Page 86 of Monsters

“Good decision,” Mason said coldly, accepting his new weapon. He withdrew the knife from my neck. “She’s free.” With a firm hand on my back, he shoved me forward into Lucas’s arms.

For a moment he held me tight in an attempt to calm my trembling body.

“Go, Gemma,” Lucas urged, whispering into my ear. “Go. I’ll come for you.

“No… I’m… I’m not leaving you with him.”

He held me tighter. “You don’t have a choice. I need you as far away as possible.”

“Yeah, Gemma. Run,” Mason snickered as I turned to meet the evil in his eye. “You know I’ll find you. I always do. It’s always been part of the fun.”

“Go!” Lucas urged.

“You heard him,” Mason shouted, losing patience. “Get the fuck out of here.” He raised his arm and pulled the trigger. The Glock exploded, and I screamed, the boom echoing throughout the woods, night birds scattering into the sky. I’d ducked for cover, holding tight to Lucas’s arm, but I was falling. I landed heavily on the ground beside the man I loved. My hand was covered in blood, but it wasn’t me who was hurt. Blood oozed from Lucas’s shoulder as he struggled to his feet.

“Jesus, Mason,” I raged through tears while steadying Lucas. “This is your fucking brother.”

“The same brother who would sooner feed me to the wolves just for a fuck.”

I faced him head-on. “It’s not like that. I kept my end of the promise.”

“Until you didn’t.”

I swiped angrily at the tears with the back of my blood-stained hand. “I kept my word until you began your witch-hunt. You messed with my life. You hurt people, Mason.”

“And just maybe…” he stepped forward wearing his smile, “… I enjoyed every fucking part of it.”

“Go, Gemma!” Lucas begged, wincing with pain. “Please just—”

“You want me to shoot him again?” Mason shouted like a lunatic, waving the Glock toward Lucas. “Will you be satisfied when he’s bled out?”

I raised my hands in surrender and reluctantly stepped away from Lucas. “I’m leaving, but please just stop the hurting.”

Ever unpredictable and going from one extreme to the next, Mason chuckled cruelly. “When I find you, I’ll tell you all about it. Now go…” He fired the Glock once more but this time in the air. I staggered back, tripping on the blanket and worried it would be the last time I’d see Lucas alive.

I was almost at the top of the stairs silently pleading when he smiled once more, aiming the Glock at Lucas’s head. “Go,” he warned for the last time. Sobbing, I ran inside searching for my handbag. My clothes were still outside by the bath, and my duffle was still in the trunk of the car.

I didn’t care. I’d run naked through the sheriff’s station if I had to. It was only when I started running to the car did I wonder what had happened to B.

Could he not hear the gunshots?

The pine needles and stones stabbed into the soles of my feet, but nothing hurt more than the incessant pounding in my head and heart.

Was I really leaving Lucas?

I fumbled for the keys and twice dropped them back into the dark abyss of my handbag.

“Come on,” I spat angrily, struggling to get my trembling hands under control. I pressed unlock, the orange lights on each corner momentarily flashing the blackened woods. Throwing the handbag on the passenger side, I started the ignition, switched on the lights and hit the pedal hard. The tires ripped up the earth beneath them, and I struggled to grip the steering wheel as it jerked from my hands down the driveway.

“Jesus,” I pleaded. “This isn’t happening. This can’t be how it ends.”

There was sudden movement ahead between the trees. There one second, gone the next.

“Lucas?” I yelled, but he wouldn’t have heard. With my heart in my throat, I stared ahead, blinking rapidly until it reappeared. I searched the sides of the drive. Nothing. When I returned to the front, I slammed on the brakes, the car skidding to a halt a mere yard away from collision. Headlights illuminated Mason like he was the Messiah, but smiling like he was the anti-Christ. Blood stained his white shirt, but it wasn’t his. He pointed the Glock at me, finger poised on the trigger.

“Get out of the car, Gemma,” he instructed in an eerily calm and collected voice. “Now.”

Putting the car in park, I opened the door. Gripping the blanket tightly around me, I stepped out of the car using the door for partial protection.

---