The Frayed Ends Of Sanity

"Well, with the first two hideouts, I got lucky. The whole lot of them were drunk off their asses. So, basically all I had to do was just go in and start shooting. But, the last one wasn't near as easy."

*Flashback*
I walked out of the hideout that was located near the California-Mexico border with a victorious smile on my face. This was the second address on the list that Jenkins had given me a month ago. I'd say I was making pretty good time.

I pulled the list our of my pocket and saw the last one was in Sacramento. I had a feeling this one would be the most difficult of the three.

I gave myself a week to prepare myself. When that week was up, I got my stuff together and headed for the capital.

Once there, I familiarized myself with the streets and alleys near the address, in case I would need some kind of escape route. It turned out the place was in a dark alley toward the outskirts of the city. This was good; probably less trouble with cops this way.

I drove around until late at night then pulled into an empty parking lot, changed into my uniform (I guess I felt more comfortable committing mass murders in it), and drove to the address.

I was extremely nervous. I felt like they knew I was coming and right as I stepped in, I'd be shot. I gripped the steering wheel and hoped they were oblivious.

I parked in a parking lot near the alley. I placed my weapons in their respectable places, keeping one gun in my hand, and cautiously walked down the dark alleyway.

I approached the door with my heart racing in my chest. I took a deep breath to calm myself, then kicked the door open, gun raised.

The room I entered was full of men (that's something I noticed about The Avengers; they were an all male group). I shot one of them without a reaction from any of the others.

One finally spoke up. "You must be Raven. We've been waiting for you." The man smiled at me, revealing rotting teeth. I shivered slightly, the scenarios I had pictured earlier seeming to come true.

I shot at another and the man who spoke earlier laughed. "You're a pretty good shot kid. But can you take us all out?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, two men attacked me.

I dodged one of their punches, but ran into the other one's fist, which gave me a bloody nose. I pulled out my knife and jammed it into one of their chests then pulled it out quickly. I did the same with the other.

I wiped blood from my nose which had begun to drip down onto my mouth. "That all you got?" I questioned cockily. As I said this, the rest of them bombarded me.

I shot at least three of them and managed to take the rest out with my knife. Of course, I suffered several injuries in the process. These included several cuts and bruises, a pretty good sized slice down my thigh, a split lip, and a black eye. I guess I'm just lucky I'm not dead.

I stared at the man who had spoken earlier. My breathing had become ragged gasps. He started clapping. "You really are the fighter they said you were."

I was breathing too heavily to say anything. "I'm sure you're wondering why I killed your parents. As I'm sure you figured out, it was to get to you. It worked, but of course, it wasn't enough. So, we sent in Jenkins. He was supposed to kill you, but obviously you outsmarted him."

"You ruined my fucking life you bastard! Why did you pick me?" I felt so pissed. I'm not sure why I didn't just kill him on the spot. I wanted answers, so that would have to wait.

"I'm glad you asked. The reason is you were a threat to my business." Of course, everything seemed to boil down to money now.

My head had begun to hurt for some unknown reason. "Let's make this 'final battle' interesting shall we, Raven?" he asked me with a gleam in his eye. "We're going to do this like the cowboys did. Ten paces, then we see who has the faster hand."

"Whatever," I replied. The man chuckled and placed a gun in his belt.

We stood back to back and took ten paces.

"On three. One..." My heart was pounding so hard and fast against my chest I swear it was going to burst out.

"Two..." I placed my hand on the trigger of my gun, ready to pull it out and shoot.

"Three!" I spun around, yanked my gun out of its holder, and pulled the trigger. I felt a bullet whiz passed my ear. I think I almost toppled over out of pure shock.

When I looked over at my opposer, he was on the ground, a bullet lodged in his left shoulder. I walked over to him and aimed the gun at his head.

"I guess I picked the wrong girl to mess with," he croaked.

"I guess you did," I replied coolly. I pulled the trigger and turned away. It was finally over. I had done what Jenkins said I would fail trying. For the first time in months, I felt like I could relax.

*End Flashback*

When I finished my story, Zacky's face was expressionless. I let out a sigh of relief. Zacky was the first person I had ever told that story to and it felt good to get it off my chest.

"I quit my job after that. It had caused way too much trouble," I told him.

"I can't believe you did that on your own. Even though you knew you could have been killed. I don't think I'd have the guts to do that."

I smiled. "I guess when I want revenge bad enough, nothing can stop me."

He laughed which got me giggling as well. I don't think either of us really knew why we were laughing and I don't think either of us cared.