Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who still reads this story, and who was completely honest about forgetting it :-). I'm going to finish this, no matter who ends up finishing it with me, because as hectic as life is right now, this means a lot to me. I know this chapter's brief, but I'm doing my best. Will post more soon. -LV
Chapter 12
Samantha felt fear as if she'd never feared anything before. In her mind flashed images of her past, more specifically mistakes she'd made, regrets she'd harbored for nearly half her life. She felt helpless and weak, and more and more paralyzed by self-doubt by the second. In that moment, Samantha looked through the eyes of the child inside of her and was not herself.
Jeremy was sweating. The hand not holding the blade to Jack's cheek shook while the other was beginning to draw a line of blood across his face. "You got it?"
"Got---got what..." Samantha stammered, eyes wide and focused on somewhere below Jack's face. Even with here eyes were they were, she could see him tense up in disappointment. She was a disappointment: to him, to everyone... Pleasehelpme...
"Don't fuck with me, bitch!" The kid shrieked, pushing the blade harder into Jack's skin. She heard voices softly crying and saw the two sisters by a rusted oil barrel, clinging to each other. Jeremy saw the direction in which she was looking and stumbled over to the girls. "I'll put a bullet through them both, I swear to God!"
"I believe you," Sam whispered, clenching her gun tightly. It seemed the more she did, the harder it was for her to keep the mouth of it steady. "Look, I'm not—" Jeremy's shin collided accidentally with an empty drum of oil and it clanged to the ground. "—I'm not trying to fuck with you, Jeremy. I just…I want to get everybody…keep everything safe."
Sam felt the sweat drip down from her forehead and into her eyes, blurring her already fuzzy vision. Her hands shook, and she only prayed that the kid didn't notice.
"Samantha…?" A deep, hoarse voice penetrated the muddled state of her brain.
"Look, can we just…" she began, automatically breaking the rules of negotiating with a dangerous fugitive. "Just let the girls go…you've got two FBI agents. That's—that's plenty to bargain with…"
"What a brilliant point," Jeremy snapped, his body shaking. "Except for the part where nobody knows where the fuck we are!" He leaned and held onto Jessica's shoulder for support. She shrieked. He reacted.
It happened in the span of a second at most. Sam saw the knife descend as in slow motion, cutting through the air in perfect aim at the girl's throat. Samantha struggled to holster her own weapon, heard it clatter to the ground, and dove for the kid.
Jessica's eyes flashed up to the FBI agent's face. Jeremy's followed. The blade switched targets, and it plunged into Samantha's unprotected side.
End Ch. 12