The Trials of November

Chapter Seventeen

Ben stepped between Victoria and David without an ounce of hesitation. He pushed her behind him.
David was getting particularly scary and protective, and it made Victoria feel safe. She did not feel afraid anymore. She felt like anything that could have happened to her would be okay because Ben was there with her.
David stood up straight, through his cigarette on the ground and extinguished it with a smirk.
"Stop!" Ben commanded. "Stay right there." David stopped, but the pair knew that he had more control over the situation than they did.
"Easy there, Shep." David said with a mocking tone. He took another step closer and the two took a step back, keeping the space between them.
"Stop!" Ben said, obviously getting more angry and frustrated. "I swear." He held a hand out between him and David. Victoria had never seen Ben this threatening before, and it scared her.
"You won't want to be that threatening once you realize the position that you're in." David snickered. He took another step forward, revealing Anne, sitting against the wall, looking as afraid as ever.
"Anne!" Victoria and Ben both yelled out, obviously shocked by it. Anne looked up and saw them. A huge smile grew on her face, and she jumped up and ran to Ben, with no objection from David.
Ben hugged her close, but he kept his eyes fixed on David, who stood his ground. Victoria bent over the two of them, still watching David also. After they were done welcoming Anne back, the three of them stood back up again.
"How touching." David said, running his index finger from his eyes down the side of his face, acting as a tear. His constant fake sympathy disgusted Victoria.
Ben pushed both girls behind him again, and Victoria held Anne on her shoulders. Anne was scared, but she was trying very hard not to show it.
"Now give me my part of this deal." David said with a greedy smile. His brown eyes were fixed on Victoria, and they seemed to pierce into her soul. It chilled her from the inside out.
"No way in hell." Ben replied. He turned to the girls. "Go. Now."
"Actually," David cut him off before the girls even had a chance to move a muscle. "I would not suggest doing that." David said, pulling a small revolver out of his pocket. The metal of the gun shone just as the beam from the lighthouse passed them by, and the whole situation seemed as though it was timed perfectly, like a horrifying, awful dance..
Victoria's heart stopped, and all of the color drained from Ben's face. They both let out a little gasp. Ben took a step back, but then he took a hesitant step forward, holding out his hand forward.
"Please, man." Ben begged. "You do not want to do this." He said, and his voice trembled a little bit. His outstretched hand was shaking.
"Actually I do. We made a deal. Your little girlfriend agreed. I gave you my part of the deal, and now you have to give me mine." David said, gesturing towards Victoria, who was still holding Anne's shoulders, trying to comfort her as best as she could. Victoria looked at Ben, but Ben never took his gaze off of David.
Ben slowly began to back away, trying to do it as quietly as he possibly could, but David caught on.
"Stop!" David screamed. A large vein was popping out of his forehead. "Don't move any more or I'll shoot!" He stated. Even though it was cold, David had beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. His eyes were red, and his jacket was unzipped. He looked very disheveled and Victoria made the assumption that he was likely under the influence of something.
Victoria looked behind them. They were on the dock, so there was no way that they would make the entire way if they just made a run for it, but there was nowhere else that they could go. Victoria kept looking around frantically, but she concluded that those were their only two options.
"Please." Ben said. It was obvious that he did not know what else to say. He was desperate. Ben was also sweating, Victoria noticed.
"Come here, Victoria." David said with his yellow smile. "It was our deal." Victoria looked at Ben one more time, and she squeezed Victoria's shoulders. She then took a step outward, towards David. This had to end. Victoria had to make this end, and she had to do it now.
Victoria started to walk towards David, but Ben put his arm out and stopped her forcefully.
"There's no way you are doing this, Vic." He said, his voice cracking. "I love you too much. Please don't do this to me. I love you."
Victoria felt really bad in that moment for doing that to the love of her life. How could she put him through that pain? It was all her fault. Victoria felt horrible and she wished with everything within her that she could just go home with Ben and curl up by the fire and fall asleep. She did not want to be stuck here in the cold and in a seemingly impossible situation.
Victoria knew that she did not want to give herself up to that man. She wanted to find some way out of the situation. She knew that there had to be a way. There was always another way.
She scanned her head for anything. Any idea that could result in their safety. The only thing that she could think of was to flee. Victoria knew that it was risky, but it was the only idea that she had, and she wanted to give them even the slightest chance at a happy ending together.
"Oh, and something else that you should know," David said with an evil smile "is that I knew Callie." Victoria's heart skipped a beat at the sound of her best friend's name. She hadn't heard it in so long and she was startled. "She did not put up that much of a fight, Victoria. You are much more fun." David sneered.
Victoria felt the panic set in. He is the reason Callie is missing. Victoria thought, she then knew that she had to get out of there as fast as she could, and she needed Ben and Anne to get out too.
"Run." Victoria whispered. "I love you." Ben saw the look in her eyes and he did not hesitate. He grabbed Anne and took off, with Victoria close behind him. Ben grabbed Victoria's hand, pulling her behind him and forcing her to run at a speed that she had no idea she was capable of.
"Stop!" David yelled from behind them, but they were only focused on making it to safety. They ran and they ran until their lungs were on fire. Their adrenaline was not allowing for them to stop.
The dock was icy, but that did not slow them down. Everything seemed to be going right for them. Neither of them slipped at all and the cold air did not slow them down either. Ben and Victoria both felt fortunate because, even though they were still one hundred yards from the shore, they both had the feeling that they were safe. That they had made it.
Victoria's legs were burning, and her heart was pounding inside her chest, but neither of those things stopped her. In that moment, she felt as though nothing in the world could stop her.
But, of course, something could.
And when the shot rang out and Victoria felt her leg give in where the bullet penetrated, she fell. Anne screamed. Victoria hit the dock hard, and Ben then stopped to try to help her. He put Anne down and knelt down beside the love of his life, trying to think of something that he could do to help her. He could not think of anything that he knew about gunshot wounds, and it made him feel extremely helpless. He wanted to keep her safe.
Victoria could not let Ben get hurt for her. She knew that she would never forgive herself.
"Go. Go now." She said to him, trying to hide the excruciating pain that she was in. He shook his head stubbornly. Ben would not and could not leave the love of his life, but he wanted Anne to be safe too. Ben put Anne down on the ground, and pointed to the shore forcefully, Anne started walking, obviously unsure of her actions, looking at Ben with frightened eyes, which then turned into a confident run when Ben began to talk to her.
"Anne. Go there and wait for me. I'll be right behind you. Hurry." He said, hoping that David would have enough decency to avoid shooting a small child.
Anne was running, and in a matter of seconds, her small legs carried her to she shore. She took cover behind a tree, but kept watching the scene that was unfolding on the pier.
Victoria's blood was covering the dock, and Ben was frantically trying to stop the bleeding somehow. He had not received much medical training past the CPR class they had to take for health, so he was not totally certain of what he needed to do. He looked around desperately for someone, anyone, who would have been able to assist in the situation.
Victoria was getting pale in her face, and she began to shiver from the cold. Ben assumed that David must have severed an artery and that was why she was losing her blood so quickly. She was losing a lot of blood, therefore losing a lot of heat. Ben hugged her tightly and kissed her on the forehead.
"I love you. I love you so much." Ben said, crying. "You are so brave and kind and I am so lucky to have been able to spend this time with you." He continued, still hugging her tight.
"I... I love you too, Ben." Victoria said with a smile.
There was a light snow that began then, and Victoria looked up to the sky with a smile.
David approached them from behind, and stopped walking when he was standing above them. He had an evil smirk on his face, and Victoria suddenly felt very cold inside and out. Victoria also began to feel dizzy. She wanted to be anywhere but there in that moment. Anywhere.
"See. Victoria, I knew that I would end up getting you. But now you just have to suffer a lot more than you would have had to originally." David said. "This is your fault." He smiled. "Now I get to take you with me forever."
Victoria's heart skipped a beat at the thought of having to spend forever with that strange man. She did not want to. She wanted to go home with Ben and Anne and be happy.
"You're not taking her." Ben stated. Victoria looked up at Ben, who was then standing up straight and looking intimidating.
"Excuse me." David mumbled, obviously unhappy with the pushback. Victoria guessed that he was not used to people telling him no. David then reached in his pocket for the gun.
"You are NOT taking her." Ben repeated, charging David. He ran at him with full force, and David was obviously caught off guard. David struggled to get the gun out, and Ben hit David in the face as hard as he could. Victoria stood up very slowly, putting all of her weight on the uninjured leg, and she started towards them. She wanted to help Ben fight the monster.
The two fell to the ground and kept pummeling each other, and they were kicking and screaming the whole way.
Victoria approached them, and as she walked up to them, they stood up, and backed away from each other so that Victoria was standing between them. Ben had a streak of blood dripping down the side of his face from a cut, and David was obviously injured also. Victoria kept looking at the men, wondering what they were going to do next. David was unpredictable and scary, and Victoria was very nervous what he was going to do next.
"You're not taking her, man." Ben said. He was winded and so was David. Victoria admired how hard Ben was fighting to save her. She loved him, and for some reason, in that moment, she decided that she needed him to know.
"I love you, Ben." Victoria said.
"Fine." David smirked. Victoria's blood ran cold. She realized that he suddenly had an idea. "If I cannot have her, then neither of us can." David said with a deep, strong voice. He then lunged forward and shoved Victoria, pushing her off of the edge of the dock. Victoria screamed as she fell the small drop, and she broke through the thick layer of ice when she landed.
"No!" Ben screamed, and he tried to jump in, but David grabbed him in a headlock, pulling him down onto the dock. David wrapped his legs around Ben, making it so that he could not move. Ben faught and screamed, but could not get free. He began to panic.
"You are going to watch your girlfriend die." David snowled in a terrifying voice. Ben struggled but David would not let him go. Ben stared at the water where the love of his life had gone under, and he willed her with everything within him to surface, but alas, she did not. A few seconds passed, then longer, even up to an entire minute. Ben kept watching, and he kept fighting against David. However, David was refusing to let him go. He held tight.
Ben could not let this happen. He had to save her. He had to.
Victoria sank further and further down into the dark water. She struggled to get to the surface, but she could not make it. She kicked with her one good leg, but her injured leg was dragging her to the depths. She was running out of air.
The cold was making it so that she could not move. Victoria stopped struggling. She let herself sink down into the icy water until she hit the floor. She kept thinking about Ben. She was so lucky to have been able to know Ben. She loved him, and he loved her. Everything was good and perfect for them, and she did not regret one single thing in their relationship.
Victoria could feel the weight of the freezing water weighing down on her, and it was everywhere. Victoria looked up, and the surface was too far away.
Victoria loved Ben. She loved him. Victoria smiled. She was at peace. Then, everything went dark.