You Are Something Else, Juniper Zwinggi

Chapter 19

The sound of the security alarm woke me up out of a dead sleep. Luka stood on the bed and growled low in his throat towards the door. Looking at the alarm clock, I had only been asleep for an hour but it felt like an eternity. Still groggy, I sat the blankets aside and stood. Snapping my fingers, Luka came up beside me and I grabbed his collar to quiet the jingling of his tags.

With my heart in my throat, we snuck out into the hallway and I peaked around the corner before going down the stairs. I hoped it was just a mistake, maybe Jake came back and forgot to disarm the alarm.

The land line was ringing by the couch and I grabbed it quickly. As the dispatcher told me someone was on their way I noticed the front door was standing wide open. I signaled to Luka to lie down and I went to the door slowly, looking around corners as I went. My Jeep was in the driveway, exactly where I had parked it over a week ago but someone had written 'LEAVE' in red spray paint along the side.

"What the hell?" I said feeling annoyed. I could only guess who had done it and I was beyond pissed. 

Movement from the corner of my eye made me take a step back into the house and Lydia caught herself on the door frame. My quick reaction had kept her from hitting me but she gained her balance in no time and rushed me. I was not going to let her get the better of me this time.

She rammed into me but I wrapped my arms around her and slammed her on the ground gaining the advantage. I pinned her arms with my legs and started punching with all my strength as she struggled. My adrenaline was racing so fast, no amount of pain was keeping me from protecting myself. 

"Stay the hell away from me, you psycho!" I slapped her but a creepy smile spread across her face and she spit blood out of her mouth. Suddenly someone grabbed my hair from behind and I screamed. I hadn't counted on there being a second person.

Luka snarled and jumped on them with his entire one hundred and sixty pound bulk. Whoever it was, screamed in pain as Luka bit into his arm and shook him like a ragdoll. I had been let go but Lydia reached up and cracked my head with hers. My ears rang and my vision swam. I didn't have time to react before she slapped me hard across the face and grabbed my hair.

"As long as you are with him, I will never stay away," she whispered in my ear. From the corner of my eye I saw Luka chase the other person outside.

"Luka!" I called after him but then I heard a loud yelp. My head was pounding and tears of anger were falling down my face.

"Jake will leave you. He will play with you, screw you until he's tired of you, and leave you just like he did to all the others before me. I made one mistake but it's not something we can't come back from."

"Lydia,  c'mon! The cops are coming!"

"Until next time," she said and pushed me onto the ground. I heard a car door slam and the vehicle spray gravel as it sped out of the driveway.

"Luka?" I struggled to my feet and stumbled for the front door. My adrenaline was fading and pain coursed through me with every step that I took. "Luka!"

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It took two police officers to load Luka into a cruiser and rush us both to the animal hospital. He had a large gash on his head where he'd been struck with a blunt object, rendering him unconscious. His large head was in my lap and I couldn't help but shower him with loving kisses and tell him that he'd be okay. He was far from okay, I couldn't stop the bleeding.

Thankfully, due to the holiday there was not a surplus of patients and it was easy to get him into emergency surgery. The officers waited with me until Officer Graham could finish questioning me about Lydia. He was doing all he could to help me but deep down I knew that if I saw her again, I was going to kill her.