The Ring by James Sperl

Author:James Sperl
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-04-20T23:00:00+00:00

* * *

Marty squealed as Scott dragged her toward his truck. Her arm was poker straight in his commanding grasp, her body rigid against his pull. She turned and twisted as she clawed at the air, fighting to get away.

Alex had transcended the role of mother. The manic pleading and all out combat she waged against Scott—behaviors wholly acceptable for a mother in distress—had been abandoned for a primal being, one whom Wes didn’t recognize and thought came dangerously close to treading the waters of insanity.

She assaulted Scott with hooked fingers and flailing legs, scraping at his face and kicking at his groin. She bit his arm and punched his head, all the while emitting a feral howl.

Scott shoved and pushed, lumbering toward his truck. He was as determined as his ex-wife, his deadened glare serious.

Mrs. Abbington came out of her house.

“You stop that!” she bellowed in a surprisingly imperious voice.

Scott remained undeterred and, as if to emphasize this fact, threw a stiff-arm into his wife that connected, unintentional as it may have been, squarely on Alex’s nose. Alex dropped to the ground, her face spurting blood onto her canary yellow halter-top.

Silence fell over the moment, the eye of the hurricane.

Scott stared at Alex in disbelief. His eyes flitted to his offending hand, as if acknowledging his transgression. Several seconds of calm passed before he yanked on Marty again, the girl a blubbering mess of tears and snot.

Wes charged from his position near the now demolished front door and crumpled to his knees beside Alex. He glared at Scott.

“Dude, you’re acting totally insane!”

Scott whirled on Wes, pure venom in his voice. “I’m acting insane? I’m trying to protect my daughter from those things! Now you tell me, what’s insane about that?”

Wes shook off Scott’s words with a disgusted grimace. There was no more rationalizing. It would be pointless. He pulled the shirt from his back and handed it to a dazed Alex to stem the flow of blood from her broken nose. She pushed away his arm and scrambled to her feet, her fight having only just begun.

Marty shrieked as Scott continued toward his truck. Finding renewed energy at the sight of her injured mother, she began to kick and scratch at her father. But Scott had had enough. In a flash he bent and scooped up his daughter under one arm, carrying her like a sack of groceries.

Wes had passively watched the scene play out long enough. There was no question in his mind Scott would pummel him once Wes entered the conflict, his age being no more a deterrent against violence than his shoe size. But he couldn’t stand idly by and let this happen.

Scrambling for a weapon, Wes plucked a smooth fist-sized stone from the yard. Without a moment’s hesitation, he stormed over to Scott and drove the rock into the base of Scott’s skull. Scott crumpled in a heap, his legs buckling underneath him, but even as he fell he somehow managed to retain a hold on Marty’s wrist.

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