Karl Dies in this Book: Chapter 7

"Go to sleep."
I had fallen asleep but at the sound of those words I was up and on my feet in an instant. There were no lights in the house, but a blinking green light told me the front door was now unlocked.
What is it with these assholes and it being fucking dark? I closed my eyes and did my best to listen, silence. Then the smell hit me.
Burnt latex, assaulting my nostrils in that way only burning rubber can. But from where?
I shifted my head slowly, breathing deep, from side to side. There!
It was coming from my bedroom, I charged down the hallway and fling the door open. Turns out this might have been a mistake.
As soon as the door opened banging noisily against the dresser my wife started screaming. This didn't help me as a guy about my height but less bulky speared my midsection, knocking us both to the ground.
As the air left my lungs and my hands reflexively let go of their contents I made a mental note to apologize to Karl, if I lived.
My attacker was now straddling me, pinning me to the floor despite my size advantage and I looked up.
I did my best not to puke immediately. He was dressed in a black outfit but his, I was pretty, sure this one was a him, but his face was, shit, it was horrifying. No hair, no lips, no fucking eyelids, just a Cheshire grin and naked eyeballs. The skin looked like melted rubber had been poured over a human skull.
My horror didn't last long as he immediately started raining down punches like an MMA fighter on speed. I covered my head best I could, most of the hits landing on my arms and shoulders.
One hit snuck through my guard though, catching me in the chin and lower lip. Going between my arms slowed the punch but it still hurt, jamming my teeth into the soft flesh of my mouth.
I saw stars, then as, the coppery taste of blood dripped onto my tongue I saw red.
Time for a little back story, now I'm usually a pretty easy going guy, not a big fighter, preferring to talk my way out of fights if at all possible. But I have this problem. If someone makes my mouth bleed for any reason, I just kind of lose it. Everything goes red and bad things have happened.
It looked like this was going to be one of those times. Blood coating my tongue I let out an inarticulate roar that might have been, "enough!" and grabbed the killer by the wrists.