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Keeping behind rocks for safety, I clambered down the river too.

"AUGH!" Ryan suddenly screamed, his foot landing on a slippery rock thus throwing him off balance. Mary-Kate seeing her opening gave him a sharp push which sent him flying. For a moment he seemed to hang there, his hands waving around for something to hold on to. All they could find... was Mary-Kate

"NO!" I screamed leaping up, as she and Ryan hurtled off the rock and into the icy water. The current got a hold of them and they were swiftly carried down stream.

I scrambled over the rocks losing my balance but not falling. By this stage Ryan and Mary-Kate were out of site and I could only hope they'd managed to get out of the water.

***Mary-Kate***

"UGH!" I spat out of a mouthful of water and did my best to swim. The water was so cold. It was like ice. I felt Ryan grab me and pull me toward the shore.

"Let go of me!" I screamed angrily, trying to swim away.

"No way" he pulled me to the shore and we both collapsed there for a moment trying to get our breath back.

"Dam! I lost my gun" Ryan said angrily, he then pulled me to my feet and into the forrest.

***Brett***

I rounded a bend in the river and saw footsteps in the soft soil, leading toward the forrest. Finding some stepping stone like rocks I made my way across and walked into the shade of the trees.

"Mary-Kate" I called. All, I heard in response was the echo of my own voice. 'Mary-Kate, Kate, Kate' it taunted me.

I started running, brushing aside branches that scratched at my face.

Suddenly I came to a dead stop. Crudely written into the soil were the words.

You'll never get her back!

"Wanna bet?" I muttered to myself and continued running

***Mary-Kate***

"LET GO YOU'RE HURTING ME!" I yelled as Ryan dragged me through the bush by the arm.

"Shut up" he hissed.

Soon we reached a clearing. In front of us was an old dilapidated cabin.

"Inside" He barked pushing me towards it.

***Brett***

"Hello, Brett" A voice said laughing.

I Whired around and couldn't see where it was coming from.

"Up here"

I looked up, and saw Ryan sitting on a tree branch, smiling as if nothing were wrong.

"Where'd you take her?" I demanded moving towards the tree.

"That's for me to know and you to find out" He said leaping from the tree and landing like a cat.

I pounced towards him but he took of running

"Come and get me" He threw over his shoulder as he ran

"Don't worry!" I shouted.

I continued to run after him, but lost sight when he got too far up in front of me. Man! He was a fast runner. My lungs were gasping for air and my muscles burned, but i couldn't give up. I had to find Mary-Kate before it was too late. Who knows what Ryan will do to her if I fail.

"Brett!" I heard a faint echo shout.

"MARY-KATE!" I yelled. "Hold on! I'm coming!"

I ran and ran until I reached a delapidated cabin. I thought that maybe Ryan had put Mary-Kate in there while he came out to taunt me. He couldn't have had time to get her and run again. I slowly approached the cabin, careful not to make a sound. I didn't look in a window incase I blew my element of surprise. I neared the door and swiftly kicked it in. I looked around inside and found... nothing.

"Dam it!" I yelled out in frustration.

***Mary-Kate***

Ryan had forced me to stand up and start running again. I hardly had the chance to catch my breath before he had me running.

"Hurry up!" He said, yanking my arm sharply. Because of this, I lost my balance and fell to the ground. I hit my head on a rock that was close by and the world suddenly went dark.

***Brett***

I thought I heard something nearby, I raced out of the cabin and followed the sound through the forrest. I glanced around and realized I was heading back towards the river. I emerged from the forrest to the edge of the river, to see Ryan standing there with an unconcious Mary-Kate slung over his shoulder.

"You want her?" he asked.

I stood my ground not knowing what he'd do.

He took a step towards the water, as if threatening to drop her in.

"NO!" I Screamed running forward.

"Back off!" He said stepping back.

"Look Ryan, I know you hate me. But you don't hate Mary-Kate. The fight is between you and I. Put her down and we can sort it out"

Ryan considered for a moment then laid her down on the ground a foot or two from the river. Keeping himself in between her and I, he stepped towards me menacingly. "Sort it out?" He asked. "I like the sound of that"

He took out a knife and pointed it at me. He threw it from hand to hand with a smile on his face. "What's wrong Brett? You look a little scared." He taunted.

"I'm only scared of what's going to happen to Mary-Kate if I don't succeed." I replied. I slowly backed away as he walked towards me, giving me time to think up a plan of action. A loud rumble caught our attention as we both looked up. In all the chasing and talking, no one noticed that a storm was moving in. There rain started and the wind picked up rather violently.

"You've got to love mother nature!" He laughed. "She really knows how to make things interesting!"

"Why are you doing this?" I yelled to him, so he could hear me over the sound of the wind crashing through the leaves.

"Mostly revenge!" He yelled, rubbing his jaw.

"Wow, that healed up fast." I yelled.

"It was actually only dislocated! Shows how little you know!" He yelled. "But I'm mostly doing this because I can't stand to see Mary-Kate in someone else's arms. She really deserves a man like me."

"She deserves a mad man who would kidnap her, hold her at gunpoint, drag her through the forest and threaten to throw her into an icy river?" I asked him.

"SHUT UP!" He yelled angrily. He ran at me, pointing the knife at me.

I saw him coming. I blocked the knife and threw him against a tree. Unfortunately, he still had the knife in his hands.

"There's still time to work this out. Maybe you should give up before it's too late." I suggested.

While I was facing him, I had my back to the river. The heavy rain had caused the river to get bigger since it couldn't handle all of the water. It got so big that is was starting to threaten to carry Mary-Kate with it.

Ryan seemed to look over my shoulder and smile. I noticed this and looked back. Mary-Kate was starting to be swept away by the river.

"NO!" I yelled as I dove towards her. I managed to grab her arm and start pulling her back into shore.

Ryan yelled what sounded like a warcry and stabbed me on the arm that I was holding Mary-Kate with. "I want you to live to see her swept away from you." He yelled as if he was having fun.

My arm felt like it was being ripped from it's socket. I pushed the pain out of my mind and I pulled her in for all I was worth. I yelled as I gave one big pull and got her onto shore.

I took Ryan and I punched him twice in the face, sending him falling to the floor. I would have attacked him there and then, but Mary-Kate was still too close to the river. I quickly brought her to the treeline and layed her down, out of the rain. "I'll be right back." I whispered to her and kissed her on the forehead.

I turned to Ryan with a look of hatred. He was no longer in control and we both knew it. He tried to run, but tripped on a root that was sticking out of the ground.

"No where to run now, Ryan." I grinned. I ran and grabbed him with my right arm, my only good arm since he had stabbed my left.

He took a swing at me with the knife and I had to duck it since I couldn't block it. He grinned as he knew he had an advantage. He took several similar tries, luckily I was blocking them all. I backed towards the river and I was caught between it and Ryan. This was it.

"No where left to run." He taunted as a lighting struck nearby.

"I don't run." I said. "You're the one who has been running all day."

"WHY do you always have to prove me wrong?!" He yelled with frustration.

"Because you ARE wrong!" I yelled.
He yelled out in anger and ran towards me with the knife pointed to my heart. I had to think fast or else I would fail Mary-Kate. Just as he was going to stab me, I took his arm with the knife, turned to my right and pulled his arm towards the river, when his stomach was infront of me, I gave him a sharp hit with my knee and a swift hit to his back, sending him to the ground. His momentum caused him to land in the river. He grabbed onto a rock that was just off shore.

"Help me!" He cried out to me against the current. "Please help me!"

Chapter 35

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