know deep down. This man wants to touch me. Hurt me.

He lunges for me and instinct takes over. I pick up the knife and hold it out before me. The officer runs right into my knife. It plunges into his stomach. With a gasp, I step back, pulling the knife out of him. He stumbles back, clutching at his stomach with a confused frown.

“You…” He drops to his knees, turning paler by the second.

“I’m sorry,” I squeak out. “I told you I needed help.” The officer falls over, still clinging to his stomach. He reaches for his gun and I take cover behind his car.

That’s when I hear him calling for backup. Oh no. There’s a chance I’ll be killed for stabbing an officer. I need to call my mom or Luciana for help. Now.

I take a chance and run into the jewelry store.

“Hey!” the officer shouts.

I ignore him and go straight to the phone on the back counter. My fingers punch in my mother’s cell number but it only rings and rings and rings. Squeezing my eyes shut, I push back my tears. Now is not the time to cry. Just because she’s not answering, doesn’t mean she’s hurt.

I call Luciana next. Thankfully, she answers. “Luci?” I breathe out.

“Sienna, is that you?”

“Yes. I need help. Dante Zaneli kidnapped me. Is my mom alive?”

“I… yes,” she answers after a beat. “She’s alive. She’s at the hospital. Last I heard, she was in surgery. No one has told me if she’s ok or anything.”

I clutch the phone tighter. “Which hospital?”

She tells me the name. “Sienna, are you ok?”

“I need help. I’m going to the hospital to see my mom. Please, send your husband to help me. I accidently stabbed a police officer.”

“What?”

“I need to go. I can’t stay here.” I hang up and run out of the store. That’s when I see the police officer… dead.

He bled out from the stab wound. I just killed someone.

I should be freaked out but… this man wanted to hurt me. I could tell. I don’t feel bad for defending myself.

That realization is a scary one. I should feel empathy. I should feel ashamed, like God might punish me. But after everything I’ve been through, I don’t feel any guilt. I was just fighting like I promised myself I would.

Knowing where to go, I run off into the night. I can hear sirens in the distance. The backup the officer ordered.

I move in the opposite direction of the sirens and don’t stop until I see the large hospital sign before my very eyes. The hospital Luciana told me my mother is at.

My mother isn’t dead.

I throw the knife into a trashcan outside before going in. I don’t need hospital staff thinking I’m crazy.

But when I step into the hospital, a security guard immediately comes over to me.

“Are you ok, miss?” he asks. “Do you need… help?”

I know I must look crazy. “Clothes,” I whisper. “I need clothes. I was kidnapped.”