Deadly Infatuation

Chapter 50

Max

My head throbs from where Callie hit me with the gun. I don't know how long I've been out cold, but any amount of time is bad when it concerns to Lily being in the house unprotected with her. I am still confounded why Callie is trying to kill us, as she presented no sign of wanting to do us ill. Perhaps she's working with Sarah? The police found her hair and blood on Lily's damaged car unless Callie somehow planted it. Though, could she be that smart to do such a thing? Either way, all I know is that I need to get to Lily and her mom before it's too late and in my weak state, I force my body to move off the floor. My body feels strange and light as I try to sit up, which is probably because of the amount of blood loss I've received already. A small pool of blood has formed on the floor and even more of it oozes out of the hole in my stomach. Gritting my teeth, I press my hand tightly against the wound to slow the flow and push myself off the floor with my other hand. I stumble to a standing position and lean my side against a chair to catch my breath and then stagger over to the door and suck in a breath when I stop and bend over to retrieve my gun which Callie kicked out of my hand before I could use it against her.

Looking down at my hand covering my wound, I work out that I may have only a matter of minutes before I pass out. I'm already feeling lightheaded, but my inherent need to get to Lily is keeping me conscious. I use my shoulder to push the door open and slowly make my way across the bottom of the house, listening carefully for any signs of life. When I make it to the entrance of the corridor, the sound of Lily pleading with Callie from upstairs fills the quietness of the house, which is then quickly followed by Callie yelling and the sound of a gun firing. My body collapses against the wall from what has just happened, and I want to scream out in pain. Am I too late? Have I lost her? So many thoughts fill my head, wondering who the shot was for. Lily? Julie? Milo? My heart breaks from the mere thought of something happening to one of them.

There's no sound coming from upstairs now and I'm left questioning if it is just Callie and me left. Watching the staircase in the mere distance for any sign of Callie fleeing the house, I push myself off the wall and slowly make my way over. As I climb the first step, an immense pain in my stomach cripples me and I have to stop myself from falling on the banister and alerting Callie of my presence. In my hunched state, I draw in quick breaths, trying to stop myself from passing out from the pain and when I feel that the worst of it has passed, I climb another step. I hear female voices again and as I take another step; I make out Lily's scared voice. Relief fills me and I want to call out and let her know that I'm here and am coming to help, but if I so much as make a noise, Callie could kill her.

Continuing to move in silence, I hear Lily's voice more clearly and hear her talking about Callie framing Sarah and at first I'm comforted knowing that Sarah is actually innocent in all this and that it is only Callie trying to hurt us after all until I learn with horror that Callie has killed her. Though my last few interactions with Sarah were filled with hatred, especially as she allowed us to believe she was the menace, I never would have wished her to succumb to the hands of Callie. If only she had tried to work with us in catching the real villain rather than against us, she may still be alive.

I readjust the weakening grip on my gun and make myself climb the last few steps, my sight becoming increasingly unfocused as blood seeps freely through my fingers now. Fighting to stay awake, I move to the wall like Johnson warned me to do when we first looked for the intruder and listen carefully to work out where Lily and Callie are in the room. I can hear Milo's low growl as the two of them continue to talk, and from the sounds of it, Callie should be standing close to the entrance. I still can't hear any sign of Julie, and I wonder if Callie has killed her already or if she has escaped or hidden somehow. Knowing Lily like I do, I'm sure she would have put her mom's safety above her own and made sure she was nowhere near Callie.