Page 80 of Girl, Undone
‘Yes I do,’ Ella said.She began circling.Trying to edge him toward the water.
‘It won’t change anything.I’ll still go down a pioneer.’
‘Doubt it,’ Ella said.She reached into her jacket, pulled out a wad of papers.
Maxwell’s precious manuscript.
‘This what you’re looking for?’
‘What the hell?’Maxwell screamed.He stomped closer to Ella, but she re-positioned herself.‘Where did you get that?’
‘Detective work.It was all here.Your final experiment.Heights.It had to be here.’
Maxwell tensed up like a cornered animal ready to lash out.He began to convulse, and for a moment, Ella feared he might actually pull the trigger.'It's on my computer.My work is safe.Itwillget out there.I’ll make sure of it.’
‘We already seized it.Your computer’s in an evidence locker, and once you’re in chains, I’m taking a sledge hammer to it.And as for this,’ Ella dug her fingernails into the papers and crumpled them, ‘this is going straight to hell too.’
Ella flung the papers into the icy waters.They caught the wind in a fleeting moment of grace before they descended to their watery grave.The lake pulled them down despite their weightlessness.
But the moment the manuscript touched the water, Maxwell Tanner erupted.A guttural scream tore through the night – the sound of a man witnessing the destruction of his obsession.
‘My work!’Maxwell howled.The man who had prided himself on control, on being the orchestrator of terror, lost all semblance of composure.His pistol arm fell by the wayside as he lunged towards the lake’s edge, as if he could somehow salvage the sinking pages.
Ella gauged the moment, saw her opening.
Now was the optimal time to strike.
She took her shot.
With Maxwell skirting around the edges of the water, Ella charged at the man full force.She wrapped herself around Maxwell from behind and clutched his pistol hand with her wrist.Maxwell, caught off guard by the sudden force, stumbled backward, teetering on the edge of the lake's dark embrace.Ella threw her own pistol down and used her hand to pry Maxwell’s pistol from his grip.
As she launched his gun into the depths of the lake, Maxwell lost his footing and toppled backward.Ella found herself for a split-second that felt like an eternity, then Maxwell’s weight crushed down on her, driving her spine-first into the unforgiving ground.
The impact stole the breath from her lungs and forced a shockwave down her back and through every nerve in her body.
Dazed but undeterred, Ella fought against the haze clouding her vision.Maxwell writhed free from Ella’s grip as he scrambled for any hold that would allow him an advantage.He managed to twist himself around and land amateur blows to Ella’s abdomen.Each blow sent jolts of pain through Ella’s body, but Ella tensed, diminishing their effect.Bruises were preferable to a bullet wound, she reasoned, and now both of them were gunless.
With a grunt of effort, Ella shifted beneath him.She twisted her hips, leveraging her legs to dislodge him, to create just enough space to bring her knees up and push him off her.Ella rolled away from his grasp and sprang to her feet, fueled by adrenaline, justice, and the lives Maxwell had needlessly snubbed out.
Ella wasted no time.She hurtled toward her opponent and landing a right hook into his jaw.She felt bone crack, ligaments tear, and cartilage shatter beneath the blow.Maxwell tried to defend himself by flailing his arms, but it was a futile attempt to block the onslaught.Ella unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks that suddenly transported her back to her martial arts days.In that moment, she was no longer a cop bound by the law.She was a survivor of one of Maxwell's experiments, and she was driven by the need for retribution.
With every fist blow to Maxwell’s torso, Ella exorcised the terror that Maxwell had implanted in her.The fear, the helplessness, the vulnerability she had felt while under his control – it all fueled her now.She was relentless, giving Maxwell no quarter, no chance to recover or retaliate.The life drained from his whole being, and the therapist-turned-serial killer collapsed to the ground face-first.
He was a puppeteer who had lost control of his strings.The tables were turned, and he was the subject, exposed to the unfiltered terror of facing someone who had nothing left to lose.
Ella stood over him.She reached for her handcuffs, knelt down on Maxwell’s back.
But as Ella’s hands touched Maxwell’s wrist, his body suddenly revived, like a trap waiting to spring.
In a blaze of movement, Maxwell rolled onto his back and struck Ella in the temple with something heavy and jagged.
The blow sent Ella reeling.A sharp pain radiated from her temple as she fought to maintain consciousness.Maxwell managed to scramble to his feet, pushed himself onto Ella, and pressed his knees down against her shoulders.The world seemed swirled into a dizzying vortex.A sharp throb in her head pulsed with her heartbeat, and the rough texture of bricks dug into her spine.
The edges of her vision was now fringed with darkness, and it threatened to pull her into unconsciousness.She idly wondered if Ripley was nearby, or if the backup she’d called were en route.However, any glimmer of hope was brutally snatched away when her gaze, struggling against the blur and the pain, caught sight of Maxwell.He loomed over her, holding the heavy, jagged rock high above his head.The hope for Ripley's intervention faded as quickly as it had arisen and left her with the resolve to survive or fight back with whatever strength she could muster.
And in the shadow of death, Ella’s wit sparked to life.
She seized upon the one thing that might halt Maxwell’s crushing blow.
