Page 31

I hear a tap on the door when I leave the restroom. A smile spreads over my face. I’m delighted Liam is done with his morning run since I’m already hungry. I can’t wait to eat breakfast with him.
“Coming.” I pick up the keys and walk towards the door, wobbling.
I don’t see anyone when I open it.
I wrinkle my brows in uncertainty. But then I remember what I just accomplished, and my heart skips a beat.
Why would Liam knock? He had the keys. He said me he locked me in from the outside so I would be protected.
You should only use the extra keys in an emergency.
I abruptly turn my body and run back into the room. But before I can lock the door, someone wraps their arm around my waist and covers my lips to stifle my scream.
The guy closes the door behind me, and I start to worry. I try to scream, but my attacker covers my lips to keep me silent.
A chilly voice hisses in my ear, “Shut the f**k up,” and I realise who it is.
Arthur’s sibling.
I kick his foot, elbow his stomach, and grab his wrists to try to get away, but he’s more stronger than I am. His grasp on me makes it hard for me to move.
I can’t recall anything Liam taught me about self-defence. All I can feel right now is dread, which makes it hard for me to think.
Arthur’s brother turns me over and throws me onto the bed. I lay on my back as he stands over me. To my terror, his hands rush to my throat, encircling it tightly and choking me.
My eyes get bigger. All I can see is the anger on his face.
“I don’t care what you mean to Liam.” His nostrils flare, and his eyes are crimson with anger. “Did you think you could simply go on with your life after what happened to my brother? ”
I feel like crying. It’s not just the anguish in my heart; it’s also the fact that I’m slowly losing my breath. I hold his hands tightly to get him to let go of my throat, and my nails dig into his flesh.
He yells, “If you hadn’t put him in jail, he wouldn’t have taken the poison from Kelvin.”
I can’t believe what I’m seeing.
Kelvin?
Was it Kelvin who gave Arthur the poison?
I am angry, and my need to survive makes me use all the energy I have left to kick him hard in the chest. He lets me go for a time, but then he grabs me again.
He takes my collar as I’m still struggling to breathe. He throws me to the side, and I hit the nightstand. It falls to the ground, and I drop hard on the floor while the aromatherapy candles hit the bookshelf.
The candles and oil touch the papers and start to catch fire right in front of my eyes.
I feel like the world has stopped moving, but before I can do anything, Arthur’s brother is instantly on top of me again, straddling me. He locks my wrists on my sides with his hands.
He grits his teeth and says, “I don’t f*****g understand what you did to him.” Because of you, he assaulted Liam. He killed himself. Why? Before you showed up, he was OK.
I feel pain in my heart again when I realise that he doesn’t even know how hard his sibling is trying.
“I gave him money.” His comments are full with anger. “I gave him a f*****g good job.” He was picked for a task that would make him very proud. Why? Why? ”
“Because he was in pain,” I shout, unable to stop myself.
He needs to know how Arthur actually felt, even if it hurts him.
“He hated living here,” I explain. “He didn’t want to be here.” He thought he didn’t fit in.
He abruptly freezes, as if my words have hit him in the heart. The fury is still very clear in his eyes.
I swallow. “He never wanted to join Eagle Wings.” He didn’t like the folks here. “He hated the mission,” I scream, remembering what Arthur said to me the last time I saw him. “He didn’t want to kill–”
“Shut up,” he shouts. “You don’t know anything about my brother.” Don’t talk like he had a problem before you came around.
My cheeks are wet with tears.
But that was the truth.
I actually made things worse because I made him feel even more alone. He felt I was the only one who would understand him, and he thought we could fight the darkness together.
I close my eyes tightly and hear Arthur’s words again.
“We’re alike, Emily. When I look at you, I see myself. We shouldn’t become like them. “We’re better than them.”
When I open my eyes, I see his brother’s anger again. Before I know it, he hits me hard in the face. The agony is so bad that I can’t help but curl up on the floor.
He bends his back and sits on his knees with his eyes closed. He takes a long breath, as if to ignore what I said.
Not only do my tears make my eyesight hazy, but the smoke that is starting to fill the room does too. The fire is spreading, and my heart starts to race.
I have a hard time standing up and dragging my legs to the balcony. As soon as I touch the railing, he pushes me against it. He takes a handful of my hair with his fist and makes me turn around to face him. He then grabs my throat again with his other hand.
I choke because I can’t take the pain. I haven’t even gotten over his first attempt to kill me by choking me.
My feet are off the ground, and my back is bent so far that if he pushes me just a little bit, I may go over the balcony.
I don’t know whether way to die will hurt more: falling over the balcony or choking to death.
I hope that someone, anybody, will see us from down below and aid me.
My mind is racing. The fact that I may die today makes my heart race.
No. I can’t die right now.
How about Liam?
How about my family?
I fight for my life, kicking and hitting in every direction. I hit him in the right location with my knee, which makes him groan and let go of me. I seize that precious second to get away from him and run back into the room, even though it’s almost on fire.
I can hear him cursing behind me. Just as I look back, the second bookcase that is on fire falls on him. His cry of anguish fills my ears as I stagger forward. I fall to the floor and crawl with my elbows.
I look back again, and my eyes widen as I see the flames eat him up.
“No,” I say in a scared voice.
It’s still terrible to see someone die right in front of me, even though he can’t hurt me anymore.
I’m dying from the heat. The smoke is becoming worse, and my eyes hurt.
The more I stay in the room, the harder it is to breathe. I don’t know what to do or where to go. The fire has spread to the door, and when I look up at the ceiling, it looks like it may fall down at any moment.
I had never been so close to death.
After my morning exercise, I go back to the home and think about my plans with Emily for the day. I have to train her again. I know we have to do it every day until she gets good at her defence. It might not keep her completely safe, but it’s the best I can do.
As I approach closer to the home, I halt. The air I breathe is odd. It smells like smoke and tastes bad.
The wind blows harder, which makes things much more clear. My mind is on high alert right away.