Until We Break (Formerly Wicked, Wild, Wonderful)

Original Edition: Chapter Thirty-Three

Oblivious, he slammed his car door shut and began making way for the entrance of his house. But he wouldn't make it that far. Naomi's fingers curled around bat's handle and she made a single, hard swing. If there were birds in Riverside, the crack of his skull against the wood would have sent them all flying out into the night. The man went down.

Saint and Chyna came out into the driveway then, standing a short distance from Naomi. The Fox slapped her mouth shut with her palm. Noami was exhaling so heavily, her entire back and shoulders were moving up and down.

The man grabbed the back of his head and turned, horror and fear contorting his features like hot oil was just splashed on him.

Naomi pointed her bat at him. "Mr Letterman," she commanded, "this is your warning. That is what your daughter feels every time you hit her.  Do it again and it will be the last thing you ever do."

He looked like he was about to make an effort to fight back until his eyes glanced the Fox and Tiger staring on quietly at the end of the driveway. His nose flared. "Who are you?"

For a moment, Naomi wanted to move her mask just so he could see her smirk. But she didn't. "Your daughter's guardian angel that you do not want to piss off."

"Please, take my wallet and leave me alone," he said shakily, lowering his head in embarrassment. Now, both his hands were up as he slumped against his car.

Naomi leaned forward. "Keep your money," she seethed under her breath, "You'll need it in prison if you ever raise a hand against Aspen ever again."

Inside the house, a light flickered on.

"Let's go," the Tiger warned.

The Lioness straightened. Peering down at him, she never felt more powerful. It was a different adrenaline from ballet or spray painting some old building. This felt holier, more righteous. Godlike.

Naomi Morgan raised the bat over her head and brought it down with all her strength one last time. The man stilled, his life dripping from the end of the wooden bat.

Heaving, Naomi backed away before the Tiger was grabbing her arm and pulling her down the driveway. She gave Aspen's dad a final look and ensured to point the anointed part of her bat straight at him, even if she could at least see the weakness consume his eyes again.

The three animals took off into the night. They blazed through the property of different houses and jumped wooden picket fences until they made it back to where they parked Tio's old van.

"What was that?" Saint asked, taking off his mask when they were safely inside.

"What was what?"

Chyna glared at her. "You look like you wanted to kill him, Naomi."

Naomi eyed the both of them.

Maybe, Naomi's retribution was masking her vengeance. Maybe, for her they were the same thing. Maybe, she didn't care.

*

Naomi's second run went a lot smoother. The night before, she had cleaned off her bat so well that the blunt end twinkled under the moonlight, like an innocent thing; as if it was not smeared in the blood of another not so long ago. But the blood was easy enough to wash off. In no time, it had returned to its pristine condition, despite it's deadly intentions. Perhaps that was why the little boy looked so confused when he saw The Lioness pointing it at him.

His eyes widened. "You're one of them," he choked out. "The Guise."

Due to last night's waiting, Cairo had the bright idea to hack cell phones this time around. Kids these days say everything over the Internet so it wasn't hard to tap into this boy's accounts and figure out that he was on his way to a friend's house to play video games tonight. His mistake however, was walking alone. But, Naomi supposes she couldn't blame him. Riverside was a mostly peaceful town. But she wasn't.