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EVERYONE WAS silent. Zola was in bed, tossing and turning. Both Miles and Elaine laid on the living room floor with the dog between them, petting her. Leon and Ali remained in their own bedrooms, most likely texting their friends about the bombings of Georgia. Dara, Lia, Taylor and Keisha sat on the couch and recliners, watching the woman on the television talk about the possible terrorist attack.
Quinn sat at the edge of her bed, staring down at her cellphone, just waiting for her husband to call her and tell her that her daughter was safe. To her, seconds felt like minutes. Minutes seemed to drag on for hours. She just needed to know that Derrick was with Josephine right now, and they were almost home to her. Just one phone call. Please, ring.
Instead, she jumped at the sudden pounding knocks on their front door. "I got it!" Elaine called out, hopping up onto her feet.
The young girl made her way toward the frantic banging, hearing the woman on the other side, shouting, "Quinn! Open up!"
Elaine quickly unlocked the door before pulling it open. Standing on the opposite side was their next door neighbor, Linda. The woman held onto her right arm, but Ellie could see the crimson blood seeping through her sleeve. Without hesitation, Linda pushed her way inside the house. Immediately, she slammed the door shut behind her, slamming her body against it to lock it.
Almost instantly, everyone except for Zee made their way to the front of the home to see what the door slamming was for. "Hey, what's going on?" Taylor asked the woman once he reached her.
Tears streamed down the woman's cheeks. All color had been drained from her face. All her expression showed was terror.
Seeing the blood smeared on the door and dripping down the woman's arm, Dara questioned, reaching her arms out to caress the woman, "Oh my God, what happened to you?"
"Linda?" Quinn recognized the fearful woman. "Oh my God." The blonde woman wrapped an arm around her neighbor, rushing her towards the restroom.
"Quinn, I didn't even do anything," Linda cried, sitting down on the toilet lid. "He was so drunk."
Quinn rummaged through the medicine cabinet, pulling out a small first aid kit. "Sean did this to you?" she questioned, pouring some rubbing alcohol on a gauze pad. Linda pressed her thin lips together, not saying anything more.
Dara peered behind her at Lia, demanding, "Call the police." Lia nodded her head, hurrying to the couch to grab her phone.
Leon appeared behind the others outside the bathroom, poking his head in. "Holy shit!" he gasped aloud, seeing the open gash in the woman's forearm as Quinn rolled her sleeve up.
