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“Don’t you dare call me that!” I sneer at her, my patience and caution as lost to the winds of time as my dad.
“Wicked! I’m sorry. I did try to save him, I did!” The hand holding Alan upright tries to reach for me, but when he starts to fall forward, she’s forced to grab him once more. “I called the ambulance. Then I went down there to you guys. I tried to save him. I used his shirt to try and stop his bleeding!”
“He wouldn’t have been down there at all if it weren’t for you!”
“No, I-”
“Shut up! Just shut up!” My nails dig into Kai’s skin, but he doesn’t do anything to stop me.
“Izzy…” Alan’s voice is weak as he coughs and sputters, but he cuts through my quickly deteriorating mental state.
“Jelly-Bean.” My throat burns from the effort of not giving into my pain, but it eases just slightly when Alan’s lips curl up just slightly at my absurd nickname for him.
“I love you, kiddo, and I’m so proud of you.”
“No. Don’t-”
He jerks backwards, stabbing a knife into Andy’s leg and she screams. Gizmo and Snitch race forward and jump on her back with savage growls just as a shot goes off.
“Alan!”
EPILOGUE
Two Weeks Later
The funeral is beautiful. Grand even. Far more people than I ever thought possible showed up to pay their respects and show their love and support. A lot of them I don’t even know.
They filter in now, their pitying auras all focused on me as I stand at the door to welcome them. Ezra holds my hand tightly, offering me not only his eyes, but his unwavering support and strength. As I gaze at the pure white flower display to my left, centered around the most perfect lilies I’ve ever seen, I can’t help but fall into the memories of these past couple weeks.
* * *
“Alan!” My heart is ripped from my chest as he falls limply to the ground, a rapidly growing puddle of blood beneath him joining what was already there.
It’s too much blood. There’s too much.
Gizmo and Snitch continue raining down an unyielding attack on Andy that sounds as if it’s been wrought straight from the depths of hell. Ezra moves in, ripping her arm back in a maneuver too quick for me to even follow, her gun flying from her hand as she lets out a bloodcurdling scream.
It flies to the floor, skidding to a stop right to the tip of my leather boot. It’s like fate is trying to bestow me a gift. A gift of my own vengeance. The ability to take back control of my life by taking hers.
Or maybe it’s Satan. Maybe he’s whispering seductive temptations straight to my soul. Without even realizing what I’m doing, I’m bending and grabbing the gun. Kai tries to pull me back, going rigid when he sees the gun in my hand.
“Wick…” His rough, timber tone is cautious as he glances back towards the scuffle in front of us. It strokes over my skin like a falling leaf on a warm fall day. “You don’t want to do this. Baby, put the gun down. We’ve got her.”
Nic and Ezra easily have the bitch in hand. She’s unable to move, though they allow Gizmo and Snitch to continue snapping at her legs with their rabid growls and barks. She screeches at their bites and scratches, but when she catches sight of me raising the gun towards her, she goes still. A bright smile spreads over her features.
“That’s it, Izabella. Take your vengeance. Punish me!” She practically shivers with excitement, no longer even noticing the pain of my trash pandas’ attacks. “I hurt you. I hurt you! I must be punished.”
My hand shakes as she starts to cackle–a wretched, unnerving sound. The sound carries straight to my soul, scratching at my insides, clawing at my fragmented heart. It grates on me, wearing me down until I’m tightening my finger over the trigger.
“Mi vida.” Nic’s smooth tone rushes through the cracks and fissures Andy continues to form within me, filling the voids with bits of himself. “Put the gun down. Don’t give her what she wants.”
“She killed Alan!” I try to spit the words, but they come out broken and weak, every ounce of my own strength is being pushed into staying upright. It’s being spent on keeping me from shattering completely.
“And she will pay for it. In a way that will destroy her completely. She wants you to do this. She wants you to become her.” His accented voice continues its path to my heart, smoothing the jagged edges as his aura pulses pure love and understanding to me. I start to hesitate, my arm lowering just slightly as tears flow freely down my face.
“Police! Open up!” A shouting flows to us from upstairs, followed by the pounding of the front door, and I know I don’t have much time left. I straighten my spine, tightening my grip on the gun all over again.
She laughs once more, the deranged sound trying to attack the fortifications that Kai and Nic are trying to build inside of me. Their vibrations are muted by her chaotic energy, shut out by the strength of it, leaving me feeling far more alone than I’ve felt in a while. I take a step forward, my aim to her head precise as she dangles listlessly between Ezra and Nic.
