The son seemed paralyzed, his eyes scanning the room as though looking for words or a way to escape.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I shouldn’t have. This is the first time, I swear.”
Ididn’t even believe him. Judd pointed at the door. “Get out, you little bitch.”
“I’m so sorry.” Tears spilled down the girl’s cheek as she hurried out of the room.
“Mel!” Jonas ran after his girlfriend, but Judd’s meaty fist landed in his face with such force, he keeled over onto the floor, clutching his nose and groaning.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Judd demanded. “I’m not through dealing with you yet.”
“Just let me take her home,” he begged. His words ended in a hoarse cry when Judd kicked him in the side.
I winced. The abusive son of a bitch. I shuffled back as far away as I could to the back, hiding behind clothes should Judd open the door. I covered my ears against the sickening sounds of blows hitting flesh. Bile filled my mouth, and my mind flooded with memories better forgotten.
My heart pounded in my chest at Jonas’s grunts and cries of pain. Not too long ago, that had been me and my old man. He’d found every excuse he could to beat me, and I never understood why until the day he’d pulled down my pants and bent me over his knees and hit me with his belt. I could still hear his satisfied grunt as he came in his pants. From that day on, I’d teased him and flirted until I had him in the palm of my hand. His eyes had been so full of surprise when the knife sliced across his face for the first time.
Messy messy. It’d been so messy, but making him bleed was the best kind of revenge.
How much more of this could I listen to? I inhaled deeply and exhaled to prevent me from hyperventilating. If the bastard didn’t stop soon, I would have to intervene, and that wasn’t part of my plan.
“You fucking disgust me!” Judd shouted. “And you’d better wipe that blood off my floor before I get back home, you dumb shit. Couldn’t even stay in school.”
A door slammed shut. I peered through the slats. Judd had left. His son huddled on the floor, a bloody, moaning mess. It was now or never. I inched through the closet door, the wood creaking, but he didn’t even look up. I took a step toward the window but paused. All that blood splashed onto the floor.
I swallowed the bile down. If not for leaving traces of my DNA behind, I would have spat it out on his floor. Dammit, what was I? A wuss? I went over to the figure on the ground and dropped down on my knees beside him.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked him softly. “Should I call the ambulance?”
A grunt left him. He raised his head and stared up at me, one of his eyes swollen.
“No ambulance. It’s not so bad.”
“Don’t tell him I was here.” Why did I even say that? It didn’t matter if Judd knew I’d been here. Then he could stew on how, where, and when we’d meet again.
“Who are you?”
I took a step back from him. Thank god for the mask. “I’m the one who’s going to free you from your abuser.”
He struggled up to a sitting position, clutching his side with a grimace. “How’re you going to do that?”
“Simple. I’m going to kill him.”
He looked me up and down. “You don’t stand a chance. He’s a fucking monster and he will hurt you. I’d stay away from him if I were you.”
“Can’t.” I strode to the window. I’d stayed too long already, and now that I knew he would survive what was possibly not even his worst beating by his father, I had no reason to hang around. “He hurt someone I love and he must pay.”