Chapter 4 - The Sound of Shattered Bone
CRACK.
The sound of impact was wet and heavy, echoing through the high-arched foyer like a pistol shot.
Julian’s head snapped back violently, a spray of saliva and blood erupting from his lips as his jaw dislocated under the force of the blow. The sheer momentum of Thomas’s strike lifted Julian off his feet, turning him sideways before he crashed heavily onto the wooden landing.
Julian groaned, a wet, choked sound, his hands scrambling blindly at the slick wood as he tried to push himself up. His pristine hair was ruined, falling over a face that was already swelling, a deep crimson streak running from his split lip down his chin.
"You touch her again," Thomas hissed, standing over his fallen brother like a vengeful specter, his chest heaving, his fists trembling with adrenaline, "and I will kill you on these stairs."
"Thomas... stop!" Julian gasped, coughing up blood onto the dark stain of the floorboards. He scrambled backward on his elbows, his posture of cool authority completely demolished, replaced by the raw, pathetic terror of a coward exposed. "You're making... a massive mistake... she's setting us both up!"
From the entryway archway near the heavy front door, a small, trembling voice broke through the violent atmosphere of the room.
"Uncle!"
Thomas spun around, his body still primed for violence, his eyes wild and bloodshot.
Standing beside the front door was Leo—Thomas’s twelve-year-old nephew, Julian’s own son. The boy was pale, his small frame shaking inside an oversized hoodie, his hands clutching a sleek, black smartphone tightly against his chest. His eyes were wide with terror, shifting between his father bleeding on the landing and his aunt weeping on the floor.
"Leo..." Thomas rasped, trying to moderate his breathing, trying to push down the monster that had just taken over his body. "Leo, go to your room. Now."
"No, Uncle Thomas, wait!" the boy cried out, his voice cracking with emotion as he took three fast steps into the foyer. He raised the smartphone, turning the screen outward toward Thomas. "Look! I was... I was filming a video for my school project from the hallway! He recorded everything!"
Thomas froze.
The silence that followed was absolute, suffocating, and heavy with impending doom.
Julian, still sitting on the landing, turned his bloodied face toward his son. A look of absolute, horrifying realization washed over his features, erasing the last remnants of his arrogance. "Leo... put that away..." Julian rasped, his voice trembling. "Leo, don't..."
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"He did it, Uncle Thomas!" Leo shouted, tears spilling over his eyelashes as he pressed play on the screen. "I saw him! He pushed her!"
Thomas walked down the landing toward the boy, his heavy footsteps echoing slowly now, every stride calculated and terrifying. He reached out and gently took the phone from Leo’s shaking hands, holding the screen up to his face.
