108

DARLENE

The look my husband gave me could have melted iron.

I gasped, whipping my head back and forth between the whitened faces standing under the white-diamond arch of the living area.

Mr. McKenzie had one hand on the collar of my husband’s white, button-down shirt, His wife, still frail and white-faced had turned to look at me like I was the devil come to life, the white of what looked to be a polaroid photo print clenched in one dainty fist.

What the hell was going on? I looked at the strawberry-blonde haired man pointedly, my eyes widening at the bloody mess of his face, the front of the pink woolen sweater he had on was stained red, and a purple bruise was already forming on the glass of his high cheekbones.

“Is everything alright?” I croaked, again met with silence before Mr. McKenzie scoffed, releasing my husband who snatched the polaroid from Stephanie’s shaky hands and strode toward me, his face a mask.

I felt my breath catch as Alexander closed the space between us in thr