CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

(tw: attempted assault and blood)

          LUCY WALKED AROUND HER APARTMENT IN AN OVERSIZED SHIRT AFTER SHE HAD TAKEN A LONG AND HOT SHOWER. Dark and wet ringlet of hair fell down her back in soft waves. Her phone laid on the kitchen counter beside the stove as she grabbed all sorts of spices from her cabinets to make dinner.

"Is that what he said?" she wondered as she melted some butter in a pan. "Did he actually say those words to her?"

"Well..." voiced Ruby on the other end of the line. "not exactly but it is what he initiated. Beth is pretty much catatonic at this point. He's going to kill all three of us, maybe even you for collateral."

Lucy fell silent for a moment and rested her palms on the counter as she watched the flames underneath the pan lick at the metal. The coldness of the surface beneath her hands was welcoming to her heated skin. "He's not going to kill us, Rubes."

"He might?" she retorted and she could see could imagine the worry on the woman's face. "Look, whatever is going to happen we have to figure out a plan. We're meeting at Beth's place tonight at nine, are you in?"

Lucy peered up at the clock on the wall and pursed her lips as she saw the time. It was currently seven and if she were honest she had no interest in leaving her apartment for the night. "I can't tonight but I promise to come by tomorrow after work. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."

If Beth hadn't thrown a pair of keys at his face none of this would be happening. The woman brushed a strand of wet hair away from her face and turned off the stove, no longer in the mood to cook.

Nothing to worry about her ass. 

Rio was still a notorious gang leader and he seemed like the guy to not hand out empty threats, he'd kill the people who had wronged him but she doubted he'd kill her. He would have done so the moment she had talked back to him in the beginning. She doubted he'd even laid a hand on her at all.

But then again, she did not know him. Not really. So how could she be sure that he wouldn't?

"Yeah, okay." agreed Ruby on the other end of the line. "It was good to hear your voice. We missed you."

"Missed you too."

The line went dead and she stared at the phone for a moment longer before she pushed herself off the counter and began to put away the spices she was going to use for dinner. Then, she opened the fridge and poured herself a big glass of soda, though it almost slipped from her hand when there was an obnoxiously loud knock at her door.

Lucy ran her tongue along her teeth and furrowed her brows. She thought it might be Rio, that was the first person her mind went to but he'd never knocked before so why would he start now. 

The woman walked towards the door and peered through the peephole to see her landlord lean against the wall with his eyes closed. He lifted his arm to knock again and she let out a quiet hiss, not in the mood for his shit at all.

"Lucy ..." he sang, drunk out of his mind and the whites of his eyes red as he opened them. "I know you're home. Your car is downstairs."

"Go home, Richard." she called, making sure her door was locked before she stepped away from it. "I'm very busy."

He grumbled something underneath his breath, which she could not decipher and then there was a harsh kick against the door.

Lucy stumbled back, brows pulled together and a gasp of fright escaped her. The woman quickly rushed to get a chair so she could jam it underneath the door handle. The wood besides the lock splintered into her home as he gave it another kick and it burst open wide.

"Get the fuck out!" she roared, eyes wide with fear.

The man scrunched up his nose and stared down at the broken lock and furrowed his brows. "Hmm ... should probably get stronger doors."

"What the fuck? What on earth are you doing?" Lucy tried to sound intimidating but it came out like a squeak. The brunette began to walk backwards as he stalked her way and tried to reach the kitchen where her phone still lay on the counter. Her heart was thundering within her chest and her ears were ringing as she got an overwhelming sense of panic. "I'm warning you, Richard. The police is already on their way."

"Why'd you call the police on me?" he frowned, eyes raking up and down her frame as he took in her attire. "Don't be like that, Lucy. You've been ignoring me for months and months. I thought my intentions were clear, especially after all those letters."

"And I thought I made it clear that i'm not interested." she shot, reaching the counter and searching for her phone blindly while keeping her gaze on the towering man. "Get out of my apartment, I mean it."

"Technically it's mine." he shrugged, taking another step towards her. Her hands finally enclosed over the device but her they were shaking too much to blindly call someone. It had been a deep rooted fear of her that one day he'd do this, but she had hoped to be out of there before he got the chance. Her lips trembled as he began to cage her in. "I'm just letting you stay here."

"You're drunk." she uttered, swallowing as tears formed in her eyes. "Please, get out."

His lips tilted into a smile as he reached up to grab her chin between his fingers. Lucy pulled her head back in disgust and he did it again, but not so gently this time as he squeezed her cheeks together to make her pout. Lucy spluttered and pushed at his chest, but to no avail. He would not budge and she brought up her knee right between his legs.

He let out a grunt and doubled over, "Jesus, woman!"

Lucy slid from his grip, feet thundering against ground as she sprinted away from the kitchen and towards the front door, which he had closed. 

He managed to snake his hand around her ankle and she flew forwards, splitting open her chin on the wooden floorboards. Her nails raked over them as she tried to crawl away.

"No, no, no, no," she muttered to herself unable to rationalise any thoughts as he towered over her with a glare on his face. Lucy managed to push herself to her feet and stumbled away as she tried to create some distance between them.

"Don't make this so difficult." he snarled and took another step towards her as she wiped the blood from her chin, smearing it onto her cheek on accident. "Look what you've done to your face."

"Get the fuck out!" she screamed, hoping that at least one of her old neighbours could hear her.

Lucy gasped when he lunged for her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight grip. She scratched and kicked at him as hard as she could when he turned them around and stalked to her couch. This was a form of panic she had never felt before, one so severe she didn't know where she got the strength from as she bit his arm with all her might.

"Fucking bitch." he hissed, blood oozing from her mouth and down his arm in a stream of dark red liquid.

Richard tried to twist her around in his grip then and force her onto the couch, but Lucy dug her heels into the pillows and pushed off with all her might, making them both fall backwards and through her glass coffee table. Glass shattered all around them and the wind was knocked out of her and she closed her eyes tightly.

It hurt and she felt blood swell to the surface of several cuts on her body, but especially on her legs.

The grip he had around her loosened and she heard him grunt out in pain. Lucy struggled to sit up right in the sea of glass and crawled away on her hands and knees as quickly as she could through the sharp edges, tearing more at her skin. 

Once she was far enough away she dared to glance back at the damage behind her. Her breath hitched in her throat as she saw the blood pour out of his neck and onto her rug in quick strong streams. There was a sharp piece of glass sticking from the side of his throat and he gurgled up blood as he looked toward her in a state of panic.

He reached for her with his left arm but all Lucy could do was sit there frozen, remnants of glass stuck to her own skin. He could no longer speak, blood bubbling up in his mouth and dripping down the sides of it. It took less than a minute before he stopped moving and dropped his arm beside him.

It was eerily quiet in her apartment. No neighbours knocking. No sirens. Just deadly silence. The only thing that she heard was the sound of her ragged breaths and the ringing in her ears as she watched the life slip away from him. 

His eyes stared at her lifelessly and she very carefully pushed herself to her feet, winching at the glass that dug into the sole of her foot.

It was an accident. It was an accident.

Lucy repeated that over and over as she muttered to herself, in a state of shock as she limped towards her kitchen, leaving a trail of bloody foot prints in her wake. The woman reached for her phone numbly and winched when a piece dug deeper into her calf. Lucy cried out when she slid down the cabinets and sat on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest.

She typed in the alarm number on the screen and her finger hovered over the call button, but she could not make herself press it.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." she cried, closing her tightly as she began to sob.

She was going to end up in jail. No matter if this was self defence or not, she'd have to go through a trial and all sort of shit and she did not want that. The system was fucked up.

There was a dead body in her living room.

A fucking dead body.

The woman inhaled a sharp breath and glanced back at the screen, her fingers moving across it unconsciously. This time she did not hesitate as she pressed the call button and held the device to her ear as she tried to keep her sobs under control. From the corner of her eye she could still see him on her floor, a big pool of blood surrounding him.

"Hey, mamas."

The brunette took in another sharp breath. "Rio?"

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