On Dad’s command I bring my elbow backwards as hard as I can into the stomach of the man holding me. I wince at the pain. I’m weak, and I’m definitely not the woman who managed to get the best of Wolf all those years ago. I do have the element of surprise on my side and that is enough to make the man behind me stumble. A shot rings out and I glance up long enough to see my father shooting his gun. I grab the shackle that is near me on the floor. I didn’t stay in them long earlier, but I hated them. They’re heavy and that’s all I need right now. I swing it upwards and back and slam it into the face of the man who mere moments ago held a gun at my temple. It connects and the man stumbles again. The corner of his eye is bleeding because the jagged end of the lock caught him there. The room begins to spin and I try to fight back the dizziness. My dad needs me right now. I have to help him. I can hear the sound of wood crashing and glass breaking, but I’m so disoriented I can’t be sure where it’s coming from. I look up to see the guy I hit aiming a gun at me. He’s going to shoot me and there’s nothing I can do. Before I can even process that, a body from behind me tackles me to the ground. I go down hard on the floor as the sound of the gun going off echoes so loud my ears hurt. The body on me jerks and I push against it enough to see that it’s my dad. Another shot rings out and this time it’s clear to me that my dad’s body jerks and I know he’s been shot. He’s shielding me with his body, protecting me and killing himself.

I scream out, pushing hard, not wanting this. I don’t want my father to die because of me. I wrap my arms around him, trying to move his body. My fingers instantly hit hot liquid and when I draw them back to look at them my hands are covered in blood.

“Daddy! No!” I scream and now I can see his face. His eyes are filled with pain. He looks at me, his face white.

“Love you, Torrent. You’ve always been my angel...”

His voice is broken and a trickle of blood drops from the corner of his mouth and lands on me.

“Daddy,” I cry.

I know he’s slipping away and the misery that’s clawing inside of me makes it hard to breathe. All at once his body is lifted from me, an arm going around his neck. The man who had been holding me—Jin—has my father and he takes a knife to his throat. It happens quickly, but as I watch it feels like slow motion. The knife slices into my father’s neck, and I watch every horrific second with a sense of disbelief…

This can’t be happening.

All at once another gunshot rings out. The man who cut my father’s throat lurches forward. He falls down, but I lose sight of him because my father falls down on me, his blood pouring over me.

“Why did you—” I hear a voice, but I lose track of it when my father is lifted off me. I look up to see one of my dad’s men—Red. He lays my father gently on the floor. I scramble up, crawling to get to him. My dad’s men have arrived, but in my heart I know it’s too late. Another gunshot goes off and I look up to see Wolf standing and he’s shooting the man who used his knife on my father. I clap my hands against my father’s throat, but the blood keeps oozing against my hands, between my fingers and down Dad’s body. There’s so much blood there’s no way he can survive. I have to stop it.

“Give me your shirt!” I scream to Red, to Wolf, to anyone who might listen.

“Torrent, baby—” I look over to see Wolf kneeling down beside me and Dad now and the pity on his face destroys me.

“Give me your shirt!” I scream again and he shakes his head.

“He’s gone, Tor. He’s gone, baby,” he says and I know he’s right, but I don’t want to hear it. Instead I claw at my own shirt, tearing it from my body and taking the shredded pieces and pressing them against my father’s throat.

I look at my father’s eyes and they’re wide open… open and lifeless…

“It’s too late, Tor,” Wolf says again and he pulls my body back into him. When I try to pull away, he wraps his arms tight around me, refusing to let me go. “It’s too late, baby,” he repeats. I try to resist him; I need to get to my dad. “For God’s sake! Someone cover Dodger the fuck up!” he growls and I watch as they get some kind of coat or jacket and cover my dad’s face.

“No!” I cry out, so much pain inside of me, I feel like I will never be able to survive.

“He’s gone baby, he’s gone,” Wolf says in my ear.

“Nooo…” I whimper, the word torn from my very soul. I gasp, trying to catch my breath, but it feels like my chest is raw. I look down at my hands… hands covered in my father’s blood…

And then the world goes black.