Devotion [h.s]

304

Amelia Adams

I couldn't think, I couldn't cry, I couldn't breathe.

Not until Briar was safe in my arms again.

It felt like the longest run of my life when we turned up our street. The sounds of alarms blaring getting louder and louder the closer we got to the house. It was the sounds of our house alarm system, meaning someone did break in.

I wanted to say we ran faster, but it was impossible. We've already been running our fastest. Harry in any given day was way faster then me but today he's hurt and physically cannot go as fast as usual. He was covered in blood, blood I knew wasn't just his. His pour hand was mangled and tarnished, I know he was in excruciating pain still.

My heart was racing as we ran up the driveway to see the front door wide open. My heart was aching, my lungs compressed as awful thoughts went through my erratic mind all involving our daughter.

Harry ran up ahead of me in the house first, not stopping to make sure no one was around to ambush him. I was shortly behind, and once I got in the house I was in full search mode.

The living room had been destroyed. The lamp was broken, television smashed, coffee table flipped, and Audrey was laying within all this mess on the ground.

We ran up to her, my stomach aching in prayer she wasn't dead. But Briar was no where around this room. My eyes scanned this entire room but the only thing I could see if Briar was her toys scattered around and her stuffed duck laying by the staircase.

"Go find Briar!" I shout at Harry over the alarm, immediately he ran towards the stairs. The repetitive alarm was all I could hear in my erratic mind, it was pulsating my eardrums but there was no time to shut it off.

Audrey was laying on her side, knocked right out. I lifted her head to see her bleeding temple. I leaned down shakily to listen for her breathing and luckily she was. I felt for her pulse under his new and it was there too. She was alive, just unconscious. With the state of the living room I guessed she fought really hard with someone and lost. But she wasn't dead and as much as I wanted to further inspect that she was going to be 100% okay, I still didn't know where my baby was.

I didn't hear Harry or anything from the upstairs. I stood up to my feet and ran all the way up to the steps, just adding to my winded state but I didn't care. I was in so much panic.

"Harry!" I shout in hope he'll give me a positive response that Briar was in her crib unharmed.

But I wasn't hearing anything as I was running right to Briar's bedroom, seeing the door was open. When I bursted through the door frame, I froze immediately.

Harry was standing next to me in the doorway, and at the opposite end of the room was Erica. She was standing there holding Briar on her hip, the bedroom window wide open behind her. She kept her eyes on Briar, smiling at her like we weren't even here.