**ANTONY SANTOS**. "I'm just going to take this away from you and keep it. In fact I shouldn't have brought you to a shooting range in the first place."He pulled my two hands, urging me to leave this range. What's strange is how I've grown connected to one building in days. I don't see myself doing anything aside from shootingthings. More importantly shooting Antonov Vasquez."I can handle myself.""No you can't. You're thinking there's no way out. No legal way out. No way out where you don't end up in prison when this is done so you're taking the lethal option. The chemical one. The very bad option and the Antony I know sees that it is. That option because tteee is no way in hell I'll stand here and watch you commit murder."He snapped."I wasn't ..""You were. The first step to getting it out of your head is admitting that you were. After that you get it out because if you so much as touch a finger on his hair
**TRACY SCOTT**. -TWENTY FOUR HOURS EARLIER"I'm sorry about what happened outside, he just....""I don't care."I clipped, stretching my arms."You what?""Don't care."I shrugged my shoulders."Tracy...""Yes?"I replied courtly, falling to the bed with my legs spread across each end.I saw how he was looking at me. Like I had gone completely mad and in some strange sense, it was beginning to feel like I had."You don't care?"How many times had he asked that already? Do I have to write it down on a piece of paper orsomething?"Nope. I do not care."I looked to the ceiling, blowing out the air through my lips."I'm confused.""Why?"I lifted half my body off the bed, leaving the other half to rest comfortably. Thereafter, I cocked my head a little over to the left meeting his confused expression."Why? I mean...""You think I saw you and Antony out there and I'll feel what? Angry? Upset? Oh for fuck sakes would y
**ETHAN RAMIREZ**-TWENTY FOUR HOURS EARLIER.I just conceded to aiding and abetting murder.It's not the first time such is occuring, I've done it before but with a different client if I'm permittee to use that phrase.The other time something like this happened was with the man I just agreed to kill.First it was Shawn. It started with Shawn. He sent me inside to spy on her and you're well aware of how the story goes.The brave soldier sent in after getting his head filled with a bunch of nonsense. He practices everything, how the inflitration will go and what needed to be done to achieve success.Alas everything shots down to hell when the said soldier finds out what he truly signed up for. It's nothing like what he hoped.And the story goes forth till we find ourselves in this corner, on this side of history.I have to say this one too many times before I believe it. Now that I just had that little dash through memory lane, I have to commend myself.No one is going to do is for me
**ETHAN RAMIREZ**"Ethan? Ethan!."Her voice sounded faint at the back of my ear, my mind was far off with questions swimming in them.Questions I put forth to myself, but couldn't answer any of them."Ethan!"My shoulders shook roughly. I assume by her.My head turned to meet her face in response, but there were no emotions across any of my features.How does she expect me to react?"Are you with me at all? Ethan!"She shrugged harder this time, there was a lot to say about hers.The slight wrinkles over her left cheeks and the bags under her eyes suggests she hasn't been getting much sleep these days. I'm not surprised. It can't be easy to plan, calculate, and execute a murder. Not like I would know, but her demeanour is all the indication I need. She's killing herself and she doesn't even know.I shook the thought out of my mind.It's our fault she's like this. Everyone has shared blame.I'm the top one on the list. I caused the incident. I was the mole. The reason they got caught
**ETHAN RAMIREZ**I dropped my hands by my side, a scoff falling off my lips as I pulled away from the man I thought was truly sane. Turns out he lots his mind in the midst of this entire thing. Just as the rest of us did. We've all lost a part of us. Some more than othersNow we are all crazy, one way or another.I'm still keeping a tight lid on mine, trying hard not to get it out of hand, doing my best to control these things because eventually we will get over it.It's just a phase in life as even though we might not like to admit it, everyone has these things.The peak point in their life, the point where you feel every damn thing is so fucking wrong and you're tired. You're done. You're hurt. You're crying. You're screaming.Everyone is depressed. Everyone suffers grief.At some point. Everyone feels these things. But that doesn't mean they all commit murder.Maybe Antony is fucking with me. He has to be that.That is the only way I maintain my sanity in this thing.I should hav
**ETHAN RAMIREZ**I searched the room with my eyes, it had cleared out leaving just us three. Antony and I standing metres away from one of the ranges, Tracy standing by the door with a smug look on her face that shows she's not exactly happy with either of us.What comes next is her feeling all too betrayed by both of us, but I'm sure Antony can handle it.I hope. I hope I didn't underestimate her angry she is at him, angry enough not to listen to a word he had to say, she has only made eye contact with him once since she walked in here and even then, she tore her gaze away quickly."I asked a question but it would seem no one is willing to give a weird answer. Since when did both of you become besties because that's what this seems. A get together for besties."She squirmed her shoulders, her tone dripping with sarcasm and mockery."Tracy..."She crossed her hand quickly, leaving one outside to place ahead of me and halt whatevermovement I had planned"I asked a question, Ethan. I
**ANTONY SANTOS**. "Why are you looking at me like that?"She asked after moments of silence reigned between us, neither bothering to utter a word. There weren't much seating positions in the gun range, so we merely relaxed our back over the wall, giving the other breathing space.Something I hadn't realised I needed, but I did."Like what?"I moved my shoulders, carefully flipping my front hair backwards and moving my eyes away which were raking her body with suspicion."Like I'm damaged goods. You're looking at me as though I'm damaged goods. It's what's going around and I can't seem to wrap my head around the look. It's getting annoying. Stop looking at me like that "She snapped, standing straight."I'm not looking at you like you're damaged goods. I would never think that, that's just being insensitive and anyone who is doing such hasn't the slightest clue of what you've been through nor has the right to judge
**TRACY SCOTT**. I need a grip. A tight grip and maybe a lid. A grip on these whirling emotions inside me, like a storm and I'm in the fucking eye.An hour ago I was prepared, willing, and heaven knows I was ready to commit first-degree murder and not even blink.That's how mad I was. Was it anger? Or hurt? Or thirst for vergence? That would be fueled by either the former or latter before it?I'm not sure what it is, but it's there.I can feel it inside of it, it's burning and it keeps increasing with each passing minute.I would have killed that man, I would have done so without so much as blinking.That's how vicious I have become.Ethan was the only anchor left, if it wasn't for him I would have finished Antonov off.For now, I just need to stay in the same room with him.I need to look him in the eye and figure out why he ruined my life.Why did he kill my mother?Why did he start this goose chase for me decades