lifted the gun, taking aim at Raj’s head. Without hesitating, Raj let the phone slip through his fingers into the mud, and Kyle swung the gun in my direction and cocked his head toward the ground.
It’d be pointless trying to talk him out of it. Besides, I wouldn’t put it past him to pull the trigger just because he could. I tossed my phone into the mud next to Raj’s, and Kyle aimed at the ground.
Bang.
The gun flashed and my phone exploded. Kyle shifted his aim slightly.
Bang.
Raj’s phone shattered into pieces.
His aim was too good for someone who hadn’t been practicing, which was too disturbing to even think about. He waved the gun in the direction of the jetty. “Move.”
The black water lapping at the shore filled me with an instinctive terror urging me to run. Raj stepped back and tried to speak, but only managed a croak. I wanted to say something to make him feel better, but I had nothing. The only way this could get worse would be if Bundy and Fink were waiting for us in the woods. Allie and Gordie. Hopefully they had doors locked and keys in the ignition.
Kyle shoved my chest. “Move.”
Stumbling, we moved toward the jetty, stepping awkwardly on the slippery mud and occasionally glancing back at the gun-wielding nut behind us. With a grunt, Kyle leaned back and landed a high kick square between Raj’s shoulder blades, sending him lurching forward and staggering down the embankment. “Go!”
Moving faster, Kyle marched behind us, gun held high, finger on the trigger. I’d figured things wouldn’t go entirely our way, I’d come to expect that, but I didn’t think I’d mess up this badly. And Raj never would’ve come if I hadn’t made him. A knot tightened in my stomach.
As we neared the jetty, I steadied my breath and looked over my shoulder. “Where are you taking us?”
He stared through me like I was invisible, guiding us down the hill with his brain on cruise control.
The rain beat down in sheets as we approached the shoreline. I looked over my shoulder, and Kyle waved the gun at the jetty.
“Do something,” Raj whispered.
If there was something to be done, I had no idea what it was. Nothing I could do was going to make this any better.
Stepping onto the jetty, we treaded the creaking planks, looking through the gaps at the water shimmering as small waves lapped at the pylons. With Kyle staying close behind us, we walked the length of the jetty and stopped at the dinghy tied to a bollard. The cold, hard metal of the gun’s barrel prodded my cheek. “Get in,” Kyle said.
Even a gun to my head didn’t make me want to find out what he’d do if we got in the dinghy. Raj turned to Kyle and held up his palms. “Please don’t–”
Kyle lifted the gun high and brought it down hard, striking Raj’s head with the base of the steel grip. The hollow thud was like a hammer hitting a coconut, and Raj collapsed onto the wooden planks, writhing and moaning.
“Get up.” Kyle drew his foot back and kicked it hard into Raj’s stomach.
All the kicking in the world wasn’t going to get Raj back on his feet. Dazed, he pressed his hand to his head and watery blood seeped through his fingers. Between this and what Bundy did to him, it’d be a medical miracle if he wasn’t brain-damaged.
Kyle pushed the gun hard against my cheek. “I dare you to not get in the dinghy.”
Now that the initial shock of him finding us was fading, I wanted to strangle him, anything to make him feel pain. If he wasn’t holding a gun, I would’ve jumped into the water and pulled him under with me.
I kneeled on the jetty and hooked my hands under Raj’s armpits. Dragging him across the wooden planks, I positioned him on the edge of the jetty and sat with my legs over the side. Rolling onto my stomach and putting my weight on my elbows, I lowered myself into the dinghy, steadying my feet on the floor, and pulled Raj off the jetty until he fell on top of me. He rolled onto the wet floor on his hands and knees and then climbed onto a bench seat that ran the length of both sides. He sat with his hands clasped over his head. I couldn’t tell if he was crying.
Aluminum oars hung in brackets on the sides, but there were no life jackets, or anything else for that matter. Behind me, something heavy dropped into the dinghy with a loud thud and rocked us wildly. Kyle stood upright, his legs spread slightly, pressing his feet against the two bench seats for balance, and held the gun to Raj’s cheek. “Move.” Raj recoiled and raised his hands, rain streaming down his face. He hadn’t looked so scared for as long as I’d known him. Without waiting, Kyle kicked his legs and waved the gun for him to move. I grabbed Raj’s arm and shuffled across the floor, pulling him with me as I crammed into the nose of the dinghy. With the gun on us, Kyle used his other hand to unwrap the rope from the bollard, glancing back every few seconds as he worked to untie it.
Raj shivered and gazed down at the choppy black water, hugging his knees and rocking back and forth. If I had to guess what he was thinking, it had something to do with ending up floating face down in the water.
With the rope free from the jetty, Kyle tossed it into the dinghy and yanked on the motor cord. The motor chugged for a couple of seconds, and then fell silent. Wherever he was taking us, we were about to be on our way, so if there was a time to do something it was now. I tapped Raj’s knee and spoke into his ear. “Hold on to the side.”
Kyle’s dark silhouette loomed against the distant glow of the clouds. He glanced back at us and tugged at the starter cord again. While he was busy with the motor, I climbed onto one side of the bench seat, straightening my legs till I was standing upright. With my feet steady, I leapt onto the other side, plunging the edge of the dinghy into the water. Kyle tumbled to his knees and hit his chin on the motor casing. Leaning on his elbows, he pushed himself to his feet, still gripping the gun. With one hand on the motor, he turned to me.
I leapt back onto the other bench seat, dunking the side of the dinghy into water. The dinghy swung back up and my shoes slipped on wet metal, putting me into sideways free fall. My mouth struck an oar on the way down and I slammed against the dinghy floor.
Bang.
A flash lit up the boat.
Ka-sploosh.
Sharp pain stung my bottom lip. Raj rolled on top of me, and the salty, metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
I lifted Raj’s arm off my face and rolled onto my shoulder, spitting blood. Kyle’s silhouette was gone. “Raj! Are you okay?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I don’t know!”
I struggled to my feet and staggered across the dinghy floor to the motor. No sign of Kyle.
“Is he dead?” Raj called out, sobbing between breaths.
“I can’t see him.”
Putting Kyle in the water was a good start, but not if he was about to start shooting. I ran my hands over the floor, brushing them against an empty cigarette pack and a bottle cap. No gun. I clutched the edge of the dinghy and peered out at the thousands of raindrops pelting the choppy surface of the black water.
Raj stumbled toward me, leaning on the edge and swaying clumsily. “Let’s get out of this thing before–”
A choking gasp came from the water and two hands launched up and gripped the side of the dinghy. Kyle’s face emerged, grunting and puffing as he heaved himself up. He hooked his elbows over the edge, pulling the dinghy down on its side. Not ready for the sudden tipping, I tumbled forward, waving my arms trying to stay upright, and plunged into the freezing water on top of him. Every muscle in my body tightened with the icy shock. I thrashed my arms and legs, struggling against the drag of my clothes and fighting to get my mouth above water. I sank below the surface and the world went quiet.
Underwater, a hand brushed my face, and then clawed at it. I didn’t need to see a student ID to know who it was. Fingers dug into my cheeks and gouged at my eyes. Another hand gripped my neck. I pried at the fingers, my throat burning and my lungs on fire. If I was lucky, the gun would be at the
bottom of the lake, and if I was really lucky his knife would be there too. We writhed and bucked as we grappled with each other, sinking into the darkness. At least my plan to avoid getting shot worked – I was far more likely to drown or die of hypothermia. We sank deeper, twisting and rolling in the pitch-black abyss. A pain stung my ears, and I lost sense of which way to swim back to the surface. Fuck.
The weight of the water pressed at my chest, and my heart raced as the need for air took over. I punched and kicked with all my strength knowing it was pointless; even if I got clear of him, I was just as likely to swim deeper as I was to get to the surface. I reached for his throat, and he clutched my wrist and pushed my hand away. Water seeped into my mouth as I fought the urge to breathe in, still thrashing my arms and legs, but weaker than before.
Slipping from awareness and about to give in, I felt his grip weaken and his limbs disentangle from mine. He pushed away, leaving me disoriented. If there was anything worse than underwater wrestling with Kyle it was floating alone in an icy darkness waiting to drown. I swept my hands through the water, brushing his shoe with my fingers. I grabbed his ankle with both hands and kicked my legs hard, following him through the water. He jerked his leg, trying to break free, and kept swimming. After what felt like a long minute, he broke the surface. I let go and kicked until my face emerged into the night air, gasping and coughing water from my burning lungs.
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