Chapter 2 - One Impact
The swing came fast.
Sadie did not see the brick clearly.
Only a red blur.
Only Wyatt’s eyes widening.
Only Brenda’s laughter cutting through the air.
The camera of memory would never show the impact cleanly.
It would keep it as motion, shock, and sound.
Sadie’s body collapsed backward.
Wyatt caught her before she struck the brick steps.
His arms locked around her, pulling her against his chest, protecting her head, lowering with her weight before her body could hit the ground.
A thin streak of blood appeared near her eyebrow and lip.
Non-graphic.
Enough.
Too much.
Wyatt’s face changed into something terrifying.
“Sadie. Sadie, look at me.”
She heard him as if from underwater.
Gregory stood above them with the brick still in his hand, breathing hard, eyes stretched wide like even he could not fully believe what he had done.
Brenda’s laughter continued for half a second longer.
Then she saw Wyatt’s face.
The laughter died.
Melanie remained frozen in the doorway, arms slowly falling from their crossed position.
Sadie’s fingers twitched against Wyatt’s sleeve.
His phone was already in his hand.
He tried to call for help.
Gregory snapped forward and kicked it from his grip.
The phone skidded across the brick steps, screen cracking sharply.
At the same moment, tires screamed near the driveway.
A utility truck stopped beside the rose bushes.
An electrician jumped out, gray work shirt wrinkled, phone raised.
“Drop that brick! I’m calling an ambulance!”
Gregory turned toward him.
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For the first time, fear broke through the rage.
Read Chapter 3 👉 Because Gregory destroyed Wyatt’s phone, but an outsider had already arrived with a camera in his hand.
