The snake and the eagle

Zinnah ran to her car at full speed. Her lungs burned more and more with each step on her gravel driveway. Her keys fumbled in her hands, she cursed whoever told her that having keychains would be fun and cute. She turned her head for a split second to see him: the man she knew, the man she loved, the man she was running away from. He was running at full speed towards her and with his long legs and track background, his dark silhouette was becoming closer. 

“Please help me to understand Zinnah, what exactly have I done to deserve this?” Archer screamed as his hands thrashed in the air. Zinnah watched his hands move in a million different directions as she climbed into her car and locked the door. Pounding threatened to break her window causing Zinnah to jump out of her skin. A snake being hunted by the mighty eagle, one false move and Zinnah would be thrashing around in the air, ready to be consumed. “I love you, Archer,” she mouthed, tasting the salty-sweet tears that she had not realized were streaming down her face. Rain poured onto the windshield in large drops creating a once soothing musical on top of Zinnah’s roof. Archer’s eyes darted to the gearshift Zinnah was reaching for and started to become frantic. He pounded harder and faster, screaming for anything that would get her to come out of the car. 

Zinnah simply placed her hand on the window in a symbolic gesture of forgiveness, then placed the car in reverse. Archer punched the hood of her car as she drove away. Zinnah was gone and he was raging. His fists clenched and his jaw tightened. Hurriedly he ran into his house, destroyed in a mess of rage. Plates broken on the floor, pictures of their time together smashed into the fireplace, blood splattered across the walls. Archer ripped off his shirt that was soaked red before and dyed a crimson color of agony in the rain. How could Zinnah have done this to him? He paused in front of the wall he had punched, staring at the dust-covered hole in his wall then back down at his bleeding knuckles. Then, he reached for his keys.

Zinnah drove twenty miles per hour above the speed limit. The rain cautioned her balding tires to slow down but the foot on the pedal urged the car to live out its dream of joining NASCAR. Rain fell faster than Zinnah’s windshield wipers, but she did not care as she pushed faster knowing Archer would follow. Her cuts stained her shirt and seats with the red, thick blood Zinnah could not feel due to the adrenaline. Hot air rushed out her vents and tried to soothe her with a warm hug, but the cold rainwater on her clothes struck down any advances. A bloodcurdling scream escaped Zinnah’s lips followed by trembling cries she could barely hear over the sound of her own heart in her ears. Blood, anger, yelling, everything that had happened in the last hour made her nauseous. Suddenly, right as Zinnah started to contemplate pulling over so she could throw up that night’s dinner, bright lights flashing behind her caught her attention. A familiar, silver Ford Expedition was on her bumper urging her to either speed up or slow down- she could not decide. Archer waved his hand out the window pointing at the curb next to them. Zinnah only slammed harder on her gas pedal, racing the rain that was falling into Archer’s lap.

Archer knew exactly where Zinnah was going. She was racing to her brother’s house faster than she should in the pouring rain. Thunder made itself aware overhead the two cars. Zinnah, scared of thunderstorms, let out a yelp Archer could see by the fast movement in her shoulders. The stop sign ahead cautioned neither one of the drivers; both decided they had seen too much red that night. “Zinnah you coward! Stop driving!” Archer yelled with a flick of his brights. He saw her eyes look back for a split second in her rearview mirror before she cried. A whimpered, pathetic scream, she screamed back in between sobs, “I will never stop for you again!” Archer could not make out the words over the pounding of water droplets on his windows and roof.

Each droplet reminded him of her. How he had caused her so much pain, so much suffering in the end. Her light smile contorted into a sickening cry for help from the kitchen. Her box-dyed hair mixed with her own blood. Her once perfect skin open to reveal the muscle and tendons underneath. A hideous display of rage splayed across his floor offering only a feeling of numb desperation. Longing to hear her laugh, need to watch her eyes light up again, a want to feel her mouth against his under a clear, starry sky. A tear fell onto his cheek but was soon wiped away into nothing and mixed with the cold and seemingly endless reminders of what he had. Stinging his skin through the open window with a new memory. The rain may as well have been a thick and stinging acid because perhaps it would have hurt less. But the car trudged along in the neutral rain pushing against any impulsivity Archer was feeling. 

The rain rushed Zinnah; however, whispering in her ear to drive faster. Every small thud against her windshield was a challenge to drive ever so slightly more reckless. She was not crying anymore. She was laughing. The bruise on her face ached with laughter as she thought about what had happened. The blind rage she experienced. The memory of a punch stung her face as she passed her brother’s house and drifted past a sharp turn. She had driven these roads too many times to count and now was when she could show her expertise. Her hands danced around the wheel with muscle memory while Archer fumbled behind, slamming on the brakes so he didn’t spin out. A ballet of movement from her fingers as she took another right. A symphony of audience cheers as she masterfully wound around a left turn. Asher’s car was no longer in sight and a sigh of relief escaped her lips, but a moment too soon. 

Asher had not grown up in this neighborhood but he knew the roads to the bridge. Zinnah’s favorite spot was the gazebo by the river, which was calm in the daytime. He sped through a straightaway alerting a neighbor who had come outside to listen to the calming sound of rainfall. He saw headlights edging closer to the turn they were about glide gracefully around and his brake slammed against the floor. Skidding on the slick road, Zinnah’s car did not stop. Compared to a skilled drift racer or an experienced getaway driver, she was smoking both of them. Archer pounded his wheel knowing his car was begging for mercy. He was drenched with rain and exhausted from the mess he would have to explain to the police. But, he could not let Zinnah escape this. 

She was the reason his knuckles were bleeding.

She was the reason his clothes were permanently etched with splatter marks.

She was the reason his stomach would grow nauseous at the sight of broken glass.

But on she sped, into the darkness towards her happy place. The bridge that had carried her through more sad days and anxious periods than she could count. The sound of the river had a calming effect on her nerves. It was a happy movie on a sad night. It was a restful nap after a long day at work. It had kept her alive.

Now, it was going to take it.

The rain rushed down at an alarming speed onto the two cars. The river seethed with excitement as every drop hit its waters; the wind guided it along in a mass of cold, frenzied water. A roller coaster of emotion rushed through Zinnah as she stopped her car on that bridge. She had just enough time to rush to the edge and pause. The dark water below invited her in like a distant friend she had not seen in years. The adrenaline coursing through the river weaved around rocks and tree branches, jumping into the air with exhilaration. Zinnah saw in the black water a yellow light getting increasingly larger and knew she was running out of time, but her arms stayed locked around the wet railing.

“Don’t do it! Don’t you dare Zinnah!” Asher yelled through the pouring rain. The cold rain pouring a thick layer of wet onto his skin shocked him alive. He wiped his eyes, salt mixing in with the water dripping from his hair, and slammed his door. She was just standing on the railing. He tried to walk slow so she wouldn’t jump, but the rain performed as a wedge between her and the rail she was clinging onto. Her arm slipped and caused her to lose her footing. She grabbed tightly onto the metal, bruising her arms and making the cut on her side gush with warmth. Her vision went blurry and she decided it would be easier to let go. A laugh sounded like a bell through clenched teeth as she loosened her grip. Red, chipping paint clung to her wet skin as she started to fall slowly into the roaring water beneath her. 

An arm wrapped around her clumsily. Her eyes went wide with anger when she realized the river was not becoming closer to her. Thrashing around, like a snake caught by an eagle, she screamed for release. A thrown punch locked with something above her, but the arm did not give. “Let me go, Asher! Let me go!” she screamed in a hoarse, broken, degraded voice. A sob pushed more tears out of her eyes and into the disappointed river beneath her. Her back scraped against the side of the bridge in a painful reminder she was still alive. The falling rain formed a tight hold around her neck and constricted her breathing. Her clothes clung to her uncomfortably making her feel even more suffocated. “Let me go!” she punched. A loosening of Asher’s grip let her run toward the light, but the hold on her legs pulled her back into the dark void.

He pinned her down on the dirty ground, his face red with frustration. The cold rain causing Zinnah to shiver was only evaporating off of him with the angry heat he was producing. “Why Zinnah, why!” he screamed. His face thrashed forward with every word so fast she did not even notice the crushing pain in her legs and thighs where he was keeping her rooted on the floor of the bridge. She whimpered in fear and exhaustion. Blood was overflowing from her side where the stab wound was, a stainless steel Kitchenaid knife flashed through her mind. “Zinnah why,” Asher cried. He deflated on top of her, weakening his defense to let out a cry. With one tear came another and suddenly grief overcame him and dulled his senses. Zinnah smiled.

With a strong kick, he was on the ground next to her toying with the edge of the bridge. He reached for the rail but was too late. A kick to his stomach threw him off of his risky perch and his hand grabbed nothing but cold raindrops. The river below him cheered in excitement as it swallowed his warm body whole. His scream dulled in the frigid water and swam away with him into the night.

Zinnah smiled. Why?

Why had she left his apartment in such a rush, driving through the cold, rainy night to this death trap of a river?

Why was she covered in bruises and slowly bleeding out of her side?

Well, that was a stupid question. He was there. He had seen it all.

He had seen her walk in on him cheating on her with the blonde girl from his work.

He had watched her parade around the house destroying everything in sight that she thought would make a satisfying shatter sound.

He watched her pull the homewrecker into the kitchen by her hair. 

He watched her push a knife to her stomach, leaving her face morphed into a state of constant fear and regret.

Months, they had been “dating” for months is what he told her in a blind rage.

But seconds is what Zinnah had killed her in. 

She had fought back with a loose knife Asher had been using the cut carrots but was no match for the raw emotion-filled strength coursing through Zinnah’s every fiber at that moment.

Now, she had killed him too.

Two years wasted away in minutes.

A look of relief flew across her eyes and she smiled as she thought about the mess she had left for the police to clean up later. For now, she stood in the rain letting it hush the sound of her maniacal laughter.