Blood blurred my vision, sticky and thick in my mouth, damp on my hands. Around me, the world narrowed to a tunnel of terror, trees looming like a silent, malevolent army.
“I… Oh my God… baby, wake up.” I continued to press my hands onto Mackenzie’s wound. The blood was pouring out of her. It was all over me. “Hold… hold her, please.”
Megan got down onto her knees and cradled Mackenzie, while I took off my shirt and bunched it up. I pressed it down hard against Mackenzie’s wound and then pulled her back into my arms.
“She’s going to be okay, right?” Megan’s voice cut through the chaos.
I turned to Jackson, who was cradling his arm, drenched in blood. The bloody knife was on the ground.
“You fucking stabbed her, you sick fuck!” I screamed. Apanic unlike anything I’d experienced before ripped through my chest. I thought I knew fear, but this? Seeing her slip away right in front of my eyes was agony.
This was hell.
I pressed my hand against her cheek, desperate to wake her. But her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she lay perfectly still in my arms.
“She’s… she’s not okay. She’s not opening her eyes! She’s not fucking opening her eyes! Mackenzie. Mackenzie, look at me, baby. Look at me, please.”
“Max!” Megan sobbed violently. “We have to call 911. I’m calling an ambulance.” She yanked her phone out.
I shook Mackenzie lightly, terrified to shake harder. My chest was caving in, my ribs splintering under the pressure of losing her.
I would never survive it.
“Oooh, is she dead? Too bad. I was looking forward to peeling her skin off on our wedding night.”
I looked up at Jackson, watching him smile through the dark blood dripping down his face.
I was going to kill him. I was going to bash his brains out with my baseball bat and then feed his brain to a dog. I had never wanted to commit murder before, but the act of it was something I welcomed. The thought of it brought me joy. Because my hatred for Jackson was the strongest it had ever been in that moment.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” I snarled. “And everyone you’ve ever known.” My voice was venomous, filled with rage that he clearly sensed. His smile faded instantly, replaced by a flicker of terror.
He thought he was bad? I was worse. I was always going to be worse. All bets were off when it came to Mackenzie.
Megan shifted nervously, eyes darting between us. “Jackson,you’ve got about ten minutes before the cops arrive. You’d better run.”
“Fuck that,” I snapped, rising to my feet. I handed Mackenzie back to Megan and pressed my blood-stained hands against my face, smudging the gore into a grim mask. The caged Max was finally unleashed. “I’ll give you a head start before I rip your limbs off, one by one.”
A small hand pressed against my chest, stopping me in my tracks. I looked down to see Megan’s cold, distant eyes.
“Max. Mackenzie needs you. Your chase is over,” she said quietly, with an unsettling calm.
I glanced back at Mackenzie’s distorted, lifeless body, and then turned to Jackson, who was frozen, staring at her.
“Don’t you dare look at her like that, or I swear I’ll gouge your eyes out. Promise me, Jackson—next time I see you, I won’t hold back. Run, motherfucker.”
He didn’t hesitate. He took off into the darkness. I was about to pursue him, but a soft, agonized sob slipped from Mackenzie’s pale lips, drawing me back down to her, clutching her trembling form.
“Baby, look at me. Please. You’re mine, do you hear me? You’re not leaving me,” I rasped, my words harsh and trembling as sobs choked my throat. I pressed my forehead against hers, my mind consumed by an overwhelming fear. I was thinking of how deeply I loved her, how I had always loved her, and the terror that gripped me at the thought of losing her forever.
“Open your eyes, Mackenzie Anne Hamill! Please, just open them!” I begged, desperation thick in my voice.
“Max… the ambulance will be here in fifteen minutes,” Megan's voice was distant, almost drowned out by the pounding in my ears. Only the frantic, ragged sound of Mackenzie struggling to breathe against me remained clear.
I lifted my gaze and met Megan’s wide, panicked eyes. Something inside me shattered.
“I’m taking her to the hospital now. I won’t wait for her to die,” I said, my voice haunted and urgent.
My decision was final. There was no universe where anyone could argue with me. I stood, cradling Mackenzie in my arms, her head lolling into my chest. The sight of her blood soaking into my shirt nearly brought me to my knees, a scream trapped in my throat.
