Ev
I stumbled through Ness’s front door, out of breath, blood dripping. I raced
"Miles to before I sleep. Miles to go before I sleep. Miles to go before I sleep,"I was mumbling incoherently. I looked at my tormentor. He was heading toward Ness with a knife.
I screamed at him. I didn’t even know what I was saying. I was delirious, pumped up on adrenaline, bleeding out and running a high fever.
“Ev!” Ness shouted and tried race to me, but Adam stopped her.
I walked up to Adam. “Let her go, you fucking piece of shit. I don’t care what you do to me anymore, but you can’t hurt my son or my friends. Where are the boys, Ness?”
She smiled at me. “They are safe.”
I smiled back. “Dug knew he was coming, didn’t he? God bless him.”
I could hear sirens in the distance. I walked closer to Adam. “They are coming for you.”
“You are a resourceful cunt,” he said. “How in the world did you get out of the chains?”
I held up my one hand, minus a thumb. “I fucking gnawed my thumb off," I said and started laughing again. I was losing touch with reality. “I’d flip you off, but the one hand I have hurts like hell and well, you know what happened to the other one.”
“What did he do to you?” Ness asked softly. I could see the pity in her face.” OH Ev…I am so sorry.”
I sat down at the table. I was tired. I really just wanted to kill him and then just die myself. I could really use a cigarette, even though I didn’t smoke. Maybe some weed. Yeah, I think the weed would be better. I reached across the table and got Ness’s water and took a long drink. I was so thirsty. I drank and drank. Then I threw up on the floor.
While I was looking down, I charged at Adam’s legs, knocking him and Ness to the floor. The knife fell from his hand. I straddled him and used my elbow to hit him in the face. Pain went up my arm. “I hate you!” I screamed. “I hate you!” He threw me off and pinned me to the floor. Ness was reaching for the knife when he punched her in the face. She fell back with a thud. I kept kicking underneath him. I bucked like a wild stallion and scooted out from underneath him. Ness got to her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck. She couldn’t contain him. He reached and grabbed the knife from the floor. He shook her loose and turned and buried the knife to the hilt in her stomach. I heard a long breath leave her body. I screamed in rage, stood up and eyed him. We looked at each other wondering what the other was going to do. I could see a pool of blood starting underneath Ness. The blood was spreading through the cracks in the tile. A map of a life that was fading.