Page 114 of Savage Ends

Ava looked toward Violet and her mom.This was not supposed to happen.

Violet was doing something weird with her head, and then her mouth was free.“He’s going to fucking kill us anyway, Ava.Don’t fucking do it.The man is a psycho.”

William walked over to her sister and slapped her hard.Ava picked up the first thing she could, which happened to be a plastic tape measure.It wasn’t heavy, but it stung, especially as she threw it and it landed at his head.

“Don’t you fucking touch her,” Ava said.

“Do you think you have any control of this situation?”William asked.

Ava took a deep breath, and she had no idea where she got the guts to stand up to him, but she wasn’t afraid.There was no option out of this.There was no way she was going to that clubhouse and murdering all those people.She also didn’t want to kill her family, but she knew that was what would happen.

Pat didn’t know she had gone.She had no idea if help was going to come.Right now, she was on her own.

“Yeah, I do.I’ve had control from the moment you called,” Ava said.“After all, I still have my head attached to my body, which is more than I can say for your brother.”It was cruel, it was mean, and Ava couldn’t believe she had said it.Only, it worked.It got William away from her sister and mother, and he started to make his way across the store.

Her heart raced.

“You think you’re funny, little girl?Let’s see how good you are at keeping your head.”

Ava had lived in this store since she was a kid.Her mother rarely changed the setup, and she was able to make her way across the store, picking up a rotary blade and a pair of scissors.Tearing into them with ease, she spun around as William came close and thrust the rotary blade into his hand.Then, she hit out with the scissors, plunging them into any part of his body she could.The scissors got stuck, and he grunted.The rotary blade was super sharp, and had slashed right through his hand.

She still held the rotary blade, but unfortunately, she didn’t get another chance to attack him, as he swung out, hitting her hard and fast across the face.Ava fell to the ground, and he wrapped his arms around her neck, and she tried to breathe, only he cut off her air supply.

In the distance, she heard the panic of her sister and her mother.She couldn’t get air.Everything around her was starting to get fuzzy.

She loved Pat.She had wanted to spend the rest of her life being with him, but life was cruel.That was not going to happen.The pain was so acute.

She was going to die, she felt it, and as her life seemed to flash before her eyes, most of her memories were of Pat.The time they spent.Him walking into the coffee shop.That gloomy face seeming to transform into a smile.

And then, out of nowhere, the pain around her throat stopped, and she suddenly could gasp.

“Ava,” Violet said, coming to her side.

She gasped and tried to speak but her throat was hoarse.

“Where’s Mom?”

“Helping Pat,” Violet said.“All those years of getting you to tie me up, paid off.”

Ava frowned.

“Remember, I wanted to be a magician and get out of every single knot.”

Ava had forgotten about that.Violet would ask her, their dad, and their mom, to randomly tie her up, and not help her.It was when Ava started to learn different kinds of knots.

That had stopped after their father died, and her sister had fallen in love with sewing and crafting, not becoming a magician.At least, it had been put to good use.

Ava got to her feet, and she felt a little off.

Pat and William were fighting, and this was not a nice, clean fight.It was brutal.She had never seen Pat fight before, and as she watched him, it was a wonder.He had saved her, and now she got to see him deal with William.