The Demons Within

Rebecca:

It was dangerous to be this close to him. I hadn’t meant for it to get so out of hand; I told myself that I was going to just check up on him. I’d be sure to keep a safe enough distance. I hadn’t heard from him all day, though that was to be expected. Especially after having had such a horrible interaction. Things were bound to get heated between us. There were so many unresolved issues that lingered and bubbled near the surface; So much resentment and some many things left unsaid, let alone all the ugly things that were said.

I am less than proud about that, but I can’t go back in time and change what happened. My focus now has to be on learning from my mistakes and making my amends; I need to just be better. I’ve gotten so sloppy in my work and I know it. The very thought of how far I have slipped east away at me, yet I’m unable to pull myself out of my funk.

I find myself getting in too deep, having closed the 300 foot gap in between us to now being within earshot of his conversation with his tall, brawny friend at the bar.

I look down at the lukewarm beer in my hand and realize, not for the first time tonight, the gravitas oh what I am sacrificing and risking by just being here.

I can’t come to pry myself out of this situation and it feels like I’m just a wisp of a soul stuck in my meat suit while someone else is in control of my mind and body. I’m here for the ride but I’m in the passenger seat of this vehicle.

The adrenaline rushes through me, fueling me and propelling me towards one bad decision after the next.

My brain is shouting silent screams of warning at me.

“Stop it! DUMB BITCH, WAKE THE FUCK UP! Hello?!”

This isn’t my first trip down this dark path, but I’m hoping I can make it my last. Each time gets worse and worse.

Wade:

Something is off, I can feel it in my bones. There’s a weird vibe in the air around me and it keeps tightening against my chest. I can’t let that ruin my mood, though, so I dismiss the thought. Tonight has to go well for me and that’s what I want to focus my energy on. I can’t afford to lose control tonight and I worry that my foul mood might get me into some serious trouble tonight if I don’t let loose and blow off steam. My parole, my very freedom depend on me keeping my cool.

The last few days have been a real bitch and I need something to get me back to the light side of things. I’ve had my eye on this one blondie across the bar since I got here and I can tell by the way she drops her shoulder and makes eyes at me. She might be getting lucky tonight, if she plays her cards right, though if she steps out of line, it could cost her her life.

I’m nothing if not prepared so I throw my glance around the bar, taking in the people around me and searching for a possible B-options, should things not pan out with blondie, and thats when I notice her. That sick, lovestruck cop that’s been stalking me all week. The very reason for all of my stress and anger. Immediately, my mood takes a dark turn.

The first few days that Officer Gomez was tailing me were easy to ignore her. She had kept her distance and I had figured she’d make her move on me soon. I am always ready for any eventuality and I am confident in my ability to problem solve, so I wasn’t too concerned about this would-be arresting officer. All my years of living underground had made me resilient and cunningly observant. I doubt she would’ve even noticed that I was aware of her presence.

In fact, I know that she was unaware of my observation of her, because there was no other reason for her to continuously creep closer to me with each passing day. She was getting brazen and sloppy, which gives me the impression that she’s a rookie cop trying to play at vigilante, but bordering on absolutely psychotic and amoral.

“ You good, man? You suddenly look Hella pissed, bro. What’s up?”, my buddy asks me.

I shook my head and rearranged my facial muscles into a smile.

“Dude, can you believe this game? BRO! What an upset! Brady isn’t getting any protection in the pocket. Honestly, it looks like the offensive line is still in the locker room.” I shake my head and throw back a tequila shot.

Letting Bryan in on the twisted game I am playing with Officer Gomez is not an option, so I distract him with sports and drinks instead.

Besides, it’s more of a need-to-know type of thing and he definitely doesn’t need or deserve to know.

I would truly feel guilty about incriminating him. He’s a decent guy who deserves better.

Being in my profession, you don’t meet a lot of good people, so when you do, it’s just polite and considerate to keep them in the dark about illicit shit. Bryan is one of the very few people who have been inclusive of me since I got out and I refuse to do anything that might damage our friendship.

“This is the first game this season for Brady that doesn’t seem like it’s going to go well for him. I’m very surprised,” he responded, chuckling.

Rebecca:

I sip my too-warm-beer and casually munch on fries while I pretend to be heavily invested in the football game, but my mind is racing, preoccupied with a million conflicting thoughts.

Should I leave? Do I capture him and take him back to my warehouse?

At this point, not only am I running the risk of my own exposure, but I am risking those that are closest to me. I’m Not so worried because I care about them and their well-being.No, I fear the things that they are capable of doing to me if and when they learn how I am betraying them. Every step I am taking right now, as I inch myself closer and closer to the man I am absolutely infatuated with, I am getting another step closer to my own brutal demise.

The very thought of it sends shivers down my spine.

The time frame in which I have to find any viable options for an exit strategy, is very quickly shrinking.

My remaining contingencies are starting to look pretty grim. A lot of folks here are going to end up getting seriously injured, if they are lucky enough to survive this. As much as I hated to admit it, my love’s death might mean my protection.So he’d have to be eliminated, sooner than I had planned for. Which is absolutely unbearable. All of it will be tragic and unforgivable. It’s tearing me apart. However, I have no other way to remedy this situation. It’s not like I can come clean. Oh Gods, no. He won’t understand. Plus, if I tell him my dark truth, he’ll just become a liability; a loose end that will have to get taken care of eventually. So I’ll just have to rip the proverbial band-aid off.

Guilt is wrapping itself around my heart, squeezing tighter and tighter. I had hoped for the chance to love on him before I would have to kill him, but alas, maybe this was my punishment for being so greedy and undisciplined.

If I had just kept my distance, this wouldn’t be happening. Actually, scratch that. This wouldn’t be happening now if I had just done my job in the first place. I had my assignment to bring him in and I had been prepared to do just that. When I saw his face, though, my sense of duty to my precinct had melted away from me. I could sense, even from afar, that he was deserving of what I have to offer.

Captain hadn’t believed me when I said that the target got away from me before I could snap the cuffs on him, but he accepted my lie anyways and put someone else from a neighboring station on the case to find Wade. Maybe Cap could sense the pheromones coming off of me as I recalled my first interaction with my big bad boy. After all, he had seen it before; This wasn’t the first time a case went sideways for me. That’s on of the reasons I had joined this squad, to be completely honest, everyone here had a dark side and everyone else turned the blind eye. One could literally get away with murder on this team.

We have basic rules, though. No kids or animals. Anyone that breaks that rule gets viciously murdered. We are all a little bit fucked up, but even we have some semblance of a moral code.

Captain:

We have arrived at the fruition of my manifestation and I must say that I am rather excited about this part of the whole plan. It has been a long time coming and the reward for my patience does taste so sweet on my tongue.

I’ve been waiting to take down Rebecca Gomez for years. I’ve never liked her. The car wash cunt thought she could show up to my precinct and get comfortable with us? She walked through the doors and sighed in relief as if to say “Oh good, I’m safe here.”

Not even our band of renegades has ever liked her nor do they associate themselves with that type of creature.

She has a mean streak about her that is ruthless, despicable and immoral.

And yet she waltzed in to our building like we were all good pals, all on the same level. It was offensive that she should assume that we would all just welcome her in to our vigilante group. So disillusioned was she to think she had become one of us.

Where in we veterans occasionally (often) take out a known murderer, rapist, pedophile for the greater good, Rebecca takes it to an extreme.

She preys on her victims, stalking and hunting them. Once they are in her possession, she brutally tortures them, insisting that she is only trying to put the victims’ victims feelings in perspective. The torture for each victim is specific to that person and is meant to reflect the victim’s crimes. I let this all slide far too long, so I have only myself to blame.

This doesn’t occur all the time, but enough that the frequency of her “antics” have brought a lot of unwanted attention to our precinct. Again, I’ve never liked her, so this was just the nail in her coffin.

Once I caught wind of the big wigs getting in our case, I devised a plan to get Gomez into quite the entanglement. So carefully had I selected her victim, giving her a file on a particularly nasty breed of criminal, the kind that raped and murdered young women for sport. Wade Reynolds was the poor bastard.

I knew that as soon as Rebecca made contact with him that her little twisted brain would latch onto him and devour him.

After that, the dominos would fall and her fate would be sealed.

Bryan:

No one has noticed my true identity yet, despite the fact I’m in so deep.I’m sitting right next to Wade, pretending so convincingly that I’m his best buddy, working him until he’s comfortable confiding in me.

But then again, I guess no one would know who I am, being that I am not generally a field agent.

I was sent in to resolve a major issue in one of the downtown L.A. precincts that had gotten wildly out of hand. This case was becoming so notorious, that it threatened to reach the ears of government officials and we could not afford another reason to cut back funding for next year. This situation has the potential to completely fuck us. This situation requires extreme but necessary measures to occur and being the absolute mob gang that the county police has become, we are prepared to do just that.

From where we are seated at the bar, I have already noticed Officer Gomez two tables away, fiddling with her fries. It’s pathetic how oblivious she’s become. I’ve kept tabs on her in the past and have always been impressed with how she handled herself, despite the gruesome nature of deeds. Clearly, Wade has sparked something in her that has derailed her from her cold, calculated ways.

It’s what has led to her downfall.

I can see it on her face, despite her position, that she still believes herself to be in control.

How shocked she’ll be to find out.

Rebecca:

I admit it. I lost control tonight. Eager for more of him, I lost my sense for delayed gratification. I behaved as though I didn’t know what discipline looked like.

How could I not, though?

He drives me absolutely crazy. He is intoxicating.

That devilish smile that melts my insides, the strong muscles that bulge out of every piece of clothing he wears.

Even now, with his Titan arms wrapped around that skank. He has made his way to the other side of the bar to the blonde that’s been making google eyes at him.

How could he enjoy it?

She was all angles. Nothing soft or warm about her. And yet he was doting on her like she was the fucking antidote. She was everything that was wrong for him. Why couldn’t he see that?

I could give him what he needed, love him the way he deserved.

But now, I don’t think we’d be able to get that chance.

I had fantasized about our life together. Worked out every detail of the house we’d live in, what are day- to-day would look like. All of it.

We wouldn’t have kids though. That wouldn’t have been part of the plan. No way was I going to share him. Not ever. Not at all.

If I have a moment to spare, later, I’ll allow myself to cry over this loss.

But given the circumstances, I’ll have to put my big girl pants on and cry later. Once everything and every one is taken care of. Only until all the loose ends are wrapped up will I allow myself to grieve my beloved.

In order for this to all go smoothly, there would have to be some casualties. More than I’d planned for. The longer I wait, the messier the whole situation is going to get.

I will have to move quickly and stealthily.

I’ll start with her. The car wash cunt.

She should be the easiest target.

From where I sit, I have two routes to get to them and slip passed her without being noticed. This bar is a crowded one and I am sure that I can discreetly stab her and get lost in the sea of bodies quickly.

Wade will know I’m the culprit, but that’s just part of the fun.

Without missing a beat, my body is responding to my train of thought and I’m weaving in between people to get to the bar.

Just as I reach into my jacket for my blade, I’m bumped from the side by the bulky guy that’s been sitting and chatting with Wade.

“Oh! My apologies, little lady. Didn’t see you there.” He says with a twinkle in his eye. He knows exactly what he is doing.

Suddenly, I realize that this guy looks familiar.

“Officer Gomez, I’m agent Hobbs. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He smiles at me smugly and extends his hand out to me.

Oh shit. Agent? Panic strikes me and I immediately look for ways of of escaping. FUCK! So much fort plans with blondie and Wade. Our little threesome is going to have to be postponed.

As fear grips me and I try to escape to the side and out the emergency exit, I notice a tall and angry looking Captain out of the corner of my eye.

I don’t know what he’s doing here, but he’s also clearly outraged about Agent Hobbs’ presence in this bar. Clearly, Hobbs is ruining everyone’s plans, though what the captains plans are, I can’t say.

What the hell is going on?! Is the whole precinct and the big wigs here? Am I being followed or set up? My stomach twists and tightens. Oh God. This is it, isn’t it? They know my plans and they’ve come to stop me, the fucking hypocrites.

Well i am not going down without a fight.

Just as I make my move to jump to the right, Wade slams into me, angrily, thwarting any chance I thought I had at gaining an advantage.

Wade is pissed, having left a confused blondie behind at the bar.

“Stay away from this bitch, Bryan. She’s nothing but bad news,” Wade spits at my feet.

“She’ll get a whiff of you and if she likes you enough, you might find her tonight, hiding in the shadows of your room, watching you in bed with someone else.”

It’s obvious that Wade is holding on to some resentment from the other night. To be fair though, I was just as surprised about that as he was. I thought he’d be alone.

Angry and embarrassed at the memory, I lunge at Wade, just as the Captain makes his way to our little group from where he was standing by the bathroom. That’s the moment that Bryan notices him and his smile widens, as if to say he’s won a grand prize.

“Look who’s here,” Bryan exclaims in delight, just as my blade sinks into Wade’s abdomen.

“Get off of me, you crazy bitch!” He roars, his eyes wide in fear and shock.

I loved it when he talks dirty to me. Even now, as he fights against me for his life, he knows just how to get me all hot and bothered.

“Oh, daddy. Stop it. I’m trying to stay focused.”

I twist the knife in his belly, slightly. I don’t want him to end too quickly.

Wade screams and drops to his knees, doubling over in pain. Blood is soaking his Pendleton. There’s sudden chaos around me. Bystanders and screaming and running in all directions, the music has been cut off.

The smile has been wiped clear off of Agent Hobbs’ face and the Captain has stopped in his tracks, his mouth hanging open.

Okay, so maybe my actions were a bit rash. I’m sensing that now. Whoops.

Out of the corner of my left wye, I see the Captain reaching behind his back for his gun. Instinctively, I jump behind Hobbs and angle his body. Luckily for me, he’s still stunned about the stabbing and I’m able to use the extra couple of seconds it has bought to my advantage.

The sound of the gun firing scares everyone including me. Many have hit the floor but only one person hits the deck involuntarily; Hobbs.

He slumps next to Wade with a thud and groans.

“FUCK!” The Captain is not happy about missing his target.

Hobbs’ body limply rolls onto his side, his eyes are blank.

I throw my body onto Wade, protectively.

If anyone was going to kill him, it will me, dammit.

His strong hands grip my shoulders and throw me almost clear across the room.

“I have told you so many times that I want NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR CRAZY, DEMENTED ASS. GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!”

Oooohhh, he was in for it.

Even being stabbed wasn’t going to ebb his fiery side. We were getting past the point of no return. Panties were going to start flying off and soon, despite the audience we’re drawing. I suppose we could squeeze in a few minutes of play time before I would have to take him out of this world.

I smiled wickedly and started crawling back towards him, climbing over distressed bar patrons.

Without breaking eye contact, I stood up and reached my hand towards his face.

Another gunshot rings through the air, this time the bullet has found it’s mark.

Just a few inches from where my heart is, is a fresh blood stain that is growing larger by the second. I suddenly feel cold inside, though the blood on my chest is warm.

I look up and see blondie holding a gun painted right at me.

“That’s for ruining a possible date for me,” she says and pivots to turn the gun onto the Captain.

“And this is for shooting and killing my partner,” her finger pulls the trigger and shoots just as Captain is about to aim his gun at her.