(part of the October Kill Your Character challenge)
“I did say that if we ever met again I would kill you, my dear...”
Maddy was tied to a chair, and a rather hard and plasticky one at that. Before her stood Jacob Edwards, criminal mastermind, sociopath, and the absolute prick she’d been forced to work with three years ago in order to save the world. He still sent her fruit baskets on her birthday.
Currently, however, he had a gun held loosely in his hand and a wan smile on his face. The secret agent gulped, her fear of Edwards rising again in the back of her mind.
“I let you off that once because you’d been quite useful,” he continued. “But you just know too much about me, Miss Carding, and you know how it is with my secrets and plans and the like.”
“Sure you can’t just untie me and look the other way for five minutes?” asked Maddy, trying to laugh off the situation. Edwards didn’t even bother to chuckle, still staring at her with his cold, cold eyes.
“Doesn’t work like that, I’m afraid. Oh, and would you please stop trying to worm your way out of the cuffs? Wouldn’t want you to hurt your wrists, after all.”
Jacob gestured with the gun at the slight movement in Maddy’s shoulders and she froze, giving up the twisting motions she’d been using to try and free her hands behind her back. She stared at the gun, at the man’s uncaring expression, at the stark white room she was trapped in... and she realised she was going to die.
No! yelled her internal voice. No, no, NO! This is NOT how it’s meant to happen, I am NOT going to de here, not like this, not to him. Come on, Maddy, get your act together, you can do this. You’re the hero, you can win this!
The agent’s brow furrowed as anger bubbled up inside her. She had put up with his non-stop talking, she had dealt with his mood swings and threats of violence, she had somehow even managed to suffer through his terrible puns, she would not. Die. Here.
Planting her feet on the floor, she pushed, the brittle legs of the chair snapping free from their bolts. She span around, using the seat as both a weapon and a shield from the first gunshot. The second bullet skimmed her arm, the wound quickly welling with blood, but also cut through the ropes as she ducked out of the way.
Jacob fired off another two rounds, but Maddy was free and she was fast. She weaved erratically and threw the chair. Edwards was forced to duck under it and lose sight of her for a split-second. Maddy took this opportunity to step closer, winding up to punch him straight in the head and steal his gun and-
Agent Carding fell to the floor, a look of... almost shock frozen on her face; a neat, round bullet hole carved through the centre of her forehead. The man she had been attacking brushed some imaginary dust off his sleeve and twirled the gun in his hand. He wasn’t sorry, but he would miss some of their banter.
Blood seeped across the floor as Jacob Edwards, criminal mastermind, sociopath, and would-be ruler of the world, walked out of the room. He whistled a familiar tune under his breath and headed back to work, not even bothering to look at the body.
