Chapter 18 - The Falling Shadow
Clara side-stepped Evelyn's wild thrust, but her foot slipped on the wet, oily metal grating of the catwalk.
She fell hard onto her side, dropping Jax's revolver through the floor gap into the darkness below.
The heavy gun clattered against the iron conveyor belt twenty feet beneath them.
Evelyn let out a psychotic laugh, raising the sharp iron spike high above Clara's chest.
"Say goodbye to your precious daughter, Clara!" Evelyn yelled, aiming the sharp point straight at Clara's heart.
Before Evelyn could drive the spike down, Mark surged out from beneath the timber press down below.
He grabbed a heavy two-by-four wooden beam from the floor and threw it with all his strength at the catwalk above.
The heavy beam struck Evelyn squarely in the back of her knees, shattering her balance completely.
Evelyn gasped in shock as her legs gave way beneath her on the slippery metal platform.
She dropped the iron spike, falling backward against the flimsy rusted guardrail of the catwalk.
The old rusted metal brackets holding the guardrail snapped with a sharp, sickening crack.
Evelyn screamed as she tipped backward off the twenty-foot platform into empty air.
She crashed violently onto the heavy moving conveyor belt below, landing hard on her back.
The impact knocked the wind out of her lungs, leaving her gasping for air on the moving rubber belt.
The conveyor belt carried her body rapidly toward the massive eight-foot spinning saw blade at the end of the track.
The terrifying screech of the spinning steel blade filled the factory room, throwing showers of sparks everywhere.
"Help me! Someone help me!" Evelyn shrieked in absolute terror, trying frantically to crawl backward off the belt.
Her soaked crimson dress became tangled in the heavy iron chain gears pulling the belt forward.
She was completely pinned down, moving closer and closer to the deadly spinning blade every single second.
Down on the floor, Mark ran toward the belt, looking at the trapped woman in horror.
Despite everything she had done to destroy his family, Mark couldn't watch her get torn apart.
He reached for the emergency cutoff switch mounted on the side of the conveyor belt wall.
He grabbed the lever and pulled it up with all his strength, trying to jam the drive gears.
The ancient rusty mechanism snapped in his hand, leaving the belt moving forward at full speed.
"Mark! Get back!" Sarah yelled, pulling Mark away from the grinding gears.
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Clara ran down the metal stairs, rushing into Mark's arms as they both watched in horrified silence.
Evelyn screamed a blood-curdling scream as she reached the edge of the spinning steel teeth.
