Waverly felt Tucker behind her. “Let’s play a game.” She heard him load and lock the crossbow. Waverly jumped and let out a small scream when the arrow whizzed by her head and pierced the dirt beside Nicole. “Damnit, Tucker! What are you doing?” Waverly yelled. “I’m going to see just how close I can get without hitting her,” he calmly stated.
“What!? NO! You don’t want to do this. You don’t want to hurt her,” Waverly tried to reason. Tucker squatted down to peer at Waverly at eye level. “You’re right. I don’t want to do this, but, you, Waverly, you left me no choice.” Waverly squeezed her eyes shut trying to block out the whirling blackness that was threatening.
“Tucker, I…I ….but you love her, right?” “Of course, I love her. She’s my world. But, you, you destroyed all of that. Now I can’t have her anymore….and neither can you.” “But, Tucker…..” Waverly began as Tucker locked and loaded the crossbow again. This time, however, he didn’t look where he was aiming, he kept his gaze on Waverly. He just pointed and shot. Waverly whipped her ahead around when he heard a weird sound coming from Nicole. The arrow had ripped through her shoulder leaving a gaping whole.
“DAMN YOU, TUCKER!” Waverly yelled and fought against her bindings. Tucker just smiled at Waverly. He then turned back to his crossbow. Waverly heard another click and saw another arrow graze Nicole’s hip before sticking in the dirt. “NOOOOO!” Waverly cried. “Please, Tucker. Please stop,” Waverly begged. “I’ll do anything you want, just please, stop hurting her.”
“It’s too late for that, Waverly. You had your chance. Now you both have to pay the price.” “What? When? When did I lose my chance!?” Waverly was confused. Trying to get into Tucker’s head was too hard. He kept changing the rules. “Tucker, what did I do?” “You took her away!!! You took her to the city!!! Then you took her away and I couldn’t watch anymore!”
“Tucker, I….I ….am…sorry….” she choked. She hated the thought of apologizing to this sociopath. But Nicole was more important. She had to save Nicole. “I didn’t know going away for the weekend was not part of the rules. I didn’t know.” Waverly thought quickly. “Tucker, if…if you tell me the rules…I promise….I’ll do better. I….won’t ….break them…..just please….let Nicole go….punish me…I’m the one who broke the rules not her,” Waverly pleaded again. Tucker was quiet for a moment like he was thinking about her offer. But in the next instant another arrow came from behind her and tore through Nicole’s upper arm flesh, the very shoulder that was already mangled. “NOOOOO!”
“I’m tired of playing this game, Waverly. I think I’m done. Plus, I only have two arrows left…..one for you…and one for Nicole. Who should I kill first? OH, I know….Nicole. You get to watch her die knowing it was all your fault this happened.” Waverly and Nicole held one another’s gaze. Tears flowing freely from both sets of eyes. Waverly’s heart…her soul…sitting across from her was going to die…and it was her fault. “I love you, Nicole,” said seeing nothing but Nicole’s brown eyes staring back at her. Nicole was in so much pain. She felt herself drifting in and out of darkness. She see Waverly watching her. Disregarding the pain, she moved her lips and mumbled, “I love you,” before losing consciousness and slumping forward.
“Nooooo,” cried Waverly. “Please, no.” Waverly dropped her head and sobbed. She waited to hear that final click of the crossbow. The world seemed to stop. Silence fell around the camp, or so it seemed. Waverly took a deep breath and held it…waiting….waiting for that final click that would end the life of her soulmate.
“HEY, JACKASS!” Waverly heard from somewhere to her left. BANG! A shot rang out. Beside her, Tucker fell to the ground with a gaping hole between his eyes. Waverly heard someone approaching as she fought to free herself from her restraints yet again. “Hey, Doc. I’ve got you.” “Nicole,” she said pleading.
Waverly felt the ropes fall. She was beside Nicole in a flash. “Baby? Baby, please,” she said as she brush the hair back from her girlfriend’s face and lifted her head to assess the damage and to make sure she wasn't dead. Dolls handed her a knife to cut the restraints still holding Nicole while he radioed for a medvac. The two worked earnestly to stop the bleeding of the red head's wounds. She made no sound, no whimper, no movement as the two touched her. Dolls checked her pulse. It was weak, very weak. He got on the radio again. “WE NEED THAT MEDVAC NOW!!” The dispatcher replied it was 5 minutes out. Dolls hoped that it wasn’t too late
