Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Malakai turns to say something to Koda, and I move, quick as lightning. I disappear off into the darkness, nothing but my rifle in hand. I don’t fuckin’ need anything else. I’m a good shot with a gun, and this fucker is the best of its kind. Long range. He won’t see it coming. It’ll go straight through that window, and by the time he realizes what’s happening, I’ll have fired the other shot, straight into his head.
I will not let him hurt her.
“Fuck. Where the fuck did he go?” Malakai roars into the darkness. “Slater!”
I use my flashlight to find a spot high enough up that I can look down. I get down on my stomach, and set the rifle up, using the scope to zone in. I have the best night vision on the market. I can see him clear as day. What I see makes my stomach turn. It is a sight I never want to experience again in my life. His body on hers, hand on her throat. She’s thrashing, still trying to get him off. He’s laughing. The sick fuck is laughing.
I wanted this to go so many other ways.
I wanted to take him, and torture him slowly for what he did to her.
I wanted to make him suffer.
I wanted him to endure every type of pain there is to endure.
But...her...she comes first. She’s always come first.
She is my life, and fucked if I will let her down again.
I take a deep breath, aim the rifle so the red dot is right on his head, and then I murmur, “I hope you fuckin’ rot in hell, you bastard. This is for Ellie.”
I pull the trigger.
It takes almost a moment for me to see the result I want. It’s like everything is in slow motion. The sound of the rifle echoes through the night, and then I watch as the window smashes as the bullet breezes through. It doesn’t hit him, but I knew it wouldn’t. Wind, glass, and other factors affect where the bullet goes, and I knew it wouldn’t go directly where I needed once it hit the glass.
But it is enough for him to jerk, his head whipping up.
I have a split second before he moves, and I miss him.
I have the shot lined up. I haven’t moved a single muscle.
I knew he wouldn’t get time to leap off her, that he’d simply lift his head, and I was right. Which means, my next shot will go exactly where I need it to go.
His eyes look out into the darkness, almost directly at me.
As if he knows I’m watching him.
As if he knows his life is about to end.
And I pull the trigger.
And my aim is spectacular. The bullet hits him right between the eyes, and a splash of red can be seen as slowly, his body topples backwards.
He hits the ground. Lifeless.
And just like that...it’s over.
Just like that, I slayed a monster.
Just like that, I gave Ellie her freedom back.
Just like that, I made it all go away.
Just. Like. That.
~21~
NOW – ELLIE
I’ll never forget the moment life was wiped from him.
I’ll never forget it for as long as I live.
The way that bullet ripped through the window.
The way the second one hit him right between the eyes.
The way his body fell off mine. Dead.
The way I felt, the moment I realized he was gone.
Gone. Forever. Gone.
I’ll never forget laying there, crying, out of relief and fear, or a buildup of emotion from ten years. Or all of them combined.
I’ll never forget Slater busting into the cabin, hauling me into his arms, and hanging onto me so tightly I couldn’t breathe.
I’ll never forget the day he became my hero.
He saved my life.
He took it all away.
It’s like he reached in, and just scooped up all the bad, and disposed of it.
Now here we are, at his house, me bundled up in a warm blanket, Erin by my side.
It still hasn’t fully clicked that it’s all over.
But deep down, I know it is.
They did it. Just like they said they would.
Slater saved me. Just like he promised. He made it all go away.
“Are you okay?” Erin asks, her arm still firmly around my shoulders, like she’s too afraid to let me go.
“He’s gone,” I whisper.
“He’s gone, honey. And you’re safe.”
I’m safe.
Oh my. I’m safe.
“I’m safe,” I murmur.
“I couldn’t breathe. Every single second you were gone. I couldn’t breathe. I was so afraid of something happening to you.”
“Never goin’ to let that happen, Erin,” Slater says, walking into the room with a cup of tea in his hand.
He’s followed by Lincoln, Damon, Finn and Malakai. Everyone else went home after making sure we were okay here.
“Thank you,” Erin says to him, and she means it. “All of you. Thank you.”
Malakai nods, and looks to Slater. He’s angry at him. I can see it written all over his face. Slater told me he took the shot against Malakai’s orders. I know why Malakai is angry, but I’m not going to be on his side for this. Slater taking that shot saved my life, and my sanity.