Page 117 of No Saint

I head towards the kitchen, nerves knotting in my stomach and when I come round the corner, I see the blood first. A pool of it blooming across the tile and then a body, throat sliced wide open. The man was still alive.

A scream bubbles in my throat but I don’t let it out as I quickly dial Gabriel, bringing the phone to my ear as I spin round, feeling eyes on me.

“Couldn’t resist, baby?” His deep voice chuckles down the phone. I breathe heavily as I move back into the kitchen, towards the man slowly bleeding out on the tile.

“Amelia?”

“Someone attacked one of your men,” I rush out, “He’s bleeding out!”

“What!?”

“Gabriel, there’s someone in the house.”

I get to the guy, trying to keep the fear from consuming me as I crouch down and place my hand across the wound. He grips my wrist, eyes wide.

“It’s okay,” I whisper with a shake in my voice.

The man weakly shakes his head and opens his mouth to speak but no sounds come out.

“Amelia!” Gabriel’s roar shakes me back. Had he been speaking?

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, “I don’t think I can save him.”

“Amelia get out the house.”

I look to the guy, watching as he weakly dips his finger in his blood and then spells out a word on part of the clean tile next to him. R…U…N…

And then his eyes roll back and he goes limp.

“He’s dead.”

“It’s okay, Amelia,” Gabriel is moving, running, his breath harsh in my ear. “I need you to listen to me, okay?”

“O-okay,” I lift from the floor, backing up.

“Get to the nearest exit, go to the garage and take one of the cars. There is a box on the left, the code is four four eight seven, there are a couple of spare keys inside.”

“I’m going,” I felt numb. The fear was ready, the panic right there to paralyze me.

“I’m with you, Amelia, okay? I’ve got you.”

I nod though I know he can’t see me. He’d be here soon.

The front door was closest, so I head there, pulling on the handle but it doesn’t open. “The door is locked, Gabriel.”

“The key, Amelia, is in the bowl next to the door.”

I check but there was no key and then I see a circular bit of metal on the tiles at my feet. It was the head of the key, and when I slide my eyes to the lock on the door, I see the rest of the key, snapped off and jammed into the lock.

“Oh god,” I breathe.

“What Amelia?”

“They broke the key in the lock.”

“Shit. SHIT!”

I back up from the door. “They’re in the house, aren’t they?”

---