"I don't know!" Trish looked around frantically. "Stacy!"
"I'm here! I'm trying to get to Hunter!"
"Dave!" Trish whipped her head around. "Dave, where are you!"
There was no sound. Dave stood hovering over Chyna, his head whipping around. His night vision wasn't good from the spotlight and he couldnt' see anything. He kept his fingers pressed against Chyna's neck, trying to feel for her pulse.
"Dave!" Stacy called out this time. She was closer to Hunter. The edge of the bar bumped hard into her ribs and she let out a groan. "I can't find Hunter!"
"I'm over here!" Dave called out. "Chyna's still alive!"
"Not for much longer." Edge's eerie voice came out of the darkness and Dave looked around, trying to find him. He heard Chyna scream and then saw a flash of silver as the knife was jerked out of her chest. She rolled and Dave barrelled across the table. He felt a slice across his back, and then shouted as he hit the floor hard.
"Dave!" Trish stopped in her tracks. "Randy!"
"Trish, I'm over here! Follow my voice!"
Randy continued to call out to her and she followed the sound until she could grip his arm. She let her hands slide down his arms to his hands and felt cold metal. "Your gun," she said, her voice no more than a whisper.
"Yeah. Trish, if I go down..."
"Randy, you're not going down."
"Dave's already down. So are Hunter and Chyna. If I go down, take the gun and don't think. Make sure that he doesn't get you or Stacy."
"Randy, I..."
"Do it!" Stacy screamed and his head spun to the side. He tried to see, but there was nothing. "Trish, if I go down, take the gun. Do you understand me?" She nodded slowly and Randy called out, "Stacy!"
"I'm fine! He took Hunter! There's blood everywhere! I... He was alive when he took him!"
"Follow my voice!"
Stacy got up and started feeling her way around. "What about Dave?"
Dave called out, "I'm fine! Just a scratch!" Stacy sighed and continued over. She reached out and stopped when she bumped into Trish. The women huddled together and listened as maniacal laughter floated through the club.
"You're all going to fucking die!"
Randy fired into the direction of the voice, higher up. He didn't hit anything, but the spark from the gun firing gave him just enough light to figure out where he was. "The breaker's," he said softly, "are just across the floor. Behind Cena's DJ table."
"Randy?" Stacy blinked. "Hunter's phone was still on. I talked to the operator. Help is on the way. Just wait here. They heard the screams, they'll be here."
"Not in time. The two of you stay right here, alright? Stacy... did you get Hunter's gun?"
She nodded, then realizing that he couldn't see her, said, "Yeah."
"Okay. I'm going to the breaker box. There are three and this is the only one on this floor. He can't make it to another to take out the lights before I get back to you. But, I want you to give the gun to Trish. She knows how to use one." Stacy didn't argue that she could fire a gun because, honestly, she had no clue. She knew the concepts, but not really how to do it. "Make your way over to Dave and Chyna. When the cops bust in the door, run outside."
"What about you?" Trish asked. She took the gun from Stacy and gripped it tightly. It was a nine milimeter Beretta, the same kind Christian had originally trained her on, which meant she knew exactly where the safety was in case she needed to use it. She thought it was kind of ironic that Christian had taught her how the use the weapon that could very well kill his brother. "What if he grabs you before you get to the lights?"
"Then you blow a whole in the fucking door until you can get out. But whatever happens, you get the fuck out of here." He grabbed her tightly around the waist and pulled her towards him. He knew where every part of her was and his lips didn't miss as he kissed her hard. Randy threw her back and turned. "Stay here."
He started off and the women were left alone. Neither could ignore Hunter's screams of rage. Something was hurting him, there was pain in his yells, but there was more cursing, more vowing to kill. It reminded Stacy of the tapes of her father that were played for her. She shook her head and grabbed Trish's arm.
They made their way slowly over towards Dave's position. Hunter's screaming abruptly stopped and something zipped past them. Trish screamed and nearly dropped the gun in her hands. She kept her grip, then felt her arm. Something slick and wet coated her fingers and she knew it was blood.
Edge was playing with them, and it was pissing both women off. Stacy stopped moving and turned to Trish. Even in the darkness, she could see at least an outline of her that shook with what she knew to be anger. Stacy turned her head up and screamed, "Stop playing with us!"
Trish jerked her arm free of Stacy and called out, "If you're gonna kill us, just do it! Christian wouldn't want this!"
"You don't know what he would want!" the voice came from the darkness.
"I know better than you!" She stepped back and turned in a slow circle. "Stop with the games and just do it!"
Edge laughed and said, "As you wish!" There was another scream, and they knew it was Dave. Both women jumped as Edge's voice came out again. "Did you know that in the dark, blood is black?"
"Yours will be, too!" Trish screamed. "Dave!" He made noises, faint, and they were close enough to know that he wasn't dead yet. Trish saw the flash of silver as the blade came up again and she cocked the gun. She raised it and fired as the blade came rushing back down.
Edge shouted in surprise and the knife clanked against the floor. He stood up and turned towards them. He wore night vision goggles and the two blondes were in a neon glow. He stalked towards them and Trish fired again. The bullet zipped past him and he laughed. "You missed!"
The lights came on in a blinding blaze and Edge screamed, tearing the goggles off of his face. Trish closed her eyes against the sudden light, then opened them when Stacy shouted at her. She looked to see Edge zipping across the floor, heading straight for Randy. She fired three times, hitting nothing but a chair, a table and finally the DJ table.
Edge vaulted over the table, his hair flying behind him. Stacy screamed, "Randy, look out!" Trish ejected the clip and found there was only one bullet left inside and one in the chamber. She slapped the clip back in, then fired at Edge's back... and missed as he drove Randy to the floor.
"I'd have thought Christian would have taught you better aim!" Edge yelled out.
"He didn't teach moving targets!" She trained the gun in his direction. "Why don't you stand up and I can show you what he taught me!"
"If you want..." She could almost hear a smirk in his voice. There was a scream, undoubtedly Randy's, filled with rage, and then a curse. Edge stood slowly, and when he came up, he was holding Randy around the neck. "He's already got a knife in his back. And I can snap his neck before you can pull that trigger."
Trish took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She steadied her voice as she said, "Is this what you think Christian would want?"
"They killed him! You killed him!"
"You don't know me!" She did her best to keep her arm straight, staring down the barrel of Hunter's gun. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Christian wouldn't have wanted anyone to die. If you know they did something, then you should have told the cops."
"Ya know..." He tightened his hold on his neck and Randy groaned. "One thing Christian should have told you about me. It's impossible to talk me down."
"And one thing you don't know me... I really don't give a shit about talking anyone down." She stared at him, trying her best to aim just at Edge, so she wouldn't hit Randy. Her sights were low and even holding the gun with both hands, her arms were starting to tremble. "Help me, Christian," she whispered to herself. "I know it's your brother, but... help me."
She felt hands over hers and a body hover above her. For a second, she thought she was hallucinating and Christian had really come to help her. She stole a glance at the fingers on hers and saw glittering pink nail polish. Stacy...
And then thoughts came back to her. Christian's funeral. Edge hovering over Randy in the alley. The wreckage at the club. The cuts on Chyna's arms and face from falling debris. Ric's funeral. Finally, the words Stacy told her just moments ago. Ric would want them to be strong. He would want them to be fierce. He would want them to be the women he had grown to respect, admire and in Stacy's case, love.
Stacy rose Trish's arm a few inches, then whispered, "I'm looking right between his eyes."
Trish nodded and simultaneously, both women pulled the trigger. The last bullet sailed through the air. Edge's head jerked back and Randy fell with a grunt to the floor. A small hole opened up in the center of Edge's head. He stumbled backwards until he hit the wall, then slid down. The women waited a few seconds, almost in disbelief that they had actually hit him. When Edge didn't move, they lowered their arms and the gun dropped to the grown.
Trish ran straight to Randy and dropped down beside him. The knife in his back wasn't in deeply and his eyes were wide open. He looked up at her, blinking, and said, "Knew you could do it."
"Sh..." Someone banged on the door and her head turned. "We need help!" She turned back to Randy. "You're gonna be fine."
"Of course." He smirked. "I can even feel all my fingers and toes." He tried to push himself up and fell back down with a groan. "Fuck..." He shook his head. "Dave..."
Trish remembered Dave's scream and jumped up. She ran across the room and knelt by Dave. Stacy was next to Chyna, who was at least sitting up against the wall. "Chyna?"
"She's not talking much," Stacy said softly. "Dave..." She had tears in her eyes. "Blood and... I can't find Hunter."
At the mention of his name, he came stumbling into the room, his shirt gone. Blood leaked out from holes in his side. Stacy jumped up and ran over to him. "Hunter... You..."
"Fucker... Who... I heard shots..." He slumped to the floor and Stacy fell down next to him, pressing her hands against his wounds.
"We did. Trish and me. Just..." She blinked away tears. "Just hush. The cops are outside and they'll be in here any second."
Across the room, Trish turned back to Dave. Her hands pressed hard against his stomach, trying to stop the flow of blood. She sat on his waist and pushed down with all the strength that she had. She looked to Chyna, who just stared blankly ahead. She was in shock, but Trish thought she would be fine. Dave was the worst off at the moment.
The police burst through the door and Trish whirled around. "Medical attention!" Blood still seeped from the cut on her arm, but she wasn't thinking about that. She had learned enough while getting her med tech degree to know that Dave was slipping. "He needs blood! And stitches! And..." She nodded towards Chyna. "Stab wound to the chest. I think she's got saline leaking."
She pressed down hard on Dave until the EMT's pushed her out of the way and started to take care of him. His head rolled to the side and he gritted his teeth. She could tell he was trying not to scream. Dave mouthed "thank you" and Trish nodded at him, then ran across the room to Randy.
He was trying to move towards her, but had slumped to the floor. Her hands were sticky with blood when she touched his face and whispered, "Be still. Help is finally here."
"Fuckin' cops," he muttered. "Never..."
"Here when ya need 'em. I know." She turned to see Stacy being pried away from Hunter as he was assessed and loaded onto a stretcher. She heard footsteps coming towards her and looked up. Benoit was quickly trailing two more medics, on their way to Randy. Benoit looked down at her and not even his steel eyes could frighten her. She didn't think there was anything else that could scare her.
Trish turned her head as Randy screamed. They were pulling the knife out of his back, but it wasn't going easy. They decided to leave it in until they were at the hospital and loaded him onto the stretcher. When the stretcher was pulled up straight, Trish put her hand on Randy's arm. She looked at Benoit and said, "Edge is dead, Detective. The gun that killed him is over there." She pointed across the floor. "His body is over there." She jerked her head across the room.
"And you did it?"
"No questions until I find out if my lawyer's going to survive." She started walking forward as Randy's stretcher was taken towards the door. She stopped just past Benoit and turned around. "Finally, you solved a case. Too bad you didn't do that with Christian. Maybe all of this could have been avoided."
She turned her back to him and walked outside. Dave, Chyna and Hunter were all in ambulances being rushed towards the hospital. Her arm trailed along Randy's arm as he was taken away from her and loaded into his own ambulance. Trish stepped back to stand next to Stacy, who hugged herself, watching them drive away with sirens blaring.
"You okay?"
Stacy turned to her and nodded. "Oddly... I think I am. Ignore the tears."
"Yeah," Trish said, sniffing away tears of her own. "Come on. We can go to the hospital." She extended a bloody hand to Stacy, who took it with her own bloody palm. They started to walk across the lot, then stopped. Trish and Stacy looked at one another and thought the same thing. Car bomb.
"Better yet..." Stacy took Trish over to a patrol car where the officers were getting inside and held the passenger side door open. "Could you please give us a ride to the hospital?" She grinned and when she looked at Trish, both women started laughing.
The officers looked at them curiously, then nodded, saying they were headed there anyway. One officer opened the back door and ushered the women inside. The door closed and they looked at each other again, then let their eyes fall down to their clasped hands. Trish sighed as a calm fell over her and Stacy whispered, "I guess Dad was right." Trish looked up to her as she continued, "We are strong, tough women after all."
...go back