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VERA
Ididn’t move back with my sisters. Not yet. With Glen’s testimony, his Mom’s case had been reopened, something their middle brother, Damian, had been pushing for from the start. Had he known? Or did he just know his dad well enough?
On the bright side, Glen’s grandparents withdrew their claim, so at least the custody battle was over.
“Vera, can you help me with this one?” Glen gave me the giant calculator, as if that was the right thing to do to understand math.
“So, this is going to be a parabola,” I said, then plugged a few numbers into the formula and showed Glen how the shape and location changed.
He sighed. “I won’t have time for this on the test. They just want me to use the calculator to get the answer.”
“If they keep having the calculator do your work, then only the calculator will know how to do it.” I smiled at him. “You need better teachers.”
“Yes, he does.” The voice that came from behind me was soaked in malice and alcohol. “That’s okay. I can teach him everything he’ll need to know.”
Slowly, I turned around to face the man I had never met before. Older, in his sixties, at least, he still looked like he could crush me with one blow.
“Dad,” Glen whispered.
I stepped to the right, putting myself between them. So much for the fancy security system.
“How did you get in here?” I asked, just trying to buy time while I found a way out of this.
The man shrugged. “Sean is an idiot for trusting those gadgets.”
Gadgets. Right. How exactly did they work? There was definitely one that heard broken glass. I knew that much.
Pretending I was terrified, which I was, I took another step back, bumping into Glen’s chair, then twisting as I tried to catch myself and pushing the vase of flowers off the table. And it broke.
Sirens blared.
“Clumsy bitch,” he growled as he yanked me by the back of my shirt. “I won’t go to jail over that whore.”
Light glinted on metal. A knife. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap.
Pulling my head back, he brought the cold metal to my neck, then gestured for Glen to disarm the system.
I mouthed no. But Glen went to the panel and punched in the code.
“There. You can let her go now,” Glen said. “She didn’t see you do it. I did. So, you don’t need her.”
The cold blade bit into my neck, nicking the skin. I would not die like this. I couldn't. Not with Glen right here.
I never told Sean I loved him. I needed to make it out alive, so I could tell him, so I could beg him to keep me.
Damn it. Sean never taught me how to defend against someone with a knife. It was a similar position to the chokehold, though.
"Sure, I'll let her go so she can call the cops. How dumb do you think I am?"
Well, he was pretty dumb to come here in the first place because there was no way he wouldn’t get caught, but only after he sliced my throat. Lucky me. Unless I could do something about it. Could I, though?
This wasn’t quite the same as a chokehold. I wouldn’t be pushing against just his arm but also the knife. So, I’d need to get control of his wrist and twist it away from me. There was no way this would end well, but maybe it’ll give Glen an opening to fight back. And maybe the wound wouldn't kill me. Yeah, like getting my neck sliced gave me huge chances of survival.
Oh, hell. No guts, no glory.
With both hands, I grabbed the man’s hand and forearm, then pushed it away from me. It worked for exactly a fraction of a second.
His muscles tightened, bringing the knife closer. Glen kicked his dad’s elbow, shocking him into letting go.
“You stupid little shit,” he growled, and he sliced the air behind me, catching my shoulder.
Pain shot through me, but I pushed through. What was a little pain? Nothing. Not when I might die soon. Or worse, Glen might die.
Before I could find something to arm myself with, the man grabbed my hand, pulling me closer, then plunged the blade into my stomach.
Glen charged his dad with a chair, pushing him away. Somewhere in the distance, sirens blared.
I stared at the wound, at the river of red pouring out. Not frothy. No funky colors. Just blood and foul smell.
