Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Yuli looks reluctant, but she has no other choice than to trust that I’ve bought her lies, so she nods, buying mine. I place my arm under hers like I’m helping her to the truck. It’s slow, because she’s suddenly developed a limp. “Here, this will be quicker.” I pick her up…and walk toward the railing.
“Wait! What are you doing?” She cries, beating her fists against my chest. “I told you there was nothing I could do! I swear it! She was crazy! Everyone knew that!”
My blood turns to ice at hearing her call Lenny crazy. She wasn’t crazy. She was perfect, and she was mine, and this bitch just took everything that I’ve ever wanted away from me.
And she’s going to pay…with her life.
“We’ve met before, but allow me to introduce myself again,” I sneer. “I’m the bad guy who killed Jared.” Her eyes go even wider with fear. “But unlike you, whether I have bullets in my gun or not—” I toss her over the side and watch as she falls, failing her arms and legs down into the murky water. A high-pitched scream follows her body all the way down until there’s nothing but silence and the roar of my own blood pulsing through my veins. “I never stop being a killer.”
Preppy pulls up next to me, his brakes squealing against the wet pavement. “Get the fuck in.”
“Lenny’s…” I look over the bridge, unable to process the words or what just happened. Watching her fall for the second time is way worse than the first because now I know what it means to have her in my life. To love her.
Loved her.
“Fuuuuuuucck!” I scream over the water through the rain. I ball my fists and punch the railing. I don’t even feel the impact, but my fist is streaked with blood that gets washed away by the downpour as fast as it appears.
“Productive,” Preppy comments. “But let’s remember an important lesson, class. She survived the first time. I’m not good with math or shit, but I’m thinking the odds are forever in her favor, and if there’s even a chance...” He gives me a what are you waiting for look. “Get in the fucking car!”
I feel the hope rise within me from the very depths of despair. There’ll be no recovery unit. Not yet. This is still a rescue.
I jump into his car, and we speed down the causeway, fishtailing as Preppy turns toward the bank. He hits the brakes but the car is still rolling as I leap out without bothering to shut the door.
I scan the dark water and the shore for signs of Lenny. I spot a body, but it isn’t hers. The corpse belongs to Yuli. Floating on her back, her unfocused eyes lit by the full moon overhead. I fight the urge to pull her out just to throw her over again.
I slosh through knee deep water. Searching. Hoping.
“Nine, there!” Preppy shouts. “Look!”
I look over to where he’s pointing and spot Lenny’s mangled body floating face down several feet from the shore. The fast-moving current is taking her further and further away with each passing second. “Poe! No!” I shout, jumping over a row of sharp rocks. I splash through the murky water, and it seems like eons before I finally reach her. I’m waist-deep as I turn her over and put my forearms under her shoulders, dragging her out of the water and onto the muddy shore. “Lenny! Lenny!” I scream, slapping at her cheeks.
There’s no answer. No signs of life.
“Fuck!” I check her pulse, but I can’t feel anything. Even if it’s there, mine is pounding so hard I can’t feel anything else.
“Call a fucking ambulance!” I shout, but Preppy already has his phone to his ear, giving our location to the operator on the other end.
I place my hand behind her neck, tilting her chin up toward me. I open her mouth and press mine over hers, trying to force her to breathe, wishing I could breathe for her. After several attempts, nothing happens. I fold one hand over the other and use my wrists to pump on her chest. Her body jerks with my movement, giving me false hope with each pump that it’s her coming back to life and not me trying to beat the life back into her.
“Stayin’ alive. Stayin’ alive,” Preppy sings from behind me.
I glare at him while continuing to will her heart into submission.
“What?” he asks raising his arms in the air. He rolls his eyes. “Stayin’ Alive by the Bee-Gees. It’s the beat that you’re supposed to do CPR to. Believe it or not, I’m actually helping. I learned it from a ten-year-old on Youtube, and everyone knows the smartest creatures in the world are ten-year-old Youtubers. BTW, the ambulance is on the way.”