Chapter 6 - THE BLUE FLASHES
The heavy brass knocker on the front door didn't sound.
Instead, the thick oak door vibrated under the force of a massive, synchronized kick.
BOOM.
The lock splintered.
Wood fragments sprayed across the entryway tiles.
Two police officers flooded into the house, their heavy black boots thundering against the floorboards.
The beam of a tactical flashlight sliced through the dim air of the dining room, blinding everyone it touched.
The father instantly ripped his arm away from the mother’s throat.
He threw his hands into the air, backing away so fast he tripped over a broken chair leg and crashed to the floor.
The mother gasped for air, leaning heavily against the ruined dining table.
She wrapped both arms around her screaming baby, shielding the child’s eyes from the harsh flashlight beam.
She pushed herself away from the table, her legs shaking violently.
She dragged herself toward the arched doorway, placing her body squarely in the center of the frame.
"Nobody leaves."
Her voice was entirely devoid of emotion.
It was cold, dead, and absolute.
The lead officer lowered his weapon, clicking on his shoulder radio.
The burst of static filled the room, crackling with authority.
The second officer swept the room with his flashlight.
The beam hit the shattered porcelain.
It hit the father cowering on the floor.
It hit the elderly woman in the maroon dress.
She was pressed flat against the far wall, her hands trembling so violently the pearls around her neck clattered together like rattling teeth.
Her face was entirely drained of color, a ghastly, translucent white beneath her smeared makeup.
The flashlight beam swept past her and landed directly inside the open wooden cabinet.
The bright white light illuminated the rows of perfectly stacked baby food jars.
The glass sparkled.
The officer stopped moving.
He lowered his flashlight slightly, his jaw tightening as he registered the sheer volume of hoarded food.
He looked from the pristine jars to the dirt-covered face of the crying one-year-old in the mother’s arms.
The child logic hung silently in the cold air.
The wolves locked the food in a wooden cave.
The officer slowly reached down to his duty belt.
He unclipped a pair of silver handcuffs.
The metal ratchets clicked loudly in the silent room.
The elderly woman’s knees finally gave out.
She slid down the plastered wall, her maroon dress pooling around her, the black stiletto heel catching on the edge of the grey carpet.
The red and blue lights from the cruisers outside began to flash through the dining room windows.
The colors painted the walls in alternating strokes of fire and ice.
May you like
The mother turned her back on the room.
She buried her face into her baby’s dirty blonde hair, finally allowing the tears to fall.
