Page 61 of Where He Ended

His mocking tone goads me on. I slash again, and this time, when he tries to retreat he bumps into my sister's mattress. He didn't expect that, and as he hesitates to try and adjust in the tight space, I catch his cheek with my nails. Red droplets well up in the cut.

Vahn reaches up to touch his face, and in that moment, I slam my heel into his stomach, knocking him onto the bed. Kara sits up, still trying to catch her breath. The wind has been knocked out of her; I know how that feels.

Burying my hands in his jacket, I scale his torso on the bed, reaching for his face again. Now that I've seen that I can injure him, I'm eager to repeat it.

He catches my wrist, digging in, turning my skin white as he constricts. His eyes are wide, ready to pop out of his skull like a set of boiled eggs foaming in a pot. He's furious and the madness in his eyes reminds me of his sister, Annie.

Drawing in air until his chest is about to explode, he tightens his muscles then flips me under him on the bed. The mattress springs argue, squealing as he puts his weight on top of me. His breath skates over my nose and mouth. I can see his teeth glinting in a monstrous grin with the help of the moon through my window. “You should've just given up,” he says, panting from adrenaline, from effort, from the joy of beating me. “It wouldn't have been so bad. But now that you've hurt me, I'm going to make you hurt even more.”

I scream in his face as loud as I can, hoping that someone out there in the world will hear. It's all I can do, so I do it. I've never given up. Fighting is a part of me.

Kara yanks on his left arm, trying to pull him off of me. “Let go of her!” she yells

He shoves her hard enough that he sends Kara tumbling to the ground. “I gethernot understanding,” he says, glancing at my sister. “But you? You should know better, Kara. You've been here before. You know exactly what I'm capable of. Do you really want me to remind you?”

Grunting, I work my legs upwards, trying to force the big man off of me. Vahn eyes me with disgust. To him, I'm some hopeless insect that doesn't know it's been beaten. He backhands me casually, the hit making my ears ring, my brain rustling in my skull. The second slap turns my muscles into jelly; I go limp on the blanket.

Like I'm in a dream, I watch Vahn climb off of me, heading for my sister. She's lying on the floor, propped up on her elbows, watching him approach with her lips pulled back in a grimace. “Maybe you missed me,” he says, standing over her. “Is that it? I thought you'd be relieved when I dumped you with the Bradleys, but perhaps a part of you liked the pain that I brought. Did it make you feel more alive? It made me feel alive doing it to you.”

“Move your body,”I tell myself, struggling to sit up, but every little motion makes the room spin, my stomach ready to empty its contents in a pile of hot sick. “Help her, you have to help her!”

Vahn crouched on the balls of his feet, smiling fondly at Kara. It's worse than when he looks angry. “I didn't think I'd miss it,” he whispers, reaching for her cheek. I'm amazed that she freezes, enduring how he strokes her skin. I've never seen her so frozen. “But now that I'm here, doing this to you again, I realize I did.”

Rocking sideways, I draw in a shuddering breath, and the sound of it turns Vahn towards me. His eyebrows creep to his hairline as he observes me hugging my belly, but managing to throw my legs over the edge of the bed. He didn't expect me to recover this much yet.

But that's because he doesn't know me – not at all.

And if he thinks Kara is some weak girl who craves pain at his hands he doesn't know her, either.

She shoots her leg upwards, driving it into his balls. He grunts, mouth curling into a tight shape as he drops from a crouch straight to his knees. Vahn folds over like a piece of ribbon burning in a fire, his head between his legs, his arms crossing over his midsection.

I think he's holding himself because of the injury. I don't see his hand go into his pocket of his coat and pull out the pistol until it's too late.

He turns, aiming at me. I throw my hands up, terrified to be staring down the muzzle of a gun. As much as I want to fight, I'm not crazy enough to believe I can dodge a bullet. “You fucking bitches,” he gasps, voice gritty. “I'm tempted to kill both of you right here, right now.”

“Don't!” Kara shouts. He glares down at her then pushes the gun right against her forehead. “Please, Vahn. It doesn't have to go this far.”

He doesn't blink as he considers her. My ears are pounding; every breath is a struggle. I've never been so tense and somehow the pressure continues to grow as I sit there on the bed, watching and waiting. I don't know how this is going to end but I have a terrible feeling that someone in this room is going to lose more than they ever realized.

Vahn adjusts his grip on the gun. “Sit on the other bed,” he says, gesturing from Kara to the opposite mattress. She stands up as slow as she can, keeping her hands by her shoulders, trying not to look like a threat. Her attention never moves from his face as she settles on the bed.

He glares at me as he rises fully, still clearly in pain, his forehead shiny with sweat. “Don't you dare move.”

I'm not going to as long as there's a pistol between us.

He pulls some rope from his pocket; my stomach drops. Rope isn't something you normally carry, not unless you prepared it ahead of time. Vahn came here to find us. He was on a mission.

“Hands behind your back,” he snaps at Kara. She drops her arms, letting him wind the rope around her wrists, then her ankles, leaving her kneeling on the bed. His efficiency disturbs me.

His dark eyes bounce to me. “Your turn,” he whispers. I swallow loudly, forcing myself to remain stoic while he ties my wrists together in front of me. He grabs a hold, yanking me to a standing position. “Out the door.” His palm slams into my shoulder, pushing me forward. He stops briefly to snatch up his phone, and in that moment, I look at Kara.

She's frowning severely, but at least she isn't crying. I couldn't keep it together if she did. Her head bobs, like she's telling me to do as Vahn asks. What other option is there? Even so, I don't like that he's bound her and left her there, while he's pushing me from the room. “Wait,” I say, digging my heels in when Vahn gives me a second shove. “What about Kara? What are you leaving her in here for?”

“I said move,” he growls.

“Just tell me what you're going to do,” I beg, putting my arm against the doorframe, making it hard for him to force me out. “I just want to know, then I swear, I'll do what you want! Whatever it is!” The not knowing is awful. Almost worse than having a gun aimed at me.

“Fuck this shit.” He releases me, putting some space between us. I start to turn, wondering what he's thinking. I get a good look at his arm winding up, the gun held high in the air. Kara starts to scream, but I never hear it. The handle of the gun connects with my temple, the pain sharp, explosive, and thankfully brief. Her silent, pale face is the last thing I see before I go unconscious.

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