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"I'm not going to say anything," I growl. "Now get off me!"
I try to push him, but he shoves me back against the concrete, banging my head again. I cry out, overcome with blinding pain.
"If you do, I'll hurt you," he threatens. "I mean, really hurt you."
"Hey! Get off my fairy princess!" Before I can react, Allie jumps on Vic's back. "Leave her alone!"
"What the-- Get off me, you psycho!" Vic bellows as she wraps an arm around his neck and pounds his back with her fist.
Vic steps back. I move to get out from under his arm, but he lunges forward, trapping me again. He whips the hand holding the gun over his shoulder and hits Allie on the side of the head.
"Ow!" she yelps, releasing him and landing with a hard thud on her feet. She staggers backward, her hand cradling her head. "That hurt."
"You asshole!" I jam my knee between his legs.
Vic moans in pain and bends in half, cupping himself. Clasping my hands together, I swing up as hard as I can, colliding with his jaw. Vic's head flips up with a howl. He stumbles back, slamming into Allie.
Allie pounds his arm with the sides of her fists. "You're so mean!"
Vic reaches out and clutches Allie by the throat. She claws at his hand, making gurgling noises. As I rush toward him, he stares at me, his dark brows dipping to shadow his eyes. A malevolent, bloody smile creeps across his face, causing me to falter in my steps. If evil has a face, he's staring at me right now. I know exactly what he's about to do the second before he does it.
"No!"
I reach for Allie ... just as Vic tosses her down the stairs.
Chapter Eight
"Where's my daddy?" I ask.
Everyone stops eating. My aunt Allison's fork clangs on her plate. I look at my mom. She doesn't say anything.
"He's gone, baby girl," my grandmother tells me, running her hand over my head.
A sharp cry escapes and my mom cups a hand over her mouth to trap it as tears fill her eyes. She looks like she's in so much pain.
I never ask about my dad again.
Allie's scream echoes throughout the stairwell 'til it's abruptly cut off when she collides with the first step. Her body continues to haphazardly tumble with thuds and clangs down the metal stairs, coming to a violent stop on the concrete landing.
I remain frozen with my mouth gaping open in a silent scream.
Allie doesn't make a sound--not a groan or a cry, despite the awkward angle her leg is bent beneath her. Her arms are splayed above her head. Blood slowly seeps out from under her short blond hair, pooling into a crimson halo around her head.
"Allie?" My voice is weak, like I've been screaming this whole time.
She doesn't move.
I take a step, about to go to her, when a hysterical voice turns me around. "What did you do?"
I stare into the frantic wide eyes of the girl from the fire escape, the one Allie hugged.
"Did you ... did you push her?" But it's not really a question. It's an accusation.
I can see the blame in her glassy-eyed stare. But she's not focused on my face; she's looking down ... at my hand clutching Allie's pink wig. I drop it like it's burning my skin. Panic begins to creep over me like crawling vines.
"You did. You pushed her." Her words are thorns, penetrating my flesh.
I take a step back, shaking my head. My lungs constrict, and I can't draw in enough air. This can't be happening. She stares at me like I'm some kind of monster, and I want to shrink into nothing. I take another step backward. She opens her mouth. I shake my head faster, silently begging. I continue to increase the distance between us, moving farther away from her. I need to disappear before she--
