Maximus:
They say, blood is thicker than water. So in essence, my father killing my mother just to save his own head makes that a lie, doesn't it?
I flew all the way from Scotland the night I received a call from an unknown number, asking me to fly to America immediately as a bounty had been placed on my mother's head and she was to be killed in less than four hours. I had booked a flight immediately.
Apparently, my father had lost in a stupid casino game and to pay up, he had been asked to kill my mother for a price. I believed he had been a target since and now, they had gotten him where they wanted.
But I was too late. I arrived at the mansion to find my mother in a pool of her own blood, choking as she gasped for air. It felt like the world had come crashing down at my feet and I remained by her side, comforting her till death while her husband, who had shot her, went back to the organization to make a report of his successful kill.
His fucking wife!
My mother!
On this day, my narrative had changed.
Water is thicker than blood.
____
"Maximus, no! Don't do this!" The man who called himself my father cried out as he scooted away from me, his eyes filled with horror. "I didn't want to kill her! I had no option!"
I had a gun in my hand and it was directed at him. All my life, I'd lived with the fact that nothing was ever going to make me have anything to do with him.
Killing him wasn't what I had expected but it was all I wanted to do now. I wanted him dead!
"I shouldn't? But you killed your wife! You killed my mother!" I hissed, anger rocking through my body. I was blinded by grief, rage and so much burning hatred for a man who fathered me.
"You know why I did that!" He fell to his knees. "They were going to kill me!"
"And you killed her, you selfish bastard!" I growled, kicking into his side. He groaned and fell to the ground. "You fucking killed her so you could live!"
"I'm sorry, son."
"I am not your son!"
"I am your father, Maximus. I birthed you."
"Of course, you did. But you stopped being my father the day you tried to kill me." I gritted out. All I wanted to do right now was grab him by the neck and strangle him to death. "You should have said this eleven years ago, you know? You should have looked for me at least. Don't you try to fucking manipulate me!"
"I am not manipulating you, Maximus. I know I was brutal to you. But I was fighting my demons! I was fighting demons and—"
"He was one of them, right?" A feminine voice cut in from behind us and I turned to see a lady standing by the door, glaring at him. "Your son was one of the demons you were fighting, you fucking cunt!"
I'd never seen her before but from the way she looked, I knew she was a bounty hunter. She was one of us. Her leather combat outfit and heavy duty boots gave that away.
Her hair was the prettiest shade of red I'd ever seen and it was tied up above her head in a high ponytail, accentuating her perfect face; a jawline made by the gods. Her moss green eyes shone with disdain that was directed at my father. She strode towards us, her curves prominent under her combat suit.
"Who are you?" I asked, moving to the side and directing my gun at her. In this business, no one was to be trusted.
"You should be pointing a gun at that bastard you call a father," She hissed, her eyes narrowing into slits and when I moved, she scoffed. "Too scared to kill a man who killed your mother?"
"You're not a part of this, Cheshire!" My father yelled from behind me and I went back to pointing the gun at him but this time, my hands trembled. My pain returned. I could see my mother once again in a pool of blood as she took her last breath and yelled out her husband's name, calling him her killer.
Cheshire. That was her code name.
"You shut the hell up!" I growled.
"I'll kill him instead." Cheshire sighed and took out a revolver from her satchel. She pointed at him, her expression dark and filled with the need to murder.
"Stay out of this!" I snapped at her. "You know nothing!"
"Oh, I know everything and I will be the one to kill him because you're finding it hard to do so. I know you want to forgive him or lock him up but you're doing more harm than good."
"Don't listen to her, son!" My father cried from where he lay on the floor, a bloodied mess. "She's a psychopath!"
She looked over to where he stood, a disgusted smile creeping into her lips. "Yes, I am a psychopath. That is why I am called The Cheshire. It is why I will take the blow for your death instead of letting your son suffer for the evil you did! You deserve to die, Romano and I will do it myself."
She looked at me. "Hand the gun over and let me finish this. We can talk about this later."
I looked back at my father and all I could feel was uncertainty, hurt, burning hatred and the need to spill more blood. I wanted him dead and at the same time, I couldn't bring myself to kill him.
One moment, I was crying my woes and the next, my gun was kicked away from my hand by Cheshire. I lunged at her with the aim of pushing her out of the way but it was too late because she already pulled the trigger.
Kaboom!
The heavy echo reverberated around the whole area and I crashed to the ground, her body falling against mine in the process. She planted her hand on my chest, her eyes wide with surprise as her hair fell over her face. For a split second, time stopped and it was just us both in this room, our breaths mingling and her soft breathing fanning against my cheek.
"You." She muttered before she pulled away and pushed to her feet.
"What have you done?!" I snarled in horror, watching his skull split as it crashed to the ground. His brain matter flowed out of his head, getting laced with blood that pooled around his head and his eyes remained open, staring directly at me as he tried to speak to no avail.
She had killed him.
"What the fuck have you done!"
But she was gone. With the wind. She was gone, taking a life with her.
Who was she?