Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88889 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88889 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
My breathing becomes harsher, and I’m unable to get a word out, only managing snarls. It’s as if I’ve been reduced to my most basic animal form and I’ve gone into pure survival mode.
The man ducks forward, and he manages to throw me off. I slam hard into the wall, pain shooting through my right shoulder.
I’m grabbed by my hair and yanked backward. The next instant, a fist connects with my nose. My face erupts with a pain so intense, I can’t think. My eyes instantly tear up, blood spills from my nose, and my ears ring.
“Kelcie!” Mom cries, her voice raw with panic.
Another blow hits my left cheek and eye, causing everything around me to darken and my legs to go numb.
“No!” It sounds like Mom’s screaming down a dark tunnel.
I’m pushed hard, and as I stumble backward, the ground suddenly gives way beneath me, and I tumble down the stairs. Somewhere in my stunned mind, unbearable terror registers, and I realize there’s an attacker in the house and we’re in grave danger.
I come to a groaning stop in the space between the kitchen and the living room, and as my sight focuses for a few seconds, I see Mom fighting the man. He has her pinned against the wall, one hand clamped around her throat while he tries to dig something out of his pocket. She hits and claws at the black fabric covering his face.
I force myself up into a sitting position. My body aches all over, and it feels like there are hammers slamming against my skull. When I try to call Mom, my voice comes out weak.
Dad lets out an agonizing roar, and my gaze snaps to the living room on my right.
As if I’m stuck in slow motion, I take in every single detail around me. The couch that’s askew. The overturned lamp. The shattered glass by the doors that lead to the backyard.
Another masked man is on top of Dad, stabbing him over and over, the sight of the blood-coated blade filling me with terror. Dad’s bruised face is twisted with pain and desperation.
A third man is kicking Sage, and she seems to be unconscious. There’s a deep gash on the side of her head, and her skin is deathly pale.
A garbled sound draws my attention back to Mom, and seeing blood gush from where her neck has been sliced open, I’m filled with unbearable devastation. It shreds through me until all that remains are the unrecognizable pieces of my once-happy life.
My emotions spiral into a turbulent mess, making it impossible for me to form a coherent thought.
When the man lets go of Mom, her body sags down until she’s sitting on the floor, lifting a limp hand to her neck while her eyes widen with horror.
Mom!
“Kelcie,” Dad groans, “run!”
The urgency in his tone has me shooting to my feet and running past the dining room and formal sitting room to get to the front door. Before I can reach for the doorknob, a gunshot rings through the open-plan living space, and pain slams into my back.
Shock ravages me once again, my entire torso consumed by severe pain. Somehow, I’m able to get the front door open, and I stagger out onto the porch.
Blue and red lights flash over me as my legs give way, and I sink down to my knees.
“Kelcie!” I hear Sheriff Williams shout. “Jesus.”
I slump to my side, and my vision goes in and out of focus. Here and there, I make out the sounds of the sheriff’s department moving into the house.
I hear two gunshots and a lot of shouting.
Slowly, everything fades away, and the last thing I see are the peonies Mom planted a week ago. Even though they always die, she keeps buying a bunch every year in the hopes that she can get them to grow.
“Hang in there.” I hear a woman’s voice beside me.
“Kelcie!”
Is that Colby?
“Keep everyone back,” Sheriff Wilson orders, his tone grim, then he asks someone, “How’s she doing?”
“We have to get her to the hospital,” the woman beside me replies.
Their voices are swallowed by a thick darkness, and I’m bombarded with flashes of Mom, Dad, and Sage being attacked.
The blood. The devastation. The brutality.
I fight to open my eyes, but all I see are blurring bright lights.
Then everything fades to black.
A few days later . . .
Sluggish and disoriented, it takes a few seconds before my sight focuses on a machine, and I watch as my heartbeat and vitals reflect on the screen.
“Kelcie.” I hear Jordan’s voice, then I feel his hand as he grips mine tightly.
I become aware of a dull pain in my back and midsection, and I feel too hot. My mind is a jumbled mess, and I struggle to focus on a single thought.
A cool hand settles against my cheek, and only then do I see my brother as he leans over me. His eyes are rimmed red, and he looks haggard. His skin is grayish, and his hair’s a mess.