Lumen blinked, but didn’t move.
Neve laughed. “You should have stayed in your house. None of this would have happened.”
“You wanted to kill me,” Lumen said suddenly. She straightened her spine and clenched her fists. “I wasn’t going down like that.”
“It doesn’t really matter now. I’m the one with the gun. What do you have?”
Nothing. Lumen had nothing to defend herself on the ice.
“I don’t need a gun to finish this. Come out here and fight me, bitch.”
I blinked in surprise. Did those words just come from the timid, anxiety ridden woman I knew? Just hours ago, she was afraid to leave her house, and now she just threatened a woman with a gun in her hand.
“You think I’m dumb?” Neve laughed, but stepped closer to the lake. “I’m over this. It’s midnight, let’s get this over with.” She stepped right up to Lumen, her gun still posed.
“Neve, no!” I yelled and reached for the woman, but it was too late. She pulled the trigger, and Lumen screamed and flew back, hitting the ice with a loud thunk. The ice let out a loud splitting sound as it began to crack.
Neve jumped up and down excitedly. “Fucking finally.” She spun around. “Let’s go.”
I was too stunned to do anything but stare at the scene. Neve stood triumphantly, having shot my girl... with a tranquilizer.
I tried to focus my attention on Neve. I couldn’t let her see my concern for Lumen.
“Are you ready?” I asked. “It is pretty cold out here.”
Her eyes lit up like I’d just proposed. “Really? I knew if she was dead and gone, you’d move on fast. Oh, Tobias, you were worth all of this.” She took a step forward just as Lumen lifted her head up. I rushed forward, stopping Neve from coming further up the bank. I wrapped my arms around her tightly, holding her in place, all the while looking over her shoulder, watching Lumen slowly stand.
“I’m sorry it had to be this way. I wish Billy and Ruby hadn’t gone out like they did, but it was probably for the best. Now we can say I killed her for self-defense, and they won’t question anything.”
“You’re so smart,” I told her.
Lumen took a step forward. I frowned. She was dragging her right side. She’d been shot in that shoulder. Thankfully, my gun had been loaded with a dose for small dogs. She would just be numb for a bit. I locked eyes with Lumen, nodding ever so slightly as she slowly made her way to us.
“Are you happy, Tobias?” Neve asked. I looked up, just as Lumen was reaching her good arm out. I let go of the psycho that brought us here and gently pushed her back. Neve’s eyes grew large with confusion as Lumen snatched her by the hair and ripped her backward, sending her spiraling onto the ice.
Neve dropped the gun and I quickly picked it up. This wasn’t my fight. Lumen had to end this.
Lumen dragged herself slowly to Neve, and then just as Neve was sitting up, she dropped down on her middle, pining her to the ice. With her good hand, she reached for Neve’s head again, gripping her head tight, and then she shoved it down, smashing it against the hard ice.
Neve screamed and fought against Lumen, but half of Lumen was dead weight, and she couldn’t get her off her as she kept lifting and smashing her head against the ice. It was like hitting cement. Soon, a splatter of blood formed under her head where it kept colliding.
Lumen stood and kicked her further out. I wasn’t sure why she did it, until I saw that it was where she’d landed when she was shot.
Where the ice was cracked.
Lumen looked back at me, and I slid the gun across the ice. She picked it up and aimed it at Neve. Neve stood, and then laughed.
“You don’t have the balls.”
Oh, I think she did.
Lumen pointed at Neve’s feet and shot once, and then again, unloading the clip into the ice.
“Ha! You missed, you stupid—” Neve leaped up in glee and froze as the ice made another loud cracking sound. Lumen scurried back, and I hurried onto the ice, dragging her back as the ice split and Neve dropped through an instant later, her scream cut off instantly.
We fell back onto the snowy ground and watched the water splash and bubbles appear for a moment before slowly disappearing.
“You’re freezing,” I said after a long moment.
