through it and take the steps two at a time. Once to my room, I run through the door and immediately grab Rose who’d been standing right inside. My hand tightens around her wrist as I yank her toward me.
“You stay the fuck away from him, you hear? You fucking hear me?” I growl.
She pulls back while watching me with wide eyes. “Stop. You’re scaring me and it hurts.”
I jerk my hand away and rush into the bathroom where I slam the door shut. I tear the closet door open and start yanking towels out and throwing them onto the ground before I grab the box I have hidden in the back. I drop to my knees and slowly open the box with shaking fingers.
I pull the gun out and grab the box of bullets and load them with unsteady hands.
No, no, no. He’s wrong. He’s the monster. Not me. I’m not the monster, right?
If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have hurt Rose. I yelled at her and she even told me I was scaring her.
There’s a soft knock on the door. “Killian? What are you doing in there?” Rose asks.
I drop the gun and look over at the door. There isn’t a lock on it, so when the door handle starts to turn, I toss the gun back into the box where it clinks against a knife. I shove it back into the closet and turn in time to face her.
“Killian?”
I stare at her, unsure of what I should say or do. I feel like this house is driving me crazy, but maybe I was already crazy. Maybe I’m trying to blame everyone else?
I look over at Rose who is watching me.
“What the fuck is going on in this house?” she asks.
“I would like to know that as well.”
I shut the closet door and step over the towels I’ve pulled out before going to her.
Fifteen
I’m sitting in the corner staring at the dog when my stomach rumbles. We’ve been in this room a ridiculously long time as Shepherd stares with clear fixation on the screen to make sure Danielle isn’t fucking us over.
I’m not quite sure this will ever end, so I’m just staring at the dog, trying to decide if I should like it or not. I’m extremely convinced that he’s just waiting for the right moment to eat me. He’s confirming this by staring at me with his mouth open, eyes fixated on me. His tongue is lolling out of his mouth, his eyes contemplating murder.
I reach out to him and he immediately opens his mouth wider as I jerk my hand back, leaving him to lick the air.
“On a scale of one to ten, how likely are you to kill me?” I ask the dog.
“Who’s he talking to?” Danielle says.
“Bear, the dog. He’s convinced he’s going to eat him.”
Danielle looks over at me. “He does look vicious,” she says, voice coated in sarcasm.
I glare at her because it’s clear she just doesn’t know how to read dog body language like I do. “He does! Look at his teeth! And the way he’s staring at me like he wouldn’t mind eating me.”
She gives me a look like she’s not too convinced before she turns back to her computer. “Shepherd, do you need me to be doing anything?” I ask.
“No, you’re good there,” he says as her computer dings.
“It’s just an email!” she says as he steps into her and that’s the moment the glass window shatters. Shepherd spins toward the window as Danielle dives under her desk.
“Killian, stay down!” Shepherd yells, like he really thinks I’m going to pop up and stick my head in front of a window people are currently shooting through. Seeing as the first bullet missed, the following bullets rain down on the room as Bear barks.
Shepherd slides over, gun drawn as he nears the window from the side. That’s the moment the door bursts inward and a man rushes in. He sees me first, huddled on the ground, and turns his gun to me. Seeing as I’m lying on the ground, completely useless, the only move I really have is to try to uselessly roll out of the way. Instead of instantly putting a bullet in my head, he grabs for me.
Bear lunges at the man, grabbing his outstretched arm in his massive jaws, and immediately latches on as he shakes his head. The sound the man’s arm makes will haunt my dreams for years to come. Shepherd turns on the man and