The Fear of Dying

The car rolled into a parking spot and the driver got out. Kat was writhing in the back seat, moaning and crying. The moment the door opened, her legs fell from the door and suddenly she was being dragged across the seat on her back. The other guy let go of her hands to slide out of the passenger side to come around and help his partner.

“No! NO!” Kat screamed as he hefted her up and out, dragging her out of the car. She screamed, crying for help as they yanked her out of the car and she tried to focus through the pain. Her hands were grabbing the vehicle, trying to keep herself from being pulled out but they yanked her out of the car with far greater force than she could fight against.

She could see the car getting further away as the second man shoved it shut. She started beating on the guy’s back, smashing her head into him. “LET. ME- GO!”

And he didn’t seem to mind her thrashing at all as he hauled her down the steps of the quiet dock, though his pace seemed to increase.

Kat took in a sharp breath and tried to scream at the top of her lungs but he jostled her hard and it knocked the wind out of her, making her cough and gasp. She was grabbing her neck where she’d hit his shoulder and trying to catch her breath as she turned behind her to see him walking her to the boats. Her mouth opened and she tried to strangle out her next words. “Ah- fuck.” She winced, turning to try to look at her captor. He pushed her back more so she couldn’t see his face and she grabbed what little hair he had and yanked back, making him yell. He squeezed her tighter, making her ribs ache and scream and she blubbered out a pained moan in response as she let go and tried to work to free herself again.

“Hurry up and tie that anchor there to her ankle and we’ll just throw her in and be done with it!” He whispered loudly to his bald partner.

The moment she heard him, she was flailing her legs, trying to fight back. The other guy grabbed her leg and she smashed her head into his repeatedly, dizzying herself. She clamored to push the hands off as he peeled her head back, shoving her face away so she couldn’t keep hitting him in the head. She was clawing at them then before trying to fight the anchor that was being tied around her ankle.

“Fuck! Drop the anchor already!” The man seethed to his partner.

“I’m fucking trying! It’s heavy! It’s tied! It’s tied! Just shove her in!”

Kat was slapping him as he tried to pull her off. She managed to get him to drop her on accident and she hit the pier, wincing. She gasped as he tried to pick her back up and she slapped at his hands. He grabbed her in frustration and managed to grab her throat, pushing against it for a moment as he choked her, pinning her down before she hit him with her foot, managing to get it between them and she slid back. She realized too late that she was at the edge and she grabbed the end of the pier before he shoved her off completely and into the water. The cold bit at her limbs, stinging her and she wanted to cry out, to scream for help as the water flooded in. She started coughing, gasping as she reached for the pier’s pole that held it up from the bottom of the coast.

She stared at the two shadowy figures, but her eyes went to the anchor as she watched him dangle it beside her and then before she saw him throw it, she went back under. Hands pushed against her shoulders, and she thrashed. She threw herself back up, shaking her head. There was a brief moment she resurfaced, grabbing onto the pier again to scream but it came out as a cough before she was shoved back under. She choked, gasping and suddenly she was falling. Her hands were wildly thrusting against the water as the hands left her and she felt her strength go at a harsh tug from beneath her. She felt a yank when the rope tugged tight and she was brought down towards the bottom of the body of water.

Kat was holding her breath, watching the sky melt away as the dark of the water overtook her vision. She reached up, holding her breath till she felt her chest throb painfully and the cold cut in. She gasped and suddenly the bubbles of the last of her breath were floating away. Water rushed in and her eyes rolled as she sunk deeper into the water.

The light from the pier sank away as she fell further into the dark before she tried to tug away, but the rope held tight and her movements felt so rigid and slow. She kicked, trying to free her ankle, but the water was so cold that her body went into shock, paralyzing her. Kat closed her eyes, motionless as the water slowly came to a halt around her and she was floating. It felt like a cold, like a dark dream. Was this how she was going to die?

The bald man was sighing heavily. “Fucking hell- I thought it was weird that she was able to fight back so well.”

“Well- when you’re on your way to kill someone, they tend to give it all they’ve got.” He sighed heavily, looking at his wet sleeves. He sighed, unbuttoning it as he tried to tug the button up shirt off, leaving his black t-shirt underneath. “God. Lee- fucking bastard. He said we were good-”

There was a loud roar as a nearly eight-foot beast came barreling down the docks.

He stopped, turning to glance up and his brows rose sharply over his shades at the lycan. “SHIT!”

“Wha-” The bald man was turning to see a black form barreling down at them and he turned, slipping on the dock to run back towards the boardwalk. His partner was fumbling for his gun.

“Shit- shit! SHIT!” He pulled the gun out quickly, trying to prime for a silver bullet at the top of his ejected clip.

Bright gaslight blue eyes fixed on them, a deep rumbling growl could be heard over the pounding of claws into the dock as it drew nearer to the boat.

“FUCK!” His hands trembled as he dropped the silver bullet, accidentally shoving it and missing it from the clip. He winced, turning to look up before he turned and made off after his partner who was clamoring over the brick and trying to get away.

“FUCKING THINGS COME IN PAIRS!”

“NO SHIT BEN!”