*ARIANA*
I didn’t process the sound at first. It was too sharp, too loud and too close.
The room filled with screaming and breaking glass and the metallic smell of something burning.
Then came another shot, and several others followed in series.
I tried to crawl toward my father, who was still seated in his chair, a dark bloom spread across his left chest.
Durrell held me back. “Stay down!”
“Dad…”
Another c***k split the air.
And this time I saw it.
The bullet tore through his head.
Dad jerked and his body went still.
For one second, the world stopped.
He looked surprised.
Then he fell sideways out of the chair.
I screamed.
I don’t remember deciding to move. I just did. I tore out of Durrell’s grip and crawled across shattered glass. My knees burned. I didn’t feel it.
“Dad.
