Limoncello

Chapter 11

A/N: Violence is depicted in this chapter. Read at your own risk.
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"Will you release me, my friend? There's nowhere to run or hide." ~ I See Stars, We're Not In Kansas Anymore

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When Nick heard the ping of a notification from his phone, he expected to see a text from Maeve saying that she was on her way. What he actually saw was quite the opposite.

'I need help. Call 911.'

"Fuck," he whispered. He shot up from the couch and ran to the kitchen. He looked out the window that had a perfect view of the front of Maeve's house. A chill ran down his spine and his stomach dropped with dread when he saw one of her windows smashed in. "FUCK!" He rushed back into the living room, where Jolly was seated on the couch, staring at him, worried. Nick glanced at him as he rushed past, bolting to his room. He reached under his bed to pull out a small safe. Trembling fingers punched in the code and grabbed the contents once it clicked open. A pistol. He double checked that it was loaded before stuffing it into his waistband and rushing back out towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Jolly called out from his spot on the couch.

"Someone broke into Maeve's house," Nick muttered, voice shaking as he placed his hand on the doorknob and swung the door open. "Call the cops. I'll be back."

Before Jolly could protest Nick's decision to insert himself into a dangerous situation, the door slammed shut. Jolly had no choice but to pick up the phone and dial the number.

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Maeve was in the process of whispering her address to the operator for the 3rd time. She was getting frustrated with the operator saying that they couldn't hear her. She was trying so hard to stay hidden. Heavy footsteps stopped outside of her bedroom and she heard the aggressive shaking of the doorknob. Her eyes widened as she set the phone down next to her, not hanging up. She clasped her hand over her mouth as tears spilled down her face, trying her hardest to keep her breathing even.

When the locked door wouldn't open, she heard a growl. "Oh you're in for it now," Tanner chuckled darkly from the other side. The next thing she heard was the deafening crack of her door being kicked down. It took a couple of kicks before he was able to get inside. She squeezed her eyes shut and curled into herself in an attempt to hide further from him. His heavy footsteps stopped right in front of her closet door before it was ripped open. "You really thought you could hide from me," he growled. "Stupid fucking whore."

He grabbed her by her ponytail and dragged her out of the closet. Maeve's screams ripped through her throat like razor blades as her hands shot up to where his hand gripped her hair. She held onto it to try to alleviate the agonizing pressure on her scalp, to no avail. Her nails dug into his hand and scratched him as he threw her to the ground, her head bouncing off of the floor with a sickening thud. A loud, choked sob left her as she attempted to scramble away from him, only for him to pin her to the floor by sitting on top of her.

She struggled beneath him, squirming and bucking around frantically to get out of his hold. His hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed. Her eyes went wide as she tried to suck in a breath. Her hands shot up to try to pry his hand away. "You fucking left me," he spat, his face disgustingly close to her own. His breath smelled of alcohol and something rotten. She nearly gagged at the smell and the feeling of his slimy saliva hitting her face. "Now you're getting what was always coming to you, bitch." He tightened his grip around her throat.

"P-Please," she choked out. "Don't do this, w-we can t-alk about this. Let me g-" Her face started to turn purple. Her vision became clouded with dark spots as Tanner's sinister smirk and enraged eyes got blurrier and blurrier with each passing second. She was lightheaded and she felt like her eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. All she could hear was her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.