Rage Within Read Online Free

they’ll do it anyway? Staci’s got a nice camera on her phone.”
    “Maybe,” Tom said.
    A gust of wind blew up over the water, raising goose bumps on the back of Mason’s neck. To the west, the sun was starting to lower itself into the ground. In half an hour or so it would be twilight and too dark for them to even consider doing this stupid stunt. They’d have to take the plunge soon or head back to shore with their tails between their legs.
    “I’m not doing it,” Scotty suddenly said. “I can see the bottom. It’s not deep enough.”
    Mason looked down, but he couldn’t see anything but dark blue water washing up against the concrete pillar. It was a good forty feet to the surface beneath him.
    “It’s deep enough,” Mason said, but he wasn’t so sure anymore. “Anybody got something we can throw in to test it?”
    “Why don’t we just toss Scotty in first,” Tom joked. “If he sinks, we head back to shore. If he swims, we jump.”
    “Not funny,” Scotty said.
    “I think it’s a great idea,” Kurt said. He swung his legs around the side of the rafter and stepped in front of Scotty. “What do you say, coward? Heads you sink. Tails you swim?”
    “I’m not going first.”
    “No one said this was voluntary,” Kurt said. He reached out and tried to grab Scotty’s arm. The smaller boy pulled back, almost tripping over his feet and slipping out from underneath the metal.
    “Dude, watch it,” Tom said. “You’re gonna make him fall.”
    Kurt smiled and lunged at Scotty again. “That’s the idea.”
    Scotty stepped backward, bringing his arms up to try and block Kurt’s advance. His foot slipped off the railing, throwing his body off balance. Mason witnessed the whole thing in super slow motion. There wasn’t enough time to do anything but watch. Scotty’s eyes grew wide, mouth opened at the beginning of a scream. Kurt was laughing.
    Mason lunged forward, grabbing at air as Scotty’s knee cracked into the railing. Scotty emitted a cross between an “oomph” and a high-pitched yowl. He managed to clutch blindly at the black metal, tightening his arms in a death grip as gravity took over and his body swung downward into the open air.
    “Take my hand,” Mason shouted. Wrapping one arm around the bar for safety, he reached out with his other hand, grabbing hold of Scotty’s shoulder.
    Kurt was no longer laughing. His face was pale and he stood there panicked and obviously unable to do anything. Tom rushed past him, stepping carefully around Mason to try to help. Scotty was still suspended in the air, his legs kicking helplessly beneath him as he held on. Far below him, the river flowed dangerously fast.
    “Don’t let me fall,” he kept repeating. The words shot out of his mouth like a machine gun firing.
    Let him drop.
    The voice whispered in the back of Mason’s mind. He blinked several times. What the hell was he thinking? Tightening up his grip, he pulled until his knuckles whitened.
    “I’m not going to let go,” he said.
    “I’ve got him,” Tom said. He’d gotten down on his stomach, reached down, and grabbed hold of the boy’s belt.
    “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.”
    Mason dropped down onto his stomach, copying Tom. Wrapping both his hands around Scotty’s shoulders, he was able to get a firmer grip. His palms were coated in sweat and at one point he almost let go, but Kurt suddenly reached down to help. He’d somehow managed to shake his earlier paralysis. He reached past Mason, grabbing hold of Scotty’s now free shoulder.
    “Relax, man,” Tom said through clenched teeth. “Stop kicking. We can’t pull you up if you’re doing that.”
    It took forever, but the three of them finally managed to haul Scotty back onto the railing. They sat there, breathing heavily as they tried to catch their breath. Finally remembering the girls, Mason looked back at the shore where Britney and Staci were watching. He waved at them and