Part Eighteen

A groggy Raven slowly looked up, his hands still gripped to the wheel. The car had come to rest awkwardly, the front wheel up on the curb. Raven was stunned for a moment; he couldn't believe he'd just survived that wreck. Beside him, Lita moaned as she held the back of her neck. She had a slight cut over her left eye, but looked to be ok. A trickle of blood ran down the side of her face.

The graveness of the situation came flashing back to Raven and he knew he had to get out of the car then and now or be caught. He couldn't open the driver's door because it had been smashed in completely during the chase. So, he reached behind him in the passenger seat and grabbed the tire iron, then reached over and unbuckled Lita's seat belt. Reaching over her, he forced open her damaged door. "Get out, now!" he ordered. Lita turned to look at him incredulously.

"What?" she gasped hoarsely.

"Let's go girl, NOW," he raised the tire iron as a threatening sign. Lita turned and gingerly half-stepped, half-fell out of the car, Raven climbing out over the seat behind her. Just as he thought, the would-be knights in shining armor had arrived and were running towards them at a furious pace. Lita couldn't tell if the looks on Matt and Jeff's faces was relief, fear, or anger. Maybe it was a little of all those.

"LITA!" Matt yelled.

"Stay back!" yelled Raven. Reaching around Lita, he pulled her towards him in a hostage-like hold, the tire iron across her neck. She grimaced slightly at the pull against her injured neck. "Stay back if you don't want to see her hurt."

Matt and Jeff stopped approximately thirty feet from them. Jeff raised his arms, as if to show Raven they weren't a threat. "Be calm Raven," Jeff said, trying to sound calm himself, "we aren't going to make any sudden moves."

"Let her go Raven," spat Matt. "This is over now."

"NO, it's not," Raven said. He had an edge of panic to his voice. Moving backwards away from the boys, he drug Lita with him a couple feet to the concrete bridge railing. He forced her to climb with him up onto the railing by applying pressure against her sore neck. She cried out at the discomfort it caused as she was drug on her knees up onto the bridge rail.

Matt immediately took a step towards Lita at her cry, but Jeff caught him by the arm.

"Matt, no," he said as quiet as he could. "Don't chance it."

Raven pulled her up to him, holding her tight again with his arm around her middle, the other holding the tire iron against her neck. There was no way she could fight him. Lita peered over the edge of the bridge, the lake's choppy water below making her dizzy. She figured she was about thirty feet above the water. She struggled to maintain her balance on the two-foot wide bridge.

"Ah, boys, the game continues."

"C'mon, Raven. You've done some crazy things, but this is serious. Please come down."

"Please, come down," Raven mocked Jeff. "You make me sick. You know that? You, Mr. Undisputed Champion, begging for mercy. How pathetic is that?"

"We just don't want to see Lita hurt," Matt said calmly.

"Oh, you don't want to see Lita hurt. What about me Matthew? Don't you care about what happens to me?"

"I hope you –" Matt started, but Jeff interrupted him, "you need to get some help Raven."

Jeff was afraid Matt would let his emotions carry him, inadvertently putting Lita more at risk.

"You can get some help, then return to the WWE. You'll have a fabulous reputation as a wild, unpredictable character. You have an incredible future ahead of you."

"Oh, but you already hold that title for wild characters, Jeff. I couldn't use that. Besides, I know as well as you they won't let me come back. They tossed me out like day old bread."

"Raven," came Lita's quiet voice. It surprised him. She hadn't said a word so far. "Please let me down. It scares me to be up here. It makes me dizzy."

"I can't. If I do that, then I lose the game. Look at them, Lita." He shook his arm around her neck, as if to emphasize to her what he wanted her to do. "See them? I've got their attention now. I think those punks are sorry now they ever messed with me. They are at my mercy. Do you know how that feels?"

Lita listened to Raven, but locked eyes with Matt. She stared into the brown depths of his eyes, as if they were her lifesaver. She didn't dare break contact with him.

"It's ok, Raven. Really. They're very sorry. Let's end this. I want to go home and I'm sure you do too."

"Do you know how that feels?" he asked again. He ignored her comments. "It makes me feel powerful. It makes me feel in control. And it makes me feel wanted." Raven's eyes glistened. He was beginning to move his body slightly from side to side as he spoke, and Lita did her best to keep her own balance with the extra movement.

"You're wanted all right," spat Jeff. He was getting frustrated. A part of Jeff wanted to rush Raven so badly. He could take him out with one clean hit. He knew though that doing so would be too risky to Lita right now.

"Why do you think I am such a loner? Why do you think I work so hard? All I want is to be accepted for who I am. For what I can do. No one tries to understand me."

"We all want that to understand you," Matt said, trying to reason with him once more. He took a tentative step towards Raven and Lita.

"Stop right there, Hardy!" Raven screamed at Matt. "I'll jump and I'll take her with me. If you don't think I'm serious, just take one more step forward."

Matt stood frozen in place. He believed that Raven was crazy enough to make good on his threat. Matt subconsciously held his breath.

"Raven, I won't move. Jeff and I are staying right here. Keep talking to us."

Just then, the sound of sirens came into earshot. Although they were far away, the alarms were traveling their direction, getting closer and closer.

"Damn you!" Raven screamed. "Damn you for spoiling the game. You told the police where we were, didn't you?" He began moving small steps backwards along the railing, forcing Lita to step back with him.

"They're coming to bring you some help, Raven."

Raven's eyes grew dark with anger. "I knew I couldn't trust you. That's it. I'm through fooling with both of you. Of all three of you," he said referring to Lita. "I'm playing the final card."

The sirens got louder as they came around the corner. Raven turned half around to look over his shoulder as the police arrived. Turning back around, he made his final decision. Lita thought she heard a whispered "I'm sorry" in her ear. Raven then suddenly released Lita, shoving her off the bridge, plummeting towards the lake water below.

Both Hardys sprung to action simultaneously. "NNNNOOOOOO!" screamed Matt, taking off at a run for the bridge. Jeff cursed profusely as he also ran for the bridge, spearing Raven on the cold concrete rail. Raven's plan to distract them to escape by pushing Lita over failed as Jeff was too quick for him. The two broke into a fierce fight on the bridge right there.

Lita was caught off guard when she felt herself shoved roughly. She couldn't help but take a step – but there was nothing but air to catch her. She screamed in terror as she fell through the air, splashing hard as she landed on her side in the choppy, cold water below.