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“Hey! What the fuck are you doing?”
I looked up, startled, and all at once Henry was moving toward me. With my heart pounding painfully against my ribs, I dropped my phone, kicked it under the couch, and ran into the kitchen with him hot on my heels. Dodging a dining room chair, I threw it to the floor and tripped him up a bit, giving me just enough time to reach the butcher block and grab a steak knife.
My hand shook as I pointed it at him, watching as Henry grabbed the edge of the counter and pulled himself to his feet.
“What are you gonna do?” he laughed. “Kill me?”
I couldn’t find words, so I simply nodded. Could I, though? Could I kill a man? I never thought so. I never thought I had it in me to commit murder. But now that my life was on the line and I was standing in front of a mad man, I didn’t have time to question my own morality. It was either me or him and I knew that I wasn’t going to sacrifice myself so that he could live.
It was me or Henry.
I was choosing myself.
“I will kill you,” I said firmly with a white knuckled grip on the knife. “I won’t lose an ounce of sleep over it.”
Henry laughed and the sound made me grit my teeth. He stood tall, broad, and intimidating in front of me. But I wasn’t backing down. It pissed me off that he didn’t look scared, added fuel to the already ignited fire within me.
“Why are you ruining this?” he asked, his deep voice sending chills down my spine.
“Because I’m done with your games. I’m done being a fucking toy. I mean, really, what did you think was going to happen? You thought we’d ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after? Read my fucking lips, Van Sant. I. Am. Not. Yours.”
He smacked his hand against the counter as he advanced towards me. “Abby, Abby, Abby,” he admonished with a shake of his head. He watched me warily and took a slow step forward. “I wanted to make this work. I was patient. I was kind. I sat by and watched you give someone else the attention I deserved. You ruined it.”
I swallowed hard. This was it. There was nowhere else for me to go. “Yeah, you watched me. You watched me touch him and kiss him. You watched him fuck me.”
“Shut your fucking mouth!” Henry screamed and lurched forward, knocking the knife out of my hand.
I threw myself backwards and slammed into the kitchen counter as his hands wrapped around my throat. I grabbed his meaty wrists as he squeezed, cutting off my oxygen. His face was beet red as he looked down at me, his hands squeezing so tight I thought my head was going to explode. It was like that scene in those old cartoons when the person’s eyes pop out of their skull, that’s what I felt like. Henry was strangling me, suffocating me. He was killing me. I was going to die in my brother’s kitchen because I was too brave to run like I should have.
“You made me do this! You made me do this!” Henry shouted in my face.
The edges of my vision blurred, darkening as I fought less and less. My muscles ached and I was tired. So tired. I couldn’t fight anymore. It was over.
Do it.
Come on, beautiful.
Knox’s voice rang in my foggy brain like the light at the end of a dark tunnel. The words he’d said to me the first time I stepped into the ring with him. He taught me how to fight back.
He taught me how to survive.
With a choked gasp and my last ounce of energy, I brought my knee up and connected with Henry’s balls. Hard. His hands instantly loosened around my neck as we both fell to the floor, him groaning and cupping himself while I coughed and sputtered. My windpipe felt crushed and the skin around my neck was tender. I could already feel it bruising as I crawled across the kitchen floor.
“Abbigail!” Henry groaned, his anger evident. “You fucking bitch. Wait until I get my hands on you.”
I narrowed my eyes and barely managed to whisper, “You’ll have to catch me first, asshole.”
I managed to stand up, shaking as adrenaline ran rampant through my veins. “This isn’t the same as last time!” I yelled and backed up a few steps. “I’ve seen your face, Van Sant. All those times you watched me, left me your little gifts… all those times you left me exposed and vulnerable. Well, how’s it feel? How does it feel to finally be exposed for the fucking freak that you are. It’s over, you hear me? It’s fucking done.”
Henry’s empty eyes looked up at me and I backed up, knowing that I needed to run. It didn’t make me a coward nor did it make me weak. It made me smart.
I was heading towards the front door when it opened and a face I never thought I’d see again appeared.
“Abby, I’m so-”
“Knox!” I screamed and lunged at him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and sobbing. It wasn’t the time for an emotional reunion, but I couldn’t help it.
“What the fuck is going-”
