Page 78 of Slaughtered Firefly
The footsteps were louder as I stood behind the door. With a soft click of the handle, I almost screamed, but I held a bubble in my mouth, waiting for the man to be more visible.
WHAM!
I hit the bat as hard as I could. Screaming, the man fell to his knees with a thud, and I ran. When I made it to the front room, I saw the blood, butterflies jumped in my tummy, and they weren’t the good kind as I saw Reyna lying on the floor. I couldn’t leave her. I knew I was supposed to run, but I had to make sure she was okay. I threw myself at her, hugging her tightly. Tears ran down my cheeks as I sobbed. “Please Reyna please wake up!” She wouldn’t wake up, so I screamed. “WAKE UP PLEASE I NEED YOU!”
A hand grabbed me from behind, muffling my cries as I looked towards Reyna. I kicked and screamed trying to get away,but he had me. He held me so tight it hurt, and I cried more. My foot dug into his ribs as he carried me away.Please Reyna No.
49
TOO LATE
Present day
As I turned down the street, I gripped the steering wheel tighter as the car moved through the oddly quiet neighborhood. The house stood similar to the rest, with a few toys scattered on the lawn — nothing that screamed out of the ordinary. Just a regular suburban area. When I got to the door, I noticed the forced entry, the door off its hinges and open. Un-holstering my weapon, I made my way towards the entrance. It was a simple house, but there were years of wear and tear; the siding needed a fresh coat of paint, and the shrubs could have used more care. The door was open to an entryway, a small hall that expanded outward into a living room. I closed the door as best I could to keep prying eyes away. There was broken glass everywhere, blood smeared against the doorframes and a discarded butcher knife still coated in a sheen of blood. The broken end tables were in a corner, like someone had begun cleaning up but stopped short. I had an eerie sense I was being watched. As I turned to survey the rest of the room, I saw her there.
“Summer,” I breathed a sigh of relief — until the pistol stared right at me.
“Dustin,” she nodded. Her voice was cool but held an edge as she kept the weapon aimed at me. Less focused on the deadly intent of her trigger fingers, I drank in her appearance like a starved man. A feral groan escaped me as my eyes roamed over every inch of her.
Summer looked like a secret wrapped solely for me. It was the first time I had ever seen her in such attire, and she looked stunning. A mafia queen who demanded every ounce of respect she’d been denied. The deep v-neckline of the black dress whispered sultry songs while the long sleeves gave nothing away. A single slit ran up her thigh like a blade in the dark, revealing enough to distract — or disarm. Both had me drooling at the thought of her killing me in more ways than one. Fabric gatheredat her waist with intent, and the length against the floor was a silent warning. I had already lost the battle, and she knew it. So I cleared my throat, adjusted my package and asked, “Mind telling me what happened here?” I fumbled with the words as I lowered the pistol.Real smart dumbass.
“They took her,” Summer’s voice was calm, like the simmering heat of a pot that was about to boil over. Tension coiled in my stomach as I considered the endgames, but I wasn’t as knowledgeable about the little girl. I had a warning suspicion that bigger forces were at play, but I was still missing vital information.
“Who’s they?” I asked as I looked for clues. I was acutely aware she hadn’t dropped the defensive stance yet, her pistol still aimed at my head.
“I don’t know,” Her voice filled with such intense emotion that I paused to look at her, a small picture frame still grasped in my hand. It was a set of boys, no more than two or three, and I wondered where they might be now. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and stared at me. “My people took the nanny to the hospital, she was stabbed barely clinging on to life.”
“Anybody else in the house?” I had walked the length of the living area, looking at the various memories and broken objects. It was an awful struggle, from what I could tell. There wasn’t anything to go on besides the smeared blood and knife. I should have called it the moment I saw the door forced open, but I was careless around her. Any chance that Summer divulged more information about Shaw and me, it would put me in her hands.
“No, I — ” Summer began but stopped short. “do you hear that?”
I strained to hear anything at all, but it was silent. Was she hallucinating like they told me in the hospital? “What are you talk — ”
“Shush,” she lowered her weapon, following some invisible cue down the halls. I followed behind her, watching her six. It was a stupid mistake to turn my back on her, but if she wanted to kill me, she would have by now.
“Hello, is anyone there?” Her voice was softer now as she paused in front of a slightly ajar bathroom. There was no reply as we stood waiting. Barely audible to a soft tap, both of us whipped our heads towards the open playroom. Summer handed me her gun as we stepped over a small bat. The room held toys of all age ranges and a few cozy chairs. On one side there was a half bookshelf stuffed with secondhand books, from small youth picture books to middle school reads. “Hello, can you hear me?” Summer asked again as she passed her gun to me, motioning me to stow away my own.
Again we waited for what must have been an eternity before another soft knock. It sounded like it was coming from the room, but it echoed around the space. “You take that side, i’ll take this side.”
We made our way around the room softly knocking on the walls listening to see if we heard a sound or hollow empty space. I was on the way towards the closet when Summer stopped in front of the bookshelf.
“What do you hear?” I asked as she knocked once.
“Shush,” Summer had her ear pressed to the wooden boards. She started feeling around, and I came up beside her. She pulled a clear fishing line from right behind the bookshelf, and a false compartment shifted. I stood back as she lifted the board, and two small boys cried out. “Hi, you must be Malic and Joshua.”
They nodded, tears running down their faces, and Summer smiled at them. I came closer, and they flinched backwards.
“It’s okay, I’m a cop,” I pulled my badge out and showed them. The older one took it; his eyes lit up in wonder. Summerhad the small one in her arms, laughing as he gripped her neck tightly.
“Pretty!” the little one called to her, and she smiled. It was so impractical for her to be wearing a sexy evening gown while holding a small toddler, but she looked at the boys with pure joy. Both boys clung to her now, playing with her hair as she asked them questions.
“I have to call this in,” I gently tapped her on the shoulder. The boys had been digging around the toy boxes, showing her every little toy soldier they could find.
She sighed. “Now?” Her eyes held such sadness as she stood dusting the dress off and hugged the kids goodbye. “Dustin will make sure that you are well taken care of, and he’s going to get you lots of candy,” she told them as she ruffled hair.
“You could stay,” I suggested, despite knowing she couldn’t. It was an unspoken agreement; she wouldn’t put me in that situation, and I wouldn’t make her stay. The boys held my hands as she looked at them with sad smiles. She held her chin high as she straightened herself.
“You’re still playing pretend, It’s time to wake up. This is the real world Dustin. I don’t have the luxury to pretend anymore. Gabriella is missing and I will find her.”
