Eighty-seven

She fought to stay upright, her abused ankle wobbling and bowing with each heavy footfall. Down the corridor he’d dragged her through. Around the corner. Past closed doors.

Like Sabrina hoped, he followed her.

“Just like old times, right, darlin’?” The words chased her down the hall, spoken out loud.

She ignored what hearing Wade’s tone and cadence carried by the voice of another actually meant. “You’re right—Manny ain’t drivin’ this bus no more. I let him have his fun with all his miracle mumbo jumbo. But now that you’re here, it’s my turn.”

Keep moving. Don’t look back.

Her own voice again, urging her to focus. The sound of rain grew louder and louder until the sound of him behind her became lost in the clamor of it. The doorway came into view and the staircase beyond it. She looked past it, concentrating on the beam of her flashlight that still spilled across the floor.

Hands planted themselves on her back and he shoved her with a roar that sounded like her name. She stumbled into the wall, flinging herself to the side, through an open doorway.

She fell face first at the foot of the stairs. Her landing was followed by a bright, breathless pain she recognized instantly. Manny fell with her, the bulk of his body pressing her into the floor, the knife Michael gave her lodged in her back.

“You’re mine, Melissa,” he screamed at her, spittle hitting the back of her neck. She felt the shift of his hand, repositioning his grip on the hilt of the blade as he readied to lift it. Drag it from her to stab her again. “You’re mine and there ain’t—”

She rolled, burying the blade even deeper, ripping it from his hand. As she rolled, she swung, crashing her right fist into his jaw, breaking teeth. Fracturing bone. The force of the blow lifted him, created space between them, and she planted her boot in that space, kicking out.

Suddenly she was free. She rolled over again and started to crawl.

Get the flashlight. Find the gun. Save Ellie.

Behind her, he laughed, jagged and gleeful.

“You know where we are, darlin’? This room is special,” he said, giving her a bloody grin. “This is where I fucked you the last time.”

She kept crawling, attention focused on the wash of light in front of her.

“Where I killed you.” He’d found his feet. She could hear the shuffling limp of him coming after her. Moving faster than he should’ve been able to.

It didn’t matter. She had work to do.

Get the flashlight. Find the gun. Save Ellie.

He was standing over her now and he planted his foot in the small of her back, pushing her flat against the floor. “The way you bled for me … the way you fought me.” He stooped, gripping the hilt of the knife, jerking it from the meat of her shoulder. “And now here we are again, just like the good ol’ days.”

She stretched, arm and hand reaching out, fingers brushing against the long handle of the flashlight. Pushing it farther out of reach. Above them, the rain fell. A torrent of water poured through the open hatch and ran down the stairs in sheets.

He hooked his foot into her armpit, flipping her over, arms flopping above her head. Kneeling, he straddled her hips, grinning down as he ran his empty hand over her torso, pushing her shirt up, exposing her belly. He bowed his head, running reverent fingertips across the collection of scars that splayed across it, reading what they said. “I gotta admit,” he said, dragging the tip of the blade across her flesh, leaving a thin, red ribbon of blood in its wake. “I’m a little nervous, darlin’. It’s almost like our first time all over again.”

Sabrina stretched her right arm into the dark, her fingers splayed wide, the tips of them digging into the hard floor beneath her. The tip of her middle finger brushed against something round and smooth. The trigger guard of her gun.

She dragged the Kimber toward her even as she lifted it, swinging the barrel of it toward him, burying it in his chest. The smile on his face dimmed. His eyes flared. She pulled the trigger twice in rapid succession. Slugs slammed into his chest, blowing out the back of his rib cage.

Sabrina kicked him off of her and started crawling. Hands and knees, one after the other. Her shoulder had snapped back into place when Manny threw her into the wall, but it was still slow going. It still hurt like a bitch.

You think it matters, darlin’? You think you’ve won?

He was in her head again. Heavy with rage despite the flippant tone of his words.

You’re mine, Melissa. You belong to me.

She’d made the stairs and started up, fingers gripping stair treads as she clawed her way upward, toward the open hatch.

I’ll just find another pony to ride. Eventually, you and me, we’ll dance again.

Rain lashed at her face and hands, harder and harder with every inch she climbed.

Until then, I’ll be right here. I’m always gonna be here.

She made the landing and tucked her chin into her chest against the rain that battered her, the voice inside her head growing fainter and fainter.

Wait. Where you think you’re goin’? You can’t leave me here.

Wade’s tone was barely a whisper, edged with something that made her smile.

Fear.

“Watch me,” Sabrina said, her hands and knees sliding over the lip of the hatch. She fell forward, through the open doorway, battered face pressed against rain-cooled concrete, head blissfully silent.

She’d made it out. She was free.