Harper’s eyes felt as if they were on fire as they opened in the cold, icy water. She pushed off the front seat and kicked her legs as she made her way through the empty frame of the windshield. She stared up…the black surface just a few feet above her. Harper pushed her feet off the car hood as she waved her arms through the dark, watery abyss that surrounded her. She was almost to the surface. Just a few more feet…
Her head erupted through the black surface of the small lake as she coughed. Her chest heaved up and down as she struggled to catch her breath; her long, dark, wet hair plastered to her face.
And that’s when she heard the gun shot.
Harper quickly turned in the water as a bullet soared through the air and struck the surface…barely missing her. Her eyes squinted in the darkness to see…Nicole standing at the end of the small wooden dock ahead…the gun in her hand.
“Shit!” Harper cried as Nicole fired the gun again. Harper quickly dove below the surface as the bullet pierced through the water…just a few inches from her head.
“Come on, Harper! Don’t make this harder than it has to be!” Nicole screamed as her eyes scanned the dark surface. The dock boards creaked beneath her shoes as she moved towards the edge of the dock.
BAM!
Nicole let out a painful scream as a bullet busted from underneath the dock and through the center of her foot.
“Fuck!” Nicole screamed as she fell onto the dock and held her gushing foot. The blood oozed from the wound and covered her shaking hand cupped around it.
Harper then lunged up from the surface beside the dock. Her cold hands grabbed the edge as she slowly pulled herself up on it. Nicole’s eyes widened as she looked towards her. Harper quickly stood up…just a few feet away from Nicole.
Nicole smirked to herself as she slowly limped up to her feet, her eyes burning into Harper. Harper’s body trembled as the cool breeze danced around her soaked body. She held the gun up and pointed it directly at Nicole.
“Five shots…looks like you’ve got one left,” Harper said, breathless. Rage burned inside of her. She was the reason for all of this. She killed Grayson. She killed Vera. She took Rosie. Everything came down to this very moment.
“You’re no better than any of them, Harper,” Nicole said as she tightened her grip on the gun at her side. “You’re just as horrible as Elena was…as Kyle was…as all of them were.”
“Yeah, well I’ll actually finish the job unlike Elena,” Harper snapped back, her jaw tight.
“I know it doesn’t mean much, but I actually did care for you. In a different world…under different circumstances…” Nicole began.
“You wouldn’t try to kill me and frame me for murder?” Harper snapped. “Save the lies…I’ve heard enough of them.”
“You won’t do it,” Nicole said. “You’re weak…you’re so fucking weak,” Nicole giggled. Harper could hear the police sirens echo through the thick woods that surrounded them. They were close. Harper began to lower her gun.
“You don’t deserve death. You deserve to rot in a cell. You deserve to pay for every damn life you stole. You deserve to pay for what you did them…and for what you did to me. You shouldn’t have done this, Delilah. You shouldn’t have stolen everything from me…from Rosie,” Harper said.
“Any more fucking worldly advice before they get here? Huh?” Nicole said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. Harper slowly raised her gun.
“Yeah…”
“What’s that?” Nicole asked as the sirens loomed closer and closer. The red and blue lights spun through the trees in the distance.
“You should have stayed at the bottom of the lake,” Harper said coldly. Harper pulled the trigger, shooting Nicole directly into the forehead. Nicole’s eyes widened…as she fell back…and tumbled over the dock and splashed into the water.
The gun trembled in Harper’s hands as she slowly fell to her knees on the center of the dock. She glanced back as she watched three squad cars pull up to the lake house. Harper glanced down at her stomach as tears slowly began to pour down her cheeks. She was finally safe. Harper gently placed her hand against her stomach…against the growing child inside of her.
They were safe.
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