Page 76 of Dancin' with Demons

Catacomb goes to move past me once he realizes the predicament we’re in, but I stop him. If he bum rushes ‘em, everyone dies.

Miss Irene is sittin’ in a rockin’ chair on the right with a man standin’ behind her chair, holdin’ a gun against her temple. I’m surprised the old woman doesn’t look the least bit scared. Next to her is another man holdin’ a gun against the back of Savior’s head. Next to her is Raylynn and Sandra, both on their knees, hands behind their backs. Behind Raylynn is Hard-On, and behind Sandra is Panda.

Those two are definitely fuckin’ dead.

“It’s those fuckin’ punks from the police,” Catacomb grits through his teeth, and I take a second to actually look at ‘em men behind Savior and Irene. He’s right.

Those little fucks.

“This woulda been easier if you’d let ‘em bring my fuck toy to the precinct, Renegade,” Hard-On says loudly.

I aim my gun right at him. “Your out gunned, dipshit,” I yell. “Don’t be fuckin’ stupider than you already are.”

Panda laughs. “That might be true, fucker, but you really wanna risk whether or not you can kill us before we kill all four of ‘em?”

“Eat shit, you fuckin’ pussy,” Sandra quips, and Panda grabs her hair and yanks back.

“Panda!” Catacomb screams. “Let her go!”

“Tsk-tsk,” Panda says, shovin’ Sandra forward as he lets go of her hair. “Why would I do that when she can come and keep Fuck Toy company this time. She looks like she’ll be a lot more fun that your cousin was.”

The next several things happen so fast, but yet they seem to be in slow motion. Sandra yells Somethin’ I can’t make out, and Irene leans over and grabs Savior, yankin’ my little girl with her as she falls from the rockin’ chair to the ground. Raylynn turns and hits Hard-On right in the balls, and Sandra turns and brings her hands up to grab Panda’s gun.

A shot rings out and Raylynn screams as Sandra flies backward off the porch, clearin’ the stairs, and landin’ on her back in the dirt at the foot of the stairs. Several shots behind us rin’ out as Catacomb goes for Sandra at the same time Raylynn comes runnin’ down the stairs toward her.

I beeline for Hard-On as he and Panda turn and bolt into the house. They only get to the livin’ room and out of nowhere, an arm lashes out and grabs Panda by the throat, liftin’ him in the air and slammin’ him to the floor. Hard-On stops long enough that I dive and slam my shoulder right into his back, both us us gonna the ground.

As soon as he tries to get up, I lift my gun and fire a shot into the back of his right knee. He screams and rolls onto his back, and I fire a second shot into his right knee. He ain’t goin’ fuckin’ nowhere. Turnin’ I find Reaper holdin’ Panda down. Blood soaks Reaper’s shirt, his one arm hangin’ uselessly by his side.

Movin’ to stand over ‘em, I lift my gun and put a bullet in each of his knees as well. Grabbin’ Reaper, I pull him up, and he sways.

“You alright, brother,” I grit as I get him steady.

“Lost a lot of blood, but I’m aight,” he says gently. His skin is fuckin’ gray, so I know he ain’t okay in the least. “Where’s the women?”

Hobgoblin, Typhoon, Archangel, and Trickster come in and stop in front of us.

Archangel glances at Panda and Hard-On, his eyes steelin’ over. “Get ‘em to the bunker.”

Good. At least we get to fuckin’ torture these fucks for the shit they’ve done.

Takin’ Reaper to the porch, Recoil and Freeway come up and take him from me. My eyes land on the small group at the bottom of the stairs and everythin’ in me breaks. Raylynn is on her knees, her hand clutchin’ Sandra’s. The rest of Sandra’s body is clutched against Catacomb as he holds her against him, his screams echoin’ off the trees.

Blood covers him and Sandra, seepin’ from the hole int he center of her chest as her eyes stare unseein’ at the sky. Descendin’ the stairs, I squat behind my woman and put my hand on her shoulder. She chokes on a sob as I lean forward and kiss the back of her head.

Sandman comes up behind Catacomb and puts his hand on our president’s shoulder. “Come on, Prez. Let’s take her home.”

Catacomb shrugs him off, and I know this is gonna be the hardest thing this club has ever done. Gettin’ up, I grab Cat as Sandman and Diesel gently slide Sandra’s body from his arms and rest her on the ground, Sandman takin’ a second to close her eyes.

“No!” Catacomb screams, tryin’ to get past me. “Give her to me!”

Wrappin’ my arms around my best friend as he flails, I squeeze him so he can’t get away from me. “She’s gone, Cat. You gotta stop so we can take her body home and pay her respects the right way.”

“She can’t be,” he screams as his voice breaks, and then his arms clamp around me.

For the first time in our entire friendship, I don’t know how to help him. So, I just keep my arms around him until he stops tryin’ to get away. I don’t know how much time passes or what, but when he finally pulls away and wipes his face, there’s Somethin’ in his eyes that scares me.

“Where is that motherfucker?”

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