Chapter 27: A Desperate Place
This haunted church, I’d found it by pure, dumb luck, a forgotten relic a few miles outside of town. It was a place to lick my wounds, to let the rage cool into something hard and sharp. The darkness was soothing, and I was completely alone now that I had disposed of the monster of what used to be a man that lurked here. Why was he here? Was he guarding something like some fucked up Cerberus? Or is this place a dumping ground for Finch's experiments? I looked around to make sure that I was the only living thing here besides the mold on the floorboards. Now, my only company was my swirling thoughts, struggling to put all of the pieces together. Had I missed something? Something vital? I was cleaning my pistol on a splintered pew when the side door creaked open.
It was her. Maddie looked like she’d been dragged through hell and back. Her clothes were torn, her face smudged with dirt and streaked with something that might have been tears or just grime. She saw me, and for a second, her shoulders sagged with relief. Then she saw the look in my eyes, and the mask of the Dark Rose snapped back into place.
“Well, well,” I said, my voice a low, vicious snarl. “Look what the cat dragged in. The queen of Calico graces the ruins with her presence. Did your throne room get a little crowded?” Had she dropped her mask, I might have greeted her differently. Yes, I was thankful that she was alive, but the betrayal, the calculated manipulation, had burned away any affection I might have harbored.
"Don't," she said, her voice sharp, cutting through the thick air. "Not now, Jack."
"Not now?" I scoffed, holstering my pistol. "When, Maddie? After you've played your next move? After you've decided which one of us gets to breathe tomorrow?"
"You think this is a game?" she spat, stepping closer, her eyes blazing. "They tried to kill me, Jack. They knew. Someone sold me out, and I need to know who before they come for you next. This isn't about my game anymore; it's about survival."
“Jack,” she said, her voice tight. “We need to move. They’ll be looking for us.”
I laughed, a harsh, ugly sound that echoed in the hollow space. “'We?' There is no ‘we.’ There’s you, the crime boss who runs this whole rotten town, and there’s me, the idiot dog you sicced on your enemies.” I stood up, the pistol feeling heavy and cold in my hand. “I just killed a monster who used to be a man. Now I have some questions for you." I pause. "Was any of it real? Or was I just another asset to be managed?”
“The threat was real. The Mongols are real,” she shot back, taking a step inside, her own anger flaring to meet mine. “I did what I had to do to protect my town.”
“Your town?” I stalked toward her, the space between us crackling with fury. “You pointed me like a weapon! You fed me lies, watched me bleed, and all for what? To protect your turf? Your dirty little kingdom?” I was in her face now, my voice dropping to a furious whisper. “The saloon, Maddie. The mine. Was that just part of the game? A little emotional leverage to keep your ‘sharpest tool’ pointed in the right direction? Yes, I have forgotten nothing. You hide in the shadows, pulling strings like a damn puppet master. Maddie, I am no puppet!"
"You're right, Jack," she admitted, her voice softening slightly, the Dark Rose momentarily eclipsed by Maddie. "You're not a puppet. You're a weapon. And I needed a weapon that could cut deep enough to hurt them."
“You think I wanted that? You think I wanted any of this?” she yelled, shoving me back with surprising force. “You think I wanted to be running for my life? To feel a goddamn thing for the pawn I was trying to move across the board? You weren’t supposed to be a person, Jack! You were supposed to be a solution! A ghost to fight other ghosts!”