For Jimmy

^^

"Hi, I'm Jimmy." Butterflies. My stomach is filled with butterflies.

"I don't usually hit girls, but I guess you're an exception. Oh yeah, I'm Jimmy." Anger. Red, hot, pure anger.

"Need some help? I'm Jimmy by the way." Suspicion. Plain, uncontrollable suspicion.

The three heartbroken figures stood side by side, the images of how each individual met their mentor flashing through their minds, stinging their eyes with the tears that once fell when Jimmy vanished. The pain was unimaginable, especially for this trio. They were all hurting, inside and out. They all knew each one of them felt the same, though Esther would never admit it to Sebastian, Sebastian would never admit it to Jane and Jane would never admit it to anyone. And so it stayed a secret. A secret that everyone knew.

"Do it."

"Do it."

Sebastian closed his eyes.

"For Jimmy."

The flame collided with the gasoline faster than it did on TV. And the man screamed louder than the victims did on TV. They watched and waited until there was nothing left but ashes, and then they silently walked back through the doors of the warehouse and out of the iron gate. A security guard held them up for a second or two, before Esther smashed his head in with a pipe.

They strolled into their usual coffee shop, ignoring the unnerved glances from the other inhabitants of 'Hot Stuff'. They sat down in the same seats and order they always did; Esther then Jane and then Sebastian. Jimmy would always sit in front of them. "To see your pretty faces sweetens my tea," he would always say. Now the chair sat empty, beckoning for a weight to be laid upon it. Such a sad existance. But today was a special day, today would be the day the empty chair would finally have the weight of another man bestowed upon it. A big, dead weight.

"How did it feel? Just like Jimmy said it would?" Jane said this to Sebastian with sparkling eyes, inquisitive and optimistic. Esther's attitude was much the same, but there was a tinch of something at the bottom of her stomach that she hadn't felt in a while; nervousness.

"It was amazing. Power..feriousity..greatness..." Sebastian carried on, but Esther couldn't hear him. Jane was truly fascinated by Sebastian's story, and Sebastian loved the attention he rarely ever got. And so both didn't notice when the new weight sat down in Jimmy's chair. Didn't notice Esther tense up as she reached for the knife hidden in her pocket. They didn't even notice the quick movement of Esther's knife slicing across the now dead weight on Jimmy's former chair. The only thing that forced them to look up was the blood that splattered all over them. An eruption of cries and screams filled the air, but Esther didn't panic. She smiled. She smiled as she was pulled from the coffeehouse, and she smiled as she smelt the blood on her face.

As they entered an abandoned allyway and stopped, looking at each other expectantly, there was an eerie silence.

"It felt great by the way, just like you said Sebastian. Just like Jimmy said." The silence continued, and so, so did Esther. She cleared her throat. "And now, before we do what was always meant to be, Jane, I believe you have an appointment with Dr Rabsteen?" The three friends smiled at each other.

"Indeed I do."