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“You have to choose.”
Riri remained quiet.
“You or her. If you don’t, I’ll choose for you.”
She refused to speak to the man that caused her so much pain in her life. In the end, Riri knew who he would choose. It wasn’t a matter of decisions to be made, it was a matter of seeing his daughter fall for the one thing he ordered her not to do. Riri wasn’t supposed to fall in love, but she rebelled and did it anyway.
“Father ordered me to come home.”
“Riri, that’s never a good thing. You know that, so why are you going?” Mary’s gaze showed how frantic she really was despite trying to remain calm.
“If I don’t go, he’ll just come here instead.” Riri stopped, turning around to place her hands on Mary’s waist. “I’m not letting him get close to you, I told you that before.” Despite her supposed reassurances, her lover’s eyes glazed over with tears threatening to shed. “Angel...”
Mary spoke in a whisper, voice thick with undeniable fear. “What if you don’t come home?”
“We’ve talked about this,” Riri rested her forehead against Mary’s, a strangled sob escaping. “I want to promise that I’ll come home, I really do.” She wiped the tears that started to fall.
For a short while, all that was heard in the house was Mary’s sobs. Riri pulled her into a hug, hand rubbing her back as her tears stained Riri’s shoulder. Ragged breathing would overcome the soft words Riri was feeding into Mary’s ear in an attempt to calm her down.
“It’s a shame, you could’ve continued to be useful, just like when you were a teenager.” Arkadi spoke lowly, a glass of scotch in his hand and a gun in the other.
Her knees had given up on her.
“I should’ve never given you a chance,” Mary confessed through her tears.
Riri’s heard that before. All the way back when they still attended Saint Dominic’s. When her killing someone was all Mary knew and nothing else. Those words echoed in her head, from the younger version to the current version. Their love was filled with regrets, filled with promises never made and nights spent in anxious waiting.
“I know.” Riri answered.
“But...god, I love you so much and a part of me hates that I love you.” Mary continued, her ragged breathing adding fuel to the fire. Riri’s heart was threatening to shatter despite hearing this before. Many times before. “Can’t you just...kill him already?”
“I told you I would never kill by my own motivation.”
Mary pushed against her shoulder and successfully pulled away from her hold. “Fuck what you said before, I’m tired of this. Having these conversations every other year, having to accept that you may not come home tonight.” she explained before rubbing her eyes with her sleeve. “I’m tired,” she repeated.
“Mary,” Her name came out broken and strangled. “Do you really want me to kill someone else?”
“If it means you’ll come home to me.”
But, their love was also filled with softness, confessions heard a million times of the love they had for one another and intimate moments they’ll never forget. No matter how much time passed, they never grew tired of each other. Waking up in the same bed as Mary was a blessing. Being able to love her every day and knew the love they felt was unconditional was what she always wanted.
To be loved as a person, not as a successful manipulated weapon.
“It’s selfish, I know that. I’m aware of how many thoughts I’ve had of just wanting him dead, but can you even blame me?” she ranted, unable to let Riri leave without admitting to things she never wanted to without the possibility of death. “This man has tortured you, Riri. I don’t want him alive, I don’t want you to leave and I certainly don’t want you dead!” she yelled, breaking the silence for only a moment.
“Do you think I want to die from a house visit?” Riri’s shoulders slumped, “I want to come home to you, Mary. I always have.” Taking a step forward, Mary didn’t take a step back. She nodded to herself, “I never wanted to kill someone on my own accord.”
Mary shook her head, “You never wanted to kill someone by your own accord because you would be the responsible one in the end. It wouldn’t be your father or any of his associates.”
The truth hurt, Riri could still feel the heaviness in her heart.
“You knew that I wouldn’t accept it.” Mary finished, her hands balling into fists before relaxing with a sigh. “This one time, I want to. I don’t care how you do it, I just- I want this to end.”
“What if I can’t? What if I come home and he’s still alive?”
“Then it’s just another one of these conversations waiting to happen.”
Killing wasn’t something she ever wanted to do.
Was it right to kill when freedom was the goal?
What if she was caught?
What if Riri never gets her freedom in the end?
Her father sighed, “One last chance. You or her?”
Why was he giving her the choice he already made?
Riri slipped on her shoes and jacket. Mary never liked watching her leave, but she had to. Just in case it was the last time she ever saw her. She would never want those conversations to be the last time they ever talked. Riri stepped outside, the car already waiting for her.
She turned back to Mary. There was so much emotion in her lover’s eyes. The tear stains were clear as day and all she wished to do was turn around, walk back inside, and replace those tear stains with kiss marks. Clearing her throat, she stepped towards Mary without an issue.
“Can I kiss you before I go?” Riri asked.
Mary cracked a smile, “You know you always can.”
She returned the sentiment, kissing Mary like it was the last time she’d ever have the chance to do so. It was long, savoring and consuming in the same breath. Filled with everything they’ve been through over the years and everything that could’ve been. When Riri pulled away, she didn’t even make it off the porch before turning around.
“I love you.”
Mary couldn’t fight back the smile she always got when Riri said those words.
“I love you too.”
Arkadi cocked the gun right next to ear. “Any last words?”
Riri shook her head. She would never give him a verbal response. She wanted her last words to be what she told Mary. She wanted her last words to belong to Mary, just like her heart was. Her father hummed, continuing to drink his scotch as he circled her like a predator before going in for the killing blow.
“Can’t you just...kill him already?”
The gun was aimed directly in the middle of her forehead. He pressed the end of the barrel up against her skull to ensure she didn’t live. “What a shame your sister hid better than you did. She was much more of a disappointment than you.”
Riri hasn’t seen her sister in years, but she knew Kira was safe.
That’s all that mattered to her in the end.
“We both know this will never end. Your little beloved would be next.”
She didn’t react.
Maybe the choice was never Mary or her.
Maybe there was a different choice to be made.
“Well, it was nice seeing you, my dear daughter.” Arkadi’s finger was pressed on the trigger.
Riri, for the first time since falling to her knees, moved.
BANG!