Page 46 of Hunter's Revenge
Without another thought, I open the door wider and walk into what could be my final doom or death.
Within seconds, I hear footsteps in the kitchen. Several of them.
I press down on my molars and clutch my chest to keep my heart from leaping out, then, with all the strength I can summon, I keep going.
One step follows the one before until I’m in the kitchen facing Conrad, who is sitting at the breakfast table drinking from my grandmother’s teacup.
Dressed in full black, he looks like he just stepped out of hell. The light shines down on his bald head like a spotlight, almost making him seem younger. I don’t know how old he is, and it’s not easy to guess because he’s built like a wrestler and his skin looks like it’s been burned by far too many years of intense sun.
I’ve assumed he must be in the latter end of his fifties, but he could be younger than that. Dark eyes bore into me like he’s going to rip me apart, and my skin heats like it might burn right off my body, turning to ashes so it can become one with the wind.
“Gwen St. James, I got an interesting message from you earlier.” His gravelly voice sounds like it’s filled with rocks and sand.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t find the money. You have to understand that—” My voice cuts when one of Conrad’s henchmen steps out of the sunroom carrying Sebastian.
Blood covers the fur on his neck, and he whimpers again when he sees me.
My soul falls through the earth at the sight. I rush forward to take him, but Conrad gets up so fast I hardly see him move. What I feel next is the back of his hand across my face. The impact knocks the life out of me, and I go flying backward, screaming as I connect with the floor.
Pain rattles my brain and body. No one has ever laid a hand on me. I’ve never even been in a fight with another girl at school, so this… this pain is one I’ve never felt before.
Conrad gets up in my face and grabs my chin. Tears pour out of my eyes from the pain as my body shakes uncontrollably.
“Listen to me, you little bitch.” He tightens his grip on my face, digging his fingers into my skin. With his free hand, he pulls his gun from his back pocket and places it at my temple, just like he did that night the other week. I cry harder, and he runs the cold metal over my skin. “I don’t have to understand anything. And I won’t. The terms have changed, and the date has moved up. I want my money tomorrow.”
“But I don’t have it,” I cry. “There’s no way I can get it.”
“Then you better pray God can help you. You have until noon tomorrow to find it. Fail to deliver, and your dog is the first thing to die. Then I’m coming for you, Gwen St. James. And since you’ve already pissed me off, I’ve decided your fine ass would be best placed in an auction to the highest bidder.”
He releases me and rises to his feet, but I’m still shaking and crying.
“No, please.”
“Don’t beg. It’s pathetic.”
“But there’s nothing I can do.”
“That’s not my problem.” He cocks his head to the side, and the man holding Sebastian walks to the door.
I suddenly realize that they’re going to take him. “Please don’t take my dog!”
I try to get up, but Conrad points his gun at me, and I freeze.
“Noon tomorrow. Noon.” He smiles back at me, revealing disjointed teeth. “Oh, and if you tell anybody about our little fiasco, you’re dead, your grandmother is dead, and that cute little friend you have is dead, too. Got it?”
I nod vigorously, as if I’ve been programmed to do so.
Sebastian howls, trying to break free, but the man holding him tightens his grip. Droplets of blood fall onto the floor as they walk through the kitchen door. Conrad follows, keeping his gun pointed at me.
I stay in that frightened child-like position for what feels like forever, feeling like I’ve just woken up in a nightmare.
This can’t be happening.
It just can’t. Everything I feared is unravelling before my eyes, and I don’t know what to do.
There’s no way I’m going to find that money by noon tomorrow. No way. So, what do I do?
Let them kill Sebastian?