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Rague doesn’t even register me touching him, or the blade being jerked out of his leg.

Sully is pressing a pillowcase that he took from the bed on the wound when Lori comes back.

“You have three missed calls from Rami. Who’s Rami?”

“Rague’s brother.” I frown. I don’t have his phone number. Did Rague add it to my contact list?

“And we can’t call an ambulance,” Lori adds.

“Why? He needs medical attention. The seizures could come back,” Sully argues.

“How will we explain the gory massacre? I don’t want to end up in a four-by-four hole and never see the light of the day again.”

He’s right. How are we going to clean up this mess? I look at Rague, so vulnerable and defenseless, covered in blood. He’s my priority at the moment.

“Call Rami. And put it on speaker,” I hear myself saying. I’m confident in thinking that this isn’t the first time Rague’s gone on a rampage. He knew it was about to happen when he told me and Lori to leave the house. He was protecting us…from himself. Maybe his brother knows about it? They seemed quite close from the way Rague talked about him. Can Rami help him?

I crawl near Rague’s head and place a hand delicately on his curly hair.

“I’m here. I’m here,” I continuously murmur, uselessly. I don’t even know if he can hear me.

Rami’s voice sounds too loud in the silent room. “Hey, Hulk whisperer, do you—”

I don’t give him time to continue. “Rague went killing crazy and then had seizures and is now shaking. I don’t know what to do. We can’t call an ambulance…”

“Shiiit! Don’t make that call.” I hear another man’s voice, and then Rami whispers, “Rague Hulked out.” That’s another way to describe the destruction around us. And I was right, this is not Rague’s first brutal rodeo.

“Hold on, Ollie. Gabe and I are coming.” I search my mind…Gabe, Gabriel—Rague’s other brother. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Rami asks.

“No. He’d never hurt me,” I bark at him.

There’s a moment of silence and then Rami asks me to turn on the camera mode.

“I don’t have a camera on my phone.”

More shocked silence.

“Yes, my phone is fucking ancient!”

After a few seconds, the man I think is Gabe says, “Don’t call an ambulance.”

“I said I wasn’t going to,” I clarify.

“We should check if the police sent a car to Ollie’s house,” Rami says.

Lori snorts. “The only reason for crooked cops to come to this neighbor is to fuck or get high. Not even Santa Claus wastes his time here.”

“Who’s there?” Gabe asks, not at all amused.

“Lori, Ollie’s friend.”

“Are you okay, as well?” Rami must be driving and fast. I hear honking and car tires screeching.

“Better than the guy whose head went through a wall.” Sully winces at Lori’s reply while I keep caressing Rague’s hair. My head is filled with dread and dark thoughts.

There’s more silence before I hear Rami talking in the background. “Serena, who’s closer to Rague’s whereabouts?”

“Michael and Raph are closer,” a woman answers back.