Page 62 of Protecting Charity

"Because I love them, and I think they know it." I can't believe I was saying it out loud or even declaring it.

He stopped shoveling and looked at me. "They aren't capable of love, and neither are you."

Everything I did for him was out of love. I could have been married with kids or a successful career that didn't involve killing. I uprooted my entire life out of love for him, and this is how I'm being repaid. The black heart that sat heavy in my chest stopped beating as if he ripped it out and stomped it into the dirt. "Wow, okay. So because you think I'm not capable of love, you find it acceptable to have me mutilated and killed by the cartel to save your soul? A soul, I might add, you no longer possess, you son of a bitch, because you sold it to the devil a long time ago. He has a no take-back policy in case you were wondering." I reached up and pulled a bobby-pin from my hair, then peeled the rubber piece off the end with my nails and stuck it into the lock while kicking off my heels.

He leaned on the end of the shovel for a moment. "I never sold my soul. I did what I needed to, and it destroyed me because I have one. Unlike you, you thrived in the blood and chaos. You relish the pain you inflict on people. That pain caused me to drown myself in drugs until I found Father Kane's church. Now I can right my wrongs. When I'm done with you, I'll finish them too."

No. I couldn't let him do that; I couldn't let him hurt them. My stomach rolled just thinking of them losing their lives by Josh's hands. I dug the pin around in the cuffs, feeling about for the lever that held the gear in place. This was so surreal. This was a nightmare. I was going to wake up next to one of them comforting me while I hid the fact I was crying in my sleep. Cannoli would purr me back to sleep, and it would be a typical day when I woke up again.

My vision blurred from the tears pooling in my eyes. I refused to let them fall. Josh stepped up from the grave just as the lever lifted, freeing my hand from one side. He threw the shovel away and stalked towards me, a knife in hand, ready to end the job he was so desperate to complete. This was it. The moment I had been waiting for and dreading. The moment that my brother took the final step to betray me for some pathetic church. "How could you do this to your sister? I've done everything for you, Josh. I wouldn't be in this if I didn't save you."

"I didn't ask you to save me," he said while grabbing my arm to pull me to my feet, then dragged me to the edge of the grave. "It's only a temporary separation. I'll see you again in heaven."

I sneered at the ungrateful son of a bitch as I pushed him, giving away the fact I was no longer cuffed, and he toppled to the ground. He should have known handcuffs weren't enough to keep me contained. They were child’s play.

Josh wasn't the man he used to be. Before, he was a strong muscular man, one that would have anyone shaking if he came after them, but after his stint with drugs, he never gained the muscle back that he lost. That didn't mean he was weak; it just meant I stood somewhat of a chance. I could outrun him. I could do that.

I took off running towards the car that seemed so far now, glancing back to see him quick on my heels. I turned around to see in front of me as he crashed into my back, and I went face-first into the leaves and sticks. My chin scraped against the ground, leaving a painful trail down my neck. His heavy body settled on top of me, and I reared back with my elbow, connecting with the side of his head. He rolled away with a grunt that gave me enough time to stand back to my feet. I took a defensive position and readied myself for his attack.

"Josh, please stop. I don't want to hurt you."

He lunged at me, and I dodged to the side, narrowly missing his lineman rush to the chest.

"I'm the one with the knife." He laughed. "It'll be over soon, Charity."

He pulled his knife back out and swapped it from hand to hand until he was comfortable with it on one side, then swiped and jabbed while I weaved and hopped back, avoiding a stick to the thigh that would have left me incapacitated for sure.

"They have brainwashed you. This isn't a sacrifice God would ask you to make," I cried.

I rolled to the side as he lunged again towards me and quickly stood to my feet. I hurried to wrack my brain with the stories from Sunday school, just something that would get through to him. "Remember when Abraham was told to sacrifice his son? God stopped him just in time. It was to test his faith. He never wanted Abraham to kill his son." He sliced the air again. This time, I could not move fast enough, and he cut across my forearms I had placed in front of my face as a shield. Blood slicked my arms, the pain radiated to my elbows. "Please, Josh. Listen to reason. Killing me will not get you what you want. He lied to you. You have to see that."

Lightning struck close by, adding to the crazed look in his eyes. The sky opened up with a torrential downpour, slicking the ground with mud.

"Even God burned an entire city full of people for their sins."

He lunged with an overhand stab. I dipped my head to the side and held my forearm out, connecting with his arm. I was ready to make this a fair fight and rid him of his weapon. I rotated my hand and grabbed hold of his wrist, then brought his arm straight down and broke his grip on the knife while ripping it from his grasp and tossing it away from us.

I swung with all my might and impaled my fist into his nose. They always taught me in my classes to imagine your fist going through your opponent; that way, your body gives it all the muscle behind it instead of pulling the punch at the face.

Josh broke away, holding his nose as blood gushed down, staining his teeth a crimson hue. I rushed him now that we were on a more even playing field and backhanded him with a fist across his jaw. He caught my wrist and spun me around like a discus and slammed me into the rough bark of a pine tree, face first, stunning me into oblivion. For one sweet dark moment, I wasn't in the woods with my brother but staring at stars in the perfect night sky, then they all fell and brought me back with them. I held my head and stumbled backward, holding my hand out for him to stop. "Josh. No more. This has to end."

"It will end, sis, with you in the ground and that black spot on my soul washed clean."

He barreled into me, knocking me to the rain-soaked mud and grass with a splat. My rib made a sickening crack as it connected with a stone deeply embedded into the ground. I screamed, hoping my voice would carry through the woods.

Josh straddled my waist and wrapped both hands securely around my throat, stopping the air from reaching my lungs. Fear slammed against me, and I pleaded with my eyes, unable to speak. His hands pressed hard into my esophagus, eager to finish the job. Wrapping my hands around his wrists, I tried with all my might to move them from my neck, but they wouldn't budge. My legs flailed as my body panicked.

"It's okay, little sis. I'll take care of you."

Tears slipped down my face and into my hair as I stared into his vacant gaze. This wasn't my brother. He was nothing but an animated version of the man that he used to be. Instinct reared its life-saving head, and I slipped into it, hiding from reality. Then, the nothingness crept in. No sympathy, no compassion until I resembled the hollow void before me.

My body moved of its own volition, slamming my fists into his elbows, releasing his hold on my neck. Air rushed into my lungs as I bucked him off to the side, switching positions with him. Now, he was at my mercy, and I had none. I straddled his chest and slammed my fist into his face in rapid succession, not giving him a moment to breathe in between. A glint to the side caught my eye as the lightning struck.

I grabbed the knife and, in one smooth motion, jabbed it into his neck, then tossed it to the side. A deadly blow that no one would come back from. I rolled off of him without guilt as his hand moved up to staunch the stream of blood. His eyes went wide with fear as they connected with mine, and they pulled me back down to earth with a cataclysmic crash.

The realization of what I had just done had me tearing at the ground to get back to him. "No. No. Josh, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry." I pressed my hand hard into the wound, knowing it was useless. My actions would be futile. No one could get here fast enough to help. His blood seeped between my fingers, warming them from the chilling rain.

The time came to a standstill as I watched the rain pelt against his terrified face. He feared death just as every man. I whispered over and over how sorry I was as the blood soaked into his overgrown hair that matched mine in color. Rainwater dripped off my lashes as I forced my eyes to stay open and not blink. I was afraid I'd miss his last moment if I allowed myself to close my eyes, even for one split second.

---