It's up to Me to Make You Bleed

Reading someone’s motives wasn’t always an easy task, but this guy was making it very explicit what his intentions were. He used his “concerned father” act to cover for the fact that all he wanted to do was either drive me crazy or distract me from something.

He just talked nonstop, never once shutting up. And half of the things he was saying had nothing to do with me, or his daughter.

I groaned mentally as he followed me into the living room and over to the wet bar we had between the kitchen and living room. I grabbed a bottle of Tequila and took a large gulp from the bottle, coughing slightly as the burn crept down my throat.

“Do you want a drink or something?” I asked, trying my best to keep myself calm.

“Oh, that would be great,” he nodded, before continuing some story regarding his sexual escapades, as if I really wanted to hear that.

I poured some Tequila in two shot glasses and gave him one. I leaned up against the counter and glanced out the large set of windows that surrounded the fireplace and looked out onto the beach. The view was enough to distract me from whatever this guy was rambling about now.

But my view was obstructed by an unexpected presence jumping down onto the deck. It was Sarah. She glanced up toward the second floor. They were planning an escape! I slammed my glass down onto the counter.

“As much as I am loving this, I’m going to have to ask that you excuse me for a moment. Liquor always goes right through me.”
He lifted his glass up in a toast and said, “I know what you mean. I’ll be waiting right here.” His eyes burned into my back the entire walk down the hallway.

*James’s POV*

Brian may not realize it, but often times my mind and my mouth operate entirely in separation. I noticed every single movement that boy made. And I knew this his bladder was the last thing on his mind right now.

He clearly saw that girl, who I’m assuming was the girl Courtney came back to save, jump from the second floor. It would look strange if I followed him, and by the time he made it upstairs and located the room, Courtney should already be on the ground.

So, that gives me time to go mess with the other special individuals responsible. I heard a sudden noise in the kitchen, followed by a man uttering some low cuss words. Looks like I found my next target.

I slowly stepped into the kitchen and watched as he bent down to pick up the soda can that had fallen on his foot. I took in his appearance and for the slightest second felt as if I’d seen this guy before, but where?

As I took another step forward, the panel of hardwood flooring creaked beneath my pressure and echoed throughout the fairly silent space. The guy’s back stiffened as he slowly turned to look over his shoulder and jumped at the sight of a stranger.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked, tightly gripping his soda.

I smiled, still staying in character for the time being. “I’m Chelsey’s father.”

His body relaxed, but his eyes remained vigilant. “I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting that.”

“If that’s the case,” I smirked, “then you really won’t be expecting this.” I grabbed a knife off the cutting board on the island and lunged forward, pinning him up against the refrigerator’s cool stainless steel door.

“What the hell are you doing, man?” he asked. I shoved my forearm deeper into his throat and held the knife within stabbing distance from his torso.

“Don’t insult my daughter with your ignorance,” I spat. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure that no one else was close enough to hear what else would be said. “I don’t know if your small brain has processed it yet, but Chelsey is really Courtney. And I don’t appreciate what you sick fucks did to her.”

His eyes widened immensely as he struggled to hold his hands up in defense. “I’m not one of them. I…I was the one who…brought her to you…that day.”

My arm lowered slightly as I stared at him. That would explain why he looked memorable… But even so, I couldn’t just go off of his word and my distant memory. He needed to be evaluated first.

“I’m going to need you to prove your innocence. Why should I believe that you don’t have any fatal intentions against my daughter?”

The boy paused a moment to catch his breath before he spoke. “Aside from the fact that I saved her life, I couldn’t ever do anything to hurt her. It practically killed me to realize that my best friends did what they did to her. Nothing was ever the same for me again. I promise you can believe that I was not responsible.”

The wariness had disappeared from his eyes and was suddenly replaced with sincere emotion. He was telling the truth. I was about to respond, but he spoke before I could get the words out.

He leaned forward with a look of severe seriousness. “I may not be who you were looking for,” he whispered, eyeing the knife, “but I can take you to the right guys.”

*Sarah’s POV*

I stood on the deck, waiting for Courtney to jump down. She had one half of her body out the window with the other half still straggling inside. I wanted to shout at her to hurry up, but I knew that would draw too much attention.

Her foot landed on the roofing below the window, and she was about to swing her other leg over the edge, but something tugged her back inside, causing her to scream in surprise. I stared up at the window in shock. And she considered herself to be a first class assassin?

I didn’t have time to wait for her. I knew that her personal involvement in the case would be her weakness, and that’s just the way it’s gonna be.

I glanced down at my watch and wondered where the rest of my men where. They should be here by now… With an annoyed sigh, I walked around the perimeter of the house and saw a cluster of men wearing navy blue suits surrounding a fancy SUV.

I dug into my purse and pulled out a walkie-talkie. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” I growled.

“We were told that there were explosives in this vehicle, but we have yet to actually get into the car to investigate, ma’am.”

I slapped my forehead and felt my grip tighten around the device. “Since you are somehow my assistant in this case, you of all people should know that an agent is supposed to focus solely on their assigned mission, not some obvious distraction!”

“My apologies. We will be right over.”

I threw the walkie-talkie down onto the ground, though it did nothing to actually release my anger. The dried grass rustled behind me as I spun around coming face-to-face with Jimmy.

“Of all the times before when I wanted to kill you, I think this moment wins. I didn’t think it was possible for you to give me another reason to want you dead, but you just disproved that,” he sneered.

I scanned his body, noticing the crutches and bandages that accompanied it. “I don’t see you as much of a threat right now,” I chuckled, moving to head toward the front of the house.

Suddenly a blunt force met the backside of my neck, causing a flash of white light before my body fell to the ground, slipping into unconscious. Through the small cracks of vision that remained, I saw that he used his crutches as a weapon.

He smiled down at me with a noticeable hint of malice. “I think you are sadly mistaken.”

*James’s POV*

The innocent one, who I eventually learned was Zacky, led me down into the basement where an unsuspecting target was sitting on the couch playing some sort of shooting video game.

“He’s your guy. That’s Matt…he was the one who, um…raped Courtney,” Zacky whispered.

That was all I needed to know. I nodded and thanked him for his assistance. After Zacky was back upstairs, I stepped further into the room and jumped over the back of the couch, landing in a perfect sitting position next to Matt.

He jumped a little and dropped his controller onto the ground. “What the fuck?”

“Hey there, Matt, I know you don’t know who I am, but I understand you know my daughter, Courtney?”

He gave me a strange look before backing away from me, leaving several cushions between us. “I did know her, years ago,” he mumbled.

I sighed, really wishing he didn’t make this harder on himself, but I guess he needs some encouragement. I brought the knife into view and watched the glint of the sharpened metal reflect in his eyes.

“Now really isn’t the time to play dumb. You might be ready to admit it, but I know you know the truth. You were unsuccessful in trying to murder her, and now you’ll all get to pay.”

There was a brief moment of fear etched on his face, but it was soon replaced with a rather unanticipated smirk. “So, Courtney is going to have daddy do all her dirty work? I find that a little ironic. If I remember correctly, she hated your fucking guts. When she lived with Jimmy, all she did was say how you were a terrible father. Why would you want to defend someone who hates you?”

His words did have some effect, I’m not going to lie. Obviously, I expected her to dislike me for what I did. And I’m glad that we are on much better terms now, but hearing that she actually told them about her feelings toward me was bothersome.

It took me a while to regain my resolve. But all of his words were forgotten once I felt him try to reach for the knife. My body snapped to attention as I sent my elbow flying into his right cheekbone. He fell back against the couch.

He glared up at me and forced himself to his feet. “Oh, it’s on, old man.”

“Very original,” I sneered.

He growled and hastily sent his fist flying forward, landing directly into my open palm. I squeezed tightly, feeling his knuckles crunch under the pressure. He bit back his pain before tugging his fist free and immediately kicking my shin.

I rotated my head back and forth, cracking my neck once or twice before lunging forward and tackling him to the ground. His heavy body hit the floor with a loud thud. His tattooed arms reached upward as his fingers wrapped around my neck.

I grinned and slammed my fist into the same location as before, watching as he grimaced in pain and loosened his grip. This time the skin broke and blood splashed up onto my wedding ring. For the briefest second, I glanced down at the sight and felt a little sick, but swallowed the feeling.

An animalistic growl grumbled low in Matt’s throat as he sat up, as if he were doing a sit up, and punched me roughly in the chest, knocking the wind out of me and causing me to lose my balance. He leaped up to his feet and kicked me in the ribs a few times.

I gripped his ankle and twisted it slightly causing him to fall to his knees. I stood up quickly, ignoring the bruising sensation in my side, and got behind him, wrapping my arm around his neck and squeezing. His fingers flew up to my arm and dug into my skin with fierce determination.

I expected his struggle to continue, but his hands dropped suddenly. Surely he couldn’t be dead already? I backed away a little to see if he was still breathing. But the moment his throat was free, I felt a sharp, burning feeling in my leg, one that I knew well. I was stabbed.

Somehow he managed to grab the knife while I was choking him out. Even though he caught me by surprise, I’m guessing he doesn’t realize that I can handle pain very easily by now. I reached down and ripped the knife out of my leg. A stream of blood flew out on the couch, leaving a nice splattered pattern behind.

His back was still facing me, so I used that to my advantage, shoving the blood-soaked knife into his back, just barely missing the spine. He fell to the floor with a grunt as the blood surfaced and soaked through his white shirt.

I didn’t kill him just yet, as much as I wanted to. Courtney was the one who deserved the honor.

I stepped toward the staircase and paused just a moment to glance back at him. His body was still with the knife protruding from his back. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been called a backstabber.

*Normal POV*

My mind fell into a panicked frenzy as someone forcefully pulled me back into the room. I groaned as a sharp edge of the screen ran along my leg. Whoever was behind me dropped me to the ground carelessly and walked back toward the door, slamming it shut.

I scrambled to my feet, turning around to find Brian standing behind me. I guess my confusion must’ve betrayed me, because he felt it necessary to explain himself. He smiled slightly before taking a few steps closer.

“I thought you were falling out the window,” he laughed sheepishly. He was lying through his teeth. The realization hit me like a blast of freezing cold air. He knew I was trying to escape.

I didn’t know what to say. He began taking more frequent steps forward, becoming to close for comfort. Instead of stuttering over my words, I found my footing and move in a clockwise fashion, intending to make my way over to the door in the end.

He shook his head and laughed darkly. “All this time you had me fooled. All these fucking years!”

“W-we’ve only known each other a couple days,” I lied weakly.

“If you won’t admit to your identity, then I’ll prove it to both of us.”

His pacing suddenly increased and he was directly in front of me before I could react. All of my senses had been clouded by his unexpected presence, and that was not going to be very helpful.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

He smirked with darkened eyes. “Your scars are barely visible. The only way you can truly be Courtney Turner is if everyone can see those scars.”

He reached forward and traced the three nearly invisible lines along my face. It took months of healing and plastic surgery to erase those awful marks. And he wants to bring them back?

I backed away sharply, slapping his hand away. “You’re insane,” I spat, trying to side step over toward the door.

With a simple extension of his arm, he had a hold on my hair, tugging me back toward him. Once I was within his reach, he moved his grip down to my throat and held me in place while he held a knife to my face with his spare hand.

I trembled against him, feeling goose bumps develop beneath the cold metal. How will I ever be able to kill him if I can’t even escape this?

He didn’t waste any more time or give me any warnings. He dragged the knife down my cheek, following the exact markings he made all those years ago. My flesh felt as if it was being seared as it separated down the middle and a spree of blood peaked out through the unnatural space.

Once he finished, he threw me down to the ground and stood above me. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, Courtney,” he sneered.