Doomsday Revenge: Payback Time (Josie) novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Sylvia couldn’t take it anymore. The pain, the humiliation, the sheer terror radiating from Josie was breaking her fragile mind.

Driven by pure, blind panic, she tried to bolt for the door the absolute second Josie looked away, dragging her bleeding stumps across the polished

hardwood floor.

But-

WHACK!

A massive, ringing slap caught Sylvia directly across her bruised jaw.

The sheer force of the blow sent the crippled Speedster spinning violently backward, crashing right back into the corner where she had started.

What? My little lesson didn’t sink in?” Josie pulled a sleek, expensive smartphone from her pocket and tossed it onto the floor, letting it slide to a halt ight in front of the battered couple. “Call June. Beg your precious daughter to come save you.”

1 told you–family stays together. Especially in the apocalypse.”

Sylvia curled into a pathetic ball, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.

She looked up at Josie with eyes wide with pure, unadulterated terror.

She just couldn’t wrap her head around it.

Three months ago, Josie was a total pushover. A fragile, desperate girl who craved affection. If Arthur even looked mildly annoyed, Josie would go unning to him in tears, begging for forgiveness, showering him with money and expensive gifts just to buy a scrap of his attention.

How did she transform into this cold–blooded, sadistic monster so fast?

If this had been a carefully orchestrated act all along, then Josie was a more terrifying actress than anyone could have possibly imagined.

Besides, Josie had always been such a frail, delicate little thing. A total, pampered weakling. How the hell did she get so impossibly strong all of a

sudden?

Even if Sylvia was currently crippled and bleeding out, she was still an Awakened Speedster. Her upper body strength and reflexes were superhuman. How the hell did she fail to outcrawl Josie?

This was wrong.

This made zero logical sense.

Did Josie awaken too? Was she a Speedster?

No, that wasn’t it. Sylvia remembered the chase.

losie couldn’t keep up with her frantic crawling at first, but then she started closing the gap. Inch by agonizing inch, her reflexes adjusted. Her strikes became faster, perfectly anticipating Sylvia’s frantic dodges.

If Josie didn’t have a superpower backing her up, her raw, terrifying potential for violence was horrifying.

A Norm going toe–to–toe with an Awakened Super? And winning flawlessly without breaking a sweat?

Sylvia felt like she was choking on her own shattered pride. Shaking with a mix of blinding rage and primal fear, she grabbed the phone with trembling, blood stained fingers and dialed June’s number.

The second the call connected, Sylvia screamed hysterically into the receiver. June! Stay away! Don’t come back to the apartment! Josie’s lost het fcking mind–she’s a total psycho! She’s trying to kill-

Josie’s hand blurred. She snatched the phone right out of Sylvia’s desperate grip, cutting her off mid–shrick

‘June, Josie said, her voice dropping to a chillingly casual, conversational tone. Tve got your parents If you want them to stay in one piece, get your sa back here Now,”

On the other end of the line, June sounded like she had just been hit by a runaway train Josie?! What the hell are you talking about? What are you doing to them?!”

“Taking out the trash, Josie replied, inspecting her fingernails, completely unfazed You’ve got exactly one hour to get here. For every hour you’re lare I’m cutting off one of their fingers with a meat cleaver. You tell me, little sister–how many digits do they have left to lose?

“You’re insane! He’s your father! June was absolutely losing it on the other end of the line, her carefully crafted sweet gul persona cracking

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