Page 26 of Bad for Me

He presses a finger to his lips, giving me a warning look. My lips slam shut at once. Holding out a hand, he indicates for me to wait while he prowls in the direction Bernard had taken. I stand there, watching him anxiously. When he gets to the threshold to the hallway and peers down in either direction, I hold my breath.

Just as he turns to face me, something hard presses against the back of my head.

Every muscle in my body locks up when an arm comes around my neck and yanks me back against a body. The sound of ragged breathing hits my ears as someone says, “Don’t move or I’ll blow her head off.”

The raspy voice is unfamiliar and followed by a phlegmy cough.

Isaac raises his hands slowly, his eyes wide as his jaw clenches. “Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am,” the intruder snaps.

He takes a step back and drags me with him, the arm around my neck tightening. The hard object moves from the back of my head to against my temple. The cool touch of metal against my skin sends a sharp sense of dread to every limb in my body.

“Whatever this is, we can figure it out without violence,” Isaac says, speaking slow and softly. “Put the gun down and let Meredith go.”

“Violence may be the only way out of this,” the intruder wheezes. “I hope I’m wrong. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I will! Don’t test me!”

I reach up with shaky hands and rest them on the arm around my neck. “Please, let’s just talk about this. Whatever this is about, I’m sure it can be cleared up.”

“Shush! I got this,” the intruder snaps. He drags me further away from Isaac, toward the other entrance to the living room.

Oh god, where is he taking me? My eyes meet Isaac’s. He nods at me, a reassuring gesture that doesn’t make me feel any better. He risks taking a step toward us, his arms still raised in the air.

“Where’s my father?”

“In the other room, unconscious.” The intruder coughs violently. The gun bounces against my temple and I wince. “You should go check on him, there’s a lot of blood. In the meantime, I’m taking the girl.”

I shake my head frantically, digging my heels into the floor as he tries to yank me further away from Isaac. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”

The sound of the safety clicking off turns my blood cold.

“I saidshush!” The man snarls into my ear.

My heart hammers away in my chest as I’m pulled further and further away. We’re nearly at the threshold when Isaac risks taking two long strides toward us.

“If you move another again, I’ll blow her brains out!”

Isaac freezes. “Look, there’s been some sort of mistake?—”

“There is no mistake!” The man yells. I cringe as the gun presses harder into my temple. “I’ve been watching and listening. Iknowthings!”

“What do you think you know? Tell us,” I offer quickly, grabbing on to this piece of information that seems important. Maybe there’s some sort of wires being crossed?”

Rather than answering, the intruder falls into a fit of coughing. His hot, wet breath hits the back of my neck. The stale stench of his breath wafts over me. My stomach threatens to turn inside out. Despite the coughing fit, he’s surprisingly strong, and I can’t pull away when I attempt to escape.

“Don’t try to follow us, or I’ll kill her. Do you understand me?” He manages to get out after a moment.

Isaac doesn’t respond right away but when he does, it’s in the form of a sharp nod.

With that, I’m pulled out of the room and into the hallway. He yanks open the front door, and I’m pushed out into the cold winter night, my bare feet sinking into the snow. I hiss and stumble down the steps before I can catch myself. The intruder yanks me up by the arm and drags me down the front sidewalk toward a waiting SUV. It’s old, with faded silver paint. The sound of its engine struggling to keep up is loud in the otherwise silent neighborhood.

“Please don’t do this. I’m?—”

“Shut up, they’ll be after us any minute. We need to put some distance between us,” my assailant snaps. My feet are numb by the time we get to the passenger side. “Get in the car.”

He opens the door and waits for me to scramble into it. The stench of cigarette, piss, and old shoes bombards me. I recoil instantly only for the back of my head to hit the barrel of the gun.

“Get. In.”

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