The Sacrificial Daughter (43 page)

Jerry Mendel asked, "What?"

She ignored the question, feeling the same eerie calm, the same moment of peace she felt right before she kissed Ky. It brought a smile to her lips and then Jesse yanked hard on her end of the scarf. She was small, terribly undersized compared to Mr. Mendel, and with only a fraction of his strength. Yet she almost pulled him into the water with her surprise move. He slipped, pin-wheeled, and then pulled back on the scarf to hold himself up.

In response, Jesse let the wound up scarf come off her arm. Two things happened: the scarf immediately went tight around her throat, like a hangman's noose, and she lurched forward, barely keeping herself out of the water. The second thing to occur was that the unexpected slack sent Mr. Mendel's upper body back and because of the ice, his lower body shot forward.

With a cry, he fell over onto his back. Now the scarf went ever tighter around Jesse's neck and the extra pull sent her face first into the water. She knew this was going to happen. She planned for this to happen. She wanted it to happen. It was the only way for her death to have the power to save a life. As she was thrown forward she flung out her good right arm and caught a hold of one of Jerry's boots.

Boots are worn tight in Michigan. Everyone knows that. You wouldn't want to lose one in a snowdrift. Jerry's were tied tighter than normal and so when Jesse got her fingers entwined in the laces and began to pull as hard as she could there was no chance for the boot to slip off.

The water was dreadfully cold, yet she hardly noticed, in fact she thought that it would be colder. Jesse was focused on one thing: saving Ky's life. And that meant ending Jerry's. From beneath the water, she got her legs up under the ice and heaved back, pushing herself deep into the dark water. With nothing but the frozen surface for purchase, Jerry slid in with a strangled cry.

He immediately began to thrash, kicking out in wild animalistic fear, but his right leg had a hundred pound anchor hooked to it and in seconds Jerry too slipped beneath the surface. Jesse didn't want to die. Desperately she wanted to live, but she knew there was no chance of that now. Therefore, instead of fighting Jerry to get back to the surface, she pushed them both away from the hole with strong sweeping scissor kicks.

She hadn't moved them far before Jerry's left foot kicked her right hand, breaking her hold on his boot. She tried to grab it again. However Jerry was still in a complete panic and one of his thrashing legs kicked her square in the sternum. A great gout of bubbles shot out of her and a second later what felt like steel ice flowed into her lungs.

It didn't hurt and was more confusing than fearful. Her body didn't know what to do. Her lungs hitched in her chest, filled with water, and then relaxed almost completely. She could feel her diaphragm pushing the water in and then out again in slow motion. It was strange and oddly a little comforting—there would be no more pain. Her misery was finally over and so were her fears. For herself, as well as for Ky. He would live.

Jerry Mendel had kicked her away and got to the frozen ceiling of the pond, but the hole in the ice was off to his right. Ten feet down, Jesse had a perfect view of it and watched with a growing serenity as Jerry punched and scraped frantically at the ice, but in vain, there would be no getting through it. And in his frenzy he moved slowly but steadily away from the hole.

She turned away from him, not wanting her last view in the world to be of that monster.

Instead she pictured Ky. She remembered him in the woods at night with his knife to her throat…pretending to ignore her in class…walking behind him in the halls...slow dancing with him in the gym…holding her hand in his room. She died feeling his one kiss on her lips.

The End

*

Author's note:

This work and its sister novel,
A Perfect America,
have as their underpinnings the works of both Ayn Rand and CS Lewis. Although Objectivists generally clash with Christian apologetics, it does not have to be and when one informs the other, the result can be intriguing. If you enjoyed The Sacrificial Daughter I would suggest:

A Perfect America

Phil Tarsus is a dreadful instrument of State justice. He's an Inquisitor, a man who makes a living rooting out and executing those people who have been charged with treason. Guilt or innocence mean little to him--he has quotas to fill after all. Yet when he unwittingly stumbles upon a secret involving someone high up in the new American government, he becomes a target himself. Unfortunately for Phil, there's nowhere to run that the government can't find him.
In the year 2122, in the perfect state of America, the government owns everything...from the shoes you wear, to the apple you eat, to your next door neighbor. The government owns everything and is everything. Under these conditions Phil can trust no one but the man he's slated to murder next.

What the readers say about A Perfect America:
"A Perfect America is the rarest thing: a perfect dystopia."
"Prepare to be scared for your future..."
"...a very scary place. In this world, humanity has been replaced by conformity."

P.S. on a self-serving note, the review is the most practical and inexpensive form of advertisement an independent author has available in order to get his work known. If you could put a kind review on Amazon and your Facebook page, I would greatly appreciate it.

A Perfect America

The Sacrificial Daughter

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