Page 44 of Entangled With The Hellhound

Raymond’s crew is ruthless, and they’ve already threatened my family and me. They cut my mama’s brakes, for goodness sakes! We couldn’t prove it, but who else would do such a thing. So no, I’m keeping my mouth shut. But there’s no convincing Raymond of that, so I got a restraining order to keep him and the cops off my back.

I look at the door, trying to figure out how far it is and if I can make it past Raymond, but before I can break into a run, he grabs me and slams me hard on the floor.

“Umpf.” The air whooshes out of my body, and I feel like the back of my head is on fire.

I can’t focus, and I feel dizzy, but I know if I don’t get up, Raymond is going to kill me. I feel the weight of his body on top of mine, and when my blurry vision clears slightly, I see that he has a knife.

“Don’t do this, Ray.” I wheeze out, but I can see in his crazed eyes that he’s about to stab me.

When there’s a knock on my door, I buck, and the movement surprises him. The knife slices across my stomach, but I scream as loud as I can. The knock turns into banging, and Raymond jumps up and rushes out of the apartment. I see him slam into our neighbor and knock him to the floor.

“Roxy! Are you okay? Oh my God, you’re bleeding!” My neighbor’s frantic voice is the last thing I hear before I lose consciousness.

PRESENT

When I woke up in the hospital, I refused to tell them what happened. I got the message and the scar on my stomach as a reminder. I got my shit and moved from Dallas until after the trial was over.

They had enough evidence to convict Raymond without me, and I’m glad I didn’t go on record against him because the cops didn’t even try to help me.

Raymond is standing imposingly in the door, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out how law enforcement would ever let a man like him out, even if he was working for them. What kind of shit is that. But I guess when you’re dealing drugs and blackmailing top politicians and CEO’s anything is possible.

I have a death grip on the knife in my hand, and I think if I can slash him real good, I can at least get back to the safe room. I don’t know where that crazy ass Christine went, but I’ll fight that battle when I come to it.

Raymond stalks toward me, and I stand still and bide my time. The pantry is large but not huge, so he’s within striking distance. I size him up, thinking about what I need to do. All I know is, it’s either him or me, and I chose me!

I slash at Raymond’s chest, and he jumps back. But I see blood, so I slash at his ass again. I miss the second time, but I keep swinging like I’m Freddy Krueger.

Him or me, him or me, him or motherfucking me!I chant over and over as I slash, and Raymond moves from side to side, trying to dodge my movements. Suddenly Raymond charges me, and he grabs my arm, forcing it over my head.

But I refuse to give up. I refuse to die by the hands of this psychopath without a fight! Not today, not ever!

“Bitch! I’ma kill yo funky ass!” Raymond growls as he slams me against the shelf, but I refuse to let go of the knife.

The slam hurt like hell, but I think fast, and I bring my knee up and get him right in his community dick. Raymond hollers, and his hand loosens enough for me to stab him in the shoulder.

But before I can take off running, he grabs my leg, and I hit the floor. Raymond turns me over and climbs on top of me. He uses his body weight to keep me down as he pulls the knife out of his shoulder. He howls out in pain, and I feel satisfaction at the sound.

The knife clinks to the floor, and he looks me in my eyes. His dark brown eyes are almost black, and the evil staring back at me is unmistakable. Raymond picks the knife up and stabs me in the stomach. I feel the irony of the situation just like I do the pain radiating throughout my body.

I promised myself I would never be in this position again. But here I am once again lying in a pool of my own blood from a stab wound from my sadistic bastard of an ex. I want to fight, but I can feel myself fading.I don’t want to die.

18

Stone

My heart is racing as I push my motorcycle as fast as it can go. The rumble and power of the machine would usually settle me, but the only thing that will calm me down is seeing Roxy safe.

I pull up to the gate in my community, and all the lights are out, and the guard is gone. Neither is a good sign. Unlike Roxy’s place, the security is always on point. There are guards on duty twenty-four-hours a day, so someone should be on duty even with the late hour.

Big Black pulls in front of me and hops off his bike. He goes over to the guardhouse, and a few seconds later, the gate is lifted.

Ace, Rock, Wire, Bishop, and myself speed through the lifted gate, and Black follows. We head around the corner to the beginning of my driveway. Rock stops before we get close to the house, and everybody follows his lead.

We kill our motors and turn off the lights. I want to keep going until I know what the fuck is happening in my home. How the hell did Raymond and Christine hook up and break into my house? Especially since Raymond is supposed to be fucking dead.

“Our bikes are too loud. If shit is goin’ down, they’ll know we’re comin’.” Rock says in explanation.

Everyone nods, but I don’t give a shit if anybody knows we’re on the way. Hell! Christine, out of all people, should know that I wouldn’t just let anybody come uninvited into my home without repercussion. I don’t know what she has to do with all of this, but there’s no turning back now. She’s dead to me.