Page 40 of Clouded by Envy

The crazed man’s head twisted back to Wes. There was dried blood around two puncture wounds on his filthy neck—similar to the other man, named Jeremy Jones, who had been shot in their neighborhood.

Before Bray could dart off to the front, the man bucked and writhed frantically, causing Wes to lose his grip. The man took off, growling. Wes had already started to run after him, but Bray wasn’t going to let Wes go after the lunatic alone.

“Stay back,” Wes yelled at her.

Bray was fast, faster than Wes. She picked up her speed and surged forward, pushing them both to the ground. The insane man jerked roughly, and Bray couldn’t hold him down. He leaped up, knocking her to the dirt, and took off again.

“What the hell? Are you okay?” Wes panted as he helped her off the ground. “What just happened?”

She had no clue, but the adrenaline was still there. “I’m okay, let’s hurry and find Luca.” Bray scanned the area until she found his small frame.

As they approached Luca, he was still chatting away with the blonde girl on the swing. “Luca, we have to go now,” Wes called, motioning for him to hurry up.

“Already?” Luca asked, disappointment written all over his face.

“Now, Luca!”

Luca gave a solemn sigh and said something to the girl before coming up to them. “What’s going on, Wes? We don’t—”

“Not now. Bray’s hurt,” Wes said hurriedly.

Bray waved him off. “I’m fine.”

Wes looked past Bray and sped off. Turning around, she spotted the security guard. Wes was already ranting and pointing in the direction that the deranged man had gone off in.

Walking back toward them, Wes looked pissed. “I don’t even know why some of these people have jobs if they don’t want to do the damn work. The security guard said he was going to search around and write up a report. He didn’t appear too worried about it, and he said he hadn’t seen the guy.” Wes turned to her. “Seriously, Bray, are you okay?”

“I told you I’m fine, Wes. Also, the guy isn’t a real security guard. They just volunteer during the day hours.”

Ignoring the part about the security guard, Wes lifted the back of her shirt up a little to examine her skin. “Your back’s red, and it may even bruise.” Her back did feel sore but not too bad.

“I’ll be okay, but I think we should go home.”

The edges of Luca’s lips turned downward, but she didn’t want anything to happen to him.

Back at the house, Luca pulled out his homework from his huge backpack and set the paper down on the coffee table to work on it.

Wes turned on the TV, still scowling with frustration about the entire incident.

“Another man has been shot and killed as he tried to attack two teenagers walking home from basketball practice. One suffered a broken arm, and the other numerous scratch marks. A policeman who drove by saw the incident and intervened. Details from the crime scene reveal there was no blood from the shot wound of the attacker. There were also two punctured holes found on the side of his neck. We are still waiting to find out the identity of the unknown man and are unsure if this case is connected to the one we previously reported. We will keep you informed,” the female reporter stated.

Wes’s wide eyes fixed on Bray. “That’s the same guy. You saw the two punctured holes on the side of his neck.”

Bray nodded because she most certainly did. The two incidents had to be connected. She didn’t have a clue how and wasn’t sure if she really wanted to know.

15

Brenik

Rana knocked on Brenik’s door a little after five. He was still feeling full and satisfied from feeding on the homeless man the night before.

He opened the door to see her wearing jeans, a floral print shirt, and a smile on her face. “Come on in.”

“I have a better idea,” she announced. “Let’s go out to eat—I’m craving Mexican food.”

Brenik felt his stomach shudder, but still tried to appear thrilled.

She must have noticed his slight grimace. “What, you don’t like enchiladas smothered in sauce?”

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