It All Started With Hate

lock | part 2 (e)

With haste, I accessed the security app and selected the live footage. The sight in the living room was gruesome, bloodstains and injured men, but none of them were Luke.

My stomach rolled, but I pushed on. I saw two more bodies before I realized my eyes were glistening. It was both out of fear and relief that none of them were Luke.

The gunshots had ceased, and I couldn't decipher if that was good or bad. It either meant that Luke was taking them on by hand, which was good because he was more than capable, but bad because there were so many. My father wouldn't let it be a fair fight.

I switched to a view that showed all the rooms at once. On the bottom right, I found him. Zooming in on Luke, I saw that my guess was right; he was going at it with the hands with one of the men.

I watched intently, but even from a distance; I couldn't miss it. Luke was winning.

They were in a guest bedroom; Luke had wisely closed the door behind them to prevent surprise attacks. The opponent, around 5'9" and wiry, fought with agility, but his footwork seemed sloppy.

This observation held true when he couldn't react in time to Luke's punch. For some reason, Luke's knuckles were already bruised and bloody, but the punch still held enough strength to make you see stars. The man's face turned red, spitting out curses before regaining his footing, rushing at Luke, who I realized was so close to the bed for a reason.

As the man lunged, Luke deftly dodged, sending him tumbling between the nightstand and the bed. Without hesitation, Luke grabbed him the men's neck, lifted him, then slammed his face into the nightstand a total of three times before I had to look away. The last thing I cringed at was the sight of cracked skin, as well as bloody teeth falling to the ground like raindrops.

I fought my disgust and glanced back to see Luke. He was reaching for his second pistol when movement in another room caught my eye.

A man, full of menace and armed, emerged from the kitchen and entered the room next to Luke's. When he jumps out, Luke won't see it coming in time, just like in the hallway with the knife.

My eyes darted back to Luke, but he was occupied reloading. Shit.

Despite my battered state, I focused on a solution. We could lock and unlock doors through our app. When he and I wanted to annoy the other, or if we just wanted to make the other laugh, we would fuck around and lock each other or the both of us in different rooms, together. It was how we played hide and seek with Fang, too.

After checking that I had it right, I selected the room where the lurking man was and locked it, his attempt to escape too late. If he wanted to get out, he would have to shoot the handle, which would give away his hiding spot.

If Luke hadn't barricaded our bedroom door in, I could use the feature to get out, but he had me trapped.

Relieved, I turned my attention back to Luke, who was moving with the stamina of a horse, despite his grazed side and the small scratch on his cheek, concealed by the blood from the other men. I kept an eye on him, locking doors when men approached him, buying him time.

Just as I started to search the live feed for my father, a heavy thump against the walls called my attention. I glanced back to the phone for answers.

A heavy thud against the walls drew my attention; another fight had started.

One man had Luke pinned against a wall, choking him. Panic surged inside of me, but it didn't last long.

When an attacker is attempting to strangle you, there's usually an instinct to pull and scratch at their hand in order to loosen the grip, despite it being useless. It was how I attempted to get away from the fake cop that night, and again, it was proven to be a loss.