Endurance - Jack Kilborn [107]
“So feisty,” Eleanor said, her bug eyes glinting. “But I think this first drop will take the fight right out of you.”
Eleanor began to shove her toward the edge. Maria spread out her feet, grasping at Eleanor’s ankles, but the old woman was too powerful and continued to push.
A foot away.
Six inches.
I’m going to drop. I’m going to drop, and the fall will rip my shoulders from my sockets.
Maria closed her eyes and set her jaw, trying to prepare herself for the oncoming agony.
Then there was a crash. A gigantic crash that shook the entire house.
“Go check!” Eleanor ordered Harry.
He loped off, and while Eleanor was distracted, Maria grasped her chains and whipped them straight at the bitch’s head.
Eleanor staggered back, and Maria scrambled away, heading for the shotgun propped up against the wall.
The old woman recovered quickly, grabbing Maria’s chain, yanking her to a stop. The shotgun was almost within reach. Maria strained for it, kicking out her foot, knocking it onto the floor.
But then she was being yanked back to the railing. Eleanor reeled in the chain, hand over hand, like a longshoreman pulling in a net. Maria stood up, pulling back, putting her whole body into it. But there was no way she’d win this tug of war. Eleanor was too strong. Too heavy.
Inch by inch, Maria lost ground. She tried to shake the chains, but it had no effect. She changed positions, draping the chains over her shoulder, leaning in the opposite direction. But inch by terrible inch, Eleanor brought Maria back to the banister.
“I have royal blood!” Eleanor grunted, grabbing Maria by the wrists. “You can’t defy me!”
And then she shoved Maria off the edge
Kelly dropped down off the ledge of the cliff, landing on the ledge a few feet below.
She didn’t look down. She had no need to.
I trust the ground is solid. I trust my feet. I’m not going to fall.
She hugged the cliff face, knees slightly bent, and waited for Cam.
“Kelly?” she heard him say, giggling. “You did not just jump down there.”
A moment later, she saw Cam’s face peer over the edge.
“Whoa. We’re pretty high.”
Then Kelly started screaming. She screamed loud and long. Over and over.
“Shut up!”
Cam slapped his hands to his ears. Kelly screamed even louder.
“Why did you kill me, Cam! Why didn’t you let me go! I’m your best friend!”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”
Cam got on his knees, scalpel in hand, obviously desperate to silence her.
Kelly jumped up, snatching Cam’s hair, holding on while trusting her feet would find the ledge again.
Momentum took him off the edge of the cliff and right over her head. Kelly’s feet landed solidly.
Kelly didn’t bother watching him smash into the rocks below. But she heard it. A long, fading wail, ending in a sound like a belly-flop.
I did it.
I’m alive.
I’m alive!
Then Kelly chinned-up to level ground and then ran into the woods, anxious to find Mom.
Felix climbed out of the truck. Driving through the front door of the Inn had done quite a bit of damage to both the vehicle, and the building. He also could add whiplash to his shopping list of injuries.
He looked around the room, and felt his heart skip a beat.
This place is a slaughterhouse.
The dead were strewn about everywhere, and a large cloud of flies buzzed about, hopping from one bloody treat to the next.
Is Maria one of them? What happened here?
Most of them looked deformed. Felix wondered if he should start searching corpses. Then he had something more pressing to deal with.
Harry.
The harelipped man jogged down the stairs, running right at him. Felix backpedalled, but Harry was too fast. His huge hands wrapped around Felix’s throat, completely encircling it. Harry giggled, spit and snot dripping through the split in his face, and then began to squeeze.
Felix instantly saw stars. He swatted ineffectively at Harry’s face, then made a half-hearted attempt to scratch at the giant’s eyes. Harry began to shake him, and Felix felt the edges of his vision begin to dim.
Weapon. Need a weapon.
But he had no weapons. The only thing he