Page 57 of Ashes

Regardless of what happens to Rachel and me, at least our daughter will be safe.

“Last chance, Olivia, who am I killing?”

“Aunty Lee!” she cries, stepping away to the side. Colton closes his eyes, his shoulders rising as he inhales. Smart little Olivia takes that moment to run toward the basement where the saferoom is located.

Luckily, he doesn’t chase after her, which allows her enough time to get away from him. I can only hope that she listened to me and is currently locking herself into the safe room.

Colton looks between Rachel and me. “Shame that her choice doesn’t matter.” He fakes a yawn as if we’re the ones who are boring him and taking his time. Bastard. “I have such great plans for us, little bird. There’s no way I would ever kill you.” He laughs, lowering his gun and placing it back into the waistband of his pants.

He turns toward the counter, grabs the largest knife from the knife block, and walks toward Rachel with a sadistic look. “I have so many decisions to make right now.” He presses the knife against Rachel’s face, digging the blade into her skin, and moves it quickly downward, earning a painful scream from her as he cuts her skin open, as easy as cutting butter.

“Lee, you’re responsible for trying to kill me and taking my daughter away. Rachel, you’re responsible for hiding, and lying to my daughter. She’s not yours, yet you pretended she was. You knew what Lee had done to my family.” He shakes his head, looking at us in disgust. “You both must pay for what you’ve done.” He stands in front of me, presses the tip of the knife against the side of my neck, and slices.

I bite down on my bottom lip so hard I draw blood. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of my screams, which I know he loves. Every time he’d force himself inside of me and hurt me, he’d thrive on my cries and pleas for him to stop. I know what he wants to hear, and I won’t allow it. He won’t be getting any screams from me.

“Please, please, please, don’t kill me!” Rachel begs. Her only response is his manic laughter.

“Will you suck my dick in exchange for your life? You were always too much of a prude to do that for Mike.” He chuckles, grabbing a fistful of her brown hair.

“Yes! I will!”

“Will you swallow!”

“Yes! I’ll swallow everything.” Snot drips down from her nose, tears wetting her yellow cotton sundress, creating a large wet spot.

He makes a tsking sound and shakes his head. “Such a whore, Rachel. That isn’t very attractive to me.” He takes the tip of the knife and circles it around her face, pressing the blade into a few spots until he draws blood.

Colton grabs her ear and begins cutting while Rachel lets out blood-curdling screams, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as saliva drips down her chin.

He steps away, tossing the piece of flesh to the floor. "Look how hard you'd made me." He points toward his crotch.

"Stop! Colton, you fucking stop!" I scream, thrashing against my restraints. "She did nothing! I'm the one that fucked up!"

"Exactly!" he roars, rushing to me with the knife, pointing it in my face. "This is your fucking fault! You should've never left! You're killing her, not me!" Drops of spit hit me in the face from his screaming.

“Stay away from my mommy!” Olivia screams, running toward him, holding a gun in her small hands that she’s pointing toward him.

“Olivia! Run!” I beg of her, my heart racing in my chest. Fuck. She’s supposed to be in the safe room, not searching for her mother’s gun.

I tug against the restraints, annoyed that Rachel made them so fucking tight. I thrash around, and slowly, I tip over in the chair, yelping, landing with a thud, my head hitting the floor and bouncing.

Colton turns and charges toward Olivia while I’m still screaming for her to run. Her blue eyes widen in fear, and my little warrior pulls the trigger, clicking it repeatedly, her frustration growing at the fact the gun isn’t loaded and not going to protect her.

He rips the gun away from her hands, throws it across the room, and grabs a fistful of her hair. He drags her across the kitchen floor, forcing her to sit in the chair beside her mother.

"Three stupid fucking bitches!" He spits, shaking his head as he looks at me on the ground. Leaning down, he grabs a fistful of my hair and yanks, picking me up by his grip on my hair.

My scalp burns as I feel him pull my strands right from the root.

Once I'm sitting up again, I look toward Rachel, who's crying in pain, her head hung between her shoulders, too weak to lift it. Blood rushes from the cut on her face, and down the side of her head from the loss of her ear.

"I'm getting a headache from all this screaming. You bitches can cry all you want. It'll only make me harder." He grabs his crotch, thrusting it in his hand. "Keep crying, and I'll need to find someone to take care of this hard cock of mine." His fingers trail down the side of Olivia's red tear-stained face; the implication clear.

Chills rush down my spine. I bite down on my tongue, refusing to make another fucking sound.

Colton tapes Olivia to the chair and then drags the chair over until she’s forced to sit in front of her mother and watch everything.

Tears blur my vision. I want to scream at him, to beg, but I don't want to give him a reason to violate Olivia. I can’t take that risk.

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