Page 110 of Burn Like An Angel

Something sharp slams into the middle of my back. Any retort dies on my tongue at the instant rush of blistering pain. My entire body is gripped by a violent electrical current, causing every muscle to lock up.

I’m being stabbed by a thousand needles all at once. The convulsions take over, assaulting me with rapid bursts of excruciating electricity. My heart threatens to explode as disorientation sets in.

“That’s better.” Harrison relinquishes the taser from my back. “I prefer you like this. Whimpering like the pathetic stray you are.”

My silent howls wrap around me. I’m trapped by aftershocks, each spasm causing more tears to leak from the corners of my eyes. For good measure, Harrison stands and boots me hard in the stomach.

Heat radiates through my belly. I cry out, unable to move a muscle or curl in on myself. His steel-capped boots strike over and over, sending me plummeting back into the past.

I’m back in the Z wing, stripped bare in a padded cell. Covered in my own blood. Tears. Sweat. Taunted by his cackling while beating me to a semi-conscious pulp. This time, he’ll kill me.

“S-Stop,” I beg.

“Now you want to behave, huh? Where was that attitude when I held a gun to your cute friend’s head?”

Blood bubbles in my mouth, forming a hot, foaming pool. I feel it streaming from my lips, mingling with stinging tears. Everything around me is swimming in the dropped flashlight’s glow.

I couldn’t save Rae.

I can’t even save myself.

“Step back.” The command is delivered in a monotone voice. “I’d prefer not to cover Ripley with your innards.”

Peering through cracked lids, I can make out the shadow looming behind Harrison through a beam of light. Lanky. Blood-streaked. Hair unkempt and eyes cold. Harrison sucks in a surprised breath.

“Now.” Xander nudges the back of Harrison’s head with the rifle. “I quite fancy testing out your friend’s gadget. You can be my guinea pig.”

Slowly, Harrison raises his hands, the baton clattering to the ground beside me. I watch his gaze harden, but my lips won’t move for me to warn Xander. They’re still numb and slippery.

“You know how to use that thing, son?”

Xander sighs in a long-suffering manner. “I’m disappointed at your lack of confidence. Though I appreciate the chance to make good on my threats.”

With the speed of a trained thug, Harrison snatches a sheathed knife from his belt. The black-handled blade slashes in a circle as he spins. I’m powerless, forced to watch everything unfold in slow motion.

The knife.

His secret smile.

Xander being sliced wide open.

Only the blow never comes—just in my petrified imagination. Before Harrison can land his shot, the thunderous burst of the assault rifle marks his fate. The muzzle flash temporarily blinds me.

I have to squint through my tears to take in the aftermath. Terror grips me at the sight of the body sprawled out amongst crimson-soaked crops. Except he doesn’t have bright-white hair and calculating eyes.

The corpse is Harrison.

Mouth open in an eternal scream. Chest caved in from a bullet delivered at point-blank range, tearing straight through his heart. His cruel eyes stare at the night sky, empty and lifeless.

Teeth bared, Xander drops the gun. “Ripley!”

He looks like an avenging angel, saturated in our enemies’ blood as he steps over his final victim to reach me. Xander falls to his knees, yanking out the taser darts then sliding an arm beneath me to lift me into his lap.

“You hurt?”

“I hate tasers,” I cough out. “Fuck, my ribs.”

His almost-black stare bores into me. “I’m sorry.”

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