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[village_idiot]

DISCLAIMER:

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS A WORK OF FICTION AND CHARACTER THERE IN HAVE NO RELATION TO PERSONS LIVING OR DECEASED. ADDITIONALLY, THE FOLLOWING SEGMENT IS INTENDED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES AND MAY INCLUDE: OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE, BLOOD AND GORE, MATURE SITUATIONS OR OFFENSIVE MATERIAL. READER DISCRETION IS HIGHLY ADVISED!

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This sucks.

I saw it coming, really I did. I couldn't help but see it. But at this point I was so dizzy that I just let the punch land square across my left cheek.

Smack!

It was a cheap shot, really. Devlin knew that I didn't have much fight left in me. But the coward had to get his licks in, knowing damn well I was in no shape to fight any more.

"What's the matter, girl?" he seethed through clenched teeth. He held up his clenched fist, winding up for another shot. "Why not fight back?"

As he swung, I closed my eyes and braced myself for impact.

Bam!

Yep, this sucks. This hit caught me right between the eyes. I saw stars on that one. The force of the hit threw me back, stumbling to catch my footing. But my damned feet refused to cooperate and I fell to the floor in a heap. Blood ran from the corner of my mouth and from somewhere else on my head though, I couldn't quite pin the source. I could feel the copper-tasting liquid gather on my lips as I fought to keep my eyes open. I was so tired. Forget this whole situation. Forget that my one true nemesis in this world was standing over me, gloating like a predatory animal over his freshly taken down prey. All I wanted to do was rest my eyes a moment and let the pounding in my head subside.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a pair of hands grabbing at my shirt collar and roughly yanking me to my feet. I moved my eyes, as my head and neck hurt too much to move without causing me more pain, to see Devlin sneering in my face. He hoisted me up to eye level by my shirt collar and laughed.

"Look at you," he sneered in a whisper. "The 'unkillable' Ghost!" He spat and smiled. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this day to come?"

I closed my eyes a minute and forced a smile. "I…told you before…Devlin," I managed to say between breaths. "You don't…have what it takes to…kill…me."

Not one of my brightest moments, I have to admit. Devlin hoisted me up over his head a bit and then slammed me down, back first onto the top of his desk.

C-rack!

I groaned loudly. It's funny that actually hurt.

"Come on, Ghost," he shouted. "Say something funny. Make a joke!"

I didn't answer him. Actually, I was more focused on the new pain in my side. I couldn't be sure but it felt like I had landed on some glass object on the desk that had shattered. Great, I thought. Nothing like glass in your ass…

"You know Ghost," Devlin suddenly stooped from view, as if searching for something, as he continued. "When I'm done with you, I'm going to find your little girlfriend. And, you know what? I'm going to hurt her."

I opened my eyes. My girlfriend? My mind was in a total fog at that point and it was becoming incredibly difficult to concentrate. What girlfriend was he talking about-? It finally dawned on me: Kitty. He must have been talking about Kitty. No way in hell was I going to let him hurt her.

"I'm going to hurt her so bad that she's going to beg me to stop. But I'm not going to. And you know what? You will be to blame for her suffering." I heard him grab something and then the sound of metal scraping across the floor. What the hell was--?

Shlink!

I couldn't contain my cry of agony as Devlin suddenly forced one of my displaced katanas through my right shoulder and into the desk, skewering me to the wooden top. The titanium blade had passed right through my skin, shattering bone and severing anything in its path as it passed through me until the hilt was resting against my shoulder. That really hurt! Years of fried nerves and next to no physical pain and now my own sword through my shoulder hurt like a b****!

"I'm sorry," Devlin said without any emotion. "Did that hurt?" I opened my eyes just in time to see him stand over me with my other katana, poised over my left shoulder.

Shlick!

If the first katana had been a painful experience, the second katana was nothing short of pulverizing. I hardly felt titanium against bone but I knew it had happened. My feet kicked under their own accord as an unearthly moan of pain escaped my lips. Amidst the excruciating pain I was experiencing I felt a seeping wetness gathering between my shoulder blades on the desktop. It didn't take much to figure out what it was; blood. My blood. My body started to go numb as I lay there and Devlin stood over me. My vision was beginning to blur and my hearing was starting to muffle.

"Ghost?" Devlin's voice echoed in my head.

I turned to look at him slowly. My body wasn't responding to my commands like it should. In fact, it hurt to move. It hurt to breath. Hell, it hurt to think.

"Don't die on me now, Ghost," the man said quietly. He reached down to his hip holster and pulled out his Glock. "We're just starting to have fun…"

You know, I have to admit it; for once in my life I actually felt alone, helpless and even a little afraid. Devlin must have sensed it too.

"It's funny. You once told me that I'd end up on my knees, begging for my life from you." He laughed and shook his head. "My, how things have changed…"

I heard footsteps somewhere. Somewhere close but still too far to be in the same room. My burnt mind finally came to the conclusion that someone must have been in the hallway, maybe?

"You hear that, Ghost?" Devlin said as he pulled the hammer on the gun back. "Someone's here to rescue your sorry ass."

He placed the cold barrel of the gun against my forehead. His lips pulled away from his white teeth menacingly.

"Ghost?" a woman's voice called from the hall. The voice sounded vaguely familiar.

Devlin leaned close to whisper in my ear. "Too bad it's already too late."

The door to the office was suddenly kicked in and a woman stood in the doorway with a gun clutched in her fist. I turned my head slightly to look at her. I knew her. In fact, I knew everything about her. We knew each other quite well. As our eyes met a look of sheer panic crossed her face.

"Kitty…?" I managed to rasp.

Devlin stood, faced the woman and pressed the gun to my temple. "You're too late," he said as he placed his finger on the trigger.

"No!" Kitty screamed as she raised her gun.

Edited March 3, 2012 by village_idiot

[Still Waters]

That Devlin is a nasty character, but it's a good piece of writing I think.

[village_idiot]

That Devlin is a nasty character, but it's a good piece of writing I think.

It's kinda funny and I didn't take the time to explain it in the demo, but, Devlin is actually a cop. Ghost is a vigilante and Devlin is a Detroit Metropolitan Police officer (chief, actually). I wanted a story that was hard for readers to draw sides because on the one side, you would have a vigilante (illegal, obviously) and on the opposite end of the spectrum you would have a crooked cop. Dunno how well this formula works yet but we'll see...