Page 52 of Blood Ties

Riley

A wareness returns, slowly and painfully.

It takes me a second to realize where I am. Splintered wood digging into my back, a dirty porch light up above. I’m still outside the house, where Knox dropped me and left me.

I sit up as quickly as I can manage, biting back a groan of pain. Everything hurts. But... I’m alive.

And the world is strangely quiet. It’s weird that Knox didn’t come back for me. And... neither did Kai. I remember the sound that sent Knox running inside, that agonized scream, and my stomach twists.

It’s awfully quiet now.

The front door looms up above me. Kai could be inside... but so could Knox. Their monster of a father, their dead-eyed uncle. I back away from it on my hands and knees before grabbing onto the porch railing and pulling myself to my feet. The wood groans beneath my grip as I stand, swaying.

I look again at the door. Then out into the night, where freedom waits.

I lower myself down the first porch step. The second. Then I hit the dirt road and start running. Every breath searing my throat, every step sending fresh pain jolting through my body, I run.

But halfway down the road to the gate, I slow. And then I stop. I bend over, hands on my knees, gasping for air. Yet it isn’t the pain that halts me, or even the realization that I’ll never make it into town on foot.

It’s a chicken. A fucking chicken crossing the road. I watch it cluck and shuffle its way along, and then notice the rest of the flock pecking in the dirt nearby. Further away, I see some of the pigs snuffling around near a broken fence.

Kai set the animals free before going back to the house. He must not have expected to come back out, so he made sure they’d be free. And that simple act of kindness opens the floodgate on my memories.

Kai with his eyes on the book, reading on his own for the first time. Kai with his arms around me and his lips so gentle against mine. Kai’s face softening when he talked about his mom, Kai crying on his knees in front of me, Kai showing me his scars and trusting me to be careful with him.

I can’t leave him behind.

“Fuck,” I grit out, clenching my hands into fists as I straighten up. Every instinct screams at me that I have to go, that I can come back with help, but I can’t bring myself to do it. My gut tells me that if I leave now, I’ll never see Kai again.

But I’m sure as hell not going back into that house unarmed.

So I limp over to the nearby barn, swallowing bile at the memory of when Knox chased me here and told me all about what they did to my friends.

I can’t think about that, can’t let myself give in to the gnawing fear.

I look around, remembering the tools I saw hanging on the wall last time.

Wrenches and saws and God knows what else.

My eyes flicker over the rusty weapons, indecision making my head spin.

What’s my best bet? What could possibly take down their mountainous father, the horrifying bulk of their uncle?

Then I see it, waiting for me on the floor, and I grin.

*

I BURST THROUGH THE front door with the chainsaw in hand, and skid to a stop, breathing hard.

I have barely a second to take in the scene in front of me.

Fire roaring over the walls, eating up the dry wood.

Smoke choking the air. Blood everywhere.

Knox facedown, unmoving. And Kai— oh, God.

Their uncle has him, his enormous weight pressing on Kai’s chest, one meaty hand gripping his hair.

He’s slamming Kai’s head into the floor over and over again, letting out some horrible animal howl of rage and despair and mindless violence.

He’s bleeding too, bleeding so much it seems impossible he could have the strength to fight, but he’s determined to use the last of his strength to finish Kai off.

If Kai’s not already dead. He looks dead, so limp and pale and bloody, nothing but a ragdoll as his uncle beats him again and again.

Then the monster of a man’s beady eyes turn on me. He releases Kai — his head hitting the floor with a wet thump — rises to his feet, and charges toward me.

I scream and stumble to meet him, swinging the chainsaw.

One moment his huge hand is outstretched toward me, reaching for my throat.

The next it’s on the floor, leaving behind a bloody stump gushing blood.

He howls, stumbling backward, staring at the wound in slack-jawed shock.

I step forward as he steps back, swinging again.

This time, I saw through his thick neck, shrieking with rage as blood fountains over me.

His head thumps to the floor. Then his body slumps over and follows with a heavier thud.

Breathing hard, I lower the chainsaw. My arms are trembling from the effort of holding it up. I look at Knox again to make sure he isn’t moving, and then into the kitchen where I see another pair of limp legs, which must be Kai’s father.

I’m the last one standing.

The chainsaw suddenly feels impossibly heavy. I shut it off and let it fall to the floor. Wipe blood off of my face. Then I stumble forward and sink to my knees beside Kai’s limp body.

Oh, God, there’s so much blood. I search him in panic, try to get a look at the wound so I can tell just how bad it is, but he’s just a mess of red and I don’t know what the hell I’m looking for.

The side of his head is matted with blood, too.

And his leg... I glance it at once and have to look away, stomach heaving.

His leg is mangled. There’s no other word for it.

He can’t possibly put his weight on it, even if he was conscious.

I could run , I think. Run and get help. Maybe it’s the smart thing to do...

But the fire is spreading quickly, and I don’t know where help even is . We’re so far away from town out here, and if Kai bleeds out or burns up when I’m gone, then...

No. I couldn’t live with it. I can’t abandon him. I’m not going to be the only survivor again.

“I need you to wake up,” I say, coughing on smoke. “Kai. Please. Open your eyes.”

In a moment of desperation, I press hard just above his shattered kneecap. His eyes fly open as he gasps in pain, blood bubbling in his mouth.

I choke back a sob, reach up to cup his face with one red-soaked hand. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m sorry. But I need you awake, okay? I’m going to get you out of here.”

I grab a ratty blanket from the couch and wrap it around Kai’s leg, hoping it will help stem the bleeding.

Then I scan the room, searching frantically for something that can help.

My eyes land on Knox. Knox, facedown, unmoving, in a puddle of blood.

I shudder, unable to name all the emotions that swirl through me at the sight; there’s no time for them.

I need to focus. Knox came here for his brother. He wouldn’t have done that without a plan.

Yanking my shirt up over my mouth, I approach him like he’s a coiled snake.

It’s impossible to tell if he’s breathing when he’s facedown like this, but with that amount of blood, it seems unlikely.

I lower myself onto my knees beside him and reach into his pocket.

It takes some fumbling, but I find the cold touch of metal, and pull out the keys to his truck.

My triumph sputters out as fingers close around my wrist. Knox stirs weakly, lifts his head just enough to look at me. His face is a mask of blood.

He tries to say something. I’m not sure if it’s Kai or Ry . Either way, more blood than sound comes out of his mouth, spilling down over his chin, and his eyes roll back.

I yank free of his grip as it goes slack, and suck in a shuddering breath. No time to think or feel. I return to Kai, who’s slumping sideways again, his eyes fluttering. Thank God, he’s way too out of it to notice that Knox is still alive.

“Let’s get out of here,” I tell him, my voice shaking.

I straighten up, grab Kai by the shoulders, and drag him across the tile. It’s not gentle — I wince every time his ruined leg hits something — but it’s the only way I can move him.

My own body is barely holding up, and the smoke is making my head spin. I’m gasping for air by the time I make it beyond the porch, where Knox’s truck awaits.

I open the passenger door, and then stare at it, despair curdling in my belly. Of course it had to be a goddamn truck. How am I supposed to get Kai into it without doing further damage?

But I grit my teeth and reach down to grab him. I don’t have a choice. I know for a fact that if I leave Kai here, he will die. He only has a chance if I get him into this truck, so I have to do it, further damage or not.

I lift him beneath the arms, straining with the effort.

Inch by inch, I ease him into the seat as carefully as I can.

His mangled leg is still hanging out, so with a grimace, I grab his thigh — above the worst of the damage — and push it into the cabin.

Kai cries out, and I let go as quickly as I can.

“I’m sorry.” I grab his hands and direct them to the blanket on his leg. “Keep pressure on it, okay?”

“O... okay.” I’m glad to hear him talking, but it terrifies me how weak he sounds. Even breathing sounds painful, air whistling in his throat. He wets his lip and struggles for breath, looking at me as he asks, “Knox?”

“He’s...” I hesitate for a split second. “He’s dead, Kai.” It’s not a lie, not really, when it’ll be truth soon enough. The smoke is thickening as the fire spreads through the house, and Knox wasn’t in any state to make it out of there.

There’s a flicker of pain in Kai’s eyes before he shuts them and turns away.

His head is lolling by the time I climb into the driver’s seat, his grip on the filthy blanket going limp. It’s already soaked through with blood.

“Kai, please, try to stay awake,” I beg.

He opens his eyes just a sliver. He drags his head up with obvious effort to look at me.

“We’re getting out of here,” I say. “Both of us.”

I turn the key, and the truck starts up with a roar.

It should feel like victory, but it terrifies me that the noise drowns out Kai’s shallow breathing.

As I turn onto the dirt road that leads to freedom, I can’t stop looking over at him, trying to verify that he’s still with me.

But once I reach the main road, his eyes slide shut again.

“Stay with me,” I beg, pressing my foot harder against the pedal, willing this truck to go faster. “We’re almost there. Look!”

Kai doesn’t answer. Doesn’t even try to open his eyes.

As the truck swerves, I’m forced to turn my attention forward again — to the beautiful sight of the open road, and the world beyond.

When I glance back in the mirror, for a second I swear I see three figures standing on the road, silhouetted against the flames that consume the farmhouse. My stomach drops, but then I recognize them — Felix, Caleb, May. My friends that didn’t make it out. A blink, and they’re gone.

“We’re free,” I say, and start to sob. I slam my foot on the gas and speed toward sunlight.