Bloodline [h.s.]

thirty-eight.

Trigger warning: graphic violence.

BRIDGET GALLAGHER

Breathe. Run. Fight.

Do something.

My body recognised his unwelcomed touch as he shoved me. The door slammed so hard behind him I felt it between my ears. I stumbled backwards into the staircase while racking my brain for way to defend myself. Fear made me unaware that my arms were pinned down until the pain of my bones cracking between his hands and the wooden edge of the step produced a bloodcurdling scream. A skeletal muscular alarm blaring at top volume in my wrist.  Not a drop of humanity warmed his face hovering above me.

"Stop fighting. This will be easier for both of us if you relax." He demanded.

Remembering what Aiden taught me, I positioned my knee between his legs as unnoticeably as I could. As one knee flew upwards to his groin, the other leg kicked the inner sider of his to throw him off me. His grip left my hands as I sprinted upstairs to call for help.

He was quick to recover though, yanking my ankle out from under me before I reached the top step. A crash of my ribcage and wood had me crying out again as I fell down the stairs. If my wrist wasn't already broken, the unnatural angle I landed on to catch the fall finished the job.

"What do you want?!" I cried out.

"It has been nearly impossible to get some one on one time with you. I thought we needed chat just us girls." He grabbed my injured wrist to pull me to meet his empty grey eyes.

"Please, Kai, stop," I screamed before repeating, "What do you want?"

"I want to eliminate Aiden's distractions to end your father once and for all. You are in the way of that."

I snatched my hand back, wincing at the sharp pain radiating throughout my whole arm, "He is a person. You can't just program him into whatever you need him to be."

"Watch me. I did it once, and I'll do it again."

"You've lost your mind because he cares about me, but why do you care so much that he does? What's your stake in this?"

He threw me to the ground. I must have asked the right question. The surroundings became fuzzy as my head slammed into the floor. Kai had looked familiar to me, and I couldn't figure out why. I dismissed it to the abductions despite never seeing his face. Now, I think there was more to it than that.

"I want you dead." He seethed.

"Why? Kora or Aiden never thought to ask why you helped them. What did my dad do to you?" I struggled, trying to suppress panic as he trapped me under him. He stomped on my ankle without hesitation. I was nothing but a toy for him to crack,  bend, and break for his entertainment. Shattering bones didn't phase him one bit.

"The mission isn't for me. It is for Nick and Aiden."

"You're lying. You—" My voice failed me as he suddenly wrapped his hand around my throat, applying a dangerous level of pressure to the carotid artery.

"So brave, until you can't breathe. I like you better quiet." He said, stopping the blood flow to my brain with his fingers.

I only had a few minutes without oxygen before passing out. I had to do something before I lost consciousness. Kai was olive tinted solid muscle mass cutting off my airway. Practicing with Aiden and Kora could never have prepared me for someone of his caliber. I couldn't escape on strength alone. He didn't even flinch as I clawed at his face.