Page 67 of Cautious

Everything stops for a moment. Time freezes completely as the tableau of horror etches itself into my mind. Images of the crimson spray of blood, her body being tossed to the ground and discarded now that her purpose has been served, and themaniacal glint in his eye indicating he needs more to satisfy himself, burn my eyes, scorching them with snapshots of terror I’ll never be able to forget.

I’ve never seen so much blood before.

Reality comes crashing back, along with my ear-piercing scream that makes my ears feel like they’re bleeding.

“Know that could have been prevented. Her blood is on your hands, Callie. Shame on you.” Christian tuts before tossing the knife onto my mother’s body and walking somewhere off-screen.

I drop to my knees and scramble to Marcus when he calls my name softly.

“I’m here. I…I didn’t open the door, Marcus. I’m here. She’s dead, though, but I had to protect you… I had to protect us. I didn’t open the door, Marcus,” I stammer as I shake uncontrollably.

“You did real good, Callie. This is not your fault. Say it,” he states.

“It’s not my fault,” I repeat. I know logically it’s not, but logic has nothing to do with madmen and knives and blood. Especially when the blood splattered everywhere belongs to my mother.

I’ve never seen so much blood before.

“Oh god.” I scramble to the corner of the room and throw up, trying to purge the horror and guilt. I puke and puke until my ribs hurt and my throat feels raw.

When my stomach is finally empty, I turn on wobbly legs to find Marcus out cold again. Sobbing, I make my way back to him, stopping to check the monitor and see that Christian is back once more. I tilt my head, trying to figure out what he’s doing because his back is to me. When he turns, I see an object in his hand that makes my panic come back full force.

He’s going to burn us all.

The words whisper through my mind as I watch him douse the room with liquid from a red gas can.

“Shit, shit, shit.” I drop down to Marcus and shake him. He groans but doesn’t wake up.

“Please, please, please wake up, Marcus. I don’t know what to do,” I sob, collapsing on his chest.

I remember belatedly Marcus isn’t putting pressure on his wound anymore, so I reach over to do it, jumping when my phone rings, still clamped in Marcus’s hand.

I fumble, prying it free, praying it’s the police to tell me they’re here and it’s safe. “Hello?” I ask, my voice sounding shaky even to me.

“Baby, it’s me.”

Oh god, I collapse to the floor in a heap, missing the rest of what he says as I suck in a huge breath. “Blake.” I feel my heart try to beat out of my chest. I never got to tell him he’s going to be a daddy, and now I can’t. I don’t want him to know what he almost had if I don’t make it out of here alive. “Marcus is bleeding, and I can’t get it to stop,” I tell him, terrified that Blake’s best friend is going to die in my arms.

I hear shouting in the background, followed by the sound of a car door slamming shut before he starts talking again.

“Talk to me, what’s happening?”

“I managed to get him in the panic room with me, but he needs to go to the hospital, Blake, right now.”

“Okay, baby, take deep breaths for me,” he urges me. I try—I really do—but there doesn’t seem to be enough air in here anymore.

“Did you call 911?” he asks, and I jump when I hear a car horn raging angrily in the background.

I climb to my feet and peer at the monitor, praying I’ll see the boys in blue any second now, but there is nobody here.Even Christian is gone, although I know he’s creeping around somewhere.

“I called 911, but they’re not here yet. Why aren’t they here, Blake?” I stutter, flicking through the buttons on the monitor to check all the cameras.

My eyes widen as I see a flash of yellow on the camera showing the sitting area. There, in the dark corner of the room, I see Christian’s evil smiling face as he holds a lit match between his fingertips.

“Can you tell them to hurry up? Christian is here, and he’s going to try to burn us out,” I tell him, watching in shock as the match drops to the ground.

I stare transfixed at Christian as he watches the flames dance. “Oh god,” I wheeze, bending and trying to catch my breath.

“Callie!” I can hear Blake screaming at me through the phone, but it sounds like it’s underwater.

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