Intimate Stranger (Editing)

Chapter 35: Daniel

Daniel's eyes widened and he flexed his muscles, raising the gun again. He screamed, "You're lying!" His face and neck were red with rage and confusion. Daniel raised the gun as Katheryn jumped away from him, pointing it right at her chest.

When Katie saw Daniel's face, she knew it was all over.

She jumped and closed her eyes as two loud shots rang out, bouncing off the walls and reverberating throughout the small foyer space. Katie didn't know what had happened—who had been shot. She didn't how if Daniel had shot Katheryn or if he himself had been taken down. She felt everyone around her moving forward, shoving into her as they went.

When Katie opened her eyes, she found out. The first thing she noticed was Daniel on the ground. Katheryn was standing above him, panting hard with her hand over her chest.

SWAT men surrounded him and an M.E was ushered in, nurturing Daniel's wounds as an officer cuffed him. From what Katie could see, one or more of the SWAT men had shot Daniel in the leg and arm to make sure he was disarmed.

Everything felt surreal. For a moment Katie prayed that she was dreaming in her bed, the morning of her birthday, before any of this. But it wasn't and everything was real.

Katie felt someone wrap a blanket around her shoulders and a distant male voice say, "Katelyn, you alright?"

Somehow Mary had been removed from the door and was standing beside Katie, also with a blanket around her.

Katie came to and realized that the voice speaking to her was an official looking officer. "Katelyn, my name is Detective Finley. Are you okay?"

Somehow Katie managed a nod, but she didn't remember doing it. She watched the man who said his name was Detective Finley pick up Daniel's gun with a cloth so he didn't get his fingerprints on it and put it in a bag. She took note that he was the one who arrived with the woman known as Katheryn. "Thank you," Katie mumbled to the man as he looked up at her.

His simple response was, "You're welcome."

Katie remembered Sam being shot. Blood everywhere. To the detective, she muttered, "Sam's body is upstairs." Poor Sam. He the disappeared up the stairs.

She heard the voice of her parents somewhere behind her, calling her name. "Katie! Julia?!" Mom? Dad?

Where was Julia? And Trace?

Katie took a deep breath and suddenly she was all there--Mind and body. And she needed to see Trace.

Quickly, she sprung forward, moving as far away from Daniel as possible. She stood in the doorway to the living room and saw Trace on the couch with a Medical Examiner looking him over. He held something to his wound.

Julia was also there, but while Trace was still semi-conscious, Julia was awake and sitting up, groaning in pain as a man checked her eyesight. She too, had a blanket around her.

"Julia!" Katie exclaimed, rushing towards her.

Katie sat down on the couch, and ignoring the man in front of her, embraced her sister in a bone-crushing hug like she had never hugged her before. Katie cried, "I'm so sorry! I love you so much!"

"I love you too, Katie," Julia said, her arms around Katie.

Katie broke the hug and looked at her baby sister, "Are you okay?"

Julia nodded, "I'm fine. My head hurts."

So overwhelmed with relief and emotion, Katie hugged her sister again and they sat there together, unaware of the man trying to break them apart. If only Katie knew how messed up her relationship with her sister would become after this.

"Miss, we need to finish examining Julia," Katie heard the Doctor say.

She let go of Julia, saying, "Okay. Sorry."

The man then looked at Katie and informed her, "You're next." Katie shuddered. She didn't want any more strange men touching her.

Katie took a deep breath and then smiled when she heard Trace's voice mumble her name. She left her sisters side and knelt down beside Trace while he lied on the couch.

"I'm here, Trace," she said to him.

His eyes flickered and he opened them, looking up at her and smiling. She kissed his cheek and rested her head on his chest. "I'm sorry," she said.

"It's okay," he responded, his voice cracking. He rubbed her hair comfortingly. It was then that Katie realized how tired she was. She could sleep for a year.

The same man who was looking over Julia came over to Katie and Trace, and began examining Katie as well. He looked over the bloody cuts Daniel gave her and then let her know that they would have to do a "rape kit" once they arrived at the hospital. They must have noticed the bruises...

He finished with Katie and she went back to embracing Trace. A couple minutes later, some men were bringing a stretcher for him. Katie broke away from Trace when they told her, "He needs to go to the hospital," then she heard one of the other men saying, "He's lost a lot of blood." Katie noticed for the first time how pale Trace looked. She gulped and watched as some men lifted him onto the stretcher. She asked, "Can I come with him?"

A man looked at her and answered, "Are you family?"

Katie bit her lip, and looked up when she heard a voice in the doorway.

"She's family," Lilah said the man, smiling at Katie.

Katie mouthed, "thank you," in response. As they moved the stretcher with Trace on it out of the living room and into the hallway, Katie noticed Daniel was gone and his body had left puddles of blood on the floor. Julia was following behind her with an M.E by her side.

Katie held her breath as they moved passed it with Katie following the stretcher. She pulled the blanket tighter around her and squinted her eyes when she stepped out into the sunlight. She breathed in, savouring the fresh air. Suddenly Katie was surrounded by her parents. They bombarded her with hugs and kisses and "I love you's." When Julia left the house, they did the same to her, engulfing the two of them in a giant group hug.

Katie squealed, feeling like she was having the life squeezed out of her. Finally her parents let her go when she shouted that she need to go with Trace. Her parents gave her final kisses on the cheek, saying, "We'll be following you."

Pulling the blanket tight around herself, Katie climbed into the back of the ambulance that was taking Trace. She sat down at Trace side with Lilah across from her.

Trace looked up at her, saying, "Katie?"

"Hi," she smiled at him. She squeezed his hand and with finality, she declared, "It's over."

If only.