She has to be afraid for her life right now and I know for damn sure she doesn’t keep a gun hidden in the kitchen. She leaves all her guns at the cabin and now, for the life of me, I’m wondering why.
She coughs once more and I bite my lip. Fear overtakes me, but I have to act. I have to do something. Anything. I have to get him away from her because if Jeffrey is here, it can only mean one thing: trouble.
I can’t leave her alone with Jeffrey, not now.
He obviously doesn’t know I’m here. I parked down the road, after all. There’s nothing that would let him know about my presence. My car keys are in my pocket. I could easily sneak out the front door and vanish into the morning. He’d never even know there was a witness.
But something bad is about to happen and I’m not sure what to do.
Why is he here giving Gram trouble?
What does he need money for?
“Listen,” Jeffrey says, and I hear him slinking around the kitchen. He can be absolutely silent when he wants to be, and he’s super fucking loud the rest of the time. Right now I wish he was on loud mode because I can’t tell exactly where he is in the room.
Gram coughs again. Three distinct coughs. She’s practically begging me to leave, but I can’t. What if she needs me? What if I have to rush in there and save her?
> “I want the will. You change it now or Red dies.”
What?
The will?
I know Gram has left some of her belongings and properties to me, but we both agreed she should donate most to charity. I don’t need much and there’s a lot of good that money could do in this world.
Why would Jeffrey want her money now?
He’s never been around: not since he ran off to live with a “pack.”
“I will do no such thing,” Grandma says. “You’ll have to kill me first.”
No.
No, Gram.
Of all the things she could have said: not that!
Immediately, no longer scared for myself, I step into the doorway, but I’m too late. I’m just in time to see my brother’s hand shift into a big, furry paw with long, sharp claws.
All the better to kill you with, my dear.
He slices her throat and a scream dies in mine. My jaw drops open and obviously, the scent of fear fills the room because he whips around and sees me.
“Just who I wanted to see,” he sneers. “Good morning, little sister. It’s been awhile.”
I don’t let him finish speaking. He’s just killed my grandmother and as much as I want to call the cops, to yell, to fight, I know Jeffrey will kill me in a heartbeat because of what I saw.
I grab the coffee pot from the stand and throw it at him, then race out of the kitchen, through the living room, and out the front door.
His scream fills the house. The coffee probably burned, and I know the glass would have stung, but not long enough to hold him. I keep running to my car, start the engine, and drive off. He can’t chase me on foot. Not right now. I have a little bit of time to get away.
But I don’t want to get away.
I just want my Grams back.
**
Tears fill my vision as I drive rapidly down the road.