Emmalin
I said a thank you prayer to Tyler for always making me carry a Swiss army knife. I somehow managed to loosen the chain and freed one of my hands. I was still bleeding from the kick, and I was losing a lot of blood. I felt myself getting weak. God, I prayed Ashley was able to get Abby out of here. I still had my gun and had it hidden under the mattress.
I winced as another bout of pain shot through my stomach. I clenched my eyes shut, trying to breathe through it. The sound of the door opening startled me, and I tucked the Swiss army knife under the mattress.
“Well. Looks like that bitch ran off with that little girl. Fine, more money for me. She would’ve been too high maintenance anyway.” He begun unbuckling his jeans, and I started to cry. I couldn’t do it again. I physically couldn’t.
“You don’t have to do this, okay? You can just take the money and go. I won’t stop you. I’ll make sure Grayson won’t stop you. Just go, okay?”
He laughed as he dragged me further down the bed. “Let’s make this a memorable experience for you,” he whispered in my ear.
My skin crawled as soon as he touched me, and I fumbled under the mattress with my free hand for the knife.
“Fuck, you feel good. Now I know!”
I found the knife, turned around, and stabbed him in the left shoulder. He jumped away, and I pushed him off of me, scrambling to get as far from him as possible.
There was a loud blast that threw me away from the mattress. Carson stumbled, looking around dazed, and touched where I stabbed him. “You fucking bitch.”
The blast sounded again, this time shaking the whole building, causing debris to fall. Carson started laughing manically. “That must be them coming to get you.” He reached in his pocket to pull out his phone, and I crawled back over to the mattress to get the gun, hiding it behind me.
“You see this phone, Emma? One click releases that video I told you about, and hundreds of pictures to major news outlets across the world. But that’s not the fun part because we both know your boyfriend will spin it, and it’ll be taken care of. But there’s one thing he won’t be able to take care of.”
“Emmalin!”
I looked up at the sound of my name being called.
“Did you know that we had cameras in our house growing up? Did you also know that those very same cameras show you committing a crime? Goodness, Emma, what will the neighbors think?”
My mind was spinning. He knew. He knew this whole time.
“It was self-defense,” I whispered.
“That’s your word now, isn’t it?”
Before I could respond, he lunged at me, knocking me to the ground, then punching me in the face. I decided I wasn’t going to die here. I was going to fight. I kicked him in the balls as I rolled over, reaching for the gun, and pointed it right in his face.
“Get the fuck off of me,” I said through gritted teeth.
He started laughing as he slowly got up, walking backwards. “I see you got some grit. Good for you.”
“Yeah. I do.” I took a shot, right above his head.
“You fucking bitch.”
The pain from earlier intensified and I doubled over, but still kept my gun firmly in place. “Take out the phone and throw it on the ground. Now!”
He laughed as he reached for his pocket and threw the phone down. “Kick it over to me.” The room was starting to spin, but I was determined to end this. Right here. Right now.
The door suddenly opened and in walked two guys in swat gear, followed by Grayson.
“Emmalin.”
My eyes instantly filled with tears. I didn’t want him seeing me like this. He couldn’t see me like this. The guy next to him took off his helmet. Jack. I shut my eyes and focused back on Carson and aimed my gun at his heart.
“Grayson. I need you to leave.” I was shaking now. Grayson walked further into the room, with Jack by his side. Jack spoke first. “That’s a nice gun you have there, Emmalin.”
“It’s mine. I bought it.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other guy slowly start to circle the room. “No one move!” I shouted.
Jack held up his hand, and the other guy froze. “You look like maybe you’re getting tired holding it, Emmalin. Why don’t you let me take that from you?”
I shook my head. “Don’t come near me.”
I took a step back, still wavering the gun in Carson’s direction.
Grayson spoke. “Emmalin? Baby, look at me.”
I shut my eyes briefly. “Please don’t look at me. Don’t look at me like this.” A tear fell down my face.
“I’m going to take you out of here, okay?”
“He killed Tyler.”
Grayson stepped further in the room. “I know.”
“He could’ve hurt Abby. I’m going to make sure he never does anything to anyone ever again.”
“He won’t baby. I promise. He won’t. I swear to you.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “I know he won’t. Get out.”
Grayson stilled. “I’m not leaving here without you.”
Not taking my eyes off Carson, I replied, “Well that’s too bad, Grayson, because you are leaving.” Then I did something I never thought I would ever do in my life. I pointed the gun at Grayson’s chest. He froze. Jack raised his gun to me, and Grayson held up his hand to stop him. I had no doubt that he would shoot me if Grayson wasn’t there.
“Grayson. Leave. Now. This isn’t your fight.”
“But you are. You’re my fight. I’m not having you live with the brunt of this, Emmalin. I promised Tyler.” My eyes flickered to his at the mention of Tyler. The tears were falling. I shut my eyes as the room spun, and I slightly wavered. He reached up and caught me, and placed his hand over the gun, putting the safety back on.
“Ambulance is on their way,” I heard Jack say, as Grayson started moving me toward the door.
Carson started clapping. “Well, this was great. Great fucking reunion.” Before anyone could react, Carson took a gun out his back pocket and fired. I felt a sting right before Grayson threw us on the ground, covering us both with his body. Jack and the other guy immediately opened fire.