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I inhale a slow, deep breath, silently praying for the strength I’m going to need, and reach for the rope. Wrapping my fingers tightly along the flow of the braiding, I lift it slowly, as if I’m going to begin working it into a bow. “Shit, I don’t think this is going to work. Look at it.”
Sylvia bends forward, leaning her head over my shoulder to inspect the rope. “Why not?” Distracted by the rope, I catch her off guard. I twist around and slam her in the head with the rope.
I don’t do as much damage as I hope. I’m weaker than I thought, but it at least throws her off her axis. She stumbles back, falling into a pile of dirt. Her screech almost deafens me, but I get up, ready to run. “You bitch!” she yells, whipping the knife at me. I try to block it, but it still makes its mark, slashing the side of my forearm. One would think my pain tolerance should be pretty high right now, but this one takes the cake. I yelp as blood begins to seep from my arm.
“You’re so dead for this!” She’s up and coming at me faster than I have time to react. I assume she’s no longer worried about getting her—or should I say my—dress dirty since she tackles me. I try to guard myself from any further injuries but fail. Every single part of my body hurts. We wrestle until she somehow gets on top. Her hand starts to lash, taking swing after swing at my already injured head. I can’t stop the waves of dizziness. Fuck, this isn’t going well. A few more hits and I’m going to pass out.
Do something, Jensen.
I suck in a deep breath, and with every ounce of strength I have, I flip her. She goes flying, and I swing my body on top of hers. I take my fist and punch her in the face. I moan at my own pain as the cut in my arm tears wider. I just need to get away from her so I can run. I need to run.
I take another swing at her, but I forgot about the object laying right next to her. The one she picks up and slashes me right in the thigh with. I scream in agony and fall to the side. When I realize my head hits a body, I turn and see Jake’s face staring back at me.
I scream so loud, Mars can hear. Sheer panic hits me. I’m going to die. I’m bleeding from all sorts of places, I can barely see straight, and Sylvia is simply not gonna let it go that I dirtied our dress.
Fight through it. You have to fight through it.
That’s a lot easier for you to say, conscience. You’re just in my mind. I’m the one who has to do all the physical stuff.
Okay, I must already be dying because I’m arguing with myself right now. With nothing left to lose, I scramble to my feet and start running. I have no idea in what direction, but I push my legs to move. Sylvia’s screams are close. Too close. I can’t do this. The throbbing pain from my head and cut is too severe. Tears pour down my cheeks from the overwhelming sense of defeat. I thought I could push myself, but I’m too hurt. My ankle gives out, snapping to the side, and I fall, screaming the whole way down. I roll on my back, so I can defend myself from the ground.
She’s up on me quick, raising her hand, when a voice of God sounds behind me.
“Don’t do it, Sylvia.”
She freezes, mid-stab, and looks to where the voice is coming from. “Oh no, you weren’t supposed to see me like this.” She smiles and drops her arm.
“It’s okay. You look just fine,” Damien says, his voice sounding closer. Tears fall down my cheeks. I’m so relieved to hear his voice.
“Oh, I do? Do you like my dress?” She takes her free hand and begins matting down her hair. She starts to adjust her dress when she notices the tear and blood stains caused from my wound. “Blood. He doesn’t like blood. You—”
She points the knife at me, and I hear the crunching of movement getting closer. “Don’t! Just put the knife down. She has nothing to do with this. It’s just you and me, okay?”
He’s speaking crazy talk.
“You and me?” she asks, full of hope.
“You and me. Just put the knife down and walk away from her. Can you do that?”
Her smile is so big, like she just won homecoming court at prom. She hesitates, but then tosses the knife and starts to skip over to him. That’s when two officers appear from the shadows and tackle her. She screams and hollers for Damien.
