Page 37 of Psychos Take Love
“Stop!” Ayres yells.
Hypnos slams on the breaks, and the SUV slides and tires squeal to a stop. “Do you hear that?”
“Charlotte!”
“Oh, fuck,” Hypnos mutters as we look out the front of the windshield. Haydes comes out of the front of a house, carrying a gun. And Charlotte comes around the house to the far right.Smart little rabbit.
They are about 100 yards away from us, but I can tell Charlotte is frantic. As she gets closer, we see her eyes are wide, and she picks up the pace of her running. My blood boils at the idea of something happening to her. I can tell it doesn’t matter though, her fight-or-flight sense has kicked in.
Ayres jumps out of the backseat. Hypnos is shaking so bad; he can hardly unbuckle his seatbelt. I don’t know how I managed it, but I got out of the vehicle.
“Charlotte stop!”Haydes yells, looking like a lunatic waving his gun with a piece of wood sticking out of his arm.
“Why does he have a piece of wood sticking out of his arm?” Hypnos asks. I look at him and shake my head in anot right nowmanner. It doesn’t matter at the moment. Right now, we just have to get our girl.
“It’s obvious. Our girl kicked his ass,” Ayres says, trying to lighten the mood. It’s not working. I’m a nervous fucking wreck.
Haydes stops running as he spots us. He aims the gun. My guns are at the ready. Hypnos and Ayres run toward her, but it’s Charlotte’s eyes that keep my interest. She spots us, and I swear I see relief in her eyes.
“We got you, Kitten. Keep coming, baby. Come on,” Ayres says encouragingly as Haydes gains ground on her.Fuck. If I shoot, I may hit her. And that’s not something I’m willing to risk. She’s too precious.
Haydes looks utterly deranged as Charlotte runs toward us. Hypnos throws a knife in his direction and pegs him in the shoulder. He jolts, but he continues to move, running toward us. I’m scared as hell my little rabbit is going to get in the crossfire of our weapons.
We all stop dead in our tracks as the gunshot rings out into the night.
“Nooooo!” I hear someone screaming as Charlotte’s body lurches forward and the splatter of blood flies out in front of her.
… To be continued
