Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 78534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
"Riot!" I scream.
The door thunders as someone hammers on it, trying to break through, but it doesn't budge. Maybe there's something they can do if I just manage to delay Victor long enough.
I pay for getting distracted. His open hand connects with my face, the strike so fast I barely saw it coming at all. My cheek lights up in pain as the force of it throws me sideways into the bookshelf. I grab at it, trying to steady myself, but I just get a couple of books with me, and hit the floor hard. My head bonks on the hardwood, making my teeth rattle.
"You little bitch," Victor growls, and for the first time in my life I see him lose his temper completely. It's terrifying. "I'm gonna tear you apart while your mother watches. Break your arms and legs, over and fucking over until they're useless and unfixable. I'm gonna knock out all your teeth so that you'll be drinking your food for the rest of your miserable life. And then I'm going to keep you alive for as long as I can, just to make you suffer. Don't you backtalk me, make gestures at me, or disobey me, ever—and I mean ever—again." He kicks me, the sharp toe of his boot digging into my side and launching me back into the wall, which I hit with a grunt. I draw ragged gasps, trying to get my breath back. Did he break my ribs? It hurts so much.
"Riot! Tex! Ghost!" I cry out with what breath I've got left, and swing one of the books right at him.
He dodges backwards. I throw it at his head, but my aim sucks and the book goes wide.
Something thuds against the bulletproof glass, accompanied by a roar that sounds more bestial than human.
"What the fuck?" Victor turns towards it.
Again, and the window rattles, like whatever's holding it in place is giving.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Victor swears, but for the first time, I sense a hint of fear in his voice. I want to do something, find some way to distract him, but I hurt so much I can barely stand. I push myself up on my hands and knees and suck in the urge to puke on his rug.
"Motherfucker!" Riot roars, the thick window unable to muffle his voice much, and he slams into it again. This time, there's definitely something that cracks. A couple of screws pop loose and bounce off the hardwood. I crawl towards Victor's desk while he stares at the loosening window in disbelief.
Riot roars, charges and this time he busts right through, the whole window coming off as a sheet that Victor only barely jumps out of the way of. I launch myself to my feet, running for the weapons hanging behind the desk. Maybe I can't get my hands on his gun, but I can swing that axe at him and at least keep him off balance. At least that's my theory. I'm so sick and tired of not being able to do anything.
I wince at the pain in my side as I reach for it and yank it off the wall before facing Victor. He turns to grab me just as I swing at him, gripping my weapon with both hands.
"Fuck!" I tear a good shred out of his shirt, but he jumps out of the way just in time, leaving just a thin trickle of blood where I got him over his stomach. "Drop it." He draws his gun.
"You drop it," comes Tex's ice cold voice from outside the broken window as Riot's picking himself up. If I didn't recognize the soft drawl in it, I could've imagined it was Ghost's, that’s how icy it is. "You touch Jessica, and I'll put another air hole in that thick skull of yours."
I hold the tomahawk in front of me threateningly. "You better listen to them, Victor," I snarl at him, almost laughing in delight at getting to sound like a tough girl for a change.
A gun cracks. "Fuck!" Tex yells, diving in through the hole in the wall. Oh right, Victor called for more guards. On the desk, the red light still pulses slowly. While Tex is distracted, Victor raises his gun hand to shoot Tex from behind.
"No!" I scream and swing the axe as hard as I can towards his hand.
No one's more surprised than me when I connect and the blade digs deep.
Oh God, did I just see his thumb go flying?
Victor screams in a mix of pain and fury, but he drops the gun. Then he kicks me hard, knocking me back into the desk. I roll over the edge, dropping the axe with a rattle as I fall down on the other side, my breath knocked out of me. There's a thunk right next to my head, and when I roll my eyes up to look, the axe is stuck in the floor, barely an inch in front of my face.