In the Hour of Silence

Chapter 24

I rise to my feet quickly, panic filling my entire being as I face my family's killer--a man I've considered my father for the last six years. He approaches me slowly, backing me against the wall. "Why did you have to go snooping around?" he asks with his head cocked to the side. "Things were going so well for us. We were so close to being able to stop denying it." As he reaches out to brush a piece of hair behind my ear I feel as if I'm about to vomit. "You're so much like her--your mother. More than you'll ever know. I saw you the day you were born and I knew that you would be my second chance. You were something I could shape to be exactly what your mother was supposed to be. My Clarissa."

That's when I knee him in the balls.

As he doubles over in pain I dart past him, rushing down the ladder. As soon as my feet touch the ground I start to run. Tessa, Jess, and Maia all went out to dinner an hour ago so going to them for help is out. I make my way into the shop to where Luke keeps the emergency pistol in case someone were to try and rob the store. I crouch down behind the counter. Instead of calling 911 I text the first person on my recent texts. 

Me: Help me

Me: Luke killed my parents and I think I'm next call 911

Before I can tell them anymore I hear the door to the shop open and my head snaps up. "That wasn't very nice Clary," he says tauntingly as I reach for the gun. "Come on out. I'm not gonna hurt you." My fingers curl around the gun as I hold it, ready to fire when necessary. "I just want to talk Clarissa. So why don't you come on out from wherever you're hiding."

I rise, aiming the gun at Luke who is closer than I thought--just on the other side of the counter. He laughs when he sees me. "You're not gonna shoot me," he says through his laughter. Feeling particularly annoyed at that statement I pull the trigger of the gun only to find it empty. I pull the trigger a couple more times in despair as he makes his way around the counter. "You really think I'd leave a loaded weapon where teenage girls could get it? What kind of person do you think I am?"

He backhands me once he's within reach, the force knocking me against the wall. I gasp slightly in pain as my head hits the wall before he grabs me by the hair and pulls me closer. I begin to fight until the barrel of a gun is pressed against my side. "That gun wasn't loaded, but this one is. Try anything and you'll feel just how real it is." I perk up slightly at the sound of police sirens in the distance while Luke glares. "Who did you call, huh?" he demands as he grabs my phone from my back pocket. "Huh!?" he yells aggressively as he launches my phone against the wall. I flinch away as it shatters before he begins to force me towards the door.

"Let's go." Luke forces me forward, out the door and into the backseat of his pickup. He gets into the driver's seat, using one hand to steer as he begins to pull away while the other holds the gun. "We're going on a drive, you and me. We're gonna get away for awhile until no one can stop us anymore." 

I shrink away from him slightly as nauseating pain rolls through my head in waves. He drives, shaking his head as he drives. "I did everything for you," he says after a few minutes as he begins to get on the highway. "I took you in, I got you away from that prick, I let you LIVE! And what do I get? I get your FUCKING FATHER. You're just like him--just like Jonathan was. Your mother would have never tried to shoot me. I failed again; and now I have to eradicate the problem before it gets to be as bad as it was the first time. Maybe I would have been better off disposing of you after I found out you were still alive. Then the world's infestation of Morgenstern termites would have been taken care of years ago.

"But no, I was blinded by your mother--my sweet, sweet angel. I thought I could make you to be like her but it's clear  to me now that you've been contaminated by your father. This is my mistake and I must fix it."