Better Off Dead

Chapter Twelve: This Changes Everything

I had been wrong. I had been so wrong about the whole thing. It had all felt so unreal, so without consequence. Things had been scary. I got shot. But the worst thing I had to worry about was being attacked with carpentry tools. This changed everything.

I hadn't understood the seriousness of the situation. But I guess that's life. Everyday problems seem so unbearable, and then you get blindsided by... something like that.

I think I fainted. The next thing I really remember was being on the ground, being shaken with such vigor that there was no doubt as to its source.

"Hey. What happened?" Liam asked.

I just shook my head. At that moment I was not capable of making a sound. He started to move away, and with my dislike of him having been completely overwritten by my fear of whoever was in the dark, I grabbed onto his hand like a scared child. For the first time, I was relieved to be next to the giant.

He moved around a flashlight and I followed, waiting to find a broken body on the floor. We walked around the corner and I held my breath.

No body. But the place was far from inconspicuous. A lamp had been knocked over and smashed. Furniture had been been toppled and broken, but not in a ransacked kind of way. More like a B-line of destruction to the scene of the crime. We followed the trail to the backdoor.

The first thing I noticed about the back door was that it simply wasn't there. The beam of light moved around outside. The door was in the lawn, in perfect condition, simply not attached to the house anymore. Liam started to go outside, and I tried to stop him. But he was, as always, an immovable object to me.

He led the way across the dark yard to the gate. "Snapped the latch clean in half. Not cut. Snapped."

I wanted to say something, but words weren't my specialty at that moment. I silently followed him out to the car, holding on to his arm the whole way. If what you're afraid of is unseen, nothing can assure you of safety. But staying next to someone the size of a bear was a good start.

"You alright? You see something?"

I nodded. The pure terror hadn't worn down enough for discourse.

The ride back did not include a lesson on cake decorating.