Page 35

Zoriah

A loud bang somewhere in the house tears me out of my dreams and I gasp as I sit up.

I am by myself, and after how I fell asleep, that worries me.

I get up and find shorts to put on before quietly tiptoeing out of the room.

I nearly faint when a hand covers my mouth and I am pulled away from the banister.

“Shh. It’s me,” Lance whispers in my ear. “They’re here.”

I wiggle until he lets me turn to face him with wide eyes. “Doug and Richard?” I ask quietly.

“Yes. Huxley is hiding out somewhere. I need to get you to the safe room,” he says. They’re in the kitchen, so we are going to quietly go down and I want you to run to that safe room. Okay?” Lance instructs.

“What about y’all? I can’t…”

“You can and you will. Please don’t argue,” he says, kissing me. “Please, Riah.”

“Okay,” I say tearfully.

We slowly walk down the stairs and as we get closer, I can hear them. “Where the fuck is she? I will blow your goddamn brains out!” Richard shouts.

“She’s not here, Richard,” Dad says calmly. “Her and Huxley went to a cabin a few hours away. I can give you the address, okay?”

“I don’t believe you!” he yells.

“Calm down, Richard. God has led us here, so let’s just talk, hmm?” Doug says.

When we get to the bottom landing, Lance pushes me toward the hallway.

I don’t argue because I know there are guns in there.

I slowly open the door and panic hits me when a hand covers my mouth and I am yanked backward.

When I am turned around, I relax when I see Huxley.

He is in tears and far beyond triggered when he wraps me in a hug

“Look at me, Hux,” I say as I pull back and grab his face. “We need to save them. Okay?”

“I can’t. They’re… they…” he whimpers.

“I know, baby, but they need us. Okay? There are guns and it’s just Doug and Richard. Nothing fancy, we just sneak up and shoot them in the back of the head. Okay? We’ve got this, baby. I’ll lead. Okay?”

“O-Okay,” he chokes out as he wipes his face. “I feel stupid.”

“Don’t feel stupid. You’re not stupid. Okay?

” I say as I walk to the gun cabinet and pull two .

45-millimeter pistols out and hand one to him.

We both check to make sure it is both loaded, and a round is chambered.

We then step over to the cameras and see that Richard and Doug have their back to the kitchen door.

“These are hearty rounds. We need to come at an angle or get them to come to us,” I say. “We can’t risk anyone else being hit.”

“One of us can say something to lure them out. Dad at minimum will fall for it.,” Huxley says.

“There’s Lance,” I say, pointing to the living room camera.

He is trying to get to the front door. Likely because his weapon is in his vehicle now.

I remember hearing Ben say something about it being put in there.

I grab another pistol before we step out of the safe room, and slowly walk down the hallway.

When we get to the living room, Lance frowns at me and Huxley. I smile as we get to him.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” He says with a hushed tone.

“Getting revenge. Cover us?” I say.

“Fuck. Fine,” he sighs.

I creep over to the kitchen door and cross over to the other side of the door. I see a flash of Roman’s face and he definitely saw me. Good. He knows we are here. I look at Huxley and Lance, smiling. They both nod and I raise my pistol.

“Guys, where are you?” I call out.

As soon as a body exits the kitchen, Huxley fires a shot, and Doug hits the ground right as he steps out of the kitchen. When Richard steps out, I bring my foot up and kick him in the groin. He grunts and drops to his knees. When he drops his gun, I kick it away and shove him down on the ground.

We all exchange hugs before I hand the gun to Dad. “For all of us,” I say, kissing his cheek. Dad nods and takes the weapon before standing over top of Richard. He is shaking so hard that he can hardly talk. I notice the wet spot on his pants and laugh. “He pissed himself.”

“Serves him right,” Corbin huffs.

“You hurt my little girl,” Dad says through gritted teeth. “You killed her mother.”

“P-Please. God told me to do it,” Richard starts to stammer.

“God didn’t take my wife! You did! You took her from me!

She was pregnant for God’s sake. You raped my baby girl as she was begging you to stop!

” Dad screams. His voice is broken with tears, but he stands firm.

“God wasn’t there. He didn’t tell you to hurt them.

God is kind, but you… you’re a fucking monster. ”

“Please!” Richard begs. “Have mercy on me!”

“Rot in hell,” Dad growls. When he pulls the trigger, the shot echoes around the room and roots in my soul.

“It’s okay,” I say. “He’s dead.”

“Yeah, baby,” Dad says as he hands the gun off and hugs me tightly. One by one, we all hug each other.

“You did it, baby,” Roman says, holding my face between his hands. “You fought back.”

I smile brightly and let light seep back into my soul. “Maybe next time, people will think twice about sacrificing Zoriah.”