"Miranda, Tom, we're coming to you live from the Songbird Manor House about ten miles outside of Missoula, MT, where early this morning, state and federal authorities conducted a daring raid. We're still waiting for an official statement and details are sketchy but early reports indicate that the raid was carried out against members of the notorious Montefusco crime family out of Washington D.C.. There's no word yet on what kind of operation these criminals were involved in but authorities seem to have interrupted it before it began…"
…click…
Interrupted it before it fucking began? If that reporter could only understand.
Anne pried her eyes away from the blank screen and towards the early morning sun sending a wave of twinkles across the snow-covered ground. At any other time, the scene would've been a treat to the eye, like something out of a Robert Frost poem…but the way Anne Possible was feeling? She may as well have been looking at blackness, deep, cold, and penetrating blackness.
"It's over."
Anne had completely forgotten that Mom was even in the room. James and Slim were currently in Slim's operations center keeping an eye on the property, the kids were only just beginning to stir. Shego…Shego had gone out last night to keep an eye on the operation and make sure the Montefuscos were all snatched up.
"Is it," Anne breathed, eyes still riveted on the window. "You really think this is the end?"
The monster…from under her bed…knew where she was; and whoever commanded that legion of demons…would keep sending more and more and…they would never stop. They would kill…everyone…to get to her!
"Annie?"
KPKPKPKPKPKPKPKP
Barbara Kessler gazed at her only daughter staring out into nothingness outside. What…what could she do? Her baby girl was staring down a very dangerous path, one that Barbara knew only too well herself…and she had no idea how to…if she pushed the wrong direction, she could…
"They're never going to stop," The words couldn't have been more than a whisper but they felt loud enough to shake the entire room. "They're going to send more…and more…and keep sending them until…until…Kimmie, Jim and Tim, James, Joss, Danny…how…how many more people have to get hurt because I…"
Barbara had had all she could take. Her granddaughter had already gone dangerously far down this road and she couldn't bear to hear her daughter do the same. Like a racehorse out of the gate, Barbara bolted across the living room. Grabbing her daughter by the shoulders, she whirled her around and wrapped the younger woman into an embrace, squeezing for all she was worth, pouring every ounce of motherly love that she could muster and urging it into her daughter. There was a faint gasp and…oh thank you merciful God…tears began flowing as her baby girl began sobbing into her mother's shoulder, deep therapeutic gasping sobs.
"I…can't…protect…my…family," Annie wailed, holding her mother tight.
"Shhhhhhhh," Barbara soothed as she ran her hand over her daughter's back. "My baby girl!"
"The…sob…the Ende Der Zeitens…and…and the reapers…I…I can't…can't keep my family safe!"
"But they ARE safe, Annie," Barbara breathed. "They ARE safe! YOU made sure of that! You trained your daughter so well; so well that she can stand up to ANYTHING. She..and you…and I…WE can stand up to anything as long as we're together." Barbara's hand snaked up and took her daughter's chin, lifting it up to look at Barbara, eyes bloodshot, and tears streaming down her face like raindrops. "You HAVE…and you WILL protect our family; but sweetheart, you'll NEVER have to protect them by yourself. Do you you understand me? WE are going to protect YOU now!"
KPKPKPKPKPKPKPKPKP
Grandpa's rapier snapped back into the cane with a metallic click. Well…her range of motion was still nothing to write home about and without her crutches, she could only hobble a few feet…but Kim was confident that no matter how their little clandestine operation turned out, she would NOT go quietly into that good night! Grandpa's rapier, her kantas, even that sgian dubh she'd bought of that hobgoblin that was nestled in her sock…as her enemies were so fond of saying lately, she'd be like a hydra…albeit a stationary one. They take out one weapon, three more would take its place!
Mom was hanging on by a thread. She had spent so much time trying to protect Kim and…and everyone…that…now it was time for someone to protect HER!
"Kim?"
She'd been operating on a hair trigger but…even at the worst of times, she could recognize Joss's soft alto voice. The younger Possible poked her head out from behind a piece of machinery.
"Hey kiddo," Kim smiled and motioned her cousin forward. "You okay?"
"Is…is Aunt Anne going to be okay?"
Oh God…Kim took a close look at the young teen and…it felt like a red hot knife was being run through her heart and twisted like a corkscrew. Her crutches weren't anywhere close but…she took a firm grip on the cane and hobbled towards her cousin. Joss took off and collided into her elder cousin's arms. In that moment, it was like Kim was back at Aunt Sandy's funeral, holding a devastated little Joselyn Possible tight, letting her know that everything was going to be okay.
"She's gonna be okay," Kim reassured, squeezing her just a little tighter. "Everything's going to be okay."
"What…what's happening?"
"It…it's kind of a Grimm thing. You…you remember a few months ago when I was kidnapped? Well…I guess someone thought that it would be smart to mess with the Possibles when they were down! That's why me, Shego, my Grandma, and Aunt Anne are going to show them why that is such a bad move!"
Joss gave a small chuckle.
"Hey," Kim lifted the teenager's face until they were staring each other in the eye. "Family motto!"
Joss gave another small chuckle, a little louder this time. "Anything's possible for a Possible!"
"Exactly," Kim smiled and looked towards the door. "Hey, Shego should be back any minute now with some pretty good news. Why don't you head in and start getting breakfast stuff ready? I've got a craving for pancakes!"
"Chocolate chip?"
Kim smiled and adopted a look of mock shock.
"What do you take me for," She giggled. "YES chocolate chip! Now scoot! I'll be in in just a minute!"
Joss let out a laugh much more in line with the goofy young teen that Kim remembered and scampered off through the door.
Any minute now; Grandma filled Kim in on Shego's little recon mission, just wanting to make sure the Montefuscos and the Reapers were wrapped up in a nice little bow for the feds. Heck, if Kim wasn't laid up, she'd have gone with her; anything just to see this end! She was ready to get back to normal! God…it'd only been…what…a week or so since she'd seen Ronnie…but it felt like ages! She wanted to go out with her friends, tackle a few projects with Aunt Amy at the shop.
Any minute now, Shego was going to…
…THUMP…
KPKPKPKPKPKPKP
They would do it together…
Mom's words kept echoing through her head like it was literally bouncing around the inside of her head like some kind of mental superball. What was Anne going to do? Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones slowing down but for the first time in what felt like forever, she felt like she was able to step back and take a look at herself the last few days.
She was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down into a pit of utter blackness…and she could hear it calling her name. One step, one little step, and she'd be engulfed by it, wrapped in it like a black velvet blanket. Her family would be safe. The blackness would allow her to do what she needed to do and she could be content in knowing that fer family was safe…she felt her hand drift towards the baby that was growing inside of her…would be safe.
But if she took that step, if she let the blackness engulf her…there may be no coming back from that. Mom had lived that darkness for so long after Daddy had died and…and it nearly destroyed her. If it hadn't been for Kimmie's abduction bringing them all together, it might have…
…she was a human being! She wasn't a monster…and she didn't think that she could be one. She…she loved her family more than anything and would DO anything to protect them but…
A flurry of text messages assaulted Anne's phone, yanking her out of her internal musings. They were from Shego. Mom had said that Shego had headed out to keep an eye on the Montefuscos, make sure that the Feds got all of them but…the operation, at least according to the news reports, had wrapped up hours ago. Anne had been so wrapped up in her internal struggle that it hadn't even dawned on her that Shego was several HOURS overdue…which immediately started putting her hackles up…
…missed one vehicle…headed your way…
Anne's blood felt like it had turned to ice. One vehicle; one of them had gotten away! Was it Montefuscos or…or…
Fuck, at this point, it didn't matter! Mobsters or Reapers…the end result was the same.
"ANNIE!"
Anne was already on her feet and effortlessly caught the dopplearmbrust that Mom had tossed her.
"Where's Kimmie?" Mom barked.
"In the barn," Anne replied, rapidly going through the motions to load the modified crossbow. Okay…James and Slim were still in the operations center, the boys were upstairs in their room, Joss was…
"GRIMMS!"
The shout was like ice being injected into her heart. They…they were here! The reapers had found…they had found…Anne darted towards the front door, not even caring if Mom was behind her. She skidded to a halt at the front door and…
…God…God…NO…
There were six of them; four reapers and two Montefuscos. The four reapers stood stock still, like demons waiting to descend on the living. That left the Montefuscos…one of them had Kimmie…on her knees, a rod or some kind of cane pressed against her throat.
KPKPKPKPKPKPKP
Joss was in the process of heaving the massive barn door closed when she smelled them. Four…no…six of them…and…Oh God…the smell made her want to vomit! It was like a horse stall that had been left out in the sun too long without being mucked out and was growing FAR too ripe!
This wasn't good. Everyone was pretty cagey with who exactly was after Kim and the rest of the family but…Kim had been attacked, Aunt Annie was…Joss had no clue what to call it; and now the jokers that were responsible were here.
She hadn't been able to control it but she immediately recognized the signs. The warm feeling coursing through her body, the itching sensation that seemed to spread over every hair; if she looked in the mirror, she knew that she would see a soft brown coat of fur covering her body, her teeth growing to sharp points. She'd woged into her Blutbad form…and she could feel her sense of smell and hearing skyrocket.
"...the young one. We'll use her as bait to draw out the other two."
Joss poked her head back in…and she spotted them; six men standing over an unconscious Kim. They'd…they must've hit her over the head! Joss could feel a growl begin to build deep in her throat. She couldn't let this happen! They were going to jump HER cousin? Well then they were going to have to deal with…
…the move happened so quick, Joss barely had time to blink. One minute she'd been staring down Kim's kidnappers, trying to figure out how best she was going to be able to get the jump on them when all of a sudden, she found herself pressed against the wall, a camouflaged figure staring her in the face. NO: she'd…they'd gotten her! How…how had she missed…
…that smell…
Joss inhaled a whiff and…
…marshmallows…and chocolate…
"Sh…Shego?"
The figure lifted her hood and Joss felt herself wrapped up in a warm embrace, heat radiating out of the woman and pouring into the young teen. Everything was going to be okay now! Shego would turn all of those monsters into fireballs!
"They…they've got Kim," Joss gasped.
"I know," Shego replied, pulling the young teen into motion. "We're going to get her back! Come with me!
KPKPKPKPKPKPKPKP
Well…things had gone from fucked to total and utter hell rather quickly. Shego had been on their tail the moment she got back to her bike, firing off text after text in the hope that Barbara Anne would be able to see it, maybe just lock everyone into a room, do SOMETHING to buy her some time to head the reapers off and get the drop on them!
It didn't even seem like the reapers or the Montefuscos had a plan! Not bothering to be subtle, the SUV just barrelled up the drive and the party piled out going through buildings. She only had a few minutes to observe but it seemed like the reapers had taken charge of the "operation" as it were. The two Montefuscos in the party looked to be…terrified was the only word she could think of. That could be useful! If she could separate the parties, that could provide her an opening. But how did she separate Kim?
Shego followed them to one of the larger barns. If she remembered correctly, this particular structure had a pair of big doors in front and a pair of smaller doors on each side. It looked like they were going to try the west door so if she could make her way to the east…
Oh God! She felt her stomach lurch into her throat. She rounded the corner and there, staring into the east door…that had to be Joss! Had…hadn't Anne mentioned that Joss's mother had been a Blutbad? Okay…she had to play this carefully. She'd tangled with a few Blutbaden in her life and if she spooked the kid…as if to remind her, the scar on her wrist where a particularly nasty Blutbad bodyguard in Philadelphia had bitten her.
A quick spin and Shego had the younger Possible safely in her charge. Now…she had to keep her temper but the thought of any harm coming to…ngh…she HAD to get Kim out of there! She peeked around a corner to the front of the barn and…Shego ducked back around the corner as the massive sliding doors were hauled open. Out marched the reapers. Shego peeked around the corner again. Okay…the reapers had taken up positions in front of the house…and the Montefuscos were holding Kim, trying to hold her in place by throttling her with the cane she'd been using. One was holding Kim and the other appeared to be holding a revolver of some kind.
Okay…Kim was still under guard but…the reapers looked to be…call it ten feet from Kim and the Montefuscos. Shego's eyes darted to the face of the one holding Kim. He had a firm grip on Kim and the cane but…the guy looked like he had a hold on a savage wolf, under control but if he dared give an inch, the wolf would rip his throat out.
"GRIMMS," One of the reapers shouted out.
Fuck. She was running out of time! They were trying to use Kim as bait to draw out Anne and Barbara and…oh God! Anne…Anne was out on the front porch! She…she was going to…
She had to separate them! She had to…there had to be something she could…
…it…it had almost killed her the last time she tried but…this was her only chance!
"Joss," She breathed. "What's under the snow where they're standing?"
"Uh…it…it's our front lawn."
Okay…this…this could work. The ground would be frozen and whatever grass there was would be soaked but if she could burn hot enough…this could work.
Kneeling down, she dug her hand into the snow. She had to concentrate. Daddy and Abuelo had told her stories about Zundholz who were so strong with the fire that they could not only control it but guide it, slithering across the ground like a snake. Abuelo had told her that they were called Feurottern.
There was nothing else in the world, nothing around her, nothing inside her; nothing but the fire. The heat, the power, she drew everything into her, forced it through her body, feeding it into her hand. She could feel it, the heat, even in the dead of winter, flooding into her like a raging river. She could vaguely make out a voice nearby…maybe Joss…but she couldn't make out exactly who…she had to focus. Visualize; focus on the path. Encircle the reapers. Cut them off and give the others a chance to eliminate the Montefuscos. She'd only have one chance.
She…she couldn't…take…anymore. Every hair, every skin cell felt like it was about ready to explode and…and she could barely contain it. If she didn't release it soon…
"Burn," came a gasp.
KPKPKPKPKPKPKPKP
How could she have been so careless, Kim thought as the two mobsters frog marched her through the snow towards the front door. It had to have been one of the reapers that had gotten the drop on her! If it was one of the Montefuscos, she…damn it, she had more important things to think about than her ego. They were going to use her as bait. Mom and Grandma would rush out and it would be a Mexican standoff with her in the middle of it.
"Quit struggling, bitch," The mobster marching her forward barked. "This whole thing is already fucked up because of you! I'm not going to get my head cut off because of some redheaded twat!"
The mobster pressed the cane against her throat to emphasize her point.
If that asshole only knew! True, it was probably the closest thing they had on hand but this idiot had absolutely no idea that nestled securely inside the cane pressed across Kim's throat was just under four feet of cold steel honed to a razor sharp edge.
Her eyes darted to the Montefusco next to her. The pair were trying to keep their distance from the Reapers. That was good; but the Montefusco to her right wasn't taking any chances, keeping a pistol inches from her head. If she tried to make a grab for the blade, it would mean a bullet. She just needed some kind of distraction, even just a half second.
"GRIMM," Kim's eyes darted back towards the reapers as one of them called out towards the front door.
Moment after moment dragged on and the door slowly began to open. It seemed like the whole scene played out in front of her like a flipbook, frame by agonizing frame. Mom marched out, crossbow at the read, followed by Grandma, a pair of older doppelarmbrusts in each hand.
"It appears that you fail to grasp your situation," The reaper at the head of the group barked. "Lay down your weapons."
Grandma barked out a curse in Swedish, Kim couldn't quite make it out but could certainly imagine, and turned towards Kim.
"Are you okay, sweetie?"
"Been…cough…been better," Kim grunted, trying to shift her weight. If she could just leverage herself…
…CLUNK…
Kim hit the ground as something hard and metallic collided with her head. For a split second, some very strange looking stars shot across her eyes but the cold of the ground yanked her back to reality lightning quick. Son of a…this guy was SERIOUSLY asking for it as soon as she got…
…till her dying day, Kim could never be quite sure what it was that drew her eye to that corner of the barn but the moment her eyes opened, she saw her. There, not even ten yards away and just out of sight of her captors was Shego…and something was happening! All around her the snow was evaporating into steam. The air…the air all around her rippled like she was standing in the middle of a bonfire. Shego could hurl fire like some kind of goddess out of mythology and whatever was about to happen was going to be big. This…this could be her opening!
One of her captors grabbed her by the shoulders and hauled her back up to her feet, pressing the cane against her throat.
A word jumped to Kim's mind. There was code word Grandma and Grandpa had used when they would hunt together and a wesen was in the same room with them. Grandpa had gotten it from his uncle, a veteran of the British Royal Army. If heard, it meant that danger was imminent and to drop to the ground.
"G…grandma," Kim coughed out. "V…VATICAN CAMEOS!"
KPKPKPKPKPKPKP
"VATICAN CAMEOS!"
The phrase had been beaten into her after years of hunting with Patrick. He'd told the bedtime story to Annie probably thousands of times. Almost like a reflex, Barbara felt the legs drop out from under her. Annie had heard the story. She had to know what it meant. There was a pair of dull thuds as two bodies made contact with the porch…
…BOOM…
The sound was like a thunderclap going off only a few feet in front of her. What…what the hell had happened? Barbara shook her head a few times to clear the echo out of her ears and looked up.
It…it happened so fast that…what in the name of God was she seeing? It…a wall of fire shot across the yard, slithering and writhing like a snake. The heat…it had been 28 degrees out with a blanket of snow surrounding them and it felt like Barbara was standing on the edge of a raging inferno.
Barbara blinked…THEY WERE SURROUNDED! Shego! It had to be Shego! Somehow…Shego had sent a wall of fire, completely surrounding the reapers, cutting them off from Kim and the Montefuscos. She'd only have a couple of seconds! Barbara hopped up to her feet and took aim with one of her crossbows…
…TWANG…
…TWANG…
…TWANG…
…TWANG…
Arrow after arrow shot out of Barbara's crossbows. One by one, the reapers fell to the ground, their bodies peppered with a mix of her crossbow bolts and Annie's arrows. All three of the weapons had been loaded with Kimmie's infused arrows…and if she'd grabbed the right ones, the hemlock should be fast acting. Even if any of the sons of bitches managed to survive the hail of arrows, Barbara estimated they'd have only moments to live. She hoped that she and her girls would get to…
…KIMMIE!
The Montefuscos had almost been an afterthought but one of them had been holding a gun on…Barbara swung around, hefting the empty dopplearmbrusts and looking for…
…oh…God…
KPKPKPKPKPKPKPKP
The noise had been just the opening that she needed! Whatever Shego had done, Kim felt her captor's grip relax. Bowing her head forward, she hammered it back into the Hasslich's chest, hearing a solid crunch. His sternum…please God, let that be his sternum. His grip relaxed as he fell backwards. Kim clamped down on the hilt of Grandpa's rapier and as her captor fell backwards, felt the cold steel freed from its sheath.
The one with the gun; that was her first target. Kim spun on her heel and…THERE he was! Had to be quick; completely oblivious to her injuries, Kim darted forward, catching the bastard still in a daze. Kim brought the blade up and slashed across her opponent's arm. With a cry of pain, the gun he was holding sank into the snow. The slash must've sobered him up real quick. The Hasslich woged, that sickly yellow skin spreading all over him like a hideous rash, and he lunged forward. Kim whipped up the blade in a defensive stance…
…this was going to hurt…
The pair collided, forcing Kim backwards…she landed with a wet thump into the snow…
…ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH…
The pain felt like someone had plugged her spinal cord into a power outlet. Kim gasped at breath of air to keep from shouting out in pain. The Hasslich had managed to climb on top of her and…God, she couldn't…hold him…the pain…
"ARRROOOOOOOOOOO!"
Before Kim could even blink, the mobster was knocked off of Kim by a…something. God, she needed to get up! Gritting her teeth, she leveraged one of her arms underneath her and forced herself onto her knees.
Rapier! She needed the rapier! The fall must've knocked it free! Where…THERE! Kim spotted the blade half buried in the snow. She snatched the hilt and tried to prop herself up. With a great lurch, she forced herself to her feet.
JOSS!
She…she'd only ever seen it a handful of times. Once puberty had started hitting her cousin and…signs…started showing, Mom knew that it was only a matter of time that Joss would look into her and Kim's eyes and see what all wesen saw and feared when they came face to face with a grimm. Thankfully the first time Joss had gone full woge had been when the family had been over on a vacation; but since then…Kim wasn't sure if it had something to do with only being HALF blutbad but…
Covered in a soft brown fur, her eyes a flaming red, was her cousin, pinning the mobster to the ground as he tried to fend off an endless barrage of teeth and claws. Joss dodged and ducked, diving in when she saw an opening to rip out another chunk of clothing…oh god…and sometimes flesh! Kim got a look at Joss's face and could see the blood smearing her face and the front of her clothes. Kim had to get in there before she killed him! Joss wasn't even 14! Kim could never live with herself if she let her cousin have something like that on her conscience, stone cold killer or no.
Her back still felt like it had been shaved with a white hot razor but she hobbled forward a few steps at a time, coming to a stop barely a foot away from the pair.
"Joss," Kim barked as she gingerly lifted the rapier and pointed it towards the mobster. "Get off of him!"
The figure standing before her grew hazy and Kim was once again looking at her cousin, kneeling over the mobster…oh…God…
…gag…
…ripping a chunk of flesh out of his arm. Joss finally stood up and even after such a brief fight, her cousin looked like she'd dunked her head in…ugh…
Time enough for that later! Kim's eyes shifted down to her prisoner. The man had finally stopped thrashing around and looked up. In one swift motion, Kim stepped forward and placed the tip of her blade against his neck.
"Give up," Kim breathed. "And you live!"
Now that Kim had a moment to catch her breath, she could see that her former captor was absolutely terrified. He was probably mid to late 20s but…the poor sod looked like a kid who'd woken up to find himself face to face with the monster from under his bed. Very slowly, like he thought Kim was going to skewer him if he went any faster, he held up his hands in surrender.
"Shego needs help," Holy mother of…Kim nearly jumped out of her skin as Mom seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Kim turned and…for the first time, she got a look at the scene that had been playing out barely a few feet from her. It…it looked like something out of a nightmarish horror movie. Fire; fire everywhere. A circle of fire had surrounded the reapers. Had…had this been what Shego was working on? As the flames flickered and danced, Kim could make out bodies…four of them…peppered with arrows…
…Reapers…
…Kim followed the snaking path of the flames, encircling the reapers and snaking back towards…
…Kim felt the bottom fall out of her stomach…
"SHEGO!" Joss screamed out and bolted towards the barn.
"Help her inside. Get your cousin cleaned up," Mom hissed as she stared down at the Montefusco. "I'm going to finish this!"
KPKPKPKPKPKP
This…was it!
Anne cradled her crossbow in the crook of her arm as she leveled an icy glare at her prisoner. With a thump, Mom tossed the other one into the snow next to his buddy. These two…one had held a gun on…on her baby girl…and the other tried to strangle her. They were responsible. They had led demons from the old world to her doorstep, chased her family from their home, and had come within an inch of…of…
…she was standing over the cliff, gazing into that black abyss. Now…was the time. Now she had to make a choice. She could give herself over to the void, do what needed to be done, send a message to the Montefuscos, the Reapers, to ANYONE that would dare threaten her family, and her family…her babies…would be safe…
…but to do that…there would be no coming back! If she took that step, she wouldn't…she'd no longer be…
You're at a crossroads, peanut!
I…I'm so…scared, Daddy! I…I can't…I can't protect them!
But you did, peanut; every one of them! YOU kept them alive. YOU'VE stood up to every danger that has threatened you, threatened our family, and you never stopped being my precious baby girl!
Daddy, I…oh God…I miss you so much! I…
Shhhhhh, I know, peanut. I know. But you've got a choice to make. I'll see you on the other side!
"Annie?"
Anne jumped as if she'd been zapped with a cattle prod. Mom materialized almost out of nowhere, a look of concern plastered across her face. Anne…Anne couldn't really blame her. Up until this moment, Anne really had no idea what direction she was going to go and…Mom probably worried that Anne was going to become…
…but she wasn't! She…in her mind, she could still see the cliff…but…she had to step back. She was going to put a stop to this…but she wasn't going to lose herself in the process!
"Watch them," Anne replied.
By now, the fires that Shego had started had died down to embers. Anne stepped across into the burnt circle and took stock of what remained of the reapers. Three of them had succumbed to their wounds and whatever poison Kimmie had infused the arrows with; but the last, judging by the moans, was still alive…at least for a few minutes. It must've been hemlock. Bowing down, she grabbed the reaper by the scruff of the neck and dragged him towards her prisoners. She needed to send a message to the Montefuscos and Reapers and she was going to send it!
She came to a stop in front of her prisoners. One looked like he was in a state of shock…that was the one that Kimmie had slammed her head into. The other…the other was with it enough to have his eyes mashed closed and was uttering…it sounded like a catholic prayer. Well, God was going to sit this one out.
"You have a knife?" Anne looked towards Mom as she tossed the body in front of her captors.
"Left boot."
Anne set her crossbow down behind her and knelt down. Drawing a finely polished and sharpened boot knife, she turned her focus back to her two charges.
"Look at me," Anne growled. She took the praying Montefusco's chin into her hand. "LOOK at me!"
Slowly…like he expected to come face to face with the devil himself if he opened them…a pair of trembling brown eyes looked into Anne's emerald green.
"You have a choice," Anne breathed, her eyes boring into her prisoner's head. "You brought demons into my life, demons that would've tortured and mutilated everyone that I care about," Her eyes fell on the dying reaper. Now to send the message. With a wet crunch, Anne drove the boot knife into the reaper's chest. Her victim let out a gasping breath, the blade would've slid right through the ribs and into his lung. There was a cough of blood and a stomach churning gurgle, and the reaper died. Anne took hold of the hilt and, with the precision and delicacy that almost 20 years of medical training had given her, began carving a hole in the reaper's chest. The blade actually served pretty well for cutting, slicing through the ribs like small twigs. The blade slid out without a sound and Anne peeled back the flesh and bone that she'd cut up, looking for her quarry.
There it was! Anne reached in and gave a yank.
"If you ever cross me," Without a second thought, Anne thrust up the freshly carved heart into the prisoner's face. "This will happen! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? If a Montefusco EVER sets foot in my city, crosses my path, or comes near ANY of my family again, I will carve out the heart of every one of you! What the reapers would've done to me? That will be a pleasant dream compared to what will happen to you…do you understand me?"
The Montefusco was trembling now, completely paralyzed with fear. Anne didn't really expect an answer but it looked like the message had been received.
"So you remember it," Anne barked as she whipped up the blade and struck a small slash across his cheek.
Author's Notes:
THIS has been a LONG time coming! I've been suffering from about a year and a half writer's block. I've had this vision in my head of Anne, standing over her captors and going full grimm but I had so much trouble putting it into words. Anne stood on the very brink of losing herself but…at the last moment, she was able to keep her humanity and defend her family.