Maria
"Look out!"
My dad emerges from a shadowy hallway as if summoned by retribution, but he doesn't hear me call him. His face is contorted by a madness that frightens me. The look of hate in his eyes makes my legs freeze in place to see that chilling expression on a face I love.
I try to call out to him again, but my voice catches in my throat. His relentless glare is locked onto Mikhail as if I don't matter. And I feel that none of this brutality has anything to do with me. Dad points the gun directly at Mikhail, but I refuse to let fate happen.
"Daddy, NO!" In a split second, propelled by love and desperation, I step in front of Mikhail as the gunshot rings out. A white-hot sledgehammer slams into me, and I shriek as I fall to my knees.
Mikhail screams my name. His voice echoes t
