She sits on the edge of the bed and takes a drag on her cigarette, staring at the smashed screen in front of her. Dried blood covers her face and hands, the cowboy’s naked body lies on the floor, his stomach split open. She jumps as there is a knock at the door and quickly gets to her feet. Peering through the peephole, she lets out a relaxed breath and turns the handle as the woman barges her way in, almost knocking Sonya to the ground. She looks down at the body and lets out a groan of disappointment and frustration.

“Shit Sonya it hasn’t even been twelve hours since they found the last poor fucker you gutted, I thought you promised me you were going to fucking give this a break, the whole fucking city is looking for you and you just keep fucking acting like you don’t give a shit!” The woman says as she throws a bag to the ground, next to the body.

“He was the same as the rest, he fucking deserved it, they all fucking deserve what they get.”

“They all do apparently, I notice the set, you obviously caught his little fuck you across the channels?”

“He’s just pushing back, trying to goad me into making a mistake, but it’s not working, the fool failed at pushing any of my buttons.”

“The set says something entirely different honey,” Sally says. “I know why you started this, but for the life of me I can’t understand why the fucking hell you’re still going at it, move on, you’ve done what you wanted to achieve, wasn’t that enough?”

“No, it’s obviously not is it, he’s still out there, he’s still acting like he did nothing wrong, but so are they, the worthless fucks who prey on the weak.”

“Honey, its game over time, just fucking kill him and be done with it all. Maybe then I can get back to some sort of normal life instead of waiting for the phone to ring as I’ve done for the past few weeks, you know I do have a life, and I’ve got better thing to do on a Saturday night, like my man, for instance, than cleaning up your shit.”

“I know Sally, and I’m sorry, really, I am. But remember who signed on for this, you were the one who said you would help me, pushed me, forced me to let you in, and now that I have, you don’t want to be? I just can’t stop it, I’m saving everyone else from what I suffered, or even worse,” she says. “Why let them continue hurting others without a care when I can make sure their lies and deception end, with me.”

“I know what I signed up for, but you’ve got to give me something back, you’ve done nothing to stop all this insane shit. Fuck, all I’ve become is your fucking clean up woman, which is bullshit by the way.”

Sonya places a hand on Sally’s face and gently caresses her cheek, “You know you mean more than that to me.”

Sally brushes her hand away, “Remind me why the fuck we’re still friends?”

“Because, we are.”

Sally looks deep into Sonya’s eyes, and her anger softens, and she smiles, “Look, I was serious before though, why don’t you just kill him, end it all and move on, be free of all this shit?”

“I will, soon, I’ve just got a loose end or two to tie up and then his time will be up.”

“What loose ends do you have beside him? We tracked all the fuckers from that night down at the start of all this, you’ve never mentioned anyone else.”

“Her name is Maddison Gray.”

“Who the fuck is Maddison Gray?”

“She’s the one who’s responsible for everything in my life being shit, she’s the one who really needs to pay.”

“So what the fuck are you wasting time with these stupid fucks for? Let’s go find this Maddison Gray bitch, and kill her.”

“I don’t need to find her, I’ve always known where she is,” Sonya says. “I’ve never let her out of my site, not even for a minute”

Sally jumps to her feet in frustration and excitement, “Then let’s go, fuck cleaning this piece of shit up, he can rot for all I care. Let’s go send this Maddison Gray to the grave and then take mister hot shot out once and for all, even if it’s just so I can get some fucking sleep.”

Sonya looks up at Sally and smiles, “Maybe you’re right, maybe I need to stop sitting on this and just do it.” She gets to her feet and places a hand on Sally’s shoulder. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, without you I wouldn’t have come so far,” she says as she drives a blade deep into her stomach, Sally looks at her in horror. “Sorry,” she says as she pulls the blade up into her chest.

Sally’s lifeless body crashes to the floor and Sonya looks down on her with sadness as she wipes away a tear as it runs down her face, ‘Don’t go losing it now, not when you’re so close. Let’s just get this over with and then Jackson, it’s going to be you and me in a race to the finish, a race I will win.’

 

END OF CHAPTER ONE