#FreakshowFriday

Chapter 28: Risk

October 18, 2023

What part of 'wait for me' was so damn hard for you to grasp?

Those words tell Nathan all he needs to know. He messed up. Big time.

"I had a– I had a good reason," he stammers in a meek attempt to explain his own stupid actions.

"Did you now?" Jamie's tone is as sharp as the Doctor's fingernails. She turns, scathing glare swiveling from him to the revenant. "I'd just love to hear all about it the second we get out of here."

Except the chances of getting out are slim. Jamie stands between Nathan and the Doctor protectively, but without a weapon, she'll be no match for it. Not when all the violence Nathan's fists unleashed never even made a dent. And he'll be of no help to her in the state he's in, with so much warm blood dripping down his arm.

Two against one, but they still don't stand a chance. Not like this.

The Doctor has figured out as much. Having recovered from its shock, it slinks back to the stairwell, its malicious presence blocking off their only way out. Bloodstained yellow teeth bare into a grin. The creature's head is cocked to the side in a playful fashion. It stands and awaits their next move as if this is all a game.

A game it knows is rigged in its favour.

"We'll talk about it." Nathan groans in pain as he pushes himself to his feet with his good arm. "But if we want to get out, we'll have to get past that thing. And not to be a cynic, but I'm... not sure that's still happening."

"Oh, it'll sure as fuck be happening. You're just too busy thinking inside the box to notice it." Jamie takes a defiant step in the Doctor's direction. "Be prepared to take a little risk. If you want to live, you do exactly what I'm about to do. No apprehensions. Got that?"

Nathan isn't in any position to criticize whatever idea she has, though her getting closer to the Doctor causes him significant anxiety. Get away from there, he wants to shout, but his efforts to protect her have already backfired once today. He needs to trust she has this covered.

But what if? Nathan lacks confidence as he trails after her, because he thinks he knows what trick she's about to pull. The same one he saw on  the camera footage she brought back from Poveglia. Storm at the revenant, take it by surprise. Rush past it down the stairs.

But who's to say that will work a second time?

They could both die in this house of it doesn't. Nathan has only himself to thank for that.

He startles out of his doom-thinking when Jamie stops in her tracks, right as the Doctor is getting poised to strike.

"I think you had the right idea a century ago, Doc," she says. "Stairs are overrated. It's way faster to jump."

She pivots on her heels, racing back towards the windows at lightning speed. The Doctor screeches in confusion—confusion equalling split seconds of extra time. On instinct, Nathan sprints after Jamie, panic creeping into his heart. Don't do it don't risk it what the fuck you're insane you don't even know if it's deep enough–

If Jamie is at all plagued by the same concerns, they go out the window as fast as she does. Without a moment's hesitation, she jumps into the canal below.

The Doctor catches on, barreling towards Nathan in a last attempt to keep him inside. Nathan curses, shoves his fears and worries aside and follows Jamie into the deep end.

His stomach roils during the fall. Air rushes past him as gravity pulls him towards the turquoise water below. A cold, hard shock runs through his body when he hits the water and suddenly finds himself submerged.