Page 52 of Psycho Killers

Dominic edges closer to the door, sure we've trapped him here. “Back to the walls!” he orders. “We need to box this fucker in before he tries to make a run for it.”

Calista’s eyes flare as she steps forward, refusing to be afraid. “He’s the one who deserves to be scared, not us,” she says, her voice cold and unyielding. Her fierce determination cuts through the tension, a spark igniting in the darkness. “I fucking want him to understand. I want him to feel every ounce of that pain he helped inflict.

“I’m with you," I say, feeling the energy shift, making me feel lighter against the darkness. “Let’s give him a night to remember, you know, before we fucking kill his sorry ass.”

Killian’s eyes narrow, his grip tightening on the weapon. "This ends here, right now. We’re done running from the shadows."

“Damn right,” I mutter, my focus narrowing.

The thrill of the hunt surges, overpowering any remnants of doubt left inside me. Before we can make another move, the shadow steps forward, revealing a face smeared with grime and warped by fear.

“You think you can do whatever you want?” he snarls, a trembling hint of bravado masking the vulnerability. “You’ll regret this. You’re playing with forces far beyond you!”

“Then let’s fucking play!” Dominic shouts, launching himself forward, and everything turns into a blur of shoving and grappling.

The room erupts into chaos. Shots ring out—gunfire echoes—bodies collide as the weight of our choices comes crashing down. I see Calista dart past me, fierce and resolute in her pursuit of him, and suddenly, she’s face-to-face with him. Their eyes lock, a moment tracing the years of torment and suffering

“I’ve waited too long for this,” she whispers, almost to herself, and the air shifts.

I can see it in her expression—the transformation. She’s feral, glowing with an energy that I never realized was hidden beneath the surface. The years of suppression, all the pain she’s endured, and her thirst for closure finally bursting forth.

Time slows as I reach out. “Cali, wait?—”

But it’s too late. She lunges, the blade shining under the dim light, and my heart stops as it plunges deep into his flesh. A strangled gasp escapes his lips. It’s violent, brutal, and in that split second, I’m flooded with the mix of satisfaction and horror.

His body collapses to the ground, crumpling into a heap of despair, and the room plunges back into chaotic silence, broken only by the heavy breathing of those still standing.

“Did you feel that?” Killian murmurs, eyes wide, as if the world has shifted on its axis. “That was...”

“...freedom,” Calista finishes, her voice shaking, yet suddenly, incredibly strong. She stands above the fallen, a conqueror in her newfound kingdom. “I chose this. We chose this.”

I glance around—Dominic, Five, and now Calista—the messy fallout of our decisions laying bare before us. The monsters we’ve fought for so long have crumbled at our feet, shadows dissipating in the dawning light of a new reality.

But this battle isn’t over. A cold fear descends upon me as I remember what remains. “We need to get the hell out of here,” I say, urgency gripping my words. “It’s only a matter of time before this draws attention. We need a plan.”

“Agreed.” Five nods, strapping his gun back into place and offering his hand to Calista. “Let’s move."

The world shifts beneath our feet once more, both exhilarating and terrifying, promising that even the darkest paths can lead to the light.

"We're not going anywhere. The job isn't done," Cali says, stopping in front of her parents, the ones who started this mess so fucking long ago. "We're here; we might as well finish this shit once and for all."

The guys and I stand back, letting her embrace the moment she's been waiting so fucking long for. Before anything goes further, she takes out her gun and fires a single round, hitting the old man right between the eyes while her focus remains on her parents, silence enveloping the darkness around us.

"I used to dream about this moment, about how I was going to end your lives, and now, all I fucking want is for this to be over. It doesn't matter how I kill you," she tells her parents, talking as calmly as can be.

"You don't have the fucking balls to kill us, Calista," her mother taunts, clearly not knowing anything about her daughter.

"Yeah, we'll see." Calista grins then looks back at us, giving me a warm feeling that puts me at ease.

There's no turning back after this. But is her mother right? Will Cali be able to kill her demons and move forward with her life?

TWENTY-FOUR

THE FLAMES

BEG: VANA

CALISTA

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