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“Never,” Tobias said.
Suddenly, the room erupted into chaos. The mannequin became animated, pulling out a gun from nowhere and firing at the agents. The mannequin pulled down its mask, revealing itself to be another of Tobias’s men. More gunshots rang out, then the mannequin-man was on top of Ella, pummelling her against the wall, sending her shotgun to the floor. Beside her, Tobias and Ripley were locked in battle, both reaching for the pistol in Ripley’s hand.
The frustration drove Ella to a level she’d never felt, even all those times she’d been at the mercy of the country’s worst serial killers. The man in the mannequin suit was slamming the base of his pistol against her forehead, probably trying to immobilize her so Tobias could take her life – just as he’d tried to do last time.
But Ella didn’t feel pain anymore. Her body had gone beyond, like a firefighter immune to flames, or a demon immune to death. She’d felt the worst, so anything else paled in comparison. There was nothing this man could throw at her that could harm her, she told herself.
Ella clutched his wrist and sank her burning skull into his face. He toppled backward, so Ella resumed the blows, striking, smashing her own forehead in the process but not caring anymore. She grabbed his arm and twisted it around to his back, then grabbed his short blonde hair and drove him directly into the wall. Picture frames fell, littering floor with glass. Still clutching his arm, she kicked his spine and hyperextended his shoulder, freeing the joint from its socket.
The man screamed, but Ella heard nothing.
Across the room, Tobias and Mia were still locked together. Ripley dragged him across the altar, scattering the mother’s ashes to the ground. Tobias leapt up in fury, pounding Mia’s broken body further still. He dragged her up by the hair, and Mia looked limp, lifeless, on the verge of death.
Ella went to charge across the room but a hand grabbed her ankle. She tripped, falling into the broken glass, then shuffled over and tried to kick the man off of her. He crawled on top of her like a dying spider, spitting blood and mucus, then wrapped his one good hand around her neck. Ella reached beside for anything that might double as a weapon, landing on something heavy and metallic.
Her shotgun.
She jammed the butt into man’s torso, kicked him off then scrambled to her feet. She aimed the shotgun at the man’s head, caressed the trigger.
He held his hands up in defeat. “Please, don’t shoot. Don’t…”
Ella lowered it to his leg and blasted, sending a shockwave around the room, the echo bouncing off the glass cabinets. It felt like someone had filtered thunder directly into her ears.
Ella spun around to see the two long-time nemeses hanging over the altar. Tobias had both his arms around Ripley’s neck from behind.
It wasn’t going to end this way. Ella didn’t have time to process everything at once, but she was damn sure that she and her partner were both leaving here alive.
Whatever it took.
Ripley gasped for air, her body limp and bleeding. Ella trained the shotgun on them both, but they were so closely packed that she couldn’t get a clean shot.
“Shoot us, Dark,” Ripley pleaded.
“Move any closer and I’ll break her neck.”
“Just do it,” Ripley screamed.
“Do you really want to do that?” Tobias hissed. “Imagine if you killed your own partner. How would you live with yourself?”
Ripley wrestled and squirmed against his touch but she was too weak to escape.
“End it right here, Ella. Please. Rather you kill me than free him.”
Ella tried to get a lock on but it was impossible. Her hands were shaking, her vision was blurred, her mind was a flurry of thoughts and panics.
Four possible outcomes.
Wait for Tobias to kill her partner then take him out.
Shoot and only kill Tobias.
Shoot and only kill Ripley.
Shoot and kill them both.
“You need me. You both do. You’ll never kill me. I’ll be with you forever,” Tobias shouted.
“Ella, remember what I told you in the car.”
