Lights flashed across her vision, but she pulled the knife out quicker than sin and jabbed it into his heart. Her hand hurt from the impact of forcing the sharp blade through flesh and bone with her blood mixed with his smeared all over her clothing. She pulled back fearful as a ton of her blood started gushing out of the cuts on her fingers.
Dark red liquid spilled from his mouth, and his grip on the gun loosened. He swayed on his feet walking closer toward her. Charlotte whipped back around to grab the floral ceramic vase from her mother and slammed it over the man's head. Her blood dripped to the ground from her hand, and Charlotte clenched her fist, breathing in harshly.
Dizziness from the blow on her head earlier made the wooden floors swirl, and Charlotte attempted to stab him again. He grabbed her arm and twisted around her back. Charlotte struggled and swung her knee to his side to collide with the injury on his leg.
With a shaken roar, the man tackled her into the wall. Her face slammed onto the harsh interior, and Charlotte turned her head to the side, shouting for him to die. He laughed roughly into her ear, and she took the moment to drop all her weight to the bottom. She tilted them diagonally enough for her to get enough room from the wall to seize grip on her knife again.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but her hands weren't shaking when she lurched forward and impaled his eye with the sharp point of the knife. She was about to run when the man pointed the gun at her chest. Charlotte froze for a moment. Her heart was beating out of her chest, but the man could barely hold the gun upright.
Her life was held in her hands of whether she could act in a second or two. Charlotte threw the knife and miraculously struck his arm, and she fell to her knees before he pressed the trigger.
She screamed bloody murder. The bullet still flew its trajectory and tore through her skin. The metal bullet sunk into the wall behind her as all the breath in her lungs left her body.
The pain was agonizing it rendered her immobile for a moment. The fire spread through her body, and Charlotte cried in pain from the wound. It was harder than anything she had ever done in her life to take the steps forward to escape. Her legs were trembling as she pushed herself up from the floor.
The bomb rattled the house, and Charlotte covered her head as debris flew her way. Cradling her right arm, she lost all feeling on that side, and she ran a hand down the arm, trying to soothe herself. The man fell to the ground, lifeless.
Charlotte squatted and patted him down for weapons. Slipping on his holster around his thigh onto his waist, she yanked the gun out of the dead man's hand and sprinted out the back door.
The door rattled shut behind her and dived to the grass, rolling on her back to her feet. Her head was swimming, but she forced one foot ahead of the other.
She needed to round out to the front of the house but couldn't make it further than her gate, pushing it open. Swaying, she lost balance and collapsed into familiar arms. Charlotte didn't know why she always ended up in his arms or why she was always hurt around him. He was a bad luck charm.
Vincent's alarmed eyes took in the carnage state of the blood-stained clothing, and she gave him a delirious smile before settling in a frown. He looked unbothered which gave her a stark reminder that he wasn't human and couldn't understand the loss of her only belongings.
Softly crying, Charlotte wiped her face with her shirt sleeve. "You left me."
He didn't apologize. Instead, he gazed out onto the broken house and pulled her into his arms.
He leaped to the front yard just as the whole house exploded. The loud explosion was heard throughout the whole neighborhood, and Charlotte noticed the number of people out on the streets calling their phones for emergencies.
Her neighbors looked over at her and Vincent in fear and shock. No one rushed over to help her. Glass lined the streets as the smoke lifted into large grey puffs into the night sky.
The bright flames created a deadly image before her, and she reached out to try and capture the dancing flames. He pushed her head into his shoulder while Charlotte was holding tightly onto the thin rope of consciousness.
Flames engulfed the whole property, and Vincent shielded her away from the fire. She didn't have the power anymore to become saddened by the loss of her only belongings.
Vincent started walking away, and Charlotte closed her eyes, praying that everything was a dream and that he was her angel.