Black Horse (Breaking Black) (17 page)

He didn’t have to tell the men twice. They both ran, stumbling over their legs that had turned to jelly.

Randy turned to Colton and shook his hand. A sign that he realized what was at stake here.

“Let’s go. He’s there…”

“Where?!”

“At the house. Look…”

Colt pointed out the backyard of his property to Randy. Sure enough, Black Horse had climbed the perimeter fence and had opened the storm cellar. He looked behind him, making sure that no one was watching. When Black Horse saw Colt’s figure on top of the plateau he nodded his head with a smile and closed the storm door behind him.

Black Horse was in the house.

“FUCK!”

Randy picked up his cell phone but immediately chucked it in his rage.

“There’s no fucking signal up here!”

“Hurry up… in the car!”

Before Randy had even shut the door Colt was barreling down the road towards his house.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Darkness Descends

“Did you hear that?!” asked Shelly clearly on edge as she looked out the kitchen window.

“I didn’t hear anything,” Tim said as he tried to comfort his girlfriend.

“It’s probably just Colton and Randy coming back.”

“No, I don’t think so…” Shelly said skeptically, and she looked out the kitchen window, moving the curtain aside so she could see if anyone was out there. She could only see her own reflection, though. It was so dark out there that she couldn’t see the silhouette of the man standing on the opposite side of the window, less than an inch away.

Leering at her with demonic eyes was Black Horse, himself.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Dead or Alive?

Colt’s sanity quivered as he and Randy stormed back to the house in his truck, but he didn’t let it show on his face. If she was hurt, he would fall into darkness. Black Horse would wish he was never born.

Not even bothering to open the door to the garage, Colt bolted through the front door, while Randy went around back to try to get into the storm cellar. He yanked on the handle but it was locked from the inside.

“Shit! I’m coming for you fucker!” Randy yelled as he kicked as the door out of disgust.

***

Colton ran inside the house to find an empty living room.

“Where the hell is everyone…?”

There wasn’t anything out of place. No sign of a struggle. The kitchen light was on. A beer and a couple of teas sat lonely at the kitchen table with no one there to drink them. The TV was on and
some sappy Women’s Drama Network movie was playing. Shelly’s favorite.

Where the fuck is everyone,
Colt thought as he searched feverishly through the house. That is when he saw it. The trail of blood by the basement steps.

“Randy!” Colton yelled, calling his future brother in law to him.

“What? What did you find?!”

“Look…”

Randy grabbed the handle of the basement door as his eyes went wild in his head. His brain couldn’t process anything, he just knew that he had to get to the other side of that door.

Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead…

The door was locked. Colton pushed past him making his way into the dining room where he kept his guns. Frantically, he unlocked it and grabbed his Marlin hunting rifle. But before he had the chance to shut it, something caught his eye. Averi, hiding in the shadow beside the cabinet. She brought a single finger up to her mouth. Her face looked strained, frightened, as if she was fighting back the urge to cry on the spot.

Colt looked relieved to see her, but there was still the problem with the blood stain.

Holding Colt’s eye contact, Averi pointed down with her finger.

“He’s downstairs. He has Shelly and Tim.”

“Tim?!” said Randy a little too loud.

“Shhh! He shot him! We have to call an ambulance.”

“Fuck!” screamed Colton, loud enough for his father to hear him. He beat a path out the sliding glass door of the kitchen to the door of storm cellar door which was locked from the inside.

With no other choice, Colt yelled, “Stand back, I’m blowing it in!”

As Averi and Randy jumped back, Colt shot a hole in the basement door and jumped in, ready to take his old man down.

“Randy, keep her upstairs!” Colt yelled as he disappeared into the dark of the cellar.

Doing as he was told, Randy grabbed onto Averi tightly and took her up to her bedroom where he locked the door and kept her inside, away from harm.

***

The cellar was pitch black and the air was thick. It was hard to breathe and Colt’s heart felt like it would give in under the pressure. He couldn’t see a thing, but he could feel his father’s penetrating gaze somewhere in the space.

“Let them go, they’ve done nothing to you,” Colt said calmly as he walked about the space, desperately trying to find Tim and Shelly, but his father too, to send him where he belonged.

Colt’s boot hit something hard on the floor. It was too heavy to kick away, too big as well. He heard heavy breathing. He wasn’t alone.

***

“Let go, Randy! Let go of me!” Averi kicked and screamed as he tried to prevent her from leaving the room.

“Move!”

“NO!”

“He’s going to kill them! Move!”

Before Randy could stop her, she was on the kitchen roof running, bolting as fast as she
could. She climbed down from the roof holding onto the ivy that grew up the side.  She landed hard on her knee. She shrugged it off, running with a limp. Charging towards the hole that was blown open in the cellar door, Averi slinked in and pulled the cord for the light that illuminated the cellar. Cocking her gun, she pointed it right in the face of Black Horse with a vengeful look in her eyes.

Black Horse had a smile on his once handsome face. He had grown ugly as his madness gained free reign through his body. Pointing his gun at his son’s temple, Colt was a sitting duck.

“It’s so nice to have everyone together,” said Black Horse as he pressed his boot into Tim’s face. He was alive but barely. He was bleeding from the neck. Shelly had handed him her knit sweater to stop the bleeding before Black Horse pulled her away.

Shelly was bound and gagged on a folding chair in the corner of the basement. Her face was red and a nasty bruise was forming across her cheek where Black Horse’s back hand had connected with her flesh.

Meanwhile, Black Horse had a gun pointed at Colton’s temple.

“Put the gun down, Averi. I know you won’t shoot me. You just don’t have it in you,” Black Horse said, putting Averi down.

“Try me, you sick, twisted psychopath!”

She lodged a bullet in his right shin.

“BITCH!”

“Now tell me again, what I won’t do?”

“I will kill you just to see the look on my son’s face!”

Black Horse shot out the
light bulb and the cellar went dark. Shelly screamed in fear. Tim moaned in agony, but the sound that echoed out above all others was the sound of a gun shot, a single bullet spiraling out from Averi’s gun.

Randy ran as fast as he could with a flash light. He carefully climbed down the cellar stairs with his gun at the ready.

“Averi… Tim… Colt….”

No one said a word. Fear had taken over Averi. Had she missed? What if she hit the wrong person? Oh, my God. What if she shot Colton or Tim or Shelly instead?! She couldn’t speak. She shook like a leaf as she waited for another’s voice to speak up.

“Cops are on their way,” Randy said… “Please, someone answer me.”

Colt responded, “I’m here. So is Averi… Tim, Shell… are you okay?”

“I’m here,” Tim said. “Black Horse is down.”

Averi had taken down Black Horse. Colton found her in the dark and gripped her to him, his lips finding hers, she did what the others had failed to do. Take out the monster that had fractured their hearts… their lives. Tears streamed down Colt’s face as Averi wiped them away.

“I don’t think I killed him.”

“He’s down… He’s not moving…”

“Is it really possible?”

Randy had found Shelly in the dark and cut her out of her binds. She slit the rope that was tied around her wrists and ankles and removed the blood soaked bandana from her mouth.

The light of a police car shone above and the siren bleeped twice as two officers approached the obliterated cellar door. They were late arriving to the scene, but thankfully other officers had answered the call, too. An ambulance sat out front of Averi and Colt’s house and a pair of paramedics were loading Tim into the back. One worked on him, trying to get the bleeding under control.

In the house, Averi, Randy and Colton spoke with police officers detailing what had happened, while another set of paramedics spoke with Shelly and treated her injuries.

The two police officers came in from the yard.

“Uh, Miss… I thought you said that the perpetrator had been shot dead in the cellar?”

“He was,” said Averi with a questioning look in her eyes.

“Well, you shot him alright. But he wasn’t dead. Black Horse is gone.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Fucking Fabulous

Black Horse drug himself into the abandoned house across the street from the Monkey Bar. He was bleeding profusely. Averi’s bullet was lodged in his shoulder blade just barely missing his neck.

“What the fuck happened to you?” asked Jimmy as he sipped on a beer in the corner of the living room.

“Got shot. Where the
fuck
have you been?!”

“Here. Nobody told you to go to that house alone.”

“You were supposed to back me up.”

“You left me to get shot up on the mountain!”

“Yeah. I guess I did. Hand me a beer and shut your fucking mouth.”

“We going back out tonight?”

“No. They’ll expect that.”

“When, then?!” asked Jimmy, getting impatient.

“She’s gotta leave the house sometime…”

***

Averi hung up the phone as a look of relief came over her face.

It was dawn. The sun was rising in the background over Red Rock plateau. Averi had just set breakfast on the table for Randy and Colton when the phone rang. No one slept a wink that night.

“Thank you very much for the update. I really appreciate it.”

“He’s out of surgery. He’s going to be alright…”

“Thank God…” said Colton as he shoveled a fork full of eggs into his mouth.

A text message popped up on Averi’s cell phone.

Shelly: On my way… Tim just got out of surgery. He’s sleeping now.

“Shelly should be walking in any minute…” Averi said checking her cell phone.

“Do you think he’ll lay off now that Averi lodged a bullet in him?” Randy asked, half not wanting to know the answer.

Colton shook his head.

“All she did was shake up the hornet’s nest.”

“He’ll get his, though. No worries,” said Randy.

“I have to go to work tonight. We need the money.”

“No baby, we don’t need the money that bad. Everybody pooled their money together when we were trying to get you out of here. We’re okay.”

“I still should go so I don’t get fired.”

“And we’re coming,” said Randy.

“Huh?!”

“You’re not going to that bar alone,” Colton added.

“Great. It’s bull night. You guys should have loads of fun,” said Averi being factious.

Bull night. It was when all the horn balls came out to the club to see the girls ride the mechanical bull. One of the manager’s rules was that Shelly and Averi had to ride once a night. Shelly did it because it was always a lot of fun, Averi did it because she had to. She knew it bugged Colton when other men gave her unwanted attention.

“Fucking fabulous.”

***

The front door opened with a creak as the sound of a police car parking outside caught Averi’s attention. Averi ran to the door and before her friend could even say hello, Averi had pulled her into a hug. Shelly looked stunned to receive such a greeting.

“I am so sorry…”

“For what?!”

“It’s my fault!

“Last time I checked your name is Averi Ford and not Tom McClain.”

“We should have moved.”

“Ave… It wouldn’t have made a difference. He would have come.”

Averi had tears streaming down her face. She felt awful.

“You can’t blame yourself. He is a psychopath. I’m just relieved that everyone is alive.”