Damned and Cursed (Book 6): Broken Home by Glenn Bullion Page A

feet.   Her eyes locked on the open sliding glass door in the kitchen.   Time seemed to slow down.   She cleared the living room, and didn't dare risk a look behind her.   Just a few more steps.
    She'd made it to the dining table when Byron wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind.   He steered her, forced her on a slightly different path.   Byron's grip slid down further, pinning her arms, throwing her off balance.   Her shoulder and cheek slammed into the wall, followed by Byron's crashing into her back.
    They both fell to the floor, with Byron twisting enough to land on top of her.   Janet was dazed, winded.   Her shoulder was on fire.   Her vision cleared enough to see Byron straddling her, a clenched fist raised.   He said nothing.   No taunting, no words of rage.   The look in his eyes told Janet exactly what he planned on doing.
    Janet didn't see the dining room chair next to her, but she knew it was there.   She'd spent enough time in her home to know where every little thing was placed.   When the kids were playing and knocked something over, she knew what it was just from the sound.
    Reaching out, her hand felt the leg of the chair.   She pulled it on top of her, the solid back covering her face and chest.   Byron's fist crashed into the wood.   Her nose and cheek ached as the chair pressed into her face, but it was better than the alternative.
    Mustering every last bit of strength she had left, she thrust forward with her arms.   Byron, shaking his throbbing fist, fell backward off of Janet.   He landed on his side, holding his arm as he winced.
    His disorientation didn't last long.   He pulled himself to one knee.
    Janet climbed to her feet as her lungs burned.   Byron was rising as well, using the table to support his weight.
    She regained her footing just a little faster.
    Her hand found the blender, sitting on the counter to her right.   Ripping it from the wall, she shouted with a mix of rage and fear as she struck him in the head.   Byron let out a rush of air as saliva sprayed from his mouth.   He crumpled to the floor, a small line of blood visible near his scalp.
    The next two minutes were a blur Janet would never completely remember.   She struck him with the blender until the pain in her right arm wouldn't let her lift it.   She tried to keep up the attack with only her left hand, but each blow was awkward and clumsy, with not much force behind them.
    As she gasped for breath, she stood upright on shaky legs and grabbed the meat tenderizer from the drawer.   The utensil felt like an anvil in her hand.   Nearly collapsing on Byron's motionless body, she pummeled him the first of many times.   The sounds of the tenderizer meeting his skull reverberated through the kitchen.
    When she struck him the first time, an image of her children bound with duct tape flashed through her mind.   Suddenly, the pain subsided and breathing came a little easier as fury pushed her forward.
    "Attack my family?" she shouted.   "I'll fucking kill you!"
    Janet stood up as a sliver of sense returned to her, and she realized she was beating a dead body.   She dropped the blood-covered tenderizer to the floor.
    Her children.   She needed to get to Sarah and Elizabeth.
    She half stumbled, half walked through the kitchen door leading to the backyard.   The late afternoon air had a different scent to it.   Just a little sweeter.   It felt as if she'd been trapped for days instead of hours.   Not bothering to close the door behind her, she headed toward the fence separating their yard from Mary's.   The crisp air took on a different scent, like rotting flesh, as she neared the kids' clubhouse.   The scent left as quickly as it came, and Janet felt as if her leg weighed a hundred pounds as she struggled to lift it over the fence.
    She teetered on the fence a moment before throwing the other leg over.   Her sweatpants caught the top and ripped as she fell to her side on the grass.   The