Page 81 of Claws and Feathers

Kate cried out again, standing from the couch and making a run for it. She leaped around the sofa, knocking over the side table, and bolted towards Abby, yelling, “Run!”

But then he shot her.

He shot Kate right in the back.

Her face twisted in horror as she fell at Abby’s feet, forcing a blood curdling scream from Abby’s lips. This was not a dream. This washappening. “No!” Abby sobbed, her voice shrill and broken, but her feet glued to the floor. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t run.

The Man approached her, sweating and enraged, his eyes wide and violent. The gun was pointed at her. It was pointed at her chest – her heart. The Man didn’t speak, but he made a growling sound, something animalistic, as the weapon shook in his hand.

Abby raised her eyes to his. She could see his face clearly now. She could seehim. His eyes… his dark, troubled eyes…

Something flashed in her brain like an electrical current. Her breath hitched, her body sparking with ancient memories, buried deep and sealed tight.

No, no… they were dreams. Nightmares.

No. They weren’t.

Abby had seen this man before. Before her abduction. She had seen this exact look on his face. He was older now, but it was the same man.

He was hunched over on a dark road, cradling a woman in his arms, crying into the night.

He had those same eyes.

There was rain. There was blood. There was death.

Then there was nothing.

Abby pulled at her hair, gasping, shaking,crying. Flashes of memories cut through her like a rusty knife, painful and unforgiving. The Man snarled and waved the gun at her, a guttural howl piercing the air. A blast rang out. A sharp, sickening crack. It was so loud it made her ears ring.

Funny – she noticed the ringing in her ears before she noticed the bullet in her chest.

Abby glanced down at the crimson stain pooling through the front of her alabaster blouse. Her tentative fingers reached out to touch it, momentarily hypnotized. Abby looked up at The Man, his features less angry, less volatile. He had softened in a way. He had released. He had reaped his vengeance.

It’s okay, Abby thought, feeling a twisted sense of remorse for the crippled man before her.It’s okay now. You killed me.

The pain finally shot through her and she began to fall. Her knees buckled and her legs gave out. She hit the ground, the back of her head colliding with the hardwood floor beneath her and forcing stars to flash behind her eyes. Her mind was foggy. Her limbs were weak.

As she lay there bleeding another shot rang out, and she heard the gun hit the ground, followed by the thump of a crumpling body.

And then, silence.

It was so quiet. It was so easy to fade away, to disappear. To burn out.

Yes.Yes, it was better this way. There was too much damage. Too much to repair. Too muchpain. Abby could go to the light and finally be free of the nightmares; her demons wouldn’t look for her in the light. They would let her be, and Abby would be at peace.

Peace.

What a concept. Abby hadn’t experienced much peace in her life. The closest she’d ever come was while lying against Cooper’s chest, feeling his heart beat in perfect time with hers. Feeling his warm breath tickle her cheek. Feeling his arms around her, protecting her, defending her, keeping her safe.

Abby heard her cell phone ring. She found the strength to turn her head to the left and saw it lying mere inches from her face. It had fallen off the side table. Cooper was calling her –oh, God, Cooper was calling her. He was likely calling about her case, to apologize for not having any answers. Little did he know, she’d already solved it.

Oh, Cooper.

The phone continued to ring. Abby wanted to reach for it; she wanted to say goodbye, to tell him thank you,thank you for loving me, but she couldn’t seem to move her arms. She was bleeding out slowly, her life seeping into the new floors of her new home. It was supposed to be a fresh start – instead, it was her big finish. Her grand finale. Her final bow.

A tear fell down her temple as the phone buzzed and vibrated against the floor, begging to be answered.

Stay, stay, stay,it beckoned.

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