Page 47 of Tick Tock, Boom!

"Where is he?" I asked, barely able to keep the tremble out of my voice.

Rancid turned to face me, and something in his eyes shifted. "That depends, baby. Where do you think he’d be after putting a bullet in your daddy’s head?"

My whole world tilted sideways.

"No," I breathed, shaking my head. "No, that’s not true. You’re lying."

"Ain’t no lie, baby," he said, his voice turning cold as he mocked me. "I saw the blood myself. Barrel dropped like a bag of bricks. Tick Tock made sure of it. Shot him right between the eyes."

I stumbled back, my legs hitting the arm of the couch. I didn’t fall, but I felt like I had. Like the floor was yanked out from under me.

"Where is he?" I asked again, voice cracked and broken.

"That motherfucker ran. He’s gone. Ain’t comin’ back for you. But lucky for you…" he took a slow step toward me, his gaze crawling over me like burning oil, "you got me now."

"I’m not going anywhere with you," I whispered, shaking.

He grabbed my arm. "You don’t got a choice, sweetheart. There ain’t no one left to protect you now. And if you think you can hide from me, you got another thing comin’."

"Let me go!" I shrieked, yanking my arm back.

He didn’t, instead his other hand came up fast and slapped me across the face. The sting was instant, blinding, stars flashing in my vision. I gasped, stumbling, but he didn’t give me time to recover. He shoved me back into the couch and climbed over me, hand tangling in my hair.

"You think I don't know the nasty things you let him do to you, " he snarled.

I screamed, turning and trying to scramble off the couch. His hands were on me, dragging me back.

"You’re mine now," he snarled, breath hot and vile. "I always knew you’d be sweet."

His hand was at my throat. The other pushing up my shirt. I fought. Clawed. Kicked. And then I screamed.

I searched for something. Anything. And then my fingers wrapped around the heavy ceramic ashtray on the side table. I didn’t think. I just swung.

It cracked against the side of his skull with a sickening thud.

He grunted, body stumbling back, dazed. And as I watched him, in horror, as blood began to seep from his head.

I didn’t wait. I didn't want to know what the fuck I'd just done. I ran.

I didn’t stop to grab my phone or money, or anything. I didn't have anything. The only things I did have, were now dead. I didn’t stop to think. Barefoot, my heart pounding, I shoved the door open and ran. Down the steps, down the street, lungs burning, feet scraping raw against the pavement. I ran like the devil himself was chasing me, and maybe he was.

I didn’t stop until I saw headlights. I didn’t stop until I collapsed in front of a passing car, waving my arms, screaming for help.

Tick Tock was gone. My father was dead. And I was left alone.

My world had suddenly changed for the worse. Everything I feared had come true, and I had no idea how I was going to survive this.

TICK TOCK

Knuckles had driven us deep into the woods, the winding backroads of Louisiana blurring past sending us into a nightmare I couldn't wake up from. By the time we hit the state line, I was barely hanging on. My ribs ached from the fight, my head pounded and my body felt the entire weigh of having killed my best friend. And my soul? That was the part that hurt the most. It was as if death had grabbed a hold of it and refused to let go.

The safe house was buried at the edge of the Louisiana-Mississippi border, a crumbling old hunting cabin nestled in the swamp. We parked the bikes under the overhang, cut the engines, and just sat there for a beat. Knuckles didn’t say anything. He just lit a smoke, handed me one, and we listened to the buzz of the insects in the dark. But I wasn’t thinking about bugs. I was thinking about her.

Natalia.

My love

It had been a fucking week. Seven days since I’d left her warm in my bed, since I kissed her shoulder and told myself I’d be back before she even knew I was gone. I had no idea that everything was going to be destroyed around us.

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