Shit.
I run up to her and extend my hand. “Grab on to me, Samantha!”
Samantha’s eyes are wide with terror, her knuckles white from how tightly she’s clinging to the inside handle of the door. “I can’t. I can’t. If I let go, I’ll fall!” She sobs, tears running down her cheeks.
I reach for her anyway, trying desperately to grab any part of her.
Behind me, Ezio starts laughing. “What a sight.”
I hear the click of a gun cocking.
I wish I’d counted the gunshots. Is he out of ammo? Does the gun need reloading?
“You realize I had nothing to do with whatever the fuck happened to your family?” I say, still extending my hand to Samantha. “I was a literal baby.”
Why does it feel like the space between my hand and Samantha’s is only growing? The chasm expands, and my face grows hot and dizzy despite the cool night air.
“Do I give a flying fuck? The point is to hurt your father, but now that I know you, I think you deserve this just as much!” Ezio yells.
He’s not shooting though. He must be out of bullets. Even if he isn’t, with the injured shoulder, he might not be able to shoot straight.
I can get him.
I can take him down, I can saw his head in half or at least draw beautiful red lines across his neck, gouge his eye out, cut his tongue so he will fucking shut up already.
Samantha whimpers again.
If I move at all, she’s going to die.
If she doesn’t take my hand soon, she’s going to die.
Hell, even if she takes my hand, she might still die.
“Take my hand,” I tell her again.
Tears are streaming down her face, but she finally lets go of the door with one hand and makes a wild grab for my hand.
As soon as my hand closes around hers, the van groans and drops another inch. Samantha screams and lets go of the van door.
She drops with an ear-melting screech.
My body gets pulled down with her, flat onto the ground, her entire weight hanging off of my one shoulder.
I groan and grab her arm with my other hand to ease some of the pressure. I wish I had any sort of leverage, but right now all I can do is hold on.
Ezio laughs and gets closer. “Christ. You’re really risking it all for some bitch who gossiped about your diseased cunt?”
Samantha is looking up at me with wild, desperate eyes. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry for everything I said. I am. Just please don’t let go!”
I give her a strained smile. “I won’t. I promise.”
I really shouldn’t make promises I’m not sure I can keep.
But if I let go, if I have to watch Samantha drop into the endless void below me, I think I’m going to start coughing up blood from how many internal cuts I suffer.
“I can help,” Ezio says. He pushes his foot against my side. “How many kicks can you withstand before you let go?”
He kicks me once before I can answer. I gasp at the pain, but I cling tighter to Samantha.
