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My whole body shivers as the blade shifts positions, carefully crafting a line down toward my chest where it stays. Pointed right at my heart.
Tears roll down my cheeks. I freeze.
Is this the end?
Is he going to kill me?
“Please, don’t do this,” I beg.
But there’s no reply.
I wait and think about all the things I still wanted to do. Still wanted to experience. All the things I’d miss in this world.
I might not have a family or a good home to go back to, but dammit, I don’t want to die.
Now, more than ever, I want … to live.
And as the blade pushes into my skin, I await my fate, knowing it wasn’t my choice. I fought, I ran, I failed, but I never gave up. That must be worth something.
Seconds feel like minutes as he holds me to the ground.
Maybe it actually has been minutes. I can’t tell.
All I feel is the sharp point against my body.
And then wetness … drip. Drip.
Onto my chest.
Motionlessly, I lie underneath him as his grip on me begins to fade in strength.
The blade slowly pulls away until I no longer feel it on my skin.
Is this a trick? Is he just messing with me? Trying to get me to face my own death with dignity?
I wait in shock, my body not even responding to the fact that he’s no longer holding me down.
Still, wetness drips onto my skin.
Is he … crying?
Something clatters to the ground. The metal clashing with the rocks.
I suck in a breath.
Suddenly, he has his arms around my back, and he lifts me up from the ground. Pulls me close. Into his embrace.
My lips part. “Wha—”
“I can’t … oh God, does it mean that I …” he murmurs into my ears, not finishing his sentence.
As my own salty tears enter my mouth, I just sit there and accept his comforting hug.
I don’t know what else to do.
Nothing makes sense.
“I’m sorry …” he murmurs. “I’m so sorry.”
My brain is spinning, overgrown with thoughts of murder. Of how the blade was about to pierce my skin. How, at this very moment, he could still be reaching for the blade to thrust it into me.
Maybe it’s all a ruse.
Maybe it’s all lies meant to make me feel safe, even when I’m not.
But then he does the most peculiar thing.
He whispers into my ear, “Thank you.”
Chapter Three
Accompanying Song: “The Rocket Builder” by Johann Johannson
Chase
I feel elated and vicious at the same time.
Two emotions that can’t be more of a duality.
Yet they co-exist inside me … peacefully.
I was right.
This moment … it was everything.
A spectacle.
A magnificent, thundering explosion of clashing thoughts and needs.
It was all my doing … and now, it’s finally finished.
For a split second, I wonder what made it final. Was it her eyes? Her shivering body curled underneath mine? Her tears that kept flowing? Her sweet voice as she begged me to let her live?
Or maybe it was a culmination of all those things.
In any case, what’s done is done. Time can’t be turned back. The decision is final.
I know the truth now.
Still, I can’t stop holding her tight. I wish I never had to let go, but I know that moment has to come sometime. She won’t accept this for much longer.
So I take a deep breath and push her back. I smile, knowing what this means.
It’s done. It’s finally over.
I don’t know who won, but it doesn’t matter.
All that’s left now is to pick up the pieces and move on.
However, the moment I release her, her body slumps and falls to the ground. Did she faint because of the stress? She must have.
I quickly grasp her body and pull her toward me, so I can cradle her as I get up from the ground.
I carry her back all the way to the car where a sullen looking Brandon sits behind the wheel, waiting for me.
“Don’t,” I say when he opens his mouth. “I don’t want to hear it.”
The left side of his lips tips up as he shakes his head. “I can’t believe it. Really?”
“Like I said … it doesn’t matter. I know now.” I open the door and lay her down on the back seat. After I attach the seat belt, I bind her wrists and ankles with a few zip ties so she can’t break the windows when she wakes up. Then I get into the passenger’s seat and buckle up.
“And what’s next? What are you gonna do now, huh?” he asks, gripping the steering wheel casually with his hands.
I lick my lips and stare out into the sunset. It marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life … and hers. “Now, we go home.”
Accompanying Song: “Thin Ice” by Jeff Russo
When we get to my place, she’s already awakened. She hasn’t spoken a word since we were still in the canyon, after I chased her and caught her. Her last words were pleas, but when I turn and look at her now, all I see is rage. Her whole body is tense, and she refuses to unclench her jaws.
