Chapter 10 - The Calm After
Arthur roared loudly into the rainy night in pure agony but absolutely refused to ever let go of her wrists.
He violently twisted her right arm backward until she finally screamed and dropped the bloody hunting knife completely into the thick mud.
He desperately used his absolute last ounce of fading physical strength to violently flip her over and forcefully pin her face down in the dirt.
Bright red and blue emergency lights suddenly flashed violently against the dark, wet trees surrounding the property.
Multiple heavily armored police cruisers violently smashed straight through the thick iron chains on the locked front gates.
Heavily armed tactical officers immediately swarmed the muddy front lawn with bright flashlights cutting sharply through the relentless rain.
"Drop your weapons immediately and stay completely flat on the ground right now!"
Arthur gratefully threw his bloody hands high up in the air and collapsed happily backward onto the freezing, wet grass.
The aggressive officers quickly pulled screaming Claire away and forcefully slapped heavy steel handcuffs incredibly tightly onto her wrists.
Professional paramedics quickly rushed toward bleeding Arthur and carefully loaded his exhausted body onto a completely dry, incredibly comfortable hospital stretcher.
Sophie ran quickly over to his side and held his large hand incredibly tightly as they gently carried him into the warm ambulance.
Several long weeks later, the completely horrific, unimaginable nightmare was finally over for good.
Claire and Vanessa had miraculously both survived the blazing inferno and were currently facing consecutive life sentences in a federal maximum-security prison.
Arthur had completely and fully recovered from his terrible stab wound and officially regained complete legal control of his massive corporate empire.
He and little Sophie sat comfortably and happily by a beautiful, warm fireplace in their heavily secured, incredibly cozy new downtown luxury apartment.
They were happily drinking hot cocoa with extra fluffy marshmallows in a state of perfect, absolute, undisturbed peace.
Arthur gently tucked his sweet, brave daughter deeply into her warm bed and kissed her soft forehead incredibly softly.
He walked quietly and happily into the bright kitchen to carefully wash their empty ceramic mugs in the sink.
As he slowly turned off the running tap, he froze completely in a state of pure, absolute, unimaginable horror.
A brand new, shiny pink dog bowl sat perfectly in the exact center of the clean tiled floor.
It was completely filled to the absolute brim with disgusting, wet, brown slop.
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A small, dirty piece of folded paper rested carefully right on top of the food with a truly terrifying handwritten message.
The incredibly neat handwriting on the note simply read that mommy would definitely be coming home very soon.
