I was startled when he wrapped his thumb and fingers around my wrist and started pulling me to the stairs. I tried to break free, but his grip was strong. Too strong. The hairs on my arms stood. I was regretting my dumb decision. I should have never confronted him. I prayed that he would not harm me.

He was a bully, but he would not go as far as to kill me, right? He would not want to hurt or murder a disabled person. I have done nothing to him.

As he was pulling me to the stairs, I asked, "Where are you taking me?"

"To safety," Gus responded.

"Where exactly are you taking me?"

"I...I do not know where I should take you. He will find you eventually and make you his."

"What the crub are you talking about?"

"I will explain everything to the best of my ability once we are away from your new house."

A growl escaped my mouth. "You think that I was born yesterday? I am not going anywhere with you until you tell me this instant!"

Suddenly, Adalee charged out of my room and towards us. She was clutching a baseball bat and raised it above her head. I was about to say something, but I screamed at the top of my lungs instead. My hands pressed to my cheeks, I watched as my sister brought the wooden bat down on the bully's head.

Gus never uttered a cry. He fell in a heap on the floor. I swallowed a lump in my throat and massaged the back of my head. Seeing Gus being hit on the head like some mole made me have a headache. At least that my sister saved me. She saved my life. Or so I thought. What we did not know was that we were in grave danger.

I hugged her and asked, "Where did you get the bat?"

She dropped the bat and hugged me back. "From her. I got it from my doll."

"You mean Michelle?"

"Yeah." We pulled away from each other. "She asked if I wanted a weapon so I would feel safer, and I said yes. That is how I ended up with the bat. When I heard you and Gus, I could not stay in your room and do nothing. I did not - and still do not - want to lose the only sister that I have."

"She will not be your sister for long."

I immediately spotted somebody walking up the stairs. It was our friend Gabriel. He was taking his sweet time and holding onto the railing. I was ecstatic that Gabriel was here - but also confused why he was here. I turned Adalee around, and she gasped.

"Gabriel," she said. "Boy, are we glad to see you."

Gabriel reached the top of the stairs and looked at Gus. "Is that...Gus?"

"Yes," I confirmed. "He entered our house without our permission."

"Then I suppose that he had malicious intent, Allison."

"I-I am unsure."

My sister looked up at me. "The crub do you mean that you are unsure? Of course, he had malicious intent. He was going to kidnap you."

"And kill you," Gabriel added. "He does not take kindly to disabled people because he thinks that they are evil, so he does whatever it takes to get rid of them."

Adalee placed her hands on her waist. "He is sick."

Gabriel walked to the bully and got down on his knees. He put two fingers on his neck to feel a pulse. I did not want Gus to be dead. At the same time, I did not desire for him to harm us.

He was more than a bully. He was a messed up kid. He needed help.

"Do not keep us in suspense," I stated to Gabriel with a hint of annoyance in my voice. "What is the verdict?"

He removed his fingers. "I feel his pulse, so he must be alive. And I do not see blood on him or on this carpet." He picked up his upper half. "He will wake up soon, so we need to get him out of here."

"My thoughts exactly."

"I say that we take him to the police," Adalee suggested as she scooped up his legs. "Gus has to be in jail before he harms more disabled people."

A smile spread across Gabriel's face. "I already have an idea in mind. We will never worry about him anymore, Allison."

I assisted them with the unconscious Gus, and Gabriel directed us down the stairs. To the kitchen. He opened the glass door and led us outside. To the backyard.

There were chairs in the backyard, so Adalee said, "Oh, I get it. We are setting Gus in a chair and watching him while one of us calls the police."

Gabriel narrowed his eyebrows at her. "We will not get the police involved," he said sternly as he brought us to the lake. "They will do nothing. We have no proof. Gus will be a free kid. A free man. We cannot allow that."

"So what are we going to do?" I asked.

He glanced at the lake. Then back at us. "What else can we do?"

My sister and I looked at each other. I noticed that she was breathing hard. Like that she was having trouble. I knew that she was not having difficulty breathing. She was afraid. Her eyes bulged from their sockets, and her teeth chattered. I wanted to comfort her - but how? We were moving an unconscious person to the lake.

"I do not want to go to jail," she choked out. "I-I do not want to go to jail for murder."

We set Gus next to said big lake, and I pulled her close. "You will not go to jail," I said soothingly. "Nobody will go to jail."

"Listen to your sister, Adalee," Gabriel said. He pushed Gus in the lake.