Harrison’s mouth fell open as Harrison slowly tilted and fell off the bed onto the floor. Marissa didn’t lose a second as she scrambled to her feet and dashed for the door. She heard him groan as she ran but she didn’t look back. Her only goal was to escape to the outside.

She hadn’t planned on him lunging forward and grabbing her ankle, pulling her down to the floor. She felt her knees jam into the hardwood flooring, jarring every bone in her body. She kicked and squirmed, winding up on her back, trying to escape his hold, but his grip was shockingly strong. She lost the battle as he slowly began dragging her towards him.

Marissa tried to crabwalk away from him but his hand was like a steel band around her leg. For the next several seconds they fought with him winning. He dragged her under him, pinning her between his legs and rearing up above her, the knife raised like an ominous Sword of Damocles.

Her gaze clashed with his. Harrison’s eyes were unrecognizable, the light of madness glaring there. God, she didn’t want to die looking into those cold, mad orbs. She didn’t want to die at all. Damn, she hadn’t even got to tell Aaron she loved him. She had to tell him she loved him. He’d told her and she hadn’t replied. Instead she’d answered the phone. Answered the call to death.

“Fucking bitch,” he hollered. “Fucking, fucking bitch.” He heaved his arm downward and she saw the blade glitter in the light. God, she was going to die.

Then a shadow fell across her as a body flew overhead and landed on Harrison. The two figures clumped together, throwing Harrison’s aim off, sending the blade slicing into her shoulder.

The two men grappled, rolling over and over. Marissa grasped her shoulder, blood oozing threw her fingers and struggled to sit up. God, she saw now it was Aaron fighting with Harrison.

Both men staggered to their feet, reeling and haggard. Aaron seemed to recover first and slammed a massive fist into Harrison’s belly. Harrison stumbled backwards dangerously close to Marissa’s legs. Aaron marched methodically towards the other man, his face hard, his lips drawn down as he focused on his prey.

Harrison bellowed like a bull and charged towards Aaron, the knife holding the hand plunging towards Aaron’s body. Aaron moved quickly and sidestepped out of his way, right into the side of the bed. He tilted just as Harrison swung the knife again, biting deep into Aaron’s side. Aaron blinked, disbelieving he’d been cut.

A low, guttural cry broke from Marissa’s throat as she watched the red stain spread quickly across Aaron’s T-shirt. God, he’d killed him!

Aaron gathered all the strength he could and threw it into one last punch . , He connected with Harrison’s jaw as he fell forward, crashing to the floor. Harrison spun and tumbled across Marissa’s legs.

She waited for the monster to stand up but he didn’t move. Time seemed to stand still as she watched him. At last she became aware of wetness on her legs and tried to drag them from under the fleshy man.

Blood. Her legs were covered in blood. Dripping, running, massive amounts of blood. Still Harrison did not move, lying motionlessly on the bedroom floor.

Tremors wracking through her body she reached out and rolled him over. His own knife protruded from his chest, driven in nearly to the hilt. His eyes were wide open, reflecting a look of pain-filled terror.

No breath moved his chest. He was obviously dead, she realized in shock. God, please don’t let Aaron suffer the same fate.

She flashed her gaze to where his body lay prone on the floor. A quiet groan escaped his lips as his head tossed back and forth, alerting her he was still alive. She scrambled on her hands and knees to his side, choking back tears. She had to stay calm, focused so she could help him. Oh, God, though , , she wanted to freak out, wanted somebody to help her.

“God, Aaron, don’t you dare die on me. Don’t you dare.” She cried as she finished ripping her tattered tank top into strips. “I love you, dammit. You can’t leave me now.”

She wadded up a strip of cloth and pressed it into Aaron’s side as hard as she could. Pressure, she had to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. And she had to call for help. Her cell phone was downstairs. Did Aaron have his with him?

She patted his pockets with one hand. No luck. Oh, God, what was she supposed to do? She wanted to stay here tending to Aaron, but she needed to go get her phone. Damn!

Making her decision, she kissed his lips and turned to start downstairs when she spotted a beautiful sight. Marcus stood at the bedroom door, several officers looming behind him. He stood erect with gun extended, flashing his gaze about the room. She saw him take in the body of Harrison, the horizontal Aaron, and finally landing on her. His eyes widened at the sight of her clad only in her lace bra and red skirt, blood trailing down her shoulder.

“Oh, God, Marissa.” He charged into the room and pulled her into his arms. “Thank God. Smith, get a couple of ambulances on the way.”

Marissa had never been so grateful to see anyone in her life. Marcus would take care of everything now. She clung to his neck as the world turn ed from g r ay to black and silently faded away.