Page 57 of Jackson

For Serenity, I have to fucking keep it together.

SPIKE DRAGS GERARDinto the shed, his eyes are wide with fear as he looks to his gagged sister and her terrified face. I’d feel sorry for her any other time, but unfortunately, this fucker has pushed me a little too far with his antics. I should have dealt with him like this from the word go instead of playing nice. That got me fucking nowhere.

“Let her go,” Gerard orders. “I’m here, you got what you wanted. Now let her go.”

“He called the cops, I’d almost guarantee it,” Muff mutters, his eyes zeroing in on Gerard.

“I didn’t, I swear I didn’t. Now just let her go.”

“Sorry, can’t do that,” Spike murmurs, casually. “Not until you give us everything we want.”

Gerard finally looks shaken, like we have hit a nerve.

It’s about fucking time.

I should have done this from the start.

Maybe Spike was right, maybe we are getting too soft.

“What do you want from me?” Gerard tries to calm himself down, but it’s apparent that is hard for him.

His hands are shaking, and his eyes continually dart around the room. He’s looking for a way out, trying to figure out if he can outsmart us. The fucker has been clever, but now he’s in a situation that he knows he can’t get out of. Frustrated, he glares at Spike.

“I want you to tell us all, including your sister, what a murderous fuck you are,” Spike grins at him.

Gerard shakes his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re harassing me. This is harassment.”

I hold up the gun and step up next to his sister, pressing it to her forehead. She cries out, and Gerard’s eyes widen. If we have guessed right, his sister is the only family he has left, and he cares a lot about her. But is he psycho enough to let us kill her just so he can get away with murder? We’ll see.

“You won’t shoot an innocent woman,” Gerard tries to calm his voice, desperate in his attempt to regain control.

“Oh, when it comes to my woman, I fuckin’ will. You had her locked up, abused, and now she can’t come home because of you. I will absolutely shoot her,” I say calmly.

I don’t want to shoot this woman.

I don’t want it to get to that point.

“I didn’t do anything,” Gerard says. “You attacked me. You did this.”

He’s still trying to cover his tracks.

“I guess he doesn’t give a shit about his sister.” Spike shrugs. “Fine by me, let’s just kill both of them and be done with it. We’ll find another way to clear Serenity’s name.”

Spike knows all the tactics to use.

I pull the safety on the gun, and it makes a clicking sound.

Gerard’s sister cries out, begging him to help her.

“Do you want to watch her die, or should we kill you first?” Spike questions him, pulling out his own gun. “It really doesn’t bother me.”

“You can’t kill me,” Gerard finally breaks, his voice raising. “You can’t ...”

Spike hauls him up close, so his face is right up near Gerard’s. “But I fucking can, and I will. You are nothing to me. Your life has little meaning, you murderous fuck. I know what you are, and I know what you did.”

“It was an accident,” Gerard cries, his eyes widening at his own confession.

Spike presses the gun to his temple.