“So they warned you about us, didn’t they?”

“Yeah…so?” he sniffed.

“So, when they warned you about Jared and I, and they sent twelve of you to take on two of us, and you all came in here, guns blazing, knowing most of you wouldn’t make it out…,” she raised one eyebrow before getting to her point, “…did they warn you about Bex?”

Crenshaw’s head darted around to each side of him, unclear what Claire meant, but he looked terrified.

A small hand slowly rose into the air. “Nice to meet you, Crenshaw. I’m Bex.”

In the same second Bex’s body blurred in movement, and Crenshaw’s dark form bent unnaturally as he cried out. I heard bones snap as the intruder’s gun fell to the floor. In the next moment, Bex stood over his assailant. In one swift jerk, Bex pulled Crenshaw’s neck and a loud crack pierced the room.

Lillian exhaled as Bex stood over Crenshaw’s broken body. Claire walked over to her slightly taller, younger brother and hugged him.

“I underestimated you,” Claire said, smiling at the overgrown boy in her arms.

“And you said I wouldn’t be able to act scared enough,” he taunted.

“I admit it. I was totally wrong. There for a second I thought you were going to cry like a little girl. He didn’t see you coming for a second,” she said, pressing her fist against his jaw.

Bex playfully punched her in the arm and she ruffled his hair.

“Are you okay, Nina?” Bex asked, turning to me with a concerned expression.

I could only lift the corners of my mouth for a second, grateful when Claire motioned for him to follow her downstairs. I recoiled as I watched Bex step over Harry Crenshaw’s body like he was a piece of furniture.

Jared came through the door moments later, and after surveying the scene, walked straight to me.

“You okay, sweetheart?” he asked, pulling me tightly into his arms.

I nodded. “Where were you?”

“I had to take care of a few things downstairs. Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again, holding my cheeks in his hands and scanning my face.

I nodded again, and then my knees buckled. Jared lifted me into his arms and carried me downstairs through the darkness.

“Should I get the lights?” Lillian asked.

“Not yet,” Jared answered.

I heard Claire trot down the stairs and rummage through a cabinet in the bathroom. With a small flashlight in her mouth, she turned to look at her back in the mirror as she flattened a pink Hello Kitty band-aid against a deep cut on her shoulder.

Jared took me outside into the night air. “Take a few slow, deep breaths. You’ll feel better soon.”

I felt a blanket surround me as Lillian kissed my forehead. “I’m so sorry, Baby. We’ll try again another night.”