Page 100 of Wicked Deceit
I face my father fully, holding my hand to the wound on my right shoulder. No one tells you about the burn a bullet causes as it enters and exits through your flesh, and let me fucking tell you, it doesn’t feel good. Blood pours between my fingers, but I grin at him through it all and ignore the pain he inflicted on me. Images of Kaycee race through my mind and everything she’s endured in this hell house all while I watched. I deserve this pain, but I fucking won.
“You didn’t win.” I hiss, taking a step toward him, intending to send my fist through his nose. “You will never win.”
He cocks his head to the side and raises a brow. “I will win when my bastard son burns in Hell, you motherfucker,” he says, cocking the hammer back and pulling the trigger again. Hitting me a second time through the right side of my chest. It burns as it exits through my back, and he laughs, cocking the gun one more time before emptying his weapon into my chest.
I throw my arms wide, letting the lead pierce through my flesh until I fall to my knees. I raise my chin, gasping for breath and tasting the unmistakable copper on my tongue. God has answered my prayers, after all.
These bullets will serve as retribution for my sins.
Darknesscoversusaswe run from the house that we’d searched high and low for. Months of looking and, fuck, it was right under our noses, hidden in the trees at the back of campus.
Who would have fucking guessed there was a fucking house back here? I swallow hard, peering down at my fucking angel, bruised and bloody, in my arms. Whatever the fuck she went through had to be hell if she came out looking like this. In the back of my mind, I want to stay fucking ignorant about everything. If I don’t, I’ll fucking explode and lose my shit right here. We won’t make it back to safety because I’ll turn right the fuck around and murder them all. Kaycee needs me here, not fighting her fight.
“Angel—” I wheeze, sneaking a peek at the woman in my arms who has barely moved a muscle since I started sprinting through the dark forest.
I grunt when a branch whacks me in the fucking head and scratches my cheeks, leaving a burning wound behind, but I keep pushing myself harder and faster, pumping my legs like they’ve never pumped before. Let’s fucking go; I chant in my head to keep up my motivation. I can’t fall behind. Sticks and leaves crunch underfoot with every step I take, but no matter how dark it is in the center of the woods, I push forward trying not to trip over large roots until I can find a trail.
I readjust Kaycee in my grip, carefully lifting her higher to my chest. I try not to knock the fucking knife sticking out of her bloodied stomach. Kaycee’s not heavy by any fucking means. She’s like a hundred pounds soaking wet. As light as a fart in the fucking wind. But Jesus—after running the entire way here, through the woods at the edge of campus, I’m having difficulty keeping my legs pumping and oxygen in my lungs.
A burn works its way through my quads and hamstrings. My calves tighten so tight I think they’ll explode like a fucking tire on its last leg.
“Fuck was that?” I gasp out, halting in the middle of the woods. Heavy breaths roll through my chest as I listen closely to the sounds around me. I strain my ears, greeted by nothing but an eerily silence.
Sweat pours down my forehead and drips onto my t-shirt. Every ache and pain in my body comes forward, screaming at me to sit down. My heart fucking shatters when a pain-filled whine falls from Kaycee’s throat when she tries to lift an arm. Tears fill my eyes at the sound, tearing my damn soul into pieces, knowing she’s in excruciating pain. She has to be delirious by now, from the damn knife sticking out of her stomach to the fucking bruises and swelling taking over her face. Fuck. This whole situation is a goddamn nightmare that never should have happened. I should have forced her to come with Zepp and me back to our house so we could check on our dad.
I swallow hard, searching the eternal darkness for any clue as to what the sound was. But only my heaving breaths fill the deafening silence. My body jolts when the sound booms again, breaking through the quiet of the trees and reverberating around us. My knees nearly buckle and collapse beneath me into the forest floor, but I stand tall, leaning against a tree. I look around, searching for the direction of the sound, hearing it pop again. I whip my head back in the direction I came from when it comes from behind me again.
My heart hammers heavily in my chest, and blood rushes to my ears. “Grumpy,” I mumble, forcing my heavy tongue to move. Fear shoots through me when I step back toward the house, even with Kaycee in my arms. The unmistakable sound of gunshots pops through the air again, and then silence.
“Fuck,” I hiss, taking another step in the wrong direction. I shake my head, looking down at the bundle in my arms. Her shallow breaths send my heart into a frenzy, beating like a crazy drum against my ribs. Fuck. She’s pale—blood everywhere. She doesn’t have long. If I go back to collect Carter’s dumb ass, we’ll all be dead. “Shit. Fuck. Damn it!” I shout into the nothingness, only hearing my small echo in return.
Pain pierces through me with every step away from the house. A war buzzes inside of me with indecision, but Carter’s words repeat in my mind—get her to safety. He wanted me to get her to the hospital or in the cop’s hands so we could end this. If I go back to him and save him, too, we’ll all be dead. So, I fucking march on, picking up speed until I’m sprinting. Sticks snap beneath my pounding feet. Dirt and mud cake to my sneakers, but I push through the pain. I drive through nature, attempting to hold myself back from turning back around. Our mission was to save Kaycee from their grips, and that’s what I’m going to do. Racing through the forest, I hold Kaycee tight against me, trying my best to avoid the fucking dagger sticking out of her stomach.
“Stop!” orders a deep, male voice, sending me tumbling to my knees in the mud.
Tears fall freely down my face when I look up into the dark masked face of a man holding a weapon aimed down at Kaycee and me. I quickly hold her closer to my chest, ensuring this man doesn’t hurt her any more than she is. I swallow hard when he lifts his mask and examines my face and Kaycee’s. A knowing look crosses his face, and he nods at us, extending a hand to pull me to my feet. He peers down at Kaycee’s injuries again, cataloging every speck of blood, and meets my gaze again.
“Please,” I beg, taking a step away. “I need to get her to the fucking ambulance.”
He nods again, bringing his wrist up to his mouth. “Got her. Tell them to be prepared for a stab wound and multiple contusions to the face. She’s losing a lot of blood, so prepare the doctors and the hospital. I’m Agent Thirteen with Veritas. Go to the maze. There are ambulances already here and ready for her,” he says with a grim expression, nodding in the direction I was headed. “Be careful, son. This place is littered with those freaks. I’d escort you back, but we’re headed that way.” He points in the direction I came from, and I give a firm nod, giving him the confirmation they needed. Fuck. He didn’t know where the hell he was going, and they were going in fucking blind. He doesn’t spare me another glance before disappearing into the darkness with his weapon raised and ready to attack.
“Hang on, Angel. Don’t you fucking dare give up on me.” My voice catches in my throat as the emotions burn deep at the thought of losing her. Not just her, though. Everyone. If we lose her, we’ll burst at the seams. We’ll all fall apart. Kaycee is the glue that keeps us going and functioning. She keeps Chase out of bed and reminds him to take his meds. She helps me with my fucking homework and keeps my grades up. She keeps Grumpy fucking grounded and Zeppelin, well---she keeps him on his antsy ass toes. Fuck. We can’t lose her. I fucking refuse.
Pushing harder than ever, I finally emerge from the woods, running into open acreage. Shit—why do the school grounds have to be so damn large? Why couldn’t this have been a nice jog instead of a two-mile death run at a full sprint? I wheeze, gasping for breath in my tightening lungs. But fuck it, if I don’t push harder. The moonlight does little to light my path when a dark cloud rolls in front of it. I can barely see what’s in front of me as I frantically run at top speed.
Passing by the football field and the baseball field, the silent cheers from the ghost crowd cheer me on as if I were in a football game. Run faster. Try harder. Think of Kaycee as a football. Except don’t spike her or lose your grip on her—fuck! My fingers tighten around her. Breaths pour harder from my nose. I pound the ground harder with my feet. I have to get my fucking girl to the maze.
The hedges come into view, waving in the wind. Their dried leaves wave me on, forcing me to the maze entrance that once led to our home on campus. Smoke still billows from the middle of the labyrinth, blowing in the wind. Zeppelin bites his damn nails, jerking his head toward me as I come into view.
I heave a breath, falling to my knees with Kaycee in my arms, looking around. She doesn’t respond when I lay her gently on the grass. Dried blood paints every inch of her flesh, still dripping from underneath the knife protruding from her.
“Where the fuck is everyone?” I shout, looking around at the emptiness around me. “The fucking Veritas agent told me an ambulance would be here.” My eyes dart around to the empty darkness, but no one is around to help us the fuck out. “Where….Where are they?” I cry out, holding Zepp’s shirt in my fist.
“Fuck,” Zepp hisses, running a finger down her jaw. Tears erupt from his eyes, falling down his cheeks. “The only ambulance that has been here was the one for Chase ..”
“That’s all fine and fucking dandy! But Kaycee needs a fucking ambulance. She needs the hospital!” Tears pour out, covering my cheeks in liquid. I jump to my feet, ready to race again towards the parking lot. If the fucking paramedics don’t come to us, I’ll drag them here kicking and screaming.
I take one step away from Zepp and Kaycee and stop dead in my tracks. Twenty pops happen in the woods behind us, and we jerk our heads in that direction. My mouth goes dry when Zepp and I look at each other, and I shake my head. Hope fills me, thinking of the agents taking down the sick fucks in the woods like hunters on the prowl.
