46

 

I stumbled in through the ruined wall of the boathouse and tripped over a fallen beam, the gun in my hand going off. My hand shook wildly from recoil. I staggered through the smoke.

Blaine and Tom both stared at me with their mouths open. Blaine’s hand was bloody. Tom’s leg seeped blood under him and my heart clenched. I must have flinched, because the gun fired again.

“Don’t touch him,” I screamed, fearful Blaine would hurt Tom again.

He ducked when I yelled, and I remembered I had a gun. I pointed it at him.

Tom’s face was pale, slack against the dirt. So much blood.

“Ruby,” Blaine stammered, backing up. “Now, you just calm down.”

I could barely hear him. I looked down at Tom, barely conscious, his life pooling in the dirt, and fury rose up.

I glared at Blaine. “Run,” I roared at him.

He turned on his heels and ran into the dark recesses of the boat house.

Overhead, the loud crack of the roof spurned me to act.

“Tom,” I gasped, grabbing a nearby sliver of metal. “Stay with me, Tom.”

I sat down, kicked off a shoe, and pulled off my sock. Wrapping the metal in the sock as a handle, I used it to saw through the silver duct tape holding Tom to the chair. He slumped out of the chair, rolling onto the dirt.

“Ruby, how did you not get blown up?” he moaned, eyelids fluttering.

I pushed him over and undid his belt. I threaded the end of it under his leg just over the gunshot, and then yanked it tight.

He groaned, flailing at my hands.

Jaw grinding, I gave it a final yank and secured the end. “I’m sorry, Sweetie,” I whispered and ran a hand over his pasty forehead. “I know it hurts.”

The walls around us shifted, teetering off kilter. My heart stopped. We were in danger of getting crushed under the roof. I shoved my foot into my shoe, and grabbed Tom under the armpits. I heaved, pulling with fear, and will, and panic.

“Just leave me,” Tom muttered. “Go, Ruby…”

“Shut up, Tom.”

Lights flashed behind my eyes with the effort. Panting, I looked around for something to help. Like a cave, the shadows floated over the weird shapes of debris and trash.

Tom faded, his head lolling to the side.

There.

I spotted a sheet of plastic and dragged it back to Tom’s prone body. I rolled him onto it and grabbed the end, tugging him towards the center of the boathouse, away from the caving roof. Behind us, I heard a click and froze.

Blaine was silhouetted by the light streaming in from the window. “Oh, this is great,” he spat and wiggled his gun. “Guess what I found.”

“Blaine, we need to get out of here,” I cried. “The walls are going to cave in.”

His eyes were wide, maniacal. “Whose fault is that?” he screamed.

Overhead, dust poured down, creating gloomy, dark shadows.

I smelled the sharp salt of sea water. Right in front of me, the floor opened up on the ocean raging below. I’d almost dragged Tom into the sea. Staring transfixed at the waves smashing against the support pylons, my legs went weak.

Blaine chuckled. “I guess I shouldn’t have stopped you.”

I stepped back from the edge, fear crawling up my spine. The mist rose up from the crashing waves, wetting me.

Behind Blaine, a door swung on its hinges.

“L-Listen, Blaine. I just want to get out of this, same as you,” I said.

He pulled the hammer of the revolver back, the chamber clicking into place. Through the holes, I saw the blunt noses of the bullets seated in the cylinder. “I don’t think I’m going to let you leave.” He motioned with the gun barrel to the opening in the floor. “Toss him in.”

My eyes widened with shock. “What?”

“You heard me,” Blaine sneered. “Roll him into the ocean.”

I shook my head. “I-I can’t do that.” I squinted, waiting for him to shoot me.

“I said, toss him in!”

“I said, NO!”

Fear flashed into fury and without thinking, I flew at him. Wrapping one hand around the gun, I scratched at his face with my other hand. We careened backwards against the wall, jerking and tugging with one another. I leapt up, wrapped both legs around his waist and threw my weight back. We tumbled to the floor. His gun went off, the explosion by my ear, the sound sending waves of pain through my head.

I didn’t let go. Whipping my head to the side, I bit down with all my strength into the fleshy part of his thumb. He screamed and yanked away. The gun skidded into the ocean. He popped to his knees and brought his fist back.

I flinched.

Something breezed past me, the wind from it caressing my cheek as Tom slammed the piece of lumber into Blaine’s chest like a pro-batter. Blaine crashed into the wall. His head slammed against the wood, and he slid to the floor.

“Tom,” I screamed. I ran to catch him as he sank to the floor. “How…”

Another jarring crack overhead sent a beam crumbling, raining chunks of the roof and blocking the door to the dock. Below, the waves roared, white froth splashing over the lip of the hole in the decking. Behind us, fire licked along the walls and smoke roiled, blacking out the view.

We were trapped.

I shook, staggering under Tom’s weight. “I don’t…” I struggled to breathe through the terror. “I don’t know what to do, Tom.”

Gaze out of focus, he brought a hand up to caress my cheek. “You know what…” he asked softly and coughed. “I wouldn’t want to be any other place but in your arms, Ruby.”

“I love you so much, Tom. It doesn’t matter what kind of life we have…I-I just want it to be with you.”

“Ruby…” Tom’s gaze darkened with sorrow. “You can’t stay here.”

“No, Tom,” I sobbed, grabbing his shirt. “Get up, please!”

Tom pulled me to his chest, his breath ragged in my hair. “Ruby, I want you to swim out of here.”

Dread squeezed my heart. “No.”

“You need to go before this place caves in. Please.”

I got to my feet. Anger, frustration, and years of loss burned through my veins, and I grabbed Tom by the shirt. “I will not…give up on us…again,” I yelled, sobbing. “Not this time.”

“Ruby, I can’t swim with my leg like this,” he shouted and gripped my hands. “I don’t want you to die here.” Anguish flashed behind his beautiful eyes.

My heart tore open.

I opened my mouth to scream at him to move, but the wall buckled, shifting the room like a crazy nightmare. And then I was tumbling through the air, flipping head over heels through cold mist. Roaring waves met me with the icy grip of churning power and pulled me under.