In the arms of evil

Executioner

Today's the day Marcus dies. I've been waiting for this day for so long - since I've come out of hospital... since I lost my child. Before I kill him today, I'm going to ask him why. Why he couldn't leave Colton alone. Why he sent those men to do what they did to me. Why he's turned me into what I'm becoming... cold and heartless.

I've been staring out my window for the past twenty minutes, admiring the view of the sea in front of me. There's a whole world out there, I'm just a small part of it. Insignificant really. But I've come to realise I'm the main character of my own fucked up story and that my world only extends as far as here to Tennessee. And I'm okay with that, it means there's less room for pain in my heart. Less opportunities to end up lost.

"You ready?" Colton asks with his arms crossed, leaning on the doorframe of my room. I take a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for taking another life. I turn and face Colton with a look ready to kill, "time to kill that son of a bitch." Colton smiles at me, almost proud that I'm taking my life back. What's strange is that I know it comes at a cost. I'd have to kill Marcus, but that thought doesn't scare me. If anything... it makes me feel all the more powerful.

I begin to get ready, leather jeans and a black tight crop top. I throw on a pair of military boots, tie my hair up in a tight ponytail, and pull on some leather gloves matched with a karkey green bomber jacket. "Okay boys, let's go." As soon as I walk into the living room, Sammy and Colton stop their conversation, mesmerised by my presence. Sammy begins coughing nervously, trying to divert his gaze and Colton, well his eyes haven't stopped trailing my body. "If looks could kill" Colton says, smirking, eying me once more before he walks up to me, pulling me in from my waist. "Yours would be deadly" he says as he kisses my smiling lips.
I glance over at Sammy, then at Colton, a cold smile on my face as I say: "who's ready to kill the devil?"

The three of us wait behind pine trees by the lake we knew Marcus would soon be at. "You're going to be okay baby" Coltons hand rubs my back reassuringly, feeling me physically shake from anxiety of what was about to happen. I was about to kill a man and take over a gang all at once. "Whatever happens today... I've got your back" Colton kisses my forehead, squeezing my waist. I take a sigh of relief, kiss him back hungrily and completely forget Sammy is right next to us. "Sorry about that" Colton chuckles to Sammy, sending us all into a deep chuckle that abruptly stops when we head Marcus's car turn the corner.

Hidden behind the trees lies Marcus's doom. We all stand there silently as Marcus steps out of his Lincoln and heads to the edge of the lake with a single white rose. "Happy birthday baby" we hear him say as he twirls the stem of the rose between his fingers. "Amara" Colton whispers out, knowing who Marcus is talking about. Coltons eyes are glued on Marcus like a deer in headlights as if all his past memories of Marcus and Amara have flooded his mind.

Sammy look at me, knowing I'm edging for an explanation when he tells me what Colton won't. "Amara was Marcus's wife. He lost her when Colton left...the gang." Just then, as Sammy's eyes drifted back to Marcus, we were all hit with the realisation as to why Marcus wanted Colton back so badly. He lost the love of his life when Colton left, and wants him back to feel safe again. It's almost tragic.

The three of us sneak up behind him, and as I clock my hun, Marcus stares into the lake, chuckling. "Hello old friends" he says before he turns to face us. "My oh my" Marcus looks me up and down, taking in the new me. "You knew this was coming Marcus. You knew" Colton tells him, pointing his gun at Marcus's chest. "It's been a good old run, son." Colton shakes his head, and puts his gun down the same time Sammy does. "We're not the ones you should be worried about." Colton and Sammy take a step back, leaving me in the middle, gun still pointed at Marcus. "Little lady here is gonna take me out huh?" Marcus looks at them both. "Well little lady," he holds his hands up, "welcome to the club. No one ever makes it out alive." Those words echo in my head, knowing who I'm about to become will be nothing like who I am. Who my parents knew. I'd be unrecognisable to the world I lived in before. Before Colton. Before Troy. Life as I know it is about to come to an end.

"First I want to know something. Why? Why did you want colt back so badly? Why couldn't you let him go?" Marcus stares at me for a minute, debating wether or not to tell me the truth and grant himself a godly confession before his untimely death. "Because... I needed him to stay alive. If I kept him busy with jobs and protecting me, he would eventually lose the most important thing. You." Colton takes a step forward, but I hold an arm out to stop him. "Why would you want that?" I can feel Colton's anger radiating from him because he already knows the answer. "Because I wanted him to feel the pain I felt when I lost my wife. Amara trusted you" he says as he faces Colton. "She trusted you to keep her safe and you left and let her die! I should kill you myself for what you let those heathens take from me!" Marcus yanks a gun out from behind him, but before I let him level it with Colton's head, I pull the trigger and end another life.

Taking in my actions, I walk up to Marcus, picking up the white rose now speckled in his blood. "You can go home to her now Marcus. You're finally free." I throw the rose into the lake and turn to face Colton who looks at me in utter love. "You did it baby. You set me free" he kisses my hand, curling my hair in his fingers. "Guys... do you hear that?" Sammy breaks our moment, as does the police sirens. "Shit. Baby, you've got to go. Sammy get her out of here!" I pull Colton's face back to facing me, ignoring the sirens. "I won't leave you." Colton chuckles, kissing my head. "You won't. I'll tell them I did this and they'll think I'm the new leader. The gang has influence in the police force here, so I'll get away with it and that way... I'll set you free." I knew what he meant. It meant I would go free but he would be burdened with the gang and this would have all been for nothing. "No. No please Colton, you can't-" Sammy steps in between us, "I'll take the blame. That way you both go free. And plus, taking over the gang? It wouldn't be so bad." Sammy smiles, ready to take one for the team. Colton and I smile at each other, content with our ending in this, but before we could make a run for it, four police cars pull up surrounding us.

As red and blue sirens flash around us, illuminating the scene, Sammy is pushed onto a cop car, being arrested. Colton tries to fight, thrashing in their grip as they shackle him, the whole time as I'm calmly arrested, I watch as he smirks at me, enjoying the moment. When he winks at me before they throw him in the car, I swear my heart exploded. I didn't care that I was getting arrested, I completely forgot about Marcus's dead body beside us. All I felt and saw was Colton and the way our heart yearned for one another. This was love. It's broken and tangled and messy but it's ours. It's ours to bend and mend and twist in all its universal glory. I wouldn't have it any other way because this love? This love is one to last through the ages.