Reconciliation

by Robert Adamovich

The right roundhouse kick caught her off guard and sent her violently to the ground, a trickle of blood escaped from her ear. Whoever this guy is, she thought, he’s more than just good. She wasn’t about to let some man beat her, never again. He stood back and allowed her to get to her feet. She didn’t waste the opportunity and quickly leapt to her feet. She let a powerful front kick fly toward his sternum but he was gone before her heel made contact. She felt the right side of her face being smashed by what she thought was a steel pipe. Everything went black and she fell to the ground hard.

Rain spattering on her face woke her from the smash induced coma courtesy of her mystery man. She looked from left to right but he was no where to be seen. Slowly she raised herself to her feet and shook the cobwebs out of her head. She wasn’t sure where he had come from, but he was better than any other person she had encountered. He had got her once, but she was going to make sure that it didn’t happen again.

Julia Johannsen was a leggy six foot blonde Scandinavian Amazon with a pretty face and deep blue eyes. Full lips and narrow hips accentuated her ample bosom, a great distraction during a fight with men. The men in her life had been abusive since her childhood and well into her adult life. After her husband had beaten her in front of her baby girl and broke her shoulder as he threw her into a solid wall, she vowed never to be beaten by a man again. And she had been successful, until tonight.

Years of training with her master John Ozukawa had transformed her from a wallflower into a warrior that could defeat most anyone, man or woman. She had dedicated her life to protecting women against brutish men who enjoyed beating, berating and belittling the women in their lives. She enjoyed the surprise in the eyes of the men as they realized they were about to be beaten by a woman. Now they were the ones being beaten, berated and belittled. She had to admit that her beating of men had become a bit of an obsession and gave her more pleasure than she wanted to admit. The original purpose of her nightly walks had changed from vigilantism into a sadistic mania she couldn’t stop. Had she become the very thing she hated?

Maybe tonight’s beating was a sign that she needed to either refocus her intentions or get out of this most dangerous of games. There was always someone better around the corner and she had met him tonight.

After a long hot shower and a bag of ice for her head, Julia sat down in her favorite chair and looked out of her apartment window into the moonless night and sighed. It was time to stop, she decided and start leading a normal life, if that was still possible. The thought of searching for a mate in today’s single’s scene made her cringe. Maybe she didn’t need a man in her life in order to be “normal”. She’d have to see.

She awoke bathed in sweat swinging at the phantoms in her dream. Her heart was racing and breathing ragged. Her deep blue eyes were wide and had a weathered look to them. She had seen too much in the short time she had been a vigilante and it showed in her eyes and she could feel it in her soul. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and wept in her hands. She had to stop, it was clear now. She only hoped it wasn’t too late.

As if by instinct she found herself wandering the streets lost in thoughts of living a normal life. The night air was thin and a light northerly breeze added to the coolness. She found herself in the parking lot of ‘The Golden Goose’ restaurant and bar. It had been her ex-husbands favorite bar and how she wound up there was a mystery to her. It was the one place she didn’t want to be. She scanned the parking lot and the surrounding area, instinctively falling into fighting mode without thinking about it. Her ears perked up and her body tightened as she heard the voices of drunken men approaching her.

Fate was playing some kind of sick joke on her she thought as she saw who belonged to the drunken voices. There was her husband accompanied by the man that had beaten her the night before. They both stopped in their tracks when they saw Julia standing in the middle of the parking lot with clenched fists. Laughter erupted from both of the men simultaneously. Her ex’s stuttering laugh made her squirm as she recalled being thrown into the wall, and her shoulder breaking.

“Well, looky looky, it’s my old nookie, Julia,” her ex said.

“Hello, Sean,” Julia said with disdain.

“Looking for us were you?” Sean asked motioning to his new friend.

“Not really, but since you’re here,” she said keeping an eye on Sean’s friend. His friend had hard looking eyes that seemed to pierce her to the soul. She couldn’t look him in the eyes for very long. For the first time in a long time, she was frightened. She wasn’t sure she could handle the stranger and Sean at the same time. The stranger would be a handful by himself, let alone the two of them together.

“Let me introduce you to my new friend, Lucious. Julia, Lucious, Lucious, Julia. Oh wait, that’s right you’ve already met, haven’t you,” Sean said laughing. Lucious grinned, revealing sharp teeth that glinted like steel in the dim parking lots lights. His eyes glowed yellow like a snakes’, and his face seemed out of focus somehow, she assumed it was the light.

“Hello, Julia,” Lucious hissed, “Nice to see you again. How’s the head feeling?”

Julia’s clenched fists tightened even more until her knuckles cracked under the pressure. “My head is fine, thanks asshole,” she said.

“I think she’s still a little upset with me, Sean,” Lucious said.

“Fuck her. Let’s give her a warm welcome, what do you say?”

“How remiss of me, Sean, let’s.”

They walked toward Julia with malice in their eyes and in their hearts. Julia readied herself for the fight of her life. She hoped she was up to the task because if not, she would die tonight.

Lucious held out his arm holding Sean back from going any further. “Allow me, Sean. I’ll take care of her. After all it’s part of our deal, right?”

Sean nodded and said, “When you’re right, you’re right,” and folded his arms ready to watch the beating.

Lucious strutted toward Julia, seemingly unconcerned or unimpressed with her fighting skills. Julia felt a drop of sweat form on her forehead and fall down her cheek like a tear. Lucious smiled.

Julia stepped back into a fighting stance ready for whatever Lucious could throw at her. Lucious kept strutting forward. Before she could react he lashed out, piercing her chest and grabbing her heart between his fingers and ripped it out of her chest. He showed it to Julia before she fell to the ground and died. The heart continued to beat in his hand until he crushed it, tossing it to the pavement in loathing. He bent over Julia’s lifeless body and wiped the blood from his hand on her shirt until it was clean of her flesh and blood.

Sean gazed in shock for a moment then began to laugh like a Hyena. “Woo hoo, she thought she was bad but she turned out to be so, so sad . . . and wrong,” Sean said.

Lucious walked over to Sean and placed his hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “Satisfied, Sean?” he asked tilting his head to one side.

“Absofuckinglutely my man.”

“Good. Now you remember our deal,” he asked.

“Of course I do.”

“Well I’m collecting early. You understand how it is, I need the souls,” Lucious said and ripped out Sean’s heart as he had Julia’s. The stunned look on Sean’s face made Lucious snicker.

“If only they could have reconciled,” Lucious said walking away, and disappeared into the night air.

Copyright Robert Adamovich 2006