Squeezing my eyes shut, I let go of the ferocious beast.
Just then, Damien’s little voice filled the room. “Doggie!”
Jerking my eyes open, I let out a horrified scream as my little brother toddled into the room at that moment with his arms outstretched, a huge grin on his baby face.
My heart stopped.
“Goddammit, Monika!” Papa roared up the stairs to my mother. “Why aren’t you watching the fucking baby?”
Everything after that happened in a blur.
Papa lunged for Damien, trying to prevent him from being mauled, but he somehow missed.
The dogs raced toward each other with vicious snarls.
And Damien waddled right in between them.
“Da-mi-en!” I launched myself forward, tackling my baby brother to the concrete floor.
The jaws of one of the dogs snapped over my head, biting down hard. I screamed in agony as the dog shook me back and forth like a rag doll, the skin tearing off my face and scalp, blood pooling everywhere. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt so bad I couldn’t breathe.
Damien’s cries broke through the pain.
Then Papa’s angry shouts. “Fuck! Fuck! Adrik! What are you doing, you stupid little shit! You trying to be dog bait?”
No, Papa. I was just trying to save Damien.
Papa grabbed the dog and tried to pry its jaws off me.
The other dog attacked Papa, latching onto his hand.
Papa let out another string of profanities and yanked his gun free.
Bang!
The dog’s jaws loosened around my head, then fell away as he collapsed.
Damien cried louder.
My mother bounded down the stairs, screaming hysterically.
Then my eyes rolled back into my head, and everything went black…
A long silence stretched. Then, cautiously, I lifted my head and glanced at Annika.
Tears streamed down her face. “Ohmygod.Adrik.” She drew in a ragged breath, wiping at her tears and smearing them across her cheeks. “That’shorrifying!” There was so much compassion in her eyes it made my chest squeeze.
I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. Ithadbeen horrifying. Every time I encountered a large dog, it was all I could do to keep from having a full-blown PTSD attack.
“Was your brother okay?” she whispered.
“Yeah. He was fine. He was lying underneath me, so I got the brunt of it.”
She made a disgusted sound in her throat. “I’m sorry, but I hate your father for putting you and your brother in that situation, but especially for what happened to you.”
Welcome to the club.
“So, the gunshot…was that how your father got the dog off of you?”