A Therapy for Pain
Prologue
"So it ends Max. Here and now, the final showdown."
I stood at a standoff with the queen of the undead, and she was holding a Desert Eagle to my cheek as usual. She was still beautiful, her eyes staring into mine as I pressed the barrel of my Beretta against her forehead. This time she was ready to pull the trigger, I could see it in her eyes. If only we could walk away from it all, but it was far too late for the both of us.
"It's as if we're meeting for the first time all over again." I paused…. "No drinks this time."
My eyes had long since gone cold, bearing the gaze of a killer. My mind was a chaotic mix of distorted thoughts and images. In my head I had already pictured the two of us blowing each other's brains out simultaneously.
"Things could've been different between us," I said to her.
"We could've had a future," she smirked. "Mr. and Mrs. Max Payne."
Her words struck a dissonant chord in my mind. I was reminded of the Max Payne who once existed, his family… Then reality took hold. His wife and child had died. He died.
"There is no future anymore, for either of us. Pull the trigger and we'll both be dead."
"You're going to be an angel for real, Max." She whispered.
I knew if I died that night, I would be going straight to hell.
To make any sense of this I would have to go back…