Page 70 of Twisted

Clasping the two vials tight in her fist, she took a steadying breath. The other vial was an impulse— tetrodotoxin. Upon casually asking Marie what it was, the darkness within Maisie had swelled and almost burst. The temptation was too much to bear; how beautiful and glorious would it be to have Randy at her mercy when she administered the actual venom? For the toxin would do just that; incapacitate him but keep him aware of his impending death. She wished Carter could meet the same fate, but his death needed to seem more quick, more a crime of passion at the hands of Lindsay.

She just had to be sure not to give Randy too much or he’d die before the snake venom could slowly choke the life from his putrid veins.

Answering the door was a very disheveled Randy, glass of brandy clutched in his claws. She swallowed hard, for seeing him would undoubtedly bring back the past, those days stuck with him, and the aftermath. But knowing her justice was just around the corner, she was able to plaster a small smile to her face as his eyes raked over her body.

“Never thought you’d come here,” he said, raising his brows as he took a long sip. Maisie’s eyes flitted to their cameras, knowing they weren’t working; Lindsay had admitted that to her. It was how that bitch snuck out to fuck Carter.

Casually, Maisie gave a shrug.

“Just…needed some closure is all,” she said, keeping her voice meek and soft. Randy’s eyes traced like decrepit fingers along her puckered scar, and his face soured. Backing away, he pulled his front door open wider, allowing her inside. She immediately took off her shoes; her hair was in as tight a bun as she could make it, she’d borrowed Marie’s car, and in case she was pulled over, she had even swapped her license with her sister’s. Everything would soon be returned, sans venom and toxins, and then phase one of her plans would be over.

She followed Randy to their kitchen, where he grabbed his bottle of brandy and poured himself some more. The familiarity of such a situation made her shiver, her skin prickle and crawl, but knowing Randy would fall prey to her plans, she fought against the rising bile and plunged ahead.

“What do you need closure about? Carter doesn’t believe your little story, so don’t try to make me tell him otherwise,” he growled. Maisie smiled sweetly.

“I just need one thing from you, and then I’ll never bother you again,” she said. Brows furrowing, he set aside his brandy and crossed his arms, leaning against the opposite counter.

“And what would that be?”

“Do you remember that brooch Lindsay has? The teal peacock one? It’s mine. I just want it back, and then I’m leaving town. You’ll never have to see me again.”

Through the haze of his drink, he rolled his eyes and waved his hand.

“Fucking fine. Least it’s not money,” he grumbled, leaving the kitchen in search of it. As soon as he was gone, Maisie—having already measured out a precise dose for his height and weight—dumped the tetrodotoxin into his booze. Heart hammering against her ribs, she carefully stowed the empty vial in a hidden pocket in her purse to be burned later at a secluded location she’d just picked out. The forested area had been beautiful. Maybe she’d buy a cozy cabin in the woods with Carter’s insurance money.

A few moments later, Randy—drunk and dumb—returned, scratching his head.

“Can’t find it. She has so much fucking shit,” he said, reaching for his glass without any prompting and tipping it back to finish the entire thing in one go. Maisie’s heart raced, brow dotting with sweat, her eyes wide in awe as she watched his neck muscles contract and glide as though in slow motion, slipping the toxin down his throat and into his bloodstream. Her eyes were so wide she felt they’d dry out in their sockets.

He gave her a curious look. She knew from her research at the lab computers that it could take anywhere from four to eight hours for him to die of this toxin alone—but he’d be paralyzed the entire fucking time. That thought had the most evil grin curling onto her beautiful face.

He’d be as frozen as she’d been.

Randy’s eyes flashed to his drink, then to his trembling hand, and then to her face. He seemed about to speak before a choked, garbled noise escaped. Catching himself on the edge of the counter as his legs began to stiffen, he slowly fell to the ground, as pathetic and weak as he’d made her feel as he’d forced her to endure his torture.

Slow, with trembling hands and a racing heart, she circled the counter. There Randy lay, choking and gasping and twitching as the toxin locked his muscles in place, freezing him in the position he would die in. She crouched down near his head, his eyes able to see her, stuck wide as they were. The noises coming from his throat were terrified whines and whimpers, and something within her snapped.

Sneering, she bared her teeth at him.

“I’m killing you, Randy. There’s no escapin’ this. Just like there was no escaping what you put me through. What Carter and Lindsay put me through. Your best bud is about to get a fuckin’ bullet in his brain, and your cunt of a wife will take the fall for all of it. I love envisioning her in orange, don’t you?” Maisie simpered maniacally.

His breathing was harsh, fingers curling inward with the beginnings of rigor mortis.

“You know he blackmailed me? Made me abort my baby—not your baby, Randy.Mine,”she hissed. “Told me he’d tell my daddy about how I got him dishonorably discharged from the force. I was only a kid, stole money from evidence to pay off some silly debt, thinking I’d return it. They traced it back to his card bein’ swiped before the money went missing. That was my first lesson in how to clean up my messes, Randy.”

From his throat came a garbled hiss.

“I’ve come a long way since then. Learned to live when I didn’t want to. You know Carter found me overdosing on pills and saved my life? That fuckin’ bastard has robbed me ofeverything, including my death,” she sneered, twisting the top off the snake venom vial. His eyes were bugging out of his skull, the little spiderweb of red veins becoming wider by the second until a few began to burst like little fireworks.

“There’s a story that I learned in high school, about a woman named Medusa,” she said, bringing the vial to his purpling lips.

“The way they teach it is bullshit. They just say how Perseus slayed a monster with snakes for hair. They never give the backstory,” she said, aiming for his parted lips. Pausing her story, she grinned at him. “Copperhead venom. You’ll see why. I do love irony, Randy. People my whole life have cheapened me, told me I was stupid. I think this should prove I’m not.”

Tipping the vial against his gagging protestations, she almost giggled. Down his throat the venom went. She wasn’t sure if it would burn his esophagus, but she figured it would at least eat away at him—from the inside out. Just like his rape had done to her.

“Anyways, poor Medusa is killed by Perseus, but how did she become a monster, Randy? How does anyone become a fucking monster?” she said through clenched teeth as tears ran into his hairline.

“Medusa was raped for her beauty in a temple. Athena took that as a disgrace and ruined her beauty, exiling her, punishing her for what had been done to her. Punishin’ her for a man not being able to control himself. How fucked up is that, Randy? Always stuck with me, though.”

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