Landon

 

Alan and Branden thought they were so smart. They weren’t really, though.

 

They’d forgotten all about that knife strapped to my thigh.

 

After I’d freed my hands, the doctor arrived and all attention was on Vivian. It was hard to ignore her pleas and cries, but I managed to block them out for just long enough to start working on the ropes that bound my ankles. Branden had done a tough job with the knots, but I was able to work everything out and finally free myself just as Alan was reaching for Vivian’s fly.

 

“Fuck you,” I snarl. The handle of my knife is sticking out of Alan’s temple, and I reach down and yank it out.

 

He’s unmistakably dead. The wet, foul smell of shit is hanging in the air, and a cloudy, grey fluid is leaking out of the wound on Alan’s temple, along with a considerable amount of blood.

 

For a moment, everything is quiet. Then Branden and the doctor spring into action. The doctor falls to his knees, cowering like a baby as Branden comes at me. I kick the doctor in the midsection until he cries out, but I know he won’t be a problem anymore.

 

The real problem is Branden. Branden, the guy I thought I’d already killed once. Branden the Monster. Branden the Kidnapper. Branden, the man who’s made my woman’s life a living hell.

 

I don’t intend on letting Branden escape from the building.

 

Immediately, Branden flies toward me with his arms outstretched. His hands clamp down on my shoulders and for a moment, we brace our legs against the floor and lower our heads like bulls about to charge. His eyes are angry and so wide I can see the veins pulsing. Branden’s gritting his teeth and growling and trying to push me to the side, but now that it’s just the two of us, I know this is going to be an easy fight.

 

Branden rips away from my body with a surprising agility. I chase after him, my feet thundering across the wooden floor, sounding like a stampede. As Branden glances at me over his shoulder, he stumbles on the floor and goes flying. I watch with satisfaction as he crashes hard and slides across the hardwood into the wall. His head cracks against the wall with a loud thwack and I immediately give chase, still gripping my knife in one hand.

 

I straddle Branden, pinning him to the ground and grabbing him by the shoulders. When he tries to push me away, I slam his upper body against the floor as hard as I can. He shrieks in agony as his eyes close. I keep hitting him until the cabin is filled with the sound of blows. I know that I’m causing pain and I don’t care.

 

There isn’t enough pain in the world to give the man who kidnapped my Vivian, and I’m not going to stop until he’s dead.

 

Someone grabs my shoulder and I whirl around to see the doctor.

 

“Please,” the doctor begs. His nose is bleeding and his face is ghostly pale. “Please, save me. Please, I have kids.”

 

In the few seconds that have passed, Branden somehow has managed to wriggle out from under me. He topples me over and we fall together, still gripping each other as tightly as lovers. For a moment, we roll across the floor, scratching and clawing and punching at each other. There’s a sharp, stabbing pain in my side and I gasp, looking down to see the handle of a knife sticking out of my gut.

 

I’m bleeding like a stuck pig as Branden and I continue to tussle. He grins as he reaches for the handle of the knife and twists hard.

 

I scream in pain. A hot, burning sensation fills my body.

 

It’s almost too much to bear, but I grit my teeth and push through it. Knocking Branden’s hand away, I yank the knife out of my gut and toss it across the room where it clatters on the floor.

 

The look in Branden’s eyes is enough to tell me that I’ve won. Readying my hold on my own knife, I press the blade against his throat. His eyes are wide with fear, and his lips are trembling. He doesn’t even look that ugly, now. He just looks pathetic, like a little kid.

 

“You’re gonna pay for what you did to Vivian,” I growl. “Your whole MC is gonna fuckin’ pay, and they’re gonna rue the day they ever heard the name Branden.”

 

Branden twists and writhes underneath me. He screams as I drag the blade across his exposed throat.

 

Blood spurts into the air and gushes over my face. My hands are slick and slippery, but I manage to keep gripping the knife until the grisly job is done. Sawing away at Branden’s jugular gives me no satisfaction at all.

 

The only thing that’s going to give me satisfaction is seeing Vivian smile again.

 

My body is getting cold and I can’t stop shivering, but at last, Branden is dead beneath me. His eyes are open and his lips are twisted in a permanent howl of agony. I stare at the birthmark on his face, wondering what ever drove him to such a horrible life.

 

“That was for Vivian,” I whisper, wiping the blade of the knife off on my shirt.

 

My heart is slowing in my chest and I know that I’m losing a lot of blood. Vivian’s screaming in my ear but my vision is fading, spinning out of control. I know that if I close my eyes, I won’t ever open them again, but it feels too good to slip into the warm embrace of death.

 

I’m sorry, Vivian, I think as I begin to fade from life. I’m so sorry I couldn’t do more.