↠ FALLEN ANGEL [Matt Murdock]

ELEVEN ↠ ASSASSAINATION

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

I sprung from the bed like a panther, my hand wrapping around the cold steel knife hidden under my mattress as I leaped, sliding cooly onto the floor prepared to attack all in one move. A sheen layer of sweat covered me and my limbs shook as I stood. I knew I'd had another nightmare as the images were still painted clearly in my mind.

Matt sat nonchalantly in the chair opposite me and tilted his head gently, noticing my movement. His mind terrified me. The events I'd witnessed while I was in his head were not pretty and they made me want to both punch him out of fear, but also pull him into an embrace to comfort him for whatever had disturbed his mind so horrendously.

I put the nightmare aside for the moment and focused on a more immediate problem.

"What are you still doing here?" I straightened up, the hand holding the knife fell to my side.

"You still haven't answered my question." He stood up for the armchair, moving towards where I stood.

"What question would that be?" I laughed dryly, slowly moving towards him as I tightened my grip on the knife. "Because I have a pretty good one. Why shouldn't I spill your guts onto my floor right now for breaking into my home, scaring off my guest and knocking me out?"

"Answer my question and I'll leave. We can forget this night ever happened." He spoke as his hand edged towards the baton at his waist.

"Sure. If it'll get you out of my apartment quicker, then okay."

"My question is simple. How can you do what you do, knowing that your son is here at home and could get hurt by your actions at any moment?" His voice dropped, and it started becoming accusing. "You know what this double life does to people and how it can affect your normal one yet you chose to go out every night and leave your son alone and in danger?"

"Don't you dare talk about him like that!" I squared up to him. "You don't know a bloody thing about my relationship with Roland and don't you dare for one second assume that you do!" My chest heaved and my fist balled up, readying to punch him. He looked confused.

"Roland?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's his name." I spoke unsure of what he was getting at.

"Before you fell unconscious you called him by a different name." He said slowly. "You called him Danny."

"Did I?" My heart hammered in my chest. Shit. "You probably heard me wrongly or something." I nodded. Avoiding looking at his face.

"Right." He nodded. "I still don't understand why you would risk his safety like you do."

"Because it's my duty as his big sister and the only responsible adult that actually stuck around for him, to make sure that he is safe. You think by going out at night and doing what I do is putting him in danger?" My voice was rising into a shout. "You don't understand anything! You don't know anything about our lives! He is always in danger! I'm trying to make sure that the man who killed our parents doesn't come back to kill us!" I finished breathless.