There's Always A Plot Twist | Wattys 2023 ✓

39| The Emergence

"Oh, thank god!" she gasps, relieved to see that no physical harm has come to Amber apart from a few light cuts like the one on her cheek she had gotten when standing too close to the door on his first attack.

Riley lets Amber rush into her arms, holding the girl as she shakes like a kitten in the rain.

It's only then that Riley notices the small bruises going down Amber's back, looking like tattoos or stickers as they darken in shade.

The way that Riley's heart is beating against her chest, she'd love to do the same as Amber, but she has to resist the temptation.

After all, the nightmare still isn't over and the thunderstorm has only just begun.

"Okay, Amber, do you think you can follow me downstairs?"

"Just don't let go." she whimpers, her voice coming out muffled as she speaks into Riley's shoulder.

"Okay...I can do that." Riley whispers back, trying to convince herself just as much as her.

Meanwhile, Asanti and Amara struggle desperately to find the key, having trouble shuffling through all of the junk before them.

The task has seemed less intimidating on the other side of the glass but under the dim lighting of the room, it feels almost impossible.

"I still can't see it." Amara pants, pushing another box out of the way. "I was so sure it was over here."

"No, me neither, but we need to hurry up before-"

Just then a shadow appears in the doorway. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Alberto yells, slurring his words as he stumbles into the room.

"-Before he gets back up."

Asanti and Amara face Alberto once more, his eyes raw and sweating bullets, but still managing to see.

Asanti gulps, not even daring to move an inch. "What the hell is he made of?"

"It's the drugs or whatever he's on. It's keeping him juiced up."

"And he wonders why I think this crap isn't cool." Asanti utters, taking a giant step back once Alberto reaches for a ranch left sitting on the table.

"You're both crazy!"

Amara looks down at the taser in her hand, knowing that he now has the range advantage over her.

A blow to the head from that rusty looking thing could easily knock them out of commission if he lands a lucky hit but the beating he took earlier is stalling him.

They say the best way to deter a bear away is to make noise, and a lot of it.

Well the same can be said about Humans, especially big brutish men like Amber's father.

When Alberto scratches at his eyes, Amara uses her quick thinking skills, grabbing a lighter and spray can that she correctly assume is highly flammable.

"Back up or lose those eyebrows!"

"When I get my hands on you! I'm goings to kill you!" Alberto spits, clearly more conscious than they'd originally thought.

"You want to see crazy? Fine."

Roberto seems more enraged about the pepper spray and mace combo than the tasering that he got as he charges Asanti first.

However, Amara won't allow it, creating a giant fireball that shocks even her.

The heat licks her face and hands but dissipates as soon as she stops spraying.

Kaizen and Arlo watch nervously from the front of the house, flinching at how loud the mini explosion was.

Alberto drops to his knees, tears streaming down his irritated eyes in streams, his face turned redder than a ripe tomato.

Whatever was coursing throughout his system seems to have run it's course as the man starts bawling, crumpling into a tiny, beaten up, sweaty ball.

Amara finally spots Riley and Amber standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding onto each other for dear life.

They all peer down at Roberto as he continues to sob into his arms, red and blue light bathing them in flashing halos as it floods through all the of windows.

They hear more sirens in the distance continuing to blare at the sky until it finally stops holding onto the chaos, dropping bullets of rain onto the roof of the house, bringing with it the end of a terrible chapter.