Chapter 9 - The Reckoning
As the axe swung down, I didn't retreat. Fear evaporated, replaced by pure, blinding fury. Driven by the ultimate instinct to survive, I swung the iron pipe with every ounce of strength in my body.
CLANG!
The pipe struck Esteban brutally across his left knee. He shrieked in agony, his leg buckling beneath him. The axe slipped from his grasp, falling through the broken floorboards and plunging into the churning waters below.
In a frenzy of rage, Esteban lunged at me with his bare hands, wrapping his fingers around my throat. He slammed me against the frail balcony railing, choking the life out of me.
"I'll break your neck!" he growled, his blood dripping onto my face.
My vision began to darken as air was cut off from my lungs.
Suddenly, Lucía rose from the floor. Ignoring her shattered shoulder, she grabbed a heavy iron pulley hanging from a nearby pulley-rig and threw her entire body weight into Esteban, smashing the iron block directly into his neck.
Esteban gasped, his grip loosening from my throat. The combined momentum of the collision crashed into the rotting wooden balcony.
CRACK... BOOM!
The railing snapped completely. Esteban lost his footing, his eyes widening in sheer terror as he pitched backward into empty air. In his final desperate second, he snatched at my coat sleeve to drag me down with him.
"Elena! Help me!" he screamed.
Lucía threw her arms around my waist, hauling me backward with everything she had.
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TEAR!
My sleeve ripped away. Esteban plummeted into the dark abyss, crashing into the raging, flooded river below. The roaring current swallowed him instantly, dragging his body into the depths.
