WILTING ROSES

Viggo drowned within the fleeting and once heavenly aroma of cigarette smoke and alcohol, things that he's been indulging himself in since early this morning. His mind, needless to say, was a muddled mess from the deadly combo, very hazy but having no intention of stopping anytime soon. He didn't care anymore since he knew all too well what was going to happen and what carnage was bleeding through upon the horizon. Everything will be over before daybreak.

It was honestly a miracle that they made it to the docks before the madness could be cast upon them. They were driving at an intense speed towards the helipad as fast as they could while looking over their shoulders for either Mandy Rose or John Wick, probably even both. They would consider themselves lucky if it was Death himself coming to collect.

"Have you got my cigarettes?" Viggo asked.

"Yeah, I got your cigarettes." Avi handed them to him from the front seat.

Viggo tossed the pack of cigarettes in his hand and held a glass of cheap alcohol in the other. Taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly, he laid his head back against the headrest. He knew this moment of peace was going to be temporary but he made sure to soak up every last second of it one last time before it was ruined.

Seconds later, the stressed voice of one of his henchmen called out, looking over his shoulder and gesturing behind them. "Who's that behind us?"

Viggo glanced over to the back windshield, and sure enough, there was an unknown black car speeding up fast behind them. He smiled wickedly when he saw two people in the fronts seats. Clenching ahold of the steering wheel was Mandy herself with John sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Oh, fuck!" Avi exclaimed. "Yeah. Super. Come on, let's go. Faster! The helicopter's right down there. Let's go!"

Mandy hastily drove the car up beside the one trailing behind Viggo's and rammed into its side a couple of times until it started to fishtail. She didn't let up on the gas and continued to push, splashing water up under her tires and making the whole vehicle bounce up and down. With one last forceful shove towards the edge, it tipped over and plummeted down to the lower level below.

Mandy continued on with her deadset pursuit, clenching the wheel so tight that her knuckles turned white. Her expression was flat but her eyes were hardened into this focused stare.

Avi anxiously looked over his shoulder as Mandy and John began to gain on them. "Shit. Goddamn, I knew they'd come."

Viggo could only laugh as Mandy rammed the end of the car a couple of times, making the whole thing jolt and swerve a little. He chuckled when his body lurched forth from the hard impact. "That was a good one, Mandy." He grinned and looked over his shoulder.

John moved his head to the side and saw a pole coming up in a couple of seconds. "Mandy." He pointed out for her.

"I see it." She replied and swerved the car once more.

She drove up at the very edge of the car and rammed it, locking her foot down on the pedal until the SUV lost control and drifted to the side. It struck the pole hard and wrapped the doors around it, ending the chase.

"Go kill them!" Viggo ordered.

The doors swung open and armed men poured out and took aim at Wick and Rose who sat in their beaten-up car, waiting. Mandy immediately put the car in reverse and drove just as they opened fired at them. Their bullets pierced the car and busted out the back windshield. The car quickened its pace and ram right into one of the guys shooting at them. He rolled over the top of the car as John put three rounds through the roof to kill him.

In the meantime, as hell was literally raining down on them, Viggo popped a cigarette into his mouth and lit the end. The world was on fire and it was raining bullets but he didn't care and saw no hurry needed to get to the helicopter. He just casually glanced out the window as Mandy swerved the car around everyone so john could shoot them all down. The numbers were dwindling within seconds. Soon enough it will only be him and Avi left.

Viggo reached into his coat and pulled out a pistol and placed it in Avi's line of sight, speaking in words that the man didn't understand. Avi tried to grab the gun but Viggo teased him and snatched it back a couple of times before it was forcefully yanked from his hand.

"English, please," Avi said, annoyed.

Viggo grinned, speaking with a cigarette hanging from his lips. "Good luck."

Avi's jaw tightened and he began to climb out of the broken down car. "Russian cocksucker." He literally fell out from the wreckage and splayed himself onto the ground filled with broken glass. "Ah! Fuck!" He got up as quickly as he could and began to circle the car.

Mandy slammed on the breaks and both her and John looked around to see if there was anyone else. A bullet suddenly penetrated the driverside door though and about made Mandy jump out of her skin. She set her eyes on Avi who looked just as surprised as she did, knowing that he got so close to shooting her.

Her lips curled and she snatched the gun from John's hand. "You son of a-" She pointed the gun out the window and pulled the trigger, shooting the man in the gut and letting him crumble to the floor. "Stupid ass scared the hell out of me." She took a breath and was about to hand the gun back when John's alarmed voice made her freeze.

"Mandy!"

Viggo's car abruptly came out of nowhere and slammed right into their side. They slid across the wet floor as Viggo pushed them close to the edge of the docks, planning on sending them to hell himself. Everything around them was busted and Mandy couldn't even move the steering wheel anymore. They quickly exchanged each other a look before bailing from the car in opposite directions. John through the shattered back windshield and Mandy out through the front.

John succeeded at climbing out and promptly jumped off just when the car started to tip over the edge. One of his hands caught the ledge in the nick of time but his other slid right off because of the sudden rain shower that made everything slippery. A shout escaped his mouth as he struggled to keep himself from doing a swan dive like the car did. He could do nothing but hold on.

Mandy was a bit luckier and actually managed to leap off before John did, but the moment her body hit the floor she was met with the icy water of rain soaking into her very bones. She let out a frigid gasp of air and felt everything tense up, rubbing away the water that ran down into her eyes. She struggled to get up off the wet ground, letting out a deep breath and seeing it freeze in the air. The moment Mandy's eyes locked with Viggo though the coldness just evaporated. He stood a few feet away from her, waiting with anticipation and resolution.

He was ready to end it. End the long feud between them.

Either it was revenge for Adrian and Marcus or revenge for Losef.

John struggled to pull himself up but his fingers ached and his feet couldn't get any traction on the slippery wall. Just the slightest movement made his grip ten times worse and he swore he was going to fall any minute now. "Mandy? Mandy!" He shouted but she acted like she didn't hear a single one of his pleas. He could see the look in her eyes though and believed it. "Mandy!"

Mandy's eyes were made completely of steel before totally being corrupted with this unquenchable rage. At that very moment, she was no assassin. She was just a woman out for blood. Determined to destroy the one responsible for this whole mess. Mandy was shaking so much it was a surprise she didn't just scream her bleeding heart out at him.

Viggo called out over the storming rain shower. "No more guns, Mandy. No more bullets."

Mandy frowned and glanced at the gun in her hand. She stared back at him and without looking, discarded it over the edge so no one could use it. "Fine."

Viggo breathed heavy and held his hands out in front of him, the rain pelting away around them. "Just you and me, Mandy. Ending something that should've ceased 10 years ago."

She blinked a couple of times to clean the water from her eyes. Mandy's jaw tightened, slowly spreading her legs to brace herself to attack. "Yeah."

It started by Viggo taking a few swings at her just to make her flinch, which she did and backed up a bit. Clenching her fist tightly though, she railed back and slugged him right in the face and watched as blood poured out from his nostrils. He yelped and stumbled away from her.

"Ah! Fuck!" Blood fell down his face that mixed in with the rainwater. "Come on!" He shouted at her.

Mandy swung to the right to hook his jaw but Viggo was able to block, jabbing her in the gut. Her body cringed and burned, hunching over and holding her stomach before ramming her whole forehead right into his face. She braced him against the wall and wrapped her fingers around his neck.

Viggo gagged on his words and yelled out over the rush of rainfall. "What happened, Mandy? We were professionals! Civilized!"

The cracking of lightning made her eyes glow like hellfire, giving her this almost demonic appearance. "When was I ever civilized?" Her hair stuck to her face and rage bubbled in her veins. She grabbed his shoulders and shoved him to the ground.

Mandy almost didn't look the same anymore, eyes wide with this kind of insanity that would belong in a mental institution. There was no remorse left within her, no mask on her face, and no smile adorned to her lips. This was Rose Red at her truest. 'Mandy' herself was nowhere to be found.

Viggo held his hand out in front of him and got back to his feet as fast as he could before she could do anything else. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife, flicking it open.

Mandy eyed it and scoffed. "Well, that's a pretty knife."

He tried to slash at her but she moved his arms aside and dove to the left of him, almost slipping because of the wet ground. Viggo took the chance though and trusted the knife right at her face. Mandy's eyes went wide and she immediately shot her hand up and let the knife stab right through the palm of her hand. She cried out while Viggo continued to push the knife deep and deeper into her hand until the hilt was pressing against it.

Anguish stormed Mandy's eyes as this scolding hot sensation ripped through her body that came from the knife embedded in her hand. "Viggo!" Her voice crackled along with the lightning.

She swept her leg across his and used both her hands, knife including, to shove him down with all her might. She grabbed the handle of the blade and clenched her teeth, yanking the knife straight out of her hand. Holding it above her head, she brought it down straight into Viggo's chest just when he collapsed to the ground. His howels of pain vibrated her ears and set her heart on fire, releasing this pent of anger that had been locked in her heart for over a decade.

Mandy collapsed back against a large piece of pipe as Viggo, critically injured, braced himself against some crates. He stared at her as his body quivered, breathing ragged and strained. "Be seeing you, Mandy." He bit her farewell one last time. His body twitched for a couple more seconds before falling limp.

Mandy took a breath and held her bleeding hand, staring at Viggo for a minute as the world around her got sucked away in this soundless void. "Yeah," she spoke in a breathy tone, her bruised lips breaking out into a weak and defeated smile.

It wasn't the satisfaction she thought she would get. There was no sense of release and no clarity either. For Mandy, killing someone brought her no such joy, even if it was for the sake of her own sanity. It felt like a task that needed to get done. A mission that was given to her by both Adrian and Marcus.

And she completed it. Like she always did.

"Mandy!" John practically screamed over the rain, making her jump.

Mandy finally became aware of John's predicament and fought to get to her wobbly legs. "I hear you, I hear you. Hang on," she half-heartedly and weakly called out to him. Mandy dropped to her knees and grabbed his outstretched hand and held onto it tightly, yanking him off the dangerous edge with one pull.

"Viggo. Is he...?" John asked while studying Mandy in front of him. There was a deep wound in the palm of her hand and some bruising on her forehead but that was about it. She was safe. He closed his eyes and leaned his head into her shoulder for a moment before Mandy pulled him back, placing her hands against the sides of his face.

She smiled and gently traced a cut on his cheek. "It's over, John. Okay? It's over." Her hands fell from his face.

BANG!

Mandy's whole body tensed up like a stone statue and her eyes snapped wide open, gazing up at John who only expressed totally confusion and bewilderment. Her lips parted slightly, taking in long gasps of air with shuddering exhales. Tears began to well up in her glassy eyes before falling down her cheeks, her body now set ablaze with this excruciating pain. It burned her from the inside out, torching her organs and jabbing them with white-hot needles. It was unbearable until it felt like everything just shut down. Mandy's body became ice-cold numb before she just fell limp against John's chest.

Reality snapped back to John like a rubber band as he tried to stop Mandy from slipping from his arms. His voice was shrill and petrified. "Mandy? Mandy!" He wrapped his hand around her back and felt something warm slip through his fingers. Looking to see what it was though, he saw that his whole hand was covered in warm blood. Panic swept through his brain and quickly looked up, scanning the area to see where the shot came from.

He saw off in the distance was a person on the ground. It was Avi, critically wounded but appeared to have survived long enough to retake his gun and hit Mandy in the back before falling dead.

John's once cool expression had finally crumbled to pure dread as his mind flashed back to a cruel, cruel memory: the night that Helen collapsed by the pier. It felt like he was reliving the same nightmare once again with yet someone else he loved. He laid Mandy on the ground as gently as he could and called her name, her eyes growing heavy by the second. "Mandy? Mandy!"