'Why resolve issues with diplomacy and kindness when it's just not working? I can just go unhinged, off-rails, or absolutely lose my fucking mind at any moment, and it does the job just fine.'
I'm standing in a cold, open space with thick snow flurries drifting about and coating the ground in white.
The air is freezing, and a sharp chill clings to the air, making every breath I take seem like daggers in my lungs. A shiver runs down my spine as I feel the biting cold seeping into my bones and making the air feel like pins and needles. It's so cold that it feels like a physical pain all over my body and makes every single thought feel like an icy blade that cuts down into my flesh.
My breath comes out in frosty puffs as I try to stay focused and not let my body shut down under the onslaught of the cold.
I am standing in a large, icy warehouse. All around me is a sea of cold, white snow and ice. It feels like I should be on the summit of a mountain rather than in a warehouse in the middle of a city. The frigid air is thick with freezing cold.
Out of the fog and ice, several gun barrels are pointed at me as the hostage taker and his minions move in to surround and corner me.
I can feel my pain receptors starting to shut down as the cold hits me harder and starts to freeze my mind and my movements.
In their hands are automatic rifles that are pointed at me, cold steel in frozen hands just waiting to fire if I so much as move wrong. My breath comes out in frosty puffs that I can still not see as my heartbeat threatens to pound out of my chest.
The men are moving in, getting closer to me. I can hear them barking orders and commands at me, but my hearing seems muted, and the words are jumbled and hard to make out. One of them moves forward with the gun pointed at my head, as if they are ready to end it all because of the thrill of the kill.
I turned to the first man who pointed his gun at me and launched forward, charging towards him and catching him by the throat.
I quickly snatched his handgun and fired at another man, immediately dropping him to the ground. The other two quickly turn and fire at me, but I am already moving to the side and firing back at them.
I feel the coldness creep down into my nerves and into my muscles. I feel my body shaking and trembling, but I have no choice but to fight.
I keep firing my gun at the men who are swarming me, taking down as many as I can. I feel my breath catch in my throat and my heart thump against my chest from the adrenaline surge, and I feel my fingers tingle as I pull the trigger again and again at the men surrounding me.
With the bullets flying like hail and the guns firing back at me, the gunshots ring out and the muzzle flashes are blinding in the darkness, but I can't tell who is getting hit and who is still standing.
My weapon flies from my hand as bullets hit me in the wrist and thigh, then sends me stumbling back. I collapsed against a shipping crate.
I groaned from the impact but could hardly feel the pain as my senses had become duller from the cold.
I reached my hand for an ice pack from inside the shipping crate and pressed it against my injuries. Then I reached for my gun, my grip slippery with blood and ice-cold fingers.
I pull myself over to another crate and cling to it for support as I aim my gun once more and fire at those who still pose a threat. The bullets strike home and hit their targets, sending them one by one collapsing back.
With the last man left, the bullet pierces his neck just as he is pulling the trigger at me. I saw his body drop to the ground on top of me, his blood spilling onto my clothing and mixing with mine.
I lay there, breathing slowly and heavily, as I felt the cold settling over me.
I managed to finally get up, trembling at first as my body seemed to be in the early stages of frostbite. My arms cling to my sides as my body attempts to stay warm.
I take a few steps, then a few more, until I make it to the exit. The freezing air hits my face when I step back outside.
I began to make my way out of the warehouse, one step at a time...
As I made my way out of the warehouse, I saw someone waiting for me. The figure is dressed in a black suit, and his face is hidden in thick snow flurries. They were just standing there and watching me, his breath visibly coming out in clouds of cold air, with a cold and dead gaze.
He spoke in a cold, emotionless voice that seemed to drip with sarcasm and mockery.
"Betrayal, was it? How unexpected, to see you walk out of there alive and yet without the money."
I look at him, my body feeling heavy and my lungs struggling to bring air into my body through my freezing-cold nose.
"I knew you would betray me. I should have ended you when I had the chance."
The man speaks from beneath his breath, his voice cold and emotionless.
"You think that you can just turn your back on me and that there'd be no consequences for your actions?"
His voice is almost unnaturally cold, matching his appearance.
"After marking me yours, how dare you put me on a leash, tighten your grip and choke me until I suffocate, then treat me like a damn dog willing to bark whenever your fingers snapped then end up betraying me."
His words sink into my ears as he lets out his frustrations about my "betrayal". My body trembles, my breath shudders from the cold as I force myself to meet his eyes.
He stares hard at me, and his eyes seem to pierce right through me as the coldness in his voice continues.
"Do you understand what you've done, Rose?" His voice was cold and measured as he stared at me.
I take a deep breath of the freezing cold air, welcoming the icy chill into my lungs. I let it burn my throat and spread its icy tendrils throughout my body.
"I had to do what I did to survive..."
I open my eyes, and it takes a moment for my vision to focus and for my mind to process what I'm seeing.
I am lying in my bed, the heat of the blankets surrounding me like a cocoon.
I take a few breaths to calm myself, then slowly roll onto my side and get out of bed.
I checked the time on my phone, and it showed 7:43 AM. I still have time to spare, and the air is warm and cozy in here.
I close my eyes again and try to get back to sleep...