Текст книги "Be My December"
Автор книги: Rachel Brookes
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Текущая страница: 24 (всего у книги 26 страниц)
The world around me felt like it was crushing every single bone in my body. My apartment was in a frenzy of chatter and anxious energy. Desperation lingered in the air. Police officers, my parents, Eden’s parents, Ashlyn, and Josh paced the floor as time slipped away from us. I couldn’t even comprehend what was happening; my fists were clenched at my sides, and my head thumped with a tension headache; I swear I heard every single click of the clock on the wall. Every single fucked-up second that he had her.
“I need to get out of here. I need to find her.” I paced toward the door as I finally cracked.
“Ky wait!” my father’s tired voice sounded from the couch. We had been sitting around for hours waiting for something, anything to happen, and I was absolutely done. “What good is it going to do if you leave? Where do you think you will go?”
“That fucking asshole has my girl,” I roared in to the tension filled room.
“Son, he has my girl too,” Mike Rivers said in a low voice, his brow pinched as he looked back at me.
Mike and Anna Rivers had arrived alongside the police officers two hours ago. The first thing I noticed about Mike was how tall and broad he was. His face was covered in a dark beard, and he shared the same deep blue eyes as Eden. He was a threatening looking man, but the moment he shook my hand with a firm grip and looked me square in the eyes I saw that his world had also disappeared. Anna Rivers jumped into my arms as soon as her husband was pulled away Douglas. Anna’s arms circled my waist, and she didn’t say a word to me. She just cried into my chest, dampening my shirt with tears for her missing daughter. It shocked me at first, but I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and held her tightly against my chest offering all the support that I could find.
I had never met these people before. What a fucked up way of meeting them for the first time. They had arrived back in the United States the day before and didn’t get the opportunity to see their daughter and now she was missing.
“What the hell am I meant to do?” I groaned into the air. Anger seethed within me, and my hands rubbed furiously over my face as I stormed through my apartment toward my room. Our room.
The moment I stepped foot through the doors, I froze as the intense smell of her perfume smothered me, clouding me with the sweet citrus scent that drove me crazy. My emotions bubbled within my tight chest and my eyes glistened as the reality of what happened stabbed at my barely beating heart. I collapsed on the edge of the bed and my face fell into my hands as a painful sob escaped from my chest.
Knowing that Jeremy had her and knowing what he was capable of was tearing me apart. Hearing her petrified voice when she called was replaying over and over in my head like a constant reminder that she wasn’t safe, that I had failed her again. I had promised I would always protect her.
All I wanted was a moment of peace, but how could I possibly find peace when a war was waging inside my head, my heart, and the world around me. Eden was my world, and my world was now being threatened in a way I didn’t even want to comprehend.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat there, huddled over, my emotions seeping out of every pore of my body. My mind sorted through memory after memory I had of her. We had overcome so much. Fuck, I had asked her to move in with me just last night. I had already given my heart to her, and now I was ready to give my home, my life, and my future. I was ready to sit in the palm of her hands for eternity. She was stronger now, more resilient. She was trusting, and she was finally mine. But now Jeremy motherfucking Davis had her. He had taken her away from my protection, away from the safety that I had been desperate to provide her. He was making me live my worst nightmare all over again. I couldn’t save her once, and now here I was, in the exact same position.
My head shot up from my hands as succession of soft knocks hit the closed bedroom door.
“Son, can I come in?” Mike’s worried voice cracked through the thick wood.
“Sure,” I replied.
He walked in, closing the door behind him. I had no clue what to say. I didn’t know what he knew about me. Fuck, I didn’t even know if Eden had mentioned me before. As far as I knew, I was just as much a stranger to him as he was to me.
He took a seat on the bed beside me, and we fell into a thick silence.
“You saved her.” He finally spoke so softly that I almost missed it.
I nearly choked on my own breath at his clearly delusional words.
“If I had saved her, she wouldn’t be missing,” I stated matter-of-fact.
“Do you know that she would call me and her mother every couple of days? Did you also know that she would text her mother every other day? It was all you Ky. Every single message we received, every single time we heard her sweet voice, we noticed a change, and it was all because of you. You made my daughter come alive again. I thought I had lost her four years ago, but now she has finally come back to us and it’s largely because of you.”
“Did she tell you who I was?” I shifted my gaze to him, my eyes narrowing. “That I was best friends with the asshole who has got her again. That I was the one who wanted her all those years ago but didn’t have the balls to do a damn thing about it and then he came in and tore her away from all of us? I am that guy.”
“She has told me enough.” He shifted beside me, nervousness falling off him.
“You should hate me.”
“Why would I hate the guy who has opened up his house for the police to work out of? Why would I hate the guy who has opened his home to me and my wife when you have never met us before? Why would I hate the guy who has finally brought a smile to my daughter’s face?” He stood from the bed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Ky, I would be a fucking asshole if I hated you.”
My lips twitched as his use of profanity. I didn’t think to watch my language around him.
Fuck, I didn’t know how to act around a girl’s father before and I sure as shit didn’t know how to act around my girl’s father.
My heavy eyes flittered open as daybreak cracked through the heavy blinds. Every movement I attempted to make, I was paralyzed as pain shot through my body. My ribs screamed at me and my face throbbed, making me aware that bruising was a certainty. I took a risk and gazed around the room. Chris’s large frame was curled in the chair by the window as he slept. His arms folded over his chest, and a permanent frown was etched on his face. I shifted my gaze to the left and found Jeremy’s sleeping form beside me, his hand resting heavily on my hip.
I hated him. I despised every breath he was allowed to take. I wished for his death, and I didn’t feel any remorse when I prayed for the heavy hand of karma to fuck him over. I just hoped it was sooner rather than later. I knew my time was quickly running out and the realization that he would take whatever he wanted from me at any time caused a dreadful shiver of fear to run down my spine.
My shoulders ached from being pulled tightly behind my back all night, and every single bone in my body felt like it was shattering. I was tired, hungry, and desperate for water. He was fucking torturing me.
Thankfully sometime during the night I had been able to spit out the gag and with a husky voice I spoke. “Jeremy, I need to use the bathroom.”
The monster beside me rolled to his side and shifted across the bed so he was hard up against my rigid body. His arm fell heavily over my stomach adding unwanted pressure onto my battered ribs. I hissed at the sensation grabbing his attention in the process.
“Good morning princess.” His voice, hot and thick with sleep brutalized the skin of my neck as he nuzzled his face in close to my ear. “What can I do for you?”
“I need to use the bathroom,” I repeated with no emotion in my voice.
“Are we going to have a repeat of yesterday? Remember what I said about calling out like a bitch. One word and you know what happens,” Jeremy’s spiteful tongue warned.
“I just need to use the bathroom.”
He retracted himself from my neck and climbed out of bed. I watched him like a hawk, not daring to blink in case I missed any sudden movement. I could not allow myself to drop my guard. I had to fight. His thick, dangerously imposing body hovered around the edge of the bed until he stood beside me. He pulled me up with one swift movement causing me to wince in pain as my ribs screamed at me. His chuckle added insult to my injury. I timidly inched my legs over the edge of the bed and rose on shaky legs, legs that I hadn’t used in over twenty-four hours.
I looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to untie the leather belt that dug into my bloodied wrists so I could use the bathroom like a normal human being.
Jeremy snickered and shook his head dismissively and with that one movement determined my fate. I was nothing but an object to him. A toy he planned on playing with whichever way he so desired. I stumbled over my feet as he pushed me in the back, floundering like a rag doll down the hall, in the direction of the bathroom. “There is no way in hell that I am undoing your hands. You need to piss, you do it in front of me.”
I didn’t even bother arguing. By now I was completely entranced with the thought of protecting myself. Call me weak, call me pathetic, call me a pushover—I didn’t give a shit. Jeremy was manic. He lived in a different reality, a reality where he clearly thought this was the norm and if going to the bathroom in front of him bought me some moments without injury then so be it.
Once I had finished, Jeremy led me back into the main room and I took the same position on the bed. I was still only dressed in my panties and bra, and I shivered uncontrollably as the chill in the room hit me. My head fell to the side and my eyes followed Jeremy as he moved through the room like he didn’t have a care in the world, like this was normality, like I was enjoying being bound and gagged.
What the hell was that noise?
Swipe! Click! Snap!
Curiously got the better of me and hauled me away from the trance of watching Jeremy in the kitchenette. At the foot of the bed Chris was hovering, holding a phone up which I instantly recognized as mine. I sucked in a breath as the noise sounded again, and I realized exactly what he was doing. He was smugly taking photos of me.
My first instinct was to cower and cover myself. The thought of a photo being taken of me in such a submissive state petrified me. I had fought too long and too hard to be shown in this humiliating state. I wasn’t weak any longer, I didn’t deserve this. I tugged on my wrists for any sign of freedom. The more I struggled the tighter the belt got and the pressure on my raw broken skin intensified.
The ear splitting sound of what seemed like hundreds of photos being taken tainted the room and infuriated me beyond limits.
“Fuck off!” I spat. “You are a sick fucking bastard. You won’t get away with this.”
His evil grin sharpened with my empty threats.
Photo after photo of me sprawled out on the bed, barely covered by my panties and bra and with my injuries on full display were being taken and there was nothing I could do about it.
“Yo Jeremy, what do you say? Should I send her boyfriend a nice wake-up message?” Chris taunted and continued his assault with my camera.
Hearing them mention Ky sent me into a whirlwind of emotions and a bone shattering hope soared within me. Ky would save me. He had to save me. He was the only one who could. It was amidst the cruelty of Chris taunts with the camera that I realized how different this was to four years ago.
Four years ago, in the loneliness and eeriness of Jeremy’s dorm room, I lost everything. I was ripped away from a life that I didn’t know could exist. I was a nineteen-year-old girl who didn’t have anything to fight for and certainly didn’t have a future waiting for me on the other side. Most importantly my heart and body hadn’t belonged to someone else—but now it all belonged to Ky.
“Hold up.” Jeremy slithered into the room like a poisonous snake getting ready to devour the mouse before him. He slid onto the bed, a knee falling each side of my hips as he straddled me. The pressure he forced onto my core shot pain through me. My pain register was sky high and every time I inhaled, my shattered rib made me collide head on with my nightmare.
“You ready to show your boyfriend who owns you?” he murmured as his thumb ran along my bottom lip. His eyes looked glassy and didn’t hold any conviction of reality as they glared back at me.
“You will never own me,” I spat, refusing to break eye contact.
He pressed down harder onto my core, mercilessly grinding his erection deeper. I couldn’t stop the painful whimper that hissed between my clenched teeth. He knew he was punishing me, and he was gleeful in the knowledge. “That fucking mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble Princess.”
“I’m not your princess. I’m not your anything.”
With a loud snap his hand connected with my face, sending my head swinging to the side. The moment my eyes opened, I heard the sound of yet another photo being taken. Jeremy ran his hands over my stomach, pressing down where he knew I was hurting. I gasped in pain and my head swung back and forth yet I refused to beg for mercy. I clenched my teeth together and gritted on for dear life. His hands cupped my breasts and his thumb rubbed my nipples through the pathetically thin lace. The lingerie I was wearing was Ky’s favorite. He loved the way the red fit against the curves of my body, but now it would be forever tainted, and all I wanted was to burn them into a pile of ash.
“Get off me,” I shouted.
I thrashed around on the bed as best I could. Jeremy’s weight lay unscrupulously hard on top of me halting my desperation to escape. The more I struggled, the harder he pushed down on me. I didn’t care about the pain anymore. It had disappeared into my will to fight. It had ceased to exist the moment Ky had pierced into my thoughts.
“Take the fucking photo Chris! Make sure you get a shot of my tongue down her throat and my cock grinding up against her sweet pussy.” His face inched closer to mine and his hideous breath hit my lips. “You ready to put on a show for your boyfriend Princess?”
“Fuck y—” My words were stolen as Jeremy forced his tongue into my unwilling mouth. His brutal lips collided with mine in a kiss that stole my breath but for all the wrong reasons.
Jeremy ground his arousal against me causing the lace of my panties to rub against my core. A burning sensation swam through me at the roughness of his assault and tears sprung to the corners of my eyes. His hands slid between our bodies and he grasped my breasts roughly and squeezed so hard that I knew bruises instantly formed. I wanted to be sick. I needed to be sick. I would rather choke on my own vomit than continue with this.
I allowed myself to float to an alternative world, a world where none of this was happening, where it was just Ky and me in our cocoon that couldn’t be reached. Where laughter was the only thing I heard, freshly baked muffins from the diner was the only thing I smelled, and Ky’s kiss was the only thing I tasted.
“Get the fuck off her!”
Time froze and the world stopped and tilted on its axes the moment I heard Ky’s panicked voice fill the room.
Jeremy pulled away with a snicker, and I took the moment of reprieve to collect a deep gasp of much needed air.
“Ky?” I whispered hesitantly, not believing what I was hearing. My head fell to the side in the direction of his voice. My body was quickly overcome with weakness due to over twenty-four hours with no food or water, the simple movement was torturous. Chris stood beside the bed holding out my phone and that was when I saw Ky’s beautiful face filling the screen. “Ky!” I shouted as loud as my dehydrated throat would allow.
“Eden, baby, hang on. I will find you.”
“You are a fucking weak prick Crawford. What’s this? The second time you’ve allowed me to get my hands on her. You aren’t worthy of this pussy,” Jeremy spat toward the phone. My eyes were transfixed on Ky. The pain etched over his face was excruciating to witness as he listened to Jeremy’s taunts. This would be killing him. He blamed himself for the first time and now this. I didn’t know if he would get past this.
Ever since I arrived his protection of me had been paramount. Ky had been the reason I was the person I was today. He had unleashed the fighter within me. He’d encouraged me to be the girl who refused to be the victim. He’d motivated me to find my voice, and now I refused to remain silent. Now it felt like I had to protect him. I had to give him his voice back, and I had to return everything he gave me.
I mustered every bit of strength I had before I spoke. “Ky owns me Jeremy. I give myself to Ky and Ky only.”
Jeremy growled like a wild animal and ripped me by my aching shoulder until I was sitting up against the wooden headboard. I screamed at the stabbing pain that seared through my body.
He snatched my phone from Chris who had remained silent as his cousin completely lost it. “See this little bitch,” Jeremy jeered as he thrust the camera into my face. I closed my eyes and looked away. I didn’t want Ky seeing me like this. “She is mine Crawford. See these tits. They are mine. See this sweet delicious pussy. That is mine. She put me away for four fucking years so now it’s my time for payback.” As he spat his taunts, his hands ran over my breasts, squeezing them merciless and then he cupped my core roughly. “Answer this Crawford; do you want to watch me fuck her because I am going to fuck her right now? Your fucking choice!”
I felt a piece of me die inside as it hit me what was going to happen. Ky couldn’t see this. He would never come back from witnessing it. This was my moment to protect him as the risk of my safety. I had to grow the balls that I didn’t have four years ago. I had to play the game.
“Jeremy, don’t share it with anyone. It was just you and me the first time so it should be just me and you this time. Do you really want to share me with Ky or Chris?” I swallowed the vomit that sat precariously in my throat, I just hoped like hell it worked. I looked at him with pleading eyes and pushed my body forward so my chest was against his in an act of submission.
My pleas weren’t for me; they were entirely and without hesitation for Ky.
“Eden! What the fuck are you doing? No! Fucking no! Get away from her asshole.” I heard Ky’s anger spearing through the phone still held near my face, but my gaze didn’t fall from Jeremy.
Evilness spread over Jeremy’s face, and I knew I had him. It had somehow worked.
“Goodbye Crawford. I’m going to fuck my girl.”
It was official. I was going to kill a man with my bare hands.
I paced my apartment crossing every inch of the living room with demanding steps, all the while twitching and fuming like a mad man. Anger seethed within me, piercing my very core with murderous thoughts and ways that I would eliminate Jeremy Davis forever. My reaction to the call was immediate, desperate, and frantic. My eyes had witnessed images of Eden that I knew would be tattooed in my memories for life. They would be the knife in my heart that would continue to taunt me for the rest of my living years and into my death. Seeing Jeremy’s hands and mouth on her body was like putting acid on open wounds. My girl was hurting, fuck she was more than my girl, she was my world. And now she was locked away, facing the evil of a ruthless maniac head on. I felt completely and utterly useless.
The living room was abuzz with frantic energy. My ears ached from the constant noise. Douglas was shouting orders to the police officers and the calls were being traced. Mom and Eden’s mom huddled together on the couch, quietly sobbing from what they had both witnessed, and Dad and Mike were in quiet conversation in the kitchen.
Jeremy Davis was a dead man fucking walking.
My gorgeous, courageous, strong girl was fighting him. She was fighting the fuckwit that had taken her. The sheer determination on her face and her clear desire to survive hit me so deep that it had knocked the air from my lungs and twisted my heart.
“Ky, get over here,” Dad bellowed from the kitchen. I hurried toward him and noticed that Douglas had joined them along with a man in his early forties who held paperwork in his hands.
Douglas turned his large frame toward me and leaned back on the kitchen island, his arms crossed over his chest. “We know where she is. The motherfucker isn’t a smart man, and we were able to trace her cell phone and know the exact location she is.”
“We have to go now,” I demanded and stormed out of the kitchen in search of my keys. Hearing that they knew where Eden was like music to my fucking ears. They didn’t follow me. “What are you waiting for? We know where she is!”
I couldn’t understand why they were standing around looking at me like I had completely lost my mind.
“Ky, we have to ensure that the premises is secure. If we barge in guns pulled and he isn’t there this whole thing will be useless. He could be watching and what do you think would happen then? He will take off with her, and he will not make contact again,” Douglas said, trying to calm my erratic behavior.
“He has my girlfriend. He has my life in his fucking hands, and we have to wait for confirmation,” I breathed out in frustration. I roughly ran my hands through my hair and gritted my teeth. “He has my life.”
My dad’s hand fell to my shoulder, and he gave me a slight nod. A nod that I knew meant that I should listen to what Douglas was saying.
I couldn’t stay there. I needed to get away from all of them. How could they just stand there when Eden was going through…Fuck I didn’t even want to imagine what was happening to her.
“Ky would you come and sit with me?” Anna Rivers’ soft voice fell to my ears halting my escape. I turned to look at Eden’s mom, and my heart broke all over again.
Without another thought I slipped onto the couch beside her, and her hand grabbed mine tightly and her head fell to my shoulder. Her characteristics were so similar to Eden’s and my throat tightened under the realization.
I needed her back.
I had failed her yet again.
“I need my baby girl back. I need to see her happy. I need to see you two together.” Anna sobbed against my shoulder. “Bring my baby girl home Ky.”
“We are heading off. We will call through when we have word.” Douglas’ voice shattered the moment with Anna.
I shot up from the couch and stormed toward him. We came face to face. His face was concrete steel and his eyes almost black while his chest was covered by an intimidating bullet proof vest.
“Don’t even begin to think that I am not coming with you. That is my girlfriend he has, and I will die fighting if you try and stop me.”
“You are a persistent prick aren’t you?” Douglas’ voice was just as intimidating as his stature.
Minutes passed as we entered a vortex of glares, neither of us willing to budge. Douglas knew the extent of my reasons to be there. He had been the one who had worked on the case four years ago. He had been the one who I would harass for information on Jeremy, and he was the one who I gave my statement to that helped in Jeremy’s conviction.
“Suit him up,” Douglas growled. “I want him in a vest. God only fucking knows what kind of ammo this fuckwit has in that room. We go in ready guys. Take no chances. Our aim is simple; get Eden safely out of that room.”
••••
Twenty minutes later two sleek black SUVs pulled up to the curb out front of Hotel De Luca. I remained silent through the entire trip as Douglas rattled off instructions to his team and informed them of the procedure that would come into effect. It was simple. Safety. Distraction. Surprise. But I only had one thing on my mind—getting Eden safely into my arms and away from Jeremy.
I jumped out of the car as adrenaline coursed through my veins. Douglas’ hand came down on top of my shoulder halting my movements. “We are going to get her out of here son. I am just as invested in this as you. The image of her in that hospital bed has stayed with me for years, and I want to put this motherfucker away.”
The look in his eyes told me he had unfinished business with Jeremy Davis, a fact that made me smirk in fucking delight. Everything happened quickly around me. We moved into the foyer, the armed officers had their guns cocked and ready. The bystanders gasped at the sight before them. I ignored everything until my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Eden’s name flashed on the screen. I halted and snapped my fingers toward Douglas to get his attention. His hand rose in the air, stopping the other officers from proceeding. He didn’t speak; he simply nodded the instruction to answer the call.
“What?” I roared down the phone.
Jeremy chuckled. “Is that really any way to speak to your oldest and dearest friend?”
“You are a fucking asshole Jeremy.”
“Do you really think you should be talking to me like that, especially when I have Eden in the palm of my hands? Say hi Eden.”
My body froze as Eden’s scream filtered down the phone. Every single rational thought left my body, and I rushed down the hall toward the room I knew they were in. I felt hands on me trying to stop me, but I shrugged them off.
My hand gripped onto the door handle, and I twisted. It popped open without force. Unlocked and enabling my entrance. The fucker really was an idiot.
All hell broke loose the moment I ran into the room. I wasn’t thinking. I was irrational, and I had only one thing on my mind.
Eden’s safety.
My breathing faltered as my desperate eyes found exactly who I had come for. Laying on her back, Eden’s panties were shredded and barely holding against her body. My stomach churned within me. Her hair was a matted mess swimming around her anguish ridden face as she glared back at Jeremy who hovered over her like a stalking animal. My eyes took in every inch of her face; her cheek bruised black and her eyebrow cut and fresh blood was running from the new wound.
Jeremy’s body twisted above Eden and turned toward me and the evilest of smirks graced his face.
“About time you joined the party.” My first and only instinct was to rush toward Eden but the moment I moved, an arm crossed my chest and another around my neck crushing my windpipe. “You remember my cousin don’t you?”
I gasped for air as Chris pushed harder on my source of air. I was momentarily paralyzed and my vision clouded and speckles of blackness appeared as unconsciousness came close.
“Don’t make him pass out! I want him to watch this,” Jeremy spat.
Chris shifted my body so I was facing the bed. Jeremy lifted his hand, and with all of his weight behind him, he began his attack on Eden. He was like a man possessed. He slapped her repeatedly across the face before ripping the red leather lace of her bra until her breasts were exposed to the room. Blood ran down her chin and her deep sobs filled the air. I didn’t even know if she knew I was here and my ability to speak was crushed. My anger roared to unhuman status when the rip of lace and satin hit the air as he tore her panties from her body and fumbled with his fly.
Commotion sounded behind me and then the room became a war zone. Douglas and his crew burst in with their guns drawn. Through the chaos and shouting, Chris loosened his grip as shock hit him, and I shrugged out of his grasp and bolted toward the bed. I ripped Jeremy from her limp body by the back of his shirt. My attack startled him. Like he was weightless, I threw him across the room toward the doors of the closet. His back smashed brutally against the mirror and glass shattered to the floor below. Jeremy sprung to life, his eyes glaring at me with intent to kill. He stalked toward me and lunged.
Every single nightmare, pain, regret, remorse, and year lost caused by Jeremy flooded my veins. My fist collided with his face as I pummeled him with every ounce of my anger. My knuckles ached. They smeared with blood, and I didn’t know whether it was mine or his.
“I will kill you Crawford,” Jeremy roared from the floor as my foot kicked in his ribs.
“Ky, fucking go and get your girl.” Douglas jerked me away, his hands falling to my arms and shaking me roughly to yank me from my trance. My eyes focused on him as my emotions were still fueled by anger. “Go and get your girl.” His voice finally registered. His expression was desperate.
“Don’t fucking move. Jeremy Davis you are under arrest for the kidnapping and assault of Eden Rivers.” Douglas’ threat faded behind me as I rushed toward Eden who looked on with wide eyes.
“She is mine, and you are not taking her from me,” Jeremy cried.
I scrambled onto the bed, ripping the shirt off my back and covering Eden’s naked and trembling body. With desperate hands, I softly untied her bloodied and bruised wrists that were still bound behind her back. The moment the blood rushed through, she groaned in pain and her eyes flooded with tears.
“Baby, look at me,” I soothed, desperate to draw her attention away from the scene unfolding before her, but she seemed to be locked in a spell. “Eden, baby. Please, I need you to look at me,” I begged as tears flooded my cheeks. Finally after what seemed like eternity her blue eyes found mine. Having me sitting before her finally registered and relief flooded her battered yet still beautiful face. I cupped her cheek and with a soft movement my thumb swiped away her tears as we stared, drinking each other in and sitting in silence. I had no clue what was happening behind us. I didn’t care what was happening. I had Eden back. She was here, and she was alive.
Two ear splitting shots rang out behind me, momentarily stealing my ability to hear. Eden’s blood curdling scream shook me back into action. My arms curled under her body and I pulled her against my chest, sheltering her from the atrocity that was happening in the room. The smell of blood tainted the air and a painful groan and a gurgling sounded from the floor beside the bed where I was sitting with Eden.
