Loud crashes immediately ring out through the home as he demolishes everything in his path.
I go back in the direction I had seen the other man and Cal.There's no sign of the man who took Ace.
In the kitchen, Cal has the man by the collar, using his other hand to brutally beat the man's face.The man isn't making a sound anymore.He isn't moving.I'm not sure if he's dead, but he'll find no sympathy from me.I look around and see a door.The basement, maybe.It has a dead bolt and a key lock.That's it.She's in there.I look around, but I don't see a key, so I run back to the door and kick it.The wood splinters under my shoe, so I kick it again and again.The third kick pops the metal hinge from the lock off and it falls to the ground.Pushing the door open, I run down the stairs.
When I reach the bottom, I see her.Ace.It's dark but it's definitely her.There's blood pooled on the ground around her head.My heart sinks with terror, rage, and desperation, consuming me all at once.I go to her, picking her up from the ground, when I feel sharp pain in my shoulder.Immediately following that something wraps around my neck.It's choking me.I drop my sister back to the floor so I can pull at whatever it is around my neck.Turning, I grab the length of...rope, maybeand pull hard.A girl is holding the other end of a whip.I pull so hard that she almost loses her footing until she drops the whip.Where did she come from?She looks terrible, but I can't worry about her right now.I have to get Ace out of here.
Removing the whip from my neck, there's no time to think about her.That ambulance needs to get here fast.I won't have time to think about that girl again for many years.
CHAPTER 49
Ada
They don't have thesame vantage point that I do.They don't see what I see.Somewhere in this unhinged maniac’s rambling, I see her.She's come for us.I don't know how, but I knew she would.Eve is here, and she's not here to play.She pokes her head out of one of the upstairs rooms until she gets my attention.Once she has it, she uses four fingers in a walking motion across the air in front of her and then drops low quickly.She nods her head, asking me to understand the signal.I don't want to give anything away, so I wink, and she's gone in an instant.I don't know how she got up there without being seen, but she did, and I am so thankful for that.I hope she called the police and they're on their way.
Damn it.I have her phone and there's no landline here so unless she knew they were here before she got here, the police aren't coming.
Sometime after I first see Eve, the lights go out all over the house.It's so dark in here.Even the streetlamp outside is off.I know it was on when we got here because it backlit Cotton and Cal when they pulled up.It threw their handsome faces into darkness, and I couldn't read Cal the way I normally can.
"What the fuck was that?"The psycho dad from hell yells as he turns circles around the room with his gun outstretched.
"It's him.He's here."The guy holding the gun on me says in a hushed, shaky voice.He's literally trembling.I can feel him shaking.
"It can't be.There's no way.We checked.My guy had eyes on him in Colorado two hours ago.There's no way it's him."The unbalanced dad sounds scared and unsure.He's still turning circles, trying to see a threat that isn't visible to him yet.These men are petrified of Eli.I have got to find out what that man did to warrant this stark fear.
Over the speakers, I hear the melodic voice of our savior."Looking for me, daddy?I know you prefer Master, but can I just say fuck a bunch of that shit."Man, I love this chick.The deadbeat dad seems to soften a little.He's still cautious, but he's no longer spinning maniacal circles in pursuit of the boogey Eli.
"You're here.How long you been listenin' in?Did you catch the part where I shot the boyfriend?"
He's looking all around....waiting but, she doesn't respond, so he goes on."He has to go, Slayer.No one touches what's mine."
"Still a dumb shit, I see."Eve taunts him again over the speakers.There's no way to tell where the sound originates.The entire house is equipped with surround sound and it's accessible from any room, plus the patio.You can sit in an upstairs bedroom and listen to what's on the television downstairs in the living room.I thought it was a little much, but I have never been so wrong in my life.
Master or whatever the hell his name is tenses at the dumb shit comment.I suppose this is probably the first time Eve's had the opportunity to stand up to this asshole.It probably wasn't easy to defy a grown man when she was a child.Eve is no child now and she isn't scared of a damn thing anymore.
A loud noise comes from one of the rooms down the hall.It's Eve.It sounds like she bumped into something or fell because we hear her say, "Ah, Shit."Like she was hurt, but this time, it doesn’t cascade across the room.This time, it's clear where it came from.Master smiles and turns his attention down the hall as he puts a finger to his lips.He's looking at the man holding the gun on me, and he gestures to the men sitting at the table.He's letting him know to keep them quiet.He's letting them know that this guy is going to shoot me if they make a sound.
