Chapter 54
1386 Words
The lake groaned like it was breathing beneath them, the weight of hatred and history pressing down against fragile ice.
Mark stood at the edge, blood staining the snow at his feet, body trembling from exhaustion and cold. He didn’t dare move—not while William held Ronnie in his grasp.
She was in front of him, her small frame dwarfed by his looming presence. Her wrists were raw. Her skin was pale and blotched from the cold, and yet—her eyes were steady.
They met Mark’s across the dark ice, blue to blue.
Forgive me, they said.
Mark’s brows furrowed. “Ronnie—”
She cut him off with a small, sad smile.
“I love you,” she whispered.
The words hit Mark like a bullet to the chest. His breath caught.
He didn’t get the chance to respond.
Because in the next second—Ronnie moved.
Fast.
Like lightning.
Her fingers dipped behind William’s back, yanking the pistol tucked into the waistband of his jeans.
Mark saw it all in slow motion.
William’s eyes widened. His grip on her hair tightened in shock.
But Ronnie didn’t aim at him.
She aimed down.
Right at the ice beneath their feet.
And fired.
Crack!
The shot echoed like a cannon blast through the woods.
Crack—crack—CRASH.
The ice shattered instantly beneath them, spiderweb fractures becoming craters. The frozen lake split with a gut-wrenching roar, swallowing them both.
Mark screamed.
“RONNIE!”
He surged forward without thinking, the pain in his leg forgotten. He didn’t feel the freezing water on his boots as he sprinted out onto the ice. Didn’t hear the sirens growing louder behind him. His mind was consumed by the image of her going under, of that haunting smile she gave him just before she disappeared.
The hole in the ice was jagged and gaping.
Mark reached the edge and dropped to his knees, plunging his arms into the black water.
“Veronica!” he shouted, panic clawing at his throat. “Ronnie!”
His arms thrashed through the water, ice scraping at his skin. Every nerve screamed from the cold, but he didn’t stop.
He dove in.
The cold was blinding. Like knives slicing across his body.
The water swallowed him whole.
Darkness.
Silence.
Then movement.
A flicker beneath the surface. A pale arm. Blonde hair, weightless like silk underwater.
Ronnie.
Mark kicked hard, ignoring the way his body screamed. He reached for her, his fingers finally closing around her forearm. Her eyes were closed. Her lips blue.
No. No no no—
He pulled her up, lungs burning, his own body near collapse. His head broke the surface with a gasp, Ronnie’s limp body in his arms.
“Got you,” he choked out. “I’ve got you.”
He grabbed the jagged edge of the ice, shoving Ronnie up onto it first. The surface cracked beneath their weight, but held.
Mark climbed out after her, teeth chattering so hard his jaw ached. He collapsed beside her, gasping for air.
“Ronnie—Veronica, come on, baby,” he whispered, cupping her face. “Open your eyes. Breathe.”
She didn’t move.
His heart dropped.
“No—no—don’t do this,” he begged, pressing his lips to hers. His hands pumped her chest in short, panicked bursts. “Breathe for me. Come back. Please…”
A strangled cough escaped her lips.
Water spilled from her mouth as her body jerked forward violently.
Then—air.
She gasped.
And Mark let out a sob of relief, pulling her into his arms.
“You stupid, brave girl,” he whispered against her wet hair. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
She coughed again, then clutched at his shirt, her whole body shaking from cold and shock.
“He was… gonna… take me,” she rasped. “I had to… I couldn’t… I couldn’t let him win.”
“You didn’t,” Mark said fiercely. “You didn’t.”
But even as he held her, his eyes scanned the black hole in the ice.
William was gone.
Swallowed by the lake.
The sirens were deafening now—red and blue lights cutting through the trees like the world was bleeding and burning all at once.
Mark barely noticed.
He kept Ronnie pressed against him, both of them soaked and trembling violently. Her skin was paper-white. Her lips quivered with the effort of speaking. But she was alive. She was alive.
Footsteps crunched across the frozen shore.
Voices shouted—orders, names, panic.
“Over here! We’ve got them!”
Uniformed officers and paramedics rushed the lake’s edge. Reynolds was among them, face pale and frantic as he dropped to his knees beside Mark.
“Jesus Christ—Mark—Ronnie—”
“She needs help,” Mark rasped, still holding her like he couldn’t bear to let go. “She—she nearly drowned—”
Ronnie’s eyes fluttered open and landed on Reynolds. Her voice was a whisper. “Victor… the cabin—gasoline—he was gonna burn him—”
“We got it,” Reynolds said quickly, nodding. “The fire’s out. Victor’s dead. The place is contained. We’re just glad you’re—”
“William,” Mark interrupted. “He’s still under there. Under the ice.”
Reynolds looked at the cracked hole in the center of the lake, then back at his friend. “Divers are on their way. But in this water… if he’s under…”
His voice trailed off, but they all understood.
William was gone.
Maybe for good.
A paramedic wrapped blankets around Ronnie and began checking her vitals. Another crouched beside Mark, inspecting his leg and the blood-soaked jeans that had frozen to his skin. Mark winced but didn’t move.
Ronnie clutched his arm, her lips barely moving. “Don’t let go.”
“Not a chance,” he whispered back, gripping her hand tighter.
She started to cry—quiet, aching sobs that trembled in her chest.
Not hysterics. Not panic. Just the exhaustion of a woman who had spent years outrunning a monster and finally stopped.
“He’s gone,” she whispered. “He’s really gone.”
Mark looked out over the lake as the sun began to rise beyond the trees, casting a hazy gold light over the shattered surface.
“Yeah,” he said softly. “He’s gone.”
Later, inside the warmth of an ambulance, Ronnie sat wrapped in three layers of blankets, sipping warm water. Her hair was damp, cheeks flushed with cold, and eyes heavy with exhaustion. But she was present.
Mark sat beside her, cleaned up but still bruised and battered. His thigh had been stitched and wrapped. He’d refused a stretcher. Refused a hospital. Not until he was sure she was okay.
Their hands were still linked.
“I can’t believe it’s over,” she said finally, voice hoarse. “I thought I’d never be free.”
“You are now,” Mark said, his voice low, steady. “You bought your freedom with a bullet and a fall through the ice.”
She let out a small, broken laugh. “He kissed me.”
Mark’s jaw tensed.
“I wanted to vomit,” she added quickly. “But I needed him to believe I meant it. That I’d stay with him. If I didn’t… he would’ve killed you.”
Mark touched her cheek, brushing damp hair behind her ear. “I knew what you were doing.”
“I hated saying it,” she whispered, eyes glossing with tears. “Calling him… that.”
“You saved me. And yourself.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder, quiet for a long time. Then, barely audible, she said, “I meant it, though.”
He looked down. “Meant what?”
“When I said I love you.”
Mark’s chest swelled. The rawness in her voice, the truth in it—it was stronger than any confession he’d ever heard.
He turned and kissed her temple gently.
“I love you too, Ronnie.”
She closed her eyes, letting the words sink in.
They didn’t need anything else in that moment.
Just the feel of each other’s presence.
Alive. Together. Free.
- Writer
