Page 101 of With Love

I step around the wall again and I see Lock with a machete to Marshall’s throat.

“Adrienne,” Marshall exhales, “run.”

“I’m so sorry,” I say, in tears.

“Stop, not your fault,” he says, having a hard time getting his words out.

I look around the room and I see Travis and Reese are both down. I stalk over to them, my gun drawn and my eyes narrowed in on Lock the entire time. Reese has a bullet hole in between his eyes, so there’s no need to check for a pulse. I shimmy over to Travis and check him for a pulse.

It’s weak, but it’s there. Thank God. Fight Travis. Stay with us. Standing up, my gun still pointed at Lock, he speaks again.

“You don’t really think that you can kill me, do you? Don’t kid yourself, you stupid bitch. What makes you think that you have it in you?”

“It’s either kill or be killed. You taught me that, remember?” My memory flashes back to a time where Lock had his men out on the grounds hunting one another in order to sharpen their skills. He made me sit outside with him and watch as if we were King and Queen watching an inhumane medieval sporting event.

“It’s true.”

“I know,” I pull the trigger and listen as the bullet flies past him. I wasn’t trying to shoot him, I just wanted him to know that I was serious. He steps closer to Marshall, getting a better grip on the machete at his throat. I take another step toward him.

"There’s a reason why I’m still here. You could have killed me at any point that I was with you, but you didn’t. I couldn’t even kill myself the three times that I tried to do it while I was forced to live with you. It took me until just this moment, but I finally figured out an explanation for why that is. I was put on this earth for one reason, and one reason alone. I finally see that now. It was to be here, in this moment, with you. To see your eyes light up, thinking that you finally have all of your pawns where you want them and you’re one move away from checkmate. Thinking you’re going to kill Marshall and take me back to your estate. Then, you’ll either kill me or keep me alive, just to torture me for the rest of my life.”

I take another step toward him.

“But that’s not how your story ends, Lock. It ends with me. Just the way it began, except this time, you’re at my mercy. This time, I’m calling the shots. This time, you’re the one who is going crumble. I am going to be the one to stand over you, while you’re gasping for breath, struggling in pain to stay alive. Praying to whatever dark, fucked up, higher power you pray to, to keep you alive so you can continue your reign of power and terror.”

Another step closer.

“The only reason you’ve built anything in this life is because you either take what doesn’t belong to you or because you scare and blackmail others to do your bidding. There are other things, like me, that you believe you have because you’re a fucking delusional maniac. You can tell yourself, me, and everyone else on this earth that I’m your wife until you’re blue in the face. It doesn’t make it true. I know that we were never legally married. Even if it were true, it still wouldn’t be real because I’ll never love you. And that’s not something that you can just force anyone to feel. At one point in your life, you may have had everything that you’ve ever dreamed of. But as of right now, now you have nothing.”

One more step.

“Consider my purpose in this life fulfilled.”

Bang.

I pulled the trigger and Lock was pushed back slightly, but didn’t fall to the ground, like I was expecting him to.

He looks from me to his arm and back as maniacal laughter flows from his mouth.

“Oh, you silly, stupid, little girl,” he removed the machete from Marshall’s throat and I sigh in relief. Slowly, he stalks toward me, getting closer.

I pull the trigger again, but nothing happens. I pull it again. Nothing. I pull it over and over again, but it’s empty. I try throwing it at Lock and running for the other gun near Travis, but I’m too late.

Lock trips me and I fall to the ground. He crawls up my body but I manage to throw a few punches, my fists connecting to his face a few times. He blocks most of them and throws a few punches of his own before pinning my arms at my sides. I thrash from side to side but I can’t get free. I lift my leg and knee him in the balls. It loosens his hold a little bit, but I can’t get away.

Tossing my head from side to side to try and get out of the way of his fist, I see the table of instruments and I am reminded of the knife behind my back. I try lifting my body off of the ground, but it’s almost impossible. I take a deep breath and will my body to move just enough so I can reach it. Finally, after thrashing back and forth again, I’m able to reach underneath of me and grab ahold of it by the hilt.

I pull it out and stab him in the shoulder, just above the heart, as he’s about to throw another punch. Gravity pulls him down as he leans to the side a little bit. I push on him so he falls all the way over, allowing me to get free from under his weight, I pull the knife from his shoulder as I get up and drive it back down into him. This time, it pierces his stomach.

Laying on his back, he slowly reaches for it, his breathing labored, but I get there first. He lays there gasping for breath, a look of desperation on his face as I stand over him, one foot on either side of his body.

“Kill or be killed, right?” I say, leaning over to stare in him the face, menacingly. I turn the knife, pushing it further into his stomach before removing it and piercing him again, this time right through the heart. His head falls back as life fades from his eyes.

When the adrenaline wears off, I realize that I am still over him holding the knife. Jumping off of him, I hit the floor and scoot back away from his body as quickly as possible. Sitting there, breathing heavily, I hear something moving to my left and I scream thinking it's someone else who’s come to hurt me.

“Adrienne,” I hear Marshall whisper.

Shit, Marshall. I run over to him and untie his binds. Once he is able to get up, he wraps me in a hug tighter than he ever has before. It feels so good to have them around me again.

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