*Andrea*
I was pulled forcefully along the rough ground barefoot. My clothes were torn, and because they held my leg, walking became hard. But I bared all of it, hoping I would get through this.
“Make her walk faster; we must make sure the piranhas have dinner on time.” Nora was in front, leading as they dragged me.
“You don’t have to do this, Nora. Don’t do this,” I said. I can’t imagine my son living without his mother.
He had just gotten his father back after five years of living without him, and now Nora was about to make him lose his mother. I didn’t want to watch this; I just couldn’t.
“Shut your mouth, or I’ll make you shut it,” Nora warned. “We are close to the lake; you Should save that strength for the initial struggle; oh lord, it will be so fun to watch you.” She let out a laugh, and I wanted to run a dagger through her mouth and cut off her tongue.
We soon reached the lake, which had a small bridge and railings. We stopped.
“Nora, we don’t have to go this far,” I said when I noticed the piranhas at the edge of the lake.
“Let’s not take things this far. We are both ladies, and this doesn’t seem right.” I kept saying, hoping I might be able to get through her, but she seemed to get agitated by my words.
“Throw her in.” She commanded.
They were about to lift me and throw me into the lake when she said, ‘No,” she raised a hand, stopping them. I felt relieved as the hold of the men lessened.
“I think we should make it more entertaining,” Nora said.
“Don’t you think your son would want to know how you died?” She smirked, looking at me.
How much evil can she get?
“Get the camera in my bag,” she motioned to one of them, “I’d like to film it and send it to Austin as a gift; oh, how much he would love it,”
“You psychopath, throw me in, and let’s end this.” The thought of Austin watching it just felt repulsive. He was already traumatized; he would not be able to watch it.
“Do as I say,” she yelled, and one of the men ran off. I decided to buy time. Alejandro was going to come for me. I was sure of it.
“So what do you hope to gain from all this? Do you think you’ll get away with this?” I wanted to rile her up, “Alejandro would not let you live, and neither will Austin.”
She folded one hand over the other and tapped her feet on the floor impatiently, “it would only be a matter of time before he finds you and has you pay for all this that you are doing.” I yelled.
“That’s not your business. If I can get rid of you and your stupid son, I have my ways of getting Alejandro to love me,” she said, and this time, I was the one who laughed.
“I know it’s not bad to be delusional, but don’t you think you are abusing that right?” I spoke in spite.
“You are just feeling inferior. That is why you are after me. You know you are ugly, very ugly, on the inside; you are not able to keep Alejandro; you can’t keep any man.”
The man’s finger pressed into my skin, but I didn’t let that stop me from speaking.
“And you think you’ll become better if I die? You wish; even a heart surgery can’t fix your already ugly heart.”
“You are cursed and will remain loveless; even your son will hate you; just wait and see how your life will turn out,” she finally uncrossed her hands.
“I’ve had enough of you; at least you’d be leaving this world soon,”
“Is that your consolation? I’ll hunt you. You will never be happy,” I said, and she walked towards me angrily, held my face, and pressed her fingers into my skin. “I dare you to repeat those words.”
“You- will…l no.. t b…e happy,” her hold on my face was so strong that speaking became a chore.
Immediately after I completed my sentence, a heavy slap landed on my face. My face fell to the side, a metallic taste settling on my tongue.
“I dare you to say one more word,” she said, staring into my eyes. We both stared at each other with so much hate. At that moment, the other man walked in on us, and Nora finally moved her gaze away from me.
He wasn’t alone; he came along with Lucas.
“He was calling someone,” the man said in his deep voice, raising a phone.
Nora glared at Lucas, “You fool, you think you can ask for help?” She asked.
She pointed the gun at me and told the man to leave me. “Set up the camera,” she commanded him.
“Now I want you to step into the lake yourself,” she demanded.
I looked around; there was no running. Though the other men weren’t armed, Nora was, and she could easily shoot me if I tried to run away.
“Mom, you can’t do this. Don’t; if you put that gun on the floor now and end this, I’ll plead with Dad to let you off.” Lucas tried to bargain.
“Shut up, you scum. You have no say in this.” To me, she said, “In there now,”
“And if I refuse,” she walked towards me and put the gun on my head, “then I’ll make you.”
“Mom, no,” Lucas yelled. Her eyes turned to Lucas, and taking that as an opportunity, I quickly grabbed her hand, holding the gun, and held it up.
Bang.
I had caught her unannounced. She quickly began dragging with me. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Lucas wrestling with the man holding him.
Nora was able to get hold of my hair, and she pulled it with one hand. I felt sore all over, but I kept on dragging.
We pulled the gun together to the side, and she noticed that Lucas was fighting with the man; she was about to pull the trigger at him, but I pulled her hand away with all my strength, and she aimed at the other man, shooting him directly in his skull.
Noticing that, she pushed me roughly on the floor and hit my head with her legs.
Lucas had taken down the other man, pushing him into the lake. He fell with a thud and soon let out loud, painful screams.
She aimed at Lucas, who held his hand over his head, “stay back,” she commanded.
At that moment, a car appeared on the end of the road, shining its headlights through.
Nora quickly pulled me up and placed the gun to my head. The car stopped at a considerable distance, and someone walked out of it.
“Who the fuck did you invite?” She yelled at Lucas, who was about to step close to us, “One more move, and I’ll blow off Andrea’s skull.” She said.
As the person approached, his face became clearer. “Alejandro?” she asked, sounding surprised.
Alejandro didn’t look surprised to see her holding a gun, and though it was dark, I could tell he had anger written all over his face, “Nora, don’t do any of this.”
“Oh, welcome to the party,” she said.
“Why are you doing this, Nora?” Alejandro asked.
“Because of you. How dare you try to divorce me because of this bitch and her bastard son? You think I’ll just sit back and watch you do so?” She asked angrily, her hold around me getting stronger with each word.
“Let me tell you something you might have missed. You see this son, this one,” she said, pointing her gun at Lucas, who was surprisingly closer to us than he had been a few minutes ago.
“The son you had learned to love like yours all your life; he is not yours,” she paused. “Surprised, right?” She let out a laugh. But you know the most interesting part? He is Williams’s son, your best friend’s son. Now, isn’t that the best twist?”
I was convinced that this woman was a psychopath.
Alejandro stiffened at this, surprised. He had not turned off his headlights, making the dark place bright.
“How could you…”
“Save it; I don’t want to hear what you have to say. All this should have gone according to my plan if Lucas had not come and ruined it.” She sounded bitter as she spoke.
“The plan was for Austin and Andrea to be out of our life, and first, Austin had escaped because of his stupid mother,” she pressed the gun into my head forcefully, “and then Lucas showed up, and now you?” She must be so disappointed that nothing was going according to her plan.
“I don’t mind hurting you, and since you are here, you should all dance to the sound of this music,” before anyone could fathom her next move, she pointed the gun at Lucas and shot him in his left shoulder.
Lucas screamed in pain, “Lucas,” Alejandro ran towards him.
Seeing that she no longer had the gun close to my head anymore, I turned and hit her on the hand holding the gun. The gun fell at my legs, and I kicked it far from where we were standing.
I pulled away from her hold, but before I could fully step away from her, she pushed me.
I fell on the rails, kicking a stone into the lake, and it made a thudding sound. Hearing the noises of the piranhas sent fear down my spine.
It took me a while to get myself. Nora had already picked up the gun.
Alejandro was trying to stop Lucas’s blood by tying his shirt around his shoulder. His chest is bare.
Nora raised the gun, aiming at him. She thought I had fallen into the lake.
Before she could pull the trigger again, I took this as an opportunity and launched at her. The gun fell from her hand into the lake.
She tried to push me off her, but I didn’t let her go.
We kept dragging until she had me pressed against the railing.
The railing makes a creak sound. It was weak, and if Nora pushed anymore, it would break, and I would fall into the lake.
Seeing this, she smiled, “goodbye, Andrea,” she said, putting all her strength on me.
I held onto her; if I were to die, she was coming with me.
But before the railings could fully break, I pushed back, putting all my strength on my hands.
She fell to the floor and stood immediately; as she launched her body at me, I quickly stepped away to the side.
She fell on the railings, which broke immediately, sending her into the lake full of hungry piranhas.
Her screams resounded, and I looked down at the lake to see her being devoured hastily by the piranhas. Her blood mixed with the water.
My legs felt weak immediately, and I dropped down. A large, strong hand caught me before I could touch the ground.
My heart beat rapidly within my ribcage. It was all over. Alejandro’s mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear a word.
“Is Austin all right?” I asked him weakly, “Yes. He is fine and in the hospital.” At that moment, cars rushed onto the road, police horns barring.
“Take me to him.” It was a struggle to keep my eyes open. I had blood flowing from different parts of my body.
Lucas came to stand beside us. The pain was written over his face. His shoulder had been wrapped with Alejandro’s clothes. I was glad Alejandro was able to stop the blood.
“I want to see my son. I want to…” everything blurred. I couldn’t keep my eyes open for long, and soon, everything turned black.