Untethered

41 | Fight or Flight

The line went dead, and Emma lay on the bed, staring at her phone-willing him to call back-her virtual link to sanity and safety. She felt as though a two-ton weight was crushing her chest, and she couldn't draw a full breath.

Danny's already been to the house... he's on his way back.

She should move. Do something. Help her mom. But the pressure just increased, pinning her down.

The clattering of shattering glass snapped her out of it, and she jolted upright.

"Mom? Mom, are you okay?"

"Fine... I'm fine," Julie called. She exited the bathroom, her hands free, wielding two long shards of glass in a couple of threadbare washcloths, stained with blood.

"Oh, my God, what did you do?" Emma demanded, sitting upright, eyes wide.

"Weapons," Julie answered, succinctly. "Turn around so I can cut your ties free."

Emma did as she was told, wincing as she extended her arms backwards, both from the ache in her shoulders and trepidation that Julie would accidentally cut her.

"I got a hold of Ryan," she informed her quietly. "He said the door was unlocked at the house, and Danny isn't there, which means he must be on his way back here."

"We'd better hurry, then," Julie answered, setting one of the shards on the bed, and gripping her wrists tight so she could saw through the ties. Her voice was steadier than before, and a fresh calmness radiated from her. "He's not going to let us go, Em."

Emma just nodded, a thick lump in her throat.

The ties snapped loose, and she brought her hands around to the front of her body, massaging them and flexing her shoulders. Turning to face her mom, she automatically reached out to grab her forearms, turning them over. The insides of her wrists were blistered with burns, and there were several lacerations on the inside of her palms and on her fingers.

"These are bad burns," she murmured, examining them closely, "and you cut yourself."

"I've dealt with worse." Julie brushed her off, removing her hands from her grasp. "Emma, this is all my fault. If he gets back here before help arrives, you need to run. I'll attack him, try to keep him busy so you can get away."

"He's going to kill you," she stated incredulously. "If we both go for him; we'll have a better chance."

"He's going to try to kill me anyway... and I deserve it. I caused all of this. You don't." Julie hesitated, then gripped her daughter's shoulders, pulling her into an awkward embrace. "I'm sorry I didn't love you the way you deserved, Emalina, I really am. But you need to let me be your mom right now, and try to protect you."

"We will get out of this together," Emma gritted her teeth, her jaw set. "He can't take us both on. We just need to hold off until help gets here."

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Julie pulled back, tightening her grip on Emma's shoulders and shaking her slightly. "Why do you even care about saving me?"

"Runs in the family," Emma muttered. "And... I don't know. I'm not even sure we can have a relationship after all of this-you've done some awful things-but I don't want you to die." Avoiding eye contact, she changed the subject, "Do you think we should lock ourselves in the bathroom, or try to hide somewhere outs-."

The rumble of the SUV, crunching over gravel froze both women in place.

"Turn the light off!" Julie hissed, grabbing up her shard of mirror, and pressing the other one into Emma's hand. "He won't be able to see us at first. We can both attack before he gets his bearings."