Retribution

Chapter 46 - Do or Die

Stunned, I took a moment to react. I pointed Ellie to my side and ordered her to sit. Opening the door, I found myself shocked, but at the same time not surprised, to see Adam grinning back at me.

"Still want to deny me?" he said, holding a box of matches in one hand, striking material face up, and a single match in the other. "One strike and you're both gone like magic."

Even though Ellie sat at my side, the tension pouring from her oozed into the atmosphere. I didn't need to look at her to know she was poised like a spring, ready to pounce at the hint of a command.

With my heart pounding against my ribs, a dry mouth, and a swirling mind, I didn't know what to do or say. All I could seem to do was stand there, staring at him in a fuel filled puddle of disbelief. A voice in my head shouted at me to move, scream for Jake, slam the door shut, set Ellie on him; anything, something, but fear paralysed my body.

"Or perhaps," he said, smirking. "This is an easier option?" He threw the single match away before sliding his hand beneath his crumpled shirt. Grass and mud stains were all over it—what on earth had he been doing? "You choose, Lou Lou. I'll give you that at least."

Taking my eyes from his shirt, I lifted them just in time to see his arm outstretch towards me.

With a gun in his hand.

I gasped. Ellie leapt at him. Time seemed to move slowly, but in the same instant, also too fast. I had no time to react to anything. As Ellie clamped her powerful jaw around his wrist, he jerked his arm back, pulling the trigger. I don't know if the force of the scream I pushed out of my lungs caused me to stumble, or if the hand of God himself shoved me aside, but by mere milliseconds and barely an inch, the bullet whizzed past me and lodged itself in the wooden post of my staircase.

"JAKE!" I yelled, tearing my vocal chords with every second I screamed.

Behind me, Ellie's growls echoed through the darkness. Adam shouted and swore, wrestling with the angel I'd been blessed with. Thunder sounded from upstairs, and seconds later Jake appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Fire!" I shouted, heaving for breath. "Harvey. Please get Harvey."

He vanished back into the light, leaving me to face the darkness alone. I whirled around to help Ellie. Lunging outside to prise the gun from his hands, he moved quicker than I expected. Before I knew it, he grabbed the gun with his other hand, wrapping his fingers around the muzzle. He lifted it slightly and then cracked it down on Ellie's skull. The sickening crunch almost choked me.

But she was ok. His violence towards her seemed to fuel her on.

A bone chilling snarl emanated from her. She wriggled her head from side to side, her whole body swaying as she hung from his wrist, intent on bringing him down. Knowing he'd hit her again, I flung myself at him, not caring about the gun.

He toppled backwards, hitting the grass with a hollow thud. A wheeze of air left his lungs, giving me precious seconds to overpower him. Ellie used his breathless state to her advantage. She let go of his wrist, bounded up his body, and grabbed him round the throat.

He shrieked like a little girl. The more noise he made, the harder she tugged on his skin. Her entire body was taught, ready to haul backwards and rip his throat out. Every time he moved, her growls grew louder, and her crushing grip tightened. Trickles of blood were already streaming down his skin, staining Ellie's fur.

With Ellie in prime position, he didn't fight at all when I took the gun from his hands. Shaking from head to toe, I stood up and pointed it at him, staring him dead in the eyes as I did so.

He grinned at me. "Call the mutt off," he said, his voice a hoarse whisper. "Or you die."

I laughed. "You're such an idiot. Look at you right now. Really?"

Movement behind me caught my attention. Jake hurried to my car with Harvey wrapped up in his duvet, amazingly half-asleep still. He settled him quickly but quietly, before rushing over to me.

"Give me the gun, sweetheart," Jake said, wrapping his arms around me from behind. "You're trembling like anything. Go and get in the car."

I found myself stuck fast like concrete. Only when his fingers gently curled around mine, warming the ice in my soul, did I seem to wake from my nightmare. Noticing for the first time that my teeth were chattering, I headed towards the car, lost in a trance, numb.

Sirens wailed in the distance. Bright blue flashes lit up the dark night sky, enabling us to see our help racing towards us. Everything then just seemed to move around me, as if I was merely stood in the middle as a spectator, silent but observant.

I collapsed against the side of the car, leaning back against the front wheel. Jake ordered Ellie to my side whilst he kept the gun trained on Adam. Ellie ran to me, her eyes bright and her tail wagging. Nuzzling my chin, she licked at me constantly, wanting some praise for her brave actions.

Three police cars hurled onto the driveway, two vans of armed police, and an ambulance. Shouts of instructions went back and forth between Jake and the cops, Adam and the cops, and Adam and Jake. Eventually, the click of handcuffs resonated through the air and three policemen hauled Adam to his feet.

He turned and stared at me, his perfect Jack Nicholson grin shaking my foundations once again. He blew me a kiss. Resisting back against the cops who had a hold of him, he fiddled with something behind his back, launched himself in the air, and hit the ground on his shoulder.

Frowning at his odd behaviour, I didn't know what the hell he was doing. Until the streak of orange flames lit my world up.