"Are you fucking serious?" Jane asked harshly, her knife high over Jeff's body. The fight of her life had just come to a close, the man she had been tracking to kill for fifteen years was finally right where she wanted him, and all he did was give her that stupid grin.
"Are you even scared?"
"'Course I am," he chuckled, "You would be too!"
Somehow, Jane was even more furious.
"So you're just going to sit there, laughing like an idiot?" she spat.
Jeff took a moment before laughing, "I guess so."
Jane gritted her teeth.
"I've waited too long for this…" she put the knife to his upper abdomen, "You're going to act scared whether you like it or not."
Jeff's eyes followed the blade.
"What? You're gonna stab me in the stomach?" he asked.
Jane narrowed her black eyes.
"Oh no," he said sarcastically, "I'm so scared! Someone help!"
She pressed harder, just enough to prick the flesh.
"What's that gonna do?" he cackled, "Sorry, honey, but I've taken a few wounds to the gut and I'll tell you now, your little shank isn't gonna do sh-"
Shlk.
"Nice bluff," Jane sweetly grinned.
Every muscle in Jeff's body tensed. His eyes were locked on the knife that was now hilt-deep in his midsection. His hoodie stuck to his skin, soaked in blood that for once, wasn't anyone's but his.
"You stabbed me!" he cried, "You bitch!"
He curled his body, holding his hands to the wound and writhing and kicking around.
Jane smirked, even when Jeff managed to kick her thigh. It hurt, man could he kick, but nothing could ruin her satisfaction in this moment.
Jeff rolled back onto his back with his knees elevated, still wriggling about. It was quite pathetic really.
Jane stood up and reached for the handle. Jeff suddenly looked terrified. With one hand, he grabbed her arm, and with the other, he clutched the wound.
"You wouldn't dare…" he said raspily.
Jane narrowed her eyes again before giving the man on the floor a swift kick in the jaw with her high heel, making Jeff grunt and release her arm. She grasped the knife's handle and pulled it free of Jeff's small intestine, warranting a yelp and a "You crazy bitch!"
Jeff wailed like a child and rolled around on the floor, arms folded over the wound, screaming various profanities at Jane.
Jane couldn't help but let a giggle escape.
"Y-You're sadistic…" Jeff moaned.
"Look at the pot calling the kettle black," she said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Jesus," Jeff coughed and spoke through gritted teeth, "Either let me go or hurry up and kill me… Even I make sure my victims' deaths are quick. I don't sit and watch them bleed out..."
"Are you calling yourself humane?" Jane inquired.
"In comparison," Jeff retorted.
"Uh oh," said Jane in a sing-song manner, "You're getting cheeky again. Do I need to give you another jab?"
She mock-stabbed the air.
"Gah! Don'ttouchme-" Jeff yelped in a shrill voice, protectively covering his abdominal region.
Jane snickered and took a seat on a nearby crate.
"You really are pathetic."
"Save it." Jeff glared. Jane could clearly see the pain in his eyes. Jeff pulled himself up, propping his back against a metal shelf that held several wooden crates.
Jane was swinging her feet, almost like a little girl.
"For when?" she asked,"You'll be dead when this is over."
"True," Jeff reasoned, "So I suppose you're not going to let me go…"
"Definitely not," Jane pleasantly smiled.
"Figures," Jeff smirked. He seemed slightly more calm, though still very obviously in pain. He stared vacantly at a pile of crates on the other side of the warehouse.
"So what next?" he asked flatly.
"Come again?" Jane replied.
"What are you going to do once I'm dead? There'll be no more mean old Jeff to hunt down and you'll be able to move on, do whatever you want."
Jane was taken aback by the question.
"I don't know. Haven't thought about it…" she admitted.
Jeff gave a faint smile.
"Fifteen years is a long time."
"It is." Jane replied cautiously.
He rolled his head to look at her. His eyes were glassy.
"Are you sure you're ready to end it?"
The words took a moment to process, and when they did, they hit Jane hard. She felt a bit dizzy thinking about it. What was she supposed to do next? Hunting down and killing Jeff had been all she'd ever planned to do since she was five years old. Was she really ready to move on?
Then it all clicked.
She wasn't ready to move on.
She didn't want it to end.
Trying to find Jeff was all she knew how to do. What would she do if he were gone? She didn't even know! Her brain couldn't imagine a world without Jeff. Their fifteen year long game of cat and mouse was coming to a close and Jane didn't know what to do.
She blindly rushed to his side, still dizzy. She took the knife and cut a narrow piece of her dress off.
Hearing the clothing rip, Jeff looked at her.
"What are you doing?" he asked weakly.
"You were right," Jane said, looking at where she needed to wrap the wound, "I'm not ready."
"What?" Jeff asked.
"Just-" Jane huffed, "Just move your arms and hold still."
"What-"
"Do it." she demanded.
Jeff obediently moved his arms, wiping away a trail of blood that was dripping down his chin. What did he have to lose? If she stabbed him again, he'd just die faster and his misery would be ended sooner, likewise if she was trying to help him, he'd possibly survive. He was indifferent about the issue so he saw no harm in obeying.
Jane pressed the cloth to his midsection, causing Jeff to jerk away, inhaling sharply.
"That hurts…"
"I can't let you die." Jane said, moving in to try again.
"That's an awfully rash change of plans." Jeff said, grabbing her forearm to stop her.
Jane shook him off and stretched the cloth.
"Why are you doing this?" Jeff groaned.
"Because," Jane said, stretching the black cloth over the gash in Jeff's higher abdomen.
Jeff let out an anguished gasp.
"I'm not ready to end this."
Jane firmly held her right hand on Jeff's midriff to apply pressure.
Jeff winced and tried to move her hand away.
"Stop." she said, "The pressure is to stop the bleeding."
"Wouldn't it be quicker to stab me again and let me die?" Jeff complained.
"Shut up," Jane growled.
She sat on her knees with Jeff's thighs in between and reached behind him to tie her makeshift tourniquet. She shifted her body so that she was balanced in a kneeling position while her knee put pressure on the wound so that her hands could freely tie.
Jeff whined and moaned the entire time, but Jane focused on trying to stop the bleeding.
"Uh… Jane?"
"What?" she asked sharply.
"Your knee…" Jeff said, pointing at it, "It's kind of in my gut."
"Stop being such a whiny baby! Suck it up!"
"You probably should have thought about this before you wedged a knife in my stomach."
"You're such a pain in the ass!" Jane yelled exasperatedly.
"Sorry, princess," spat Jeff, "I'm not necessarily going to be all sunshine and rainbows after being stabbed."
"Can't you see that I'm trying to fix it!?"
"You're the one who stabbed me in the first place!" Jeff protested.
"I know did!" Jane cried, frustrated tears forming, "I just-"
"You just what?" Jeff asked, furrowing his brow.
Jane tried to change the subject, "I can still smear your guts against the wall…" she reminded him.
"Be. My. Guest," Jeff said, narrowing his bottom eyelids.
Jane narrowed hers back before tugging the fabric behind Jeff's back.
Jeff let out a cry.
"God dammit-"
"So that's enough of that?" Jane said, cocking her head.
"You-hoo-hoo bitch…" Jeff glared.
"I could have punched you in the stomach you know."
"You're not that cruel." Jeff said.
Jane smiled and gave him a nice hard fist to the gut to further prove her point.
Jeff forcibly exhaled, all the air leaving his lungs.
"You haven't forgotten that I still hate you, have you?" Jane teased.
Jeff tried to respond something equally snarky, but couldn't for lack of wind in his body.
Jane chuckled.
I know she has something in there other than hatred for me, Jeff thought, But I don't know what it is...
To be continued indefinitely...
