Page 55 of Savagely Scarred

“William!”

I turn around to see Mom running towards me. She drops to her knees and hugs me tight. When she sees the blood on my pajama shirt she starts crying.

I didn’t mean to ruin the shirt. I can buy another one with my birthday money that Grandma gave me.

She brushes the sweaty hair out of my face that was sticking to my forehead. “Where’s your dad?” she whispers.

I slowly glance over her shoulder and up at the window.

I wonder if Mom will be sad that Dad broke that too.

She turns her head to follow where I’m looking.

BOOM!

Something inside of the house explodes and all the windows upstairs break. Glass flies everywhere.

I cover my ears and close my eyes.

When I open them again, Mom is on her hands and knees.

And her screams are louder than the flames.

I sit straight up in bed, trying to catch my breath. Liv stirs a little next to me, but she doesn’t wake. I carefully slide out of bed and throw on a pair of gym shorts. I unplug my phone on the nightstand and slip it into my pocket.

Sadie stands from her bed in the corner, and I motion for her to lay back down and stay. She obeys, and I quietly exit the bedroom and head downstairs. My focus stays on the panic room door while I fill up my water bottle in the kitchen.

I called Lorenzo last night and updated him on what happened yesterday. He’s coming over later to help me hook up a generator that I immediately bought online. He’s also going to hack into the security system and in his words ‘make it actually function and do its job.’

Because that psycho was in our house.

Music pours from the speakers after I connect it to my phone. The bass rattles the mirrored walls.

I put on my boxing gloves and start swinging at the punching bag hanging from the ceiling of our home gym. My muscles are taunt, laying into the bag with every ounce of anger coursing through my body. Hit after hit while my thoughts consume me.

If he got into the house, that means he has a way to turn off the security system. And he could do it again. Kill me in his sleep if he wanted to.

Take Olivia.

Again.

My teeth are grinding so hard that I might actually chip one of them. I land one more powerful blow with my right hand before I grab the bag to stop it from swinging.

Panting, sweat runs in rivulets down my face and chest. I rip off my gloves and throw them on the floor. I stomp over to my water sitting on the weight bench and snatch it up. After I’m done chugging half of it, I set it on the floor and adjust the back of the bench so I’m sitting at a forty-five-degree angle. I straddle it and lean against the black pad.

Reaching behind me, I grip the weight bar and lift it off the rack. I swing it over my head and lower it down to my chest. My arms extend, pushing it up in the air while exhaling long and slow. Every rep is a different torment plaguing my thoughts.

Kyle. That sadistic bastard.

Up.

He needs to die slowly and painfully.

Down.

Why kill innocent women just because they look like Liv?

Up.