Derrick’s eyes widen as he closes the space between us. “Keep your voice down or you’re going to regret it.”
This man…thismonsterhates me this much to see my entire world fall down.
What kind of life will I have if I leave with him? If I leave with him right now, I’m already dead.
But if I die here, fighting for my life, then at least I can say I died trying. Died while finally standing up for myself.
“What are you going to do, Derrick? Kill me? Then stop saying it anddo it.” I huff. Watching his jaw clench and his fingers tighten around his gun, I shake my head. “You’re not going to do anything because you’re just as scared of being alone as I am. Maybe even more than me.” I push him away from me.
Derrick slips on the ice, losing his balance, giving me the perfect opportunity to retrace my steps back to shore—and to Elijah. If I can move fast, I can make it just in time.
But before I can make a move, Derrick regains his footing and trudges over, closing the gap between us. He grabs the collar of my shirt, holding me tight.
“Hey, fuck off—”
His eyes are wide and scary as he holds me still. “You think this is the end? You think you’ll ever get away from me?” He grips my shirt even tighter so I stumble against him. “Your story started with me and it’ll end with me.”
“Get off of me,” I spit, pushing off of him. I turn to leave, calling it quits. He’s had his fun but it’s over now.
This is my life and I’m in control—
He snarls, his voice deep in a way that makes my blood turn cold.
“You’ve made your choice, so be it.” A loud crack shatters the air, deafening me as I clamp my hands over my ears. My breath whooshesout as I stumble, glancing down to see a bullet-sized hole piercing the ice between my feet.
My legs wobble as I look back at him. The gun points at my face and I suck in a breath.
He’s really going to kill me.
But if I’m going down, I might as well go down fighting.
With no hesitation, I lunge for him, tackling him onto the ice. He hits hard, the gun skittering from his grip. He tries to scramble toward it, but I kick it out of reach before dropping to my knees—my legs locking around his torso, pinning him down. I drive a few blows into his jaw, his head snapping to the side as blood splatters across the ice.
I wince as a few wild jabs slam into my ribcage, his fists flailing in every direction, desperate to land whatever damage he can.
I groan as he flips me over, shoving me face-first into the ice again before he crawls to the gun.
This is it, this is my moment. Covered in snow and frost, I army crawl over to his leg, pulling him back away from the gun as much as I can before he kicks at my face. Dodging the blows, I scramble up his body until I can sit on him once again, locking him in with my legs.
I lay punch after punch as my knuckles crush against his face. He tries to block me, clearly tiring out, but I don’t let up.
Elijah isn’t here to pull me off, and this time, I don’t think I should stop.
Derrick needs to go one way or another. He won’t ever stop. He said it himself.
My eyes blur and my chest heaves as every punch covers me in even more of his blood.
I want to tell him how much I hate him. I want to tell him how much he deserves to die here.
But as every blow to his face continues, I can’t help but think how much he’d rather it be me.
How my own father would rather see me dead.
He was never my father. A father loves you and people who love you don’t hurt you.
Tears and blood run down my face as my fists start to slow.
He’s stopped moving now, his eyes closed as his body twitches beneath me.
