Page 127 of Science Project

The guards were here for me. If I stepped out of line, they’d shoot me. Maybe not fatally. But they would.

“Kill your mother,” Mom said to Imani.

To my surprise, Imani grabbed the gun from her and aimed it at her own mother. From her knees, Imani’s mother stared up at her daughter and let her tears fall down her bloodstained cheeks. Imani’s hands shook, and while she looked confident in herself, I knew she couldn’t do this.

She had no fucking idea what to do either.

But this was better than Nicole, Imani, Allie, and the rest of the girls getting themselves killed. If they had thought for a second that they could capture and kill my mother by themselves, then they had been wrong. I would gladly sacrifice my life for theirs.

“I can’t,” Imani whispered, lowering the gun. “I won’t.”

Mom grabbed the barrel in her fist and aimed it right at Imani’s mother’s forehead. “Do it.”

“No,” Imani growled.

All this time, Dad had stayed quiet behind Mom, holding his gun by his side.

“Do it”—Mom took the gun from my father—“or I’ll kill you.”

“Imani,” Imani’s mother whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Just do it, please. I don’t want you to die at her hands. Kill me and your father. I’ve been nothing but a pain for you all these years. Get your revenge.”

Tears streamed down Imani’s cheeks. “I can’t.”

“She’s done nothing but trap you in this house and hold you back, Imani,” Mom said firmly. “You’ve thrived with those boys and become something admirable to our family. We’ve been watching you every step of your journey. We’ve watched you become a killer.”

“A killer?” Imani’s mom whispered. “Imani, have you killed someone?”

“No,” Imani whispered, shaking her head.

The sick games Mom played unraveled in front of me. The lies …

Mom smirked. “Kill your mother and prove yourself to me.”

Something in Imani snapped, and she gritted her teeth, her eyes turning sour.

“Let go of the gun,” Imani said to Mom, her frown turning into a scowl. “And let me do it myself.”

Mom curled her lips into a devilish smirk and released the gun, turning her body to face Imani’s mother. She shot me a smirk, as if she knew exactly what she was doing. My gaze shot to Imani, who looked at me for the briefest moment before she turned the gun on my mother.

And I realized that this might be the only chance that I would get to end this for good.

CHAPTER

EIGHTY-TWO

AKIO

Everything happened in a moment. Imani shifted the gun from her mother to mine. All the guards had turned their attention to her. And I lifted my weapon to meet my mother’s head. Imani had the chance to shoot, but I wanted to kill my own mother first.

So, I pulled the trigger.

And then Imani did, seven times in quick succession.

I took out the guards that I could before they could kill Imani, watching Dad scurry out of the room toward the back door. He had never been cut out for this life and valued his life more than the ones his wife brutally had killed.

Bullets whizzed in every direction, and I ran after my father. Before he could slip out the back door, my fist collided with the side of his face, over and over until he finally toppled onto the ground. I crawled on top of him and slammed my fist into his face.

All this time, he could’ve saved me if he didn’t want this life.

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