Come home, Kostas!
When the closet door swings open, momentarily blinding me with the new light shining in, I let out a choked sound of horror. I have no clue who is standing there, but if it were Kostas, he would’ve made his presence known. So, with Zoe wrapped tightly in one of my arms, I raise the gun with my other and shoot.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Three shots go off, making my hand go numb and my ears ring.
My eyes adjust just in time to see Selene stumble back. I hit her somewhere based on her howling, but she’s still alive.
“You fucking bitch,” she screams, stalking toward me like one of those crazy zombies who can’t be brought down. “You shot me!” Blood seeps from her lower abdomen and it’s hard to tell if I got her good or just clipped her.
I aim again, hoping to hit her in the heart, and—
“It’s over.” Aris comes out of nowhere and tackles me. Still trying to hold Zoe in my arms, I hit and kick at him. But he’s stronger and quickly disarms me, before pinning me to the floor. Zoe is flung out of my grip, and before I can grab her, Selene plucks her off the ground.
Blood curdling screams.
Zoe! My baby!
She’s screaming for me and I need to get to her.
“No!” I wail. My drive to get to my daughter takes over, and grabbing the first thing I can get my hands on, I plow it into Aris’s face. He’s caught off guard long enough that I’m able to roll over and get out of his grip. I’m about to stand, so I can run after Zoe, when Aris tackles me from behind. With his weight on top of me, my arms give out, and my chin hits the hardwood floor. Something metallic swarms my mouth.
Zoe’s screams go louder, spurring me to focus on her instead of the pain.
My baby. I need to get to her.
But before I can move forward, Aris’s strong hands grip my biceps, and he flips me over onto my back, smashing the back of my head in the process. He crawls up my body, wrapping his legs around my torso. With him hovering above me, I can make out his features.
His eyes scream hate. Fury. Revenge. But the way he’s smirking, it sends shivers down my spine. He’s enjoying what’s happening. Just as I thought he planned all of this, and he’s confident enough to believe he’s going to win.
Not if I can help it.
“Did you really think I would let you and that baby leave that easily?” He chuckles darkly.
“Fuck you!” I spit the blood that’s been building up in my mouth in his face.
“Been there, done that.” He cocks his hand back to hit me, but I see it coming. And lifting my butt into the air, I knee him in the back, forcing him to fall forward enough to lose his balance.
Taking advantage of his current state, I slide my body backward then knee him in the dick as hard as I can. He groans and rolls to his side, as I roll to mine, determined to get to my daughter. We’re both on our feet, running out the bedroom door, when something heavy smacks me in the side of my face.
I fall forward, my face catching the side of the end table.
Gray. Blink. Gray. Blink.
Everything fades so quickly as the sounds grow muted.
“Payback’s a bitch,” Selene screams as my vision goes blurry and then fades to black. I try to fight it, but I can’t.
Wake up!
Open your eyes!
But I can’t. Oh God.
The last thing I hear before everything goes silent is the sound of my daughter, zoí mou, crying for me. Needing me. Needing to be saved. And I pray that Kostas is somewhere close. And that, just like in Zoe’s storybooks, the monsters lose, and the dark knight saves the princesses.
But sadly, we all know too well that reality rarely imitates fiction.
Kostas
My mind is on one track. Find and kill the man shooting at us. The quicker I can eliminate this threat, the quicker I can find my fucking brother.
“Radio to everyone,” I hiss out to Adrian, though I can’t see him. “I want this place surrounded. No one leaves.”
The static of his device can be heard as he makes the command. My phone buzzes in my sweats’ pocket, but I can’t answer just yet. Not when I’m crouched and running between vehicles hunting down a man.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Bullets whiz past me, but I duck down just in time. It’s dark and pouring down rain, so most likely he’s just shooting in our general direction rather than having eyes on us. Something crunches ahead and then a man makes a grunting sound as though he fell. I charge his way. A form is rising to his feet and I don’t waste any time.