Ally closed her door and walked to the bridge. Andy and I exchanged looks as we watched her walk halfway across it, and then she looked down to the water below.
Where is Emma? I didn’t see her in the car. My stomach dropped. Maybe Ally already killed her. Dear God, I can’t even think about it. I refused to believe that we were too late.
Ally stared down at the water for a few seconds more before she turned and walked back to her car. She walked to the trunk and opened it. I held my breath as I watched her reach inside.
Please don’t let Emma be in there. Please don’t let her be dead, I begged silently.
It was taking every ounce of willpower I had not to jump from my hiding spot and tackle Ally, but I couldn’t. If she didn’t have Emma with her, I didn’t want to tip her off that we were here. Instead, we would follow Ally when she left.
I could hear Ally cursing as she struggled to pull something from the trunk. I nearly lost it when I saw her drag Emma from the back of the car. Emma fell to the ground and didn’t move. She was dead.
“No, no, no, no,” I whispered. She can’t be dead.
“Come on!” Ally shouted as she kicked Emma in the stomach.
I stood from my crouching position and was about to run out to them when Ally finally managed to get Emma to her feet.
“She’s alive,” Andy hissed from beside me.
I couldn’t breathe as I watched Emma struggle against Ally. Emma’s hands were tied, and it looked like her feet were, too. Ally practically carried her toward the bridge. It was now or never. I ran from my hiding spot and headed directly toward them.
“Ally! Stop!” I shouted.
She turned to look at me just as they reached the bridge. I ran as hard as I could, but I knew I’d never make it to them in time. I could hear Andy right behind me.
“Jesse?” Ally asked.
“Let her go!” Andy yelled from behind me.
“Both of you, stop right now! I’ll throw her over if you come any closer,” Ally screeched.
I stopped dead about fifteen feet away from them. Andy didn’t get the message in time and nearly knocked me down as he plowed into me. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Emma. She was hurt badly. Dried blood covered her face, arms, and legs. The front of her shirt was also soaked with blood. Both of her eyes were blackened, and even from this far away, I could see a large bump on her forehead. Her mouth was covered by a piece of duct tape.
But it was her eyes that did me in. What little I could see of them was clouded with fear and pain. She didn’t even struggle as Ally pushed her up against the edge of the bridge. It would only take a second for Ally to throw Emma over the side to the dark water below. It was obvious that Ally had made Emma suffer as much as possible before bringing her here.
“Ally, what are you doing?” I asked quietly.
“You weren’t supposed to see this!” she cried out as if it were her in pain.
“Let her go. You don’t want to do this.” I fought to keep my voice calm, afraid that she would toss Emma over if I shouted like I wanted to. I’d never wanted to hurt someone as much as I wanted to hurt Ally right now. I wanted her to feel just as much pain as she’d inflicted on Emma.
“I don’t want to, Jesse. I have to.”
“You don’t have to do this,” I reasoned.
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll never let her go if I don’t! She’ll always be in our way!” She screeched.
I had to think fast. I needed to make Ally believe that Emma wasn’t a threat. If Emma weren’t a threat to her, then maybe Ally would let Emma go. I didn’t see any other option unless I could get closer to them. Even then, I doubted if I could reach them in time to catch Emma.
“She’s not a problem, Ally. I already told you that earlier.”
“You’ll change your mind. Then, I’ll be left with nothing while you go crawling back to her.”
“Ally, think about it. What I had with her is over, and I’m ready to move on with you. Sure, she was fun for a while, but it’s over now. I got bored.”
“You say that now, but what about later? You’ve spent so much time pining away over her that you’ll start to miss her.”
“I’ve never pined away for her, Ally. She’s pretty, and I wanted to fuck her. I did, and now, I’m over it.” I slowly took a few steps closer to Ally and Emma. “Don’t you trust me?”
Ally bit her lip as she watched me. It was obvious that she was too lost in her thoughts to notice that I’d moved closer to her.
“You were so mad at me,” Ally said.
“I was, but I’m not now. You lied to me, Ally, and you hurt me. Wouldn’t you be angry if I had done that to you?”
“Yeah, I guess. I only did it because I love you. I just wanted you to give me a chance. I wanted you to love me back.”
I pretended to hesitate. “Ally, I’ve thought about you a lot since I made you leave. I’ve missed you so much. I’ve tried to push my feelings for you away because you’ve always been like a sister to me, but I can’t do it anymore. I’m falling in love with you, no matter how many times I tell myself that I shouldn’t.”
“Why shouldn’t you?” she asked breathlessly.
She was obviously buying everything I’d said.
I took another step forward, careful not to even glance at Emma. I couldn’t let Ally figure out what I was doing.
“Because I feel guilty for feeling this way about Andy’s sister. I’m supposed to help protect you. Instead, I want you.”
“I want you, too.”
“Then, it’s settled. Leave Emma here, and come with me. We’ll leave this town and start over in someplace new. No one will ever find us.”
She smiled. “I’d like that, but I can’t let Emma live. If I do, I’ll always worry that she’ll ruin everything. Once I take care of her, my mind will be free.”
I sighed. “It hurts that you don’t trust me.”
“I do trust you, Jesse. It’s her that I don’t trust.”
It killed me not to glance over at Emma. I wanted to look at her and tell her that everything would be okay. I wanted to comfort her. I hoped that Andy was passing the message along with his eyes since I certainly couldn’t. Emma had to know that I’d get her out of here. It killed me to pretend to love Ally when I could barely stomach the sight of her.
“She doesn’t matter, Ally. You have to realize that. I mean, think about it. What chance does some rich snob who I wanted to bang have against you? I’ve known you my entire life. We grew up together in that shithole of a trailer park. We’re from the same world, Ally. Emma could never relate to me like you can.”
I took another step closer. I’d managed to get within a few feet of them. Ally didn’t seem to notice as she thought about what I’d said. I chanced a glance at Emma. Her eyes were still filled with fear, and she was visibly shaking. I wasn’t sure if it was from fear or from the chilly predawn air.
“I don’t know…” Ally trailed off as she turned to look at Emma.
It was now or never. I lunged for Emma while Ally’s back was turned, but Ally saw me coming at the last second. I watched in horror as she shoved Emma hard. My fingertips brushed Emma’s arm as she fell over the side of the bridge.
With the duct tape over her mouth, she couldn’t even scream. I watched as she fell in slow motion to the dark water below. Her hands and legs were still tied, so she wouldn’t be able to swim. I wasn’t sure if she would have been able to swim even without the restraints. She was hurt too badly.
“You lied to me!” Ally screamed.
Emma hit the water and disappeared below the surface. I jumped on the railing and dived in after Emma. I heard Ally cry out as my foot connected with her when I pushed away from the railing. I couldn’t have cared less. I only cared about getting to Emma.
The breath was knocked from me as I hit the frigid water. I broke the surface and kicked back up to grab a breath. I took a deep breath and dived back under in search of Emma. The water was so black that I couldn’t see a foot in front of me. I reached around, trying to feel for her. Nothing was there, so I dived deeper. My body felt numb as I continued to search, but I refused to give up.
When I couldn’t hold my breath any longer, I kicked to the surface. I took another deep breath and dived under again to continue my search. With every second passing, I felt more and more helpless. I had to find her. I wouldn’t stop until I did.
I continued to search until I ran out of air again. Just as I was about to push back to the surface, my hand connected with something hard. I grabbed it and pulled it to the surface with me. I nearly cried when I saw that it was Emma. I kicked my way over to the edge of the water and pulled Emma out. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t breathing.
“Emma! Emma!” I shouted as I shook her. Terror filled me when her eyes stayed shut. “Think, Jesse, think!”
I needed to give her CPR. I’d taken the class my freshman year of high school, but that had been years ago, and I’d barely paid attention. I’d never thought I would need it. Well, I sure as hell need it now. I tried to remember what I was supposed to do. I needed to tip her head back. Yeah, that’s right. I gently pushed her head back. I ripped the tape off and opened her mouth. I plugged her nose and pressed my lips against hers. I breathed air into her lungs.
“Come on, Emma!” I said after a few breaths.
I needed to do compressions. I put my hands together and put them on her chest. I shoved down gently, afraid that I would hurt her. I pushed a few times before stopping to blow air into her mouth again. I repeated the compressions, pushing harder this time.
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