Page 47 of Salvation

Blake

“Will your mother back you up?” I ask Elain as we pull into a parking space near the shop. We’re stopping here first to grab some clothes for her since her parents should still be out of town getting stuff for the festival this upcoming week.

“I don’t know.” She answers honestly as she looks out the window towards Maurice’s.

“They might ask us for some kind of evidence. Just in case she doesn’t, okay?” She nods, and I place a hand on hers. “You’ve got this kid. Let’s go.”

We both unbuckle and step out onto the street. As Elain works on unlocking the door, I realize I don’t have my phone on me. “Hey, I forgot my phone. Be right back.”

I run to the car, just a few shops down, and look for it. It’s taking longer than usual, and I’m starting to wonder if I left it at home. “Where the hell did I put it?” I curse under my breath.Right as I see it wedged between the two seats, I hear someone cry out. My head whips to the side, so fast that I swear it cracks a little.

“Elain?” I call out. I don’t hear anything for a few beats, but then she calls back. My heart starts beating fast. Too fast. Panic and worry and dread fill every inch of me at her hurried tone. I rush towards her cries, nothing else matters except that I get to her as quickly as possible. The endless possibilities of what could be happening make my stomach curdle. Just as I round a corner past Maurice’s, I hear a man’s angry voice hiss, “I thought I told you to stay away from her!”

I shout as I see what I can assume is Elain’s father, gripping her arm hard enough to bruise and pulling her down an alleyway. “Hey!” I rush towards them, hating the fear etched all over Elain’s face and the fact that his grip only tightens as she tries to pull away. “Hey! Hey, enough!”

I shove myself between them, putting my hands up, but before I get the chance, the floor is swaying beneath my feet, and a sharp pain lances up the side of my forehead. “Mind your business, skank.” Elain’s father spits at me as he throws me to the ground.

It’s fuzzy for just a moment, but I sit and touch my head. Red coats the fingers I pull back into view. I look up, seeing him drag Elain by her arm. I stumble onto my knees as I keep my eyes locked on them. What was once an unfamiliar face is now replaced with my father’s features. Elain’s small frame morphs into my own. The memories of defenseless nights and broken glass blur my vision.

The entire world around me blurs as anger so hot it feels like it’s burning me aliveconsumes me.

On steady feet, I stand. A few strides, and then I’m grabbing his meaty shoulder and whirling him back around to face me before letting my first fly. It lands with a sickeningcrunch.

If my father taught me anything, it was how to take a punch. And dish it right back out.

He falls back from the sheer shock of it, and I use it as an opportunity to crawl on top of him and bring my fist down again. Over and over. His hands flail as he tries to fight me off, but red is flooding my vision, and there’s nothing but pure adrenaline and anger flowing through my veins now. I’ve become unstoppable, my hands merciless and unforgiving. “If I see you lay your hands on your wife again, I will kill you.”Punch.“If I see you lay your hands on that little girl again, I will kill you.”Slap.“Do you understand?”Punch.

I’ve never hit anyone in my life before Marshall. And nowthis?I hear shouts, someone calling my name, but I ignore it. I’m so full of bloodlust that I don’t even notice when the fight has left his body, and he just takes every punch and slap I deliver. I don’t feel remorse. Not at this moment. And I’m sure I would have killed him if it weren’t for rough hands lifting me off the man below me. I’m still swinging blindly, pushing and clawing at the arms wrapped around my middle.

“Blake.” I only stop my struggle when Wesley’s face comes into view. “Blake, sweetheart, you need to calm down.”

Everything comes back into focus at his voice. Reality seeps in as I take in the scene before me. A woman at the end of the Alley on the phone, Elain behind Wesley and I, tears streaming down her red cheeks. The man on the ground lets out a string of curses as he holds his bloody nose and kicks out at me. Wesley kicks it back with his own. “Stay down.” He growls. “You’re lucky I pulled her off you.”

I don’t heed them anymore attention. I’m pushing behind Wesley and crouching before Elain. My eyes fly over her wildly. “Are you okay?” She just stares at me, sobs racking her small frame. “Elain! Are you okay?”

“Yes.” She cries. “Yes, I’m okay.” She then flings herself at me, and I embrace her.

“Okay.” My lip wobbles. “Okay. You’re okay.” I rub circles on her back, doing my best to control my breathing. I don’t know if my words are for her, or if they’re for me. But I repeat them until I’m breathless. Adrenaline is the only thing keeping me moving. We only pull away as sirens fill the air and a few cops fill up the street. One of them approaches us, one I recognize as Sheriff Eaton.

“Thank god.” Elain’s father growls as the officer approaches, throwing a hand in my direction. “Cuff this bitch! Do you see what she did to my face?”

“You ladies, okay?” Eaton asks. We nod, and he dips his hat in acknowledgment. He turns to the bloody and seething man before him and pulls out his cuffs. “Mr. Maurice, you are under arrest for domestic violence and child endangerment.”

“What?” He shouts and flings an arm towards me. “What about her?”

Wesley bares his teeth at the guy and steps in front of us. But it’s Sheriff Eaton who speaks first. “As far as what I’ve heard from our callers, it was self-defense. And you put your hands on your kid.”

“Now stand up and turn around. Don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.“ Surprisingly, he doesn’t struggle when he gets placed in cuffs and keeps his mouth shut as the Sheriff goes on to read him his rights and places him in the back of a cop car.

Chapter 47

Blake

We spend the next half hour giving statements. We’ll have to come back into the station within a few days to work everything else out. Elain called her mother, so she’s on her way back into town to meet us. Wesley drove both of us back to my house, and Elain took off to take a shower and clean herself up.

After we hear the shower turn on, Wesley doesn’t miss a beat laying into me as I dab a wet cloth against the top of my head. It’s a small cut; thankfully, I won’t need stitches. Just some water and a good bandage. My knuckles are busted back open too, and much sorer now that the adrenaline wore off, but I’ll survive.

“What the hell were you thinking? You’re lucky you aren’t in the back of a fucking cop car right now.” He points an accusing finger in my face. I flinch at his tone, not worried that he’d ever lay a hand on me, but because I’ve never seen Wesleyso angrybefore.

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