Page 85 of Mia Amata

I stopped, listening closely, but still didn’t hear anything. I looked down at Lucky and saw that his hair was standing up on end. I debated what to do and then decided to go back to the bed stand where my cell phone was. Grabbing my cell phone, I tried to dial Josh’s number, but there was nothing. Looking at the service bars, I noticed it showed nothing there, which was odd. We always had decent service here. Maybe it was the storm.

All of a sudden, I thought I heard a noise in the kitchen, maybe it was just the house settling in the cold weather. Lucky growled again, deep in his throat, suddenly I knew it wasn’t the house. There was someone in the house. I moved to the hall, Lucky trying to block me from going that way.

Peering around the corner into the hall, I didn’t see anything. I patted Lucky’s head, moving around him into the hallway, but he stuck close to my side. I crept to the living room, looking around. Stepping out into the living area, I saw a figure next to the dining room table.

“Well, look who I found,” Allen said. I recognized the voice, instantly terrified. Somehow, Allen had found me. “I knew you weren’t dead,” Allen’s voice came out of the dark. Lucky was still by my side, growling. Allen suddenly flipped the light on, blinding me for a couple of seconds. “What the hell?”

Allen said, “You’re fucking pregnant?” I didn’t say anything, too scared to speak. “You slut. How long were you cheating on me?”

I just shook my head, I didn’t know whether to tell him the baby was his or not, maybe he wouldn’t kill me if he knew the baby was his. “Allen,” I started.

“Shut up!” He yelled at me. Lucky growled again. “Walk this way bitch.” I slowly walked into the living room.

“Allen, listen,” I started again.

“Shut up!” He said again. “I told you what I would do if you ever cheated on me. You not only cheated on me, but you are pregnant with his baby.”

“Please,” I pleaded.

“Please? You have the nerve to beg me? Five years of marriage, and you leave me for another man? You fucking slut. You’re coming with me. I’ll teach you a lesson. Let’s go.” Allen motioned to the basement door.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Never mind,” Allen replied. “Let’s go.” He waved a gun at me, and my heart about stopped.

“Allen,” I tried again, “I’m not dressed to go outside. Please, I’ll freeze.”

Allen laughed, “Like I care. Let’s go.” I started walking toward him, trying to figure out how to get out of this. I looked around with my eyes, trying to figure out a weapon I could use. Lucky stuck to my side but was quiet.

“At least let me get a coat and something on my feet,” I pleaded.

“Just get over here and shut the fuck up.”

I walked closer to him. When I was within arm’s length, I stopped. He looked at me. “What the hell did you do with your hair? That is going to have to go back to normal. You look awful.” He reached out, stroking my face. When I flinched away from him, he backhanded me.

I didn’t fall but stumbled a little. Lucky growled, but I put a hand on his head, restraining him. I looked at Allen. “I don’t care what you think Allen. I left you. You don’t own me.”

Allen looked stunned; I had never spoken to him like that before. “The hell I don’t, you are my wife.”

Something gave me courage that I had never had before. “No, Allen, you don’t own me. I have a new life now, a life that you are not part of.”

“You bitch!” he exclaimed. This time it wasn’t a backhand; it was a fist. I flew backward over the couch, ending up on the floor. Lucky ran to me, whining. I started to sit up, dazed.

“Get up slut!” Allen exclaimed. He pointed the gun at me. I slowly got up, feeling blood run down the side of my face from his punch. “Get over here,” he growled at me.

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” I cried. Right at that moment, Lucky dove over the couch at Allen. The gun went off as Lucky hit Allen in the chest. The force of the leap threw Allen backward. He lost the gun; it flew into the kitchen. Lucky was on top of Allen, snapping at him, it was all Allen could do to hold him back. Allen put his hand up to Lucky’s head, Lucky grabbed it fully in his mouth. Allen screamed as Lucky bit his hand, drawing blood.

I was thrown back when the gun went off. I had been hit in the chest by the bullet. I lay there for a few minutes, watching as Lucky hit Allen and the gun went flying. I saw the gun fly into the kitchen. I struggled to my feet, blood running out of the wound, stumbling toward the kitchen.

Lucky had Allen pinned and was not letting go of his hand at all. As I tried to pass Allen, he reached out, grabbed my ankle with his other hand, and tripped me. I went flying and landed hard on the kitchen floor. I had the wind knocked out of me; I lay there trying to catch my breath.

Lucky had released Allen’s hand, going for his neck. I couldn’t move, my sight dimmed, and I struggled to remain conscious. My chest was on fire, I knew the bullet missed my heart, but it was so painful to breathe I thought it hit my lung.

I heard Allen scream again and looked at him. Lucky had him by the neck, biting as hard as he could. Allen’s hands were trying to push Lucky away. I looked for the gun and saw it a couple of feet away. I crawled over to the gun, feeling a hand grasp my ankle.

I looked back and saw Allen had grabbed my ankle. He twisted my ankle as hard as he could. I screamed as I felt the bone snap. In response to my scream, Lucky started biting Allen’s neck even harder. Allen let go of my ankle, trying to push Lucky off of him.

I pulled myself across the floor, grabbing the gun. I heard Lucky scream and saw Allen with a knife in his hand, Lucky was lying beside him on the floor. “NO!” I cried.

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