From the Ashes III vs Gordon Fury (IWF Title Match) - RP #1

Five minutes passed, all of us waiting in silence. Nobody wanted to say a word. They had finally caught me, they had got their man. But I had one more trick up my sleeve. I didn’t come all this way just to get captured. I didn’t sacrifice everything in my life just to be locked up until I died. Everything that happened was just part of the plan.

I lifted up my handcuffed hands and looked at my watch. It was time. I took a deep breath.

Voice:  “Sir, we’ve got an obstruction on the road ahead, going to alternate route on your command”

Agent Jones: “Affirmative”

I could feel the car slow down and turn. I knew exactly where we were turning. Through an old junkyard that I had already been too earlier in the day. Everything was going to plan. I felt the van slow down and almost come to a complete stop. This was it.

Agent Jones: “Why’d we stop?”

Voice: “Sir there seems to be some suspicious activit-”

The voice cut out with a loud banging sound. The van was soundproof, so it was impossible to hear what was going on outside. But the van wasn’t moving at all. Agent Jones was losing his shit trying to get out of the van, which was impossible since the van was only unlockable from the outside. The two guards inside the van had their guns pointed directly at me. I just sat there as Agent Jones desperately tried to radio someone on the outside. I counted down in my head. Five, four, three, two, one.

Something large and heavy landed right on the roof of the van. The force of the object knocked both guards and Agent Jones to the ground. I was expecting it, so I managed to stay on my feet. I quickly dove at one of the guards and kicked him in the face as hard as I could. I reached down and grabbed his baton that he carried and spun around, smashing it into the other guard’s skull, knocking him out cold. I looked at Agent Jones, who was just gathering his senses. I ran and punt kicked him in the skull, sending him flying into the corner of the van. I spun around and smashed the other guard in the skull with the baton. I grabbed a set of keys from a barely stirring Agent Jones and used them to open up my handcuffs. I flexed my wrists a few times, as I heard the back of the van open. I grabbed one of the guards guns and pointed it at the door, but lowered it when I saw my own men, all wearing the same mask that I wore during my wrestling matches. I grinned and hopped out as one of the masked people came forward. They lifted the mask off their face.

Anna: “Well that was easy”

I grinned as I walked over to Anna and kissed her deeply and passionately. There was so much love between us. She helped me escape. We could go back to the way things were now. Well, with much, much more power.

I turned and looked at everyone else who surrounded me, all wearing my mask. These were my people now.

Brandon: “Alright everyone. You know what to do”

All of the men wearing my masks split off into separate groups, as Anna handed me a mask and pulled her own down. Anna handed me a gun as I turned back to look at Agent Jones, who was slowly coming to his senses. I walked back towards him. Agent Jones reached for his gun, but I quickly shot him in the hand. He screamed out in pain as I shot him in both knees.

Brandon: “Might want to quiet down Jones. Or don’t. There’s nobody around to hear you anyways”

Agent Jones: “You’ll never get away with this”

Brandon: “Actually. I just did”

Suddenly the van started to jerk up as the crane above it began to lift the van high into the air. Agent Jones desperately tried to crawl out, but I smiled at him and slammed the door shut.

I turned back to Anna and wrapped my arm around her shoulder as we walked off towards a large object covered by a tarp. Anna and I both grabbed part of the tarp and pulled it off of a large F-22 Raptor that we had bought from our inside man in the military. As we were doing this, the crane released the van from up high, causing it to smash to the ground and explode.

I climbed into the seat of the jet as Anna followed me. I handed her a helmet and mask as she climbed into a small spot behind the seat. I laughed as I put my helmet and masked and closed the top of the jet. I began to taxi it onto the closed off road beside the junkyard. I looked back at Anna

Brandon: “Comfy?”

Anna: “I think I’ll survive”

Brandon: “Only an hour and a half and we’ll be free. Forever”

Anna: “It can’t come soon enough”

Once I took off, only ninety minutes until we hit Mexico. Once we were in Mexico, we were home free. That’s all that we needed to do, and nothing was going to stop us now. Anna and I made it. We suffered, we bled, but in the end, we won. And now, together, like it was always meant to be, we controlled everything. And I couldn’t be happier.




I looked around the neighbourhood. I hadn’t been here in years. Not much had changed in the decade or so since I used to live here. My parents hadn’t really done much with the house. The lawn was still well kept, the porch looked the same. Canada was a country of little change.

I walked up to the house and opened the door. I had told my parents that I was coming. They just didn’t know why. I didn’t want to scare them. My dad had his suspicions though. He knew something was wrong, and he knew it had to do with drugs. He always knew what I was up to. It must have just been some kind of connection he had with his kids.

My parents were in danger. There was no if’s and’s or but’s about that. I had killed the son of the most powerful drug lord in the world. They were gunning for me now. Anna and I had been on the run, never staying in the same place more than one night. I was covering our tracks as best I could, which was pretty good. Any IWF stuff I did, I did by video. I was going around and trying to warn all of my friends. Up next was Keagan, then Molly. Then Karly. She was pretty safe at the moment. Her dad was a cop, so the cartel didn’t dare touch her.

I walked inside the house and immediately yelled out for my parents, but to no response. I yelled again. Nothing. I knew they were supposed to be home. Their car was in the driveway. I grabbed my phone and dialled Anna’s number, who was parked outside.

Anna: “What’s up?”

Brandon: “Can you see anything upstairs? Like any movement or anything?”

Anna: “Uhhh, no, all the blinds are closed. Is something wrong?”

Brandon: “Have the car ready to go, something’s not right. Stay alert”

I hung up the phone and pulled out my gun from the back of my pants. I slowly moved through the house, gun in front of me. I slowly approached a corner where I could see a small trail of blood. I spun around and saw a body on the floor. Fuck. I looked closely. Too dark and too young to be my dad. Likely that someone got here before I did.

I walked upstairs, finding about four more bodies along the way. My dad definitely put up a fight. I just prayed that he got out alive. But at this point, I was really doubting it. Fuck.

If I was the one responsible for my parent’s death, I would never forgive myself. How could I? My parents raised me much better than this. I had a lot of things go wrong in my life, but my parents were always there to support me.

I made it to the top floor, and to the end of the hallway. There were not enough bodies for me to get my hopes up. I walked over to their bedroom door and kicked it open. I immediately wished I hadn’t.

My mom and my dad, both hanging from the ceiling, a large rope around their necks, blood covering their faces. I desperately tried to fight back tears as I slowly approached them, gun still at the ready. I covered my mouth to not make a sound. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a knife to cut my parents down. I laid both of them on their bed and looked at them closely. Neither looked sad, or happy, or anything. Both had what looked like a very stone-face on, as if they had accepted what was happening to them. Despite the horrific conditions of their bodies, both my mom and dad looked to be at peace.

I closed both of their eyes and walked out of the room and down the stairs in a rage. I punched through a wall on the way outside, and slammed the door shut behind me so hard that it fell off of the hinges. Anna saw me and immediately ran out of the car to see what was happening.

Anna: “Brandon, what’s wrong?!”

Brandon: “They’re dead, they’re both dead”

Anna: “What?!?!”

Brandon: “They got here before we did. We have to go.”

Anna: “Oh my god”

I could see Anna start to tear up. I hugged her tightly as she cried into my shoulder. Anna knew my parents for so long, and they had really helped her after I ran away. They were like an aunt and uncle to her. I knew how upset she was. But there was no time to be upset. At this rate, the more time we wasted, the more time the cartel would spend killing everyone I was close with. We had to protect everyone.

I pulled out my phone and looked at it. I had a new voicemail that for some reason I just got notified about now. I dialled my inbox and listened. It was from my dad, and it was sent before I got to the house. Great.

I could hear gunshots in the background, along with my mom screaming and my dad yelling. After a few minutes, I could hear my dad talking to me.

David: “Brandon, I don’t know where you are, but there’s too many of them. I can’t stop them. I’m sorry. I don’t know what you got into, and I don’t know why. But I don’t care. Your mom and I just wanted to let you know that we love you so much. Don’t you dare miss us, we’ve lived a good life. Whatever happens to us, you go on with your life, and you make us proud, you understand me? I love you Brandon. I love you so much”

I could hear my dad trying to hold back tears as my mom spoke into the phone as well.

Mary: “Brandon, you protect Todd, you protect Karly, you protect Anna. You don’t let this happen to anyone else! Promise me nothing happens to them! I love you so much. I’m going to miss you so much”

David: “Goodbye Brandon. Make us proud”

With that, the voicemail stopped. I took a few deep breaths and saved the message. I couldn’t bring myself to delete that. I didn’t want to get rid of the last time I’d ever hear my parents voices again.

I helped Anna into the car and got into it myself. I drove away, as fast as I could towards the airport. I don’t know what was happening to me. With all that was happening in my life, the fact that it was falling completely apart, I didn’t feel as bad as I thought. In fact I didn’t feel anything at all. My parents were just brutally murdered, and I wasn’t sad. I was angry at myself for letting it happen. I wanted revenge. But as far as feelings went, I felt nothing. Not sadness, no remorse, no nothing. I was turning into an empty soul, and I felt that this was only going to get worse. I had no reason to expect that my life was going to get any better any time soon. If I was lucky, nobody else would have to die. But these last few months had been the most unlucky months of my life. I knew what I had to do. I had to warn everybody. And once I had warned everyone, I had to fight back. There was no more running. There was no more hiding from these guys, hoping that eventually it would get better. No, that was out of the question now.

I had to warn everyone I could. My friends. My wife. My brother. But once I had done all of that, it was time to take down the Sinaloa cartel. And the only way to do that was to kill all of them, one by one. I would need help. It would take time. But I was going to make El Chapo wish he never took control of this god damn cartel.




I pulled up to Keagan’s apartment complex with Anna, and quickly hopped out of the car. I was wasting no time with this one. I ran over to the apartment and found that the door was already busted open. Anna and I both pulled out guns and ran through the building, shoving screaming people out of our way. We ran up the stairs to the seventh floor where Keagan was staying. I ran over to her door and knocked. No answer. I tried to open it but it was locked. I kicked the door a few times, until the crappy lock that held it shut snapped and the door flung open. Anna and I wheeled around, looking through the apartment and clearing each empty room. Nothing was there.

Keagan was obviously gone, which was bad because she knew we were coming. But there were also no signs of a struggle. Nothing was out of place, no blood anywhere. This was bizarre. Maybe she had just stepped out for a bit.

Anna: “Yeah so she’s not here”

Brandon: “No kidding”

Anna and I met back up in the main room. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and looked at it. Nothing. No text, no message, no anything. This was so unlike Keagan. We talked all the time, even after we ended our weird fling. But lately she had sort of grown distant. I was really busy with this whole drug dealer thing anyways. But fuck me for not warning her sooner about this. Just like my parents, this was all on me. I fucked up, and my friends and family were paying for it. How would I live with myself if they got to Keagan first?

Anna: “Maybe she went out? Give her a call”

Brandon: “Alright, she didn’t call me or text me or anything though”

I dialled Keagan up and listened to it ring. After a few times, the phone answered, but nobody said anything. I could hear stuff going on in the background though.

Brandon: “Keagan?”

No response. I tried to make out what was happening in the background. It sounded like people were talking. I could hear what sounded like music. I listened hard. I suddenly heard something familiar. It was one my own personal songs, playing over the phone. I heard someone scream really loudly as I dropped the phone and immediately sprinted out of the apartment, not waiting for a very confused Anna.

I ran down the stairs, heart racing. If what I thought was true, then it was already too late. But I could hope. I sprinted out the apartment and ran over to my car, looking inside of it and immediately recoiling in disgust. I could see why the people around were all crying, screaming, or looking on in shock. I stared at the car for a good while, covering my mouth. I could see a few women vomiting over on the side of the road.

Inside the car was Keagan’s head, severed off completely, right in the driver’s seat. Her legs were in the backseat, and her arms were in the passenger’s seat. I didn’t want to know where her torso went. Here eyes had been removed and sewn shut, and I could see her phone sticking out of the flesh of her severed neck.

The scene was as gruesome as I’d ever seen. I had never seen any severed head this close before, especially one who I used to consider my best friend. This was a girl that I had loved my whole life. And now she was brutally fucking murdered. Nobody deserved this. Not Keagan. She was one of the good ones. I ruined this.

I saw Anna at the last second, and I grabbed her by the waist and held onto her tightly, trying to not let her see what had happened in the car. But she saw. I could tell by the vicious scream she let out right in my ear. I tried to hold her back, but Anna was a lot stronger than I remembered. She managed to break free of my grasp and ran over to the car. I turned around slowly as I watched Anna fall to her knees beside the car, holding onto the door to keep her from smashing the ground. I slowly walked over to Anna, as if in a trance, and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. This was becoming a daily task.

Suddenly I realized something. Molly. I was supposed to meet with her today too. And if they knew I was meeting Keagan, then there was no reason that they wouldn’t know that I was meeting Molly. And if they had gotten to Keagan, then they would get to Molly too.

I let go of Anna and immediately began sprinting away. Molly lived relatively close, in her giant mansion. I knew I had about five minutes to get there before anything happened to her. I refused to let anything happen to Molly. I had already failed my parents, I failed my childhood best friend. I was not going to fail on one of my current best friends and someone that I cared about more than I let on to anyone.

After minutes of sprinting in anger, I made it to Molly’s house and ran over to the gate. It was wide open, and I could see a large van out front. I ran over to the door, which was clearly broken open. I slowly pushed it open and walked inside the house. I could hear noises coming from Molly’s room upstairs. I slowly crept up the stairs and held my gun in front of me. I slowly pushed open the door to her room and saw four men standing there, Molly tied to a chair and gagged. I could see one of the men holding a machete in his hand, moving towards Molly. I immediately fired two shots at the man holding the machete and dove into the room behind a dresser. The three remaining men immediately started shooting at the dresser were I was hiding. I quickly hopped up and fired a quick shot, nailing one of the men right in the head, dropping him. I ducked back down. I only had two shots left, and two guys. If I fucked up, that was it. I quickly looked out behind my dresser. I didn’t see anyone.

I quickly stood up and looked around, seeing one of the men ducked behind another one of Molly’s dressers. I dropped to the ground and fired a shot underneath the dresser, striking the man’s kneecap. As he creamed and collapsed to the ground, I fired one last shot at the man’s head.

Now I just needed to find the last man. I didn’t have to wait long as I turned around and was staring into the barrel of a gun. Well fuck me. The man grinned at me as I got to my knees. I could see Molly out of the corner of my eyes, struggling to break free of the ropes that bound her to the chair. I could see the fear in her eyes. I tried to look at her to calm down. I tried to tell her anything without speaking. But I really had nothing to say to her.

Man: “I’m supposed to bring you back alive, but I guess I’ll just have to take the risk”

The man raised his gun at me, before I heard a shot and blood splattered all over my face. I reached up and wiped my eyes, as the man who held the gun to my head collapsed beside me. I looked up and saw Anna standing there, arms outstretched, holding the smoking gun. She looked cold, emotionless, like she didn’t even realize that she shot a man dead. I ran over to her and wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly. I could hear her in my ears.

Anna: “We have to kill them”

Brandon: “I know”

Anna: “They killed Keagan”

Brandon: “I fucking know Anna, this ends now”

I suddenly realized Molly was still tied up in the middle of the room. I looked over at her, covered in blood that wasn’t her own. She was freaking out, which was understandable. I don’t think Molly had ever been a part of this kind of violence in her short life. But I had brought her into this.

I reached over to Molly and wiped the blood out of her eyes. I untied her arms and legs from the chair, and then pulled off her gag and threw it on the ground. Molly immediately stood up and wrapped her arms around me, clearly out of fear. I hugged her tightly as she was clearly freaking out. Tears were streaming down her face as she cried into my shoulder.

Molly: “Brandon what the fuck!”

Brandon: “Hey, hey, hey, it’s ok, it’s over. You’re safe now”

Molly: “Brandon what the fuck is happening?!”

Brandon: “A lot”

Anna: “So this is Molly eh? I expected a lot…ummm…older”

Molly: “Who the fuck are you bitch?”

Anna smiled and extended her hand to Molly, who reluctantly shook it.

Anna: “I’m playing, I’m Anna, Brandon’s ex-wife. I’ve heard a lot about you Molly”

Molly: “I’ve heard plenty about you. Fuck I’m sorry, but do you know what the fuck is happening?!”

Anna: “Ask Brandon. I’d rather not talk about it”

Molly turned to me and looked at me. Anna did the same. I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t really talked to Molly in a long time. Last time we actually talked was on the phone, and I basically told her that she was a bitch. This was the reason that I did it. But I guess they didn’t care how close I was to anyone. They were just going to kill everyone who was ever close in my life. Unless I killed them all first.

Molly: “Brandon. For fuck’s sake. I was just sitting here waiting for you to come over and these guys broke into my fucking house, punched me in the face, tied me up, beat me and then were about to chop my fucking head off. Then you bounce in here and kill them all. Look at me Brandon, this isn’t my fucking blood. What. The fuck. Is going on.”

Brandon: “I’m into some bad shit Molly. Some real bad shit”

Molly: “Yeah, no fucking kidding. Was this about you?”

Brandon: “Look Molly. I don’t know how to put this lightly, so I’m just going to say it straight up. I work for a Mexican drug cartel. I deal drugs for them, and have been for almost eight months now”

Molly: “What the fuck Brandon?”

Brandon: “Yeah…”

Molly: “So when we were…you know…hooking up or whatever. You were dealing drugs?”

Brandon: “Yup”

Molly: “Fuck Brandon, you could have gotten me killed or arrested or some shit for that”

Brandon: “Relax Molly, when I was seeing you I had it perfectly under control”

Molly: “Clearly you don’t anymore”

Anna laughed at that one. Both Molly and I turned to look at her.

Anna: “Sorry. I have to laugh so I don’t cry”

That was understandable at this point. I think Anna was starting to get as desensitized to this as I was. The more I killed, the more I saw deaths, the more I just lost feeling inside me. I don’t think it had even registered completely that I had just lost my parents and my best friend, all in a matter of two days. Normally I would be devastated, but at this point I hardly even cared. I was more worried about avenging their deaths, rather than mourning over them. To be honest, I doubt I will even mourn after I wipe the entire cartel off the fucking globe.

Brandon: “Anna and I refused some orders, they sent a message to me. I didn’t agree with it, they killed her husband, so I killed the leader’s son and right hand man”

Molly: “Jesus fucking christ Brandon what the fuck are you”

Brandon: “I told you I’ve been in the military, killing isn’t something I’m afraid to do. These guys think they can tell me how to live my life. Nobody tells me how to live my life”

Molly: “Is this why you were such a dick to me when we last talked?”

I hugged Molly tightly. I really did care about her, as much as I tried to deny it. She meant a lot to me, as a friend. I couldn’t lose someone like her, and it pained me to say the things I said to her, especially when she was trying to turn her life around. But I had to do it to protect her.

Brandon: “I’m so sorry. I had to protect you. If they had known you were a close friend, they would have come for you before I got to you. I never meant to hurt you Molly, and I really wanted to be there to help you turn your life around. I’m sorry”

Molly wiped the tears from her eyes and hugged me tighter. I felt so terrible, but at the same time, Molly was alive. At this point, that was all that I could ask for.

Molly: “It’s ok. I’m just glad I’m alive”

Brandon: “You and me both”

Molly: “What are you going to do now?”

Brandon: “Anna and I are going to kill all of them”

Molly: “What about me? I’m not staying here, no fucking way. Let me come with you”

Brandon: “Absolutely not”

Molly: “Why the fuck not?”

Brandon: “Molly, you’re twenty two years old. You have no experience in any violence besides wrestling and some martial arts. I’m not going to send you somewhere where there is a very strong possibility that you’ll die.”

Molly: “Well I’m not sitting in this house waiting for someone else to come in here and kill me”

Anna: “What about your brother Brandon?”

Both of us looked at Anna again. She was looking at us with a serious face, clearly wanting me to think about her advice.

Brandon: “What about him?”

Anna: “Isn’t he off in Russia for hockey? Why don’t you just send Molly there? You know the cartel wouldn’t dare touch anyone on Russia’s soil. She’ll be safer there then she’ll be anywhere else in America.”

And just like that, Anna made me feel so fucking stupid. How could I have forgotten about Todd? Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Todd was off in Russia for the summer playing hockey until the NHL season started up again. If I had just told my parents, Keagan, everyone to go live with Todd, then they’d all still be alive.

But I couldn’t think about that now. I had to save what I could. And if that meant sending Molly only, then that was better than nothing. I grabbed my phone and started calling Todd. It took a while, since I was calling to fucking Russia, but eventually I got through.

Todd: “Hey Brandon, what’s up?”

Todd seemed relatively happy. Clearly word hadn’t made it to him about mom and dad yet. I wasn’t going to tell him. Not like this. I would wait for him to find out naturally.

Brandon: “Todd, I’ve got a weird favour to ask you”

Todd: “Sure, what is it?”

Brandon: “My friend Molly, I think you know who she is right?”

Todd: “She was that girl you were sleeping with that got you fired right?”

Brandon: “Yeah pretty much. Anyways, she’s never been to Russia, and she’s also a huge fan of hockey. I was thinking, what if she came to Russia and stayed with you? You could show her around, maybe teach her a thing or two about hockey”

Not to mention Molly was always horny, and Todd was closer to her age. I knew he knew that too, which is why I already knew what his answer would be before he even said anything.

Todd: “Yeah sure! Sounds like a blast. When is she going to come?”

Brandon: “How about tonight? You got anything big planned?”

Todd: “Nope, that’ll work. Give her my number, tell her to text me with her flight number. I’ll pick her up from the airport when her flight gets in.”

Brandon: “Fantastic. Thanks so much Todd”

Todd: “Any time. Hey if I don’t catch you later, good luck in your match this week. Do the Macdonald family proud a little more, alright?”

Brandon: “Will do Todd. Love you, talk to you soon”

Todd: “Right back at you”

I hung up the phone and looked over at Molly

Brandon: “You’re good to go. We’ll drive you to the airport right now and get you on that plane. You should start packing now”

Molly immediately walked over to her closet and grabbed a bag and started packing it. I quickly grabbed my phone and booked a ticket for Molly as Anna stared at me silently. I could feel her gaze boring into me, so I finally decided to see what was going on.

Brandon: “Anna fuck, you’re piercing a hole through my skull”

Anna: “You didn’t tell him”

Molly: “Didn’t tell him what?”

Molly looked over at me in the middle of packing. I stared silently for a minute, not saying anything, not acknowledging the question.

Anna: “Brandon you didn’t even tell your brother that his fucking mom and dad are dead”

Molly: “Wait what?!”

Molly stopped packing and looked up at me. I looked over at her, almost nonchalantly.

Brandon: “I didn’t get to them in time”

Molly: “So Todd doesn’t know that his parents are dead? I assume he doesn’t know that you’re in the drug business either, does he?”

Brandon: “No, and you need to keep it that way”

Anna: “Brandon, you should have told him”

Brandon: “No. He needs to find out from someone else. If I told him, we would have been here all night explaining how it happened, why it happened, all that shit that I don’t want Todd to know.”

Molly: “Well, fuck, how am I supposed to deal with that?”

Brandon: “Just act. You’ve acted before, for the company, for movies. You can be pretty convincing when you want. Just pretend you don’t know anything, be happy, have fun. If he finds out when you’re there, you act surprised, and you help him deal with it. You’re a good person Molly, I’m counting on you to do this”

Molly: “Ugh, fine, but you owe me”

Molly turned back to her closet and continued to pack. Anna and I just sat there in silence. I think the shock of what was happening in my life was finally starting to wear off, but I didn’t feel any more sad or upset by it. If anything, I was just getting angrier and angrier. I wanted revenge, no, I needed revenge. Nobody could get away with trying to destroy my life like this. I was already planning a way to do it. I just needed a little bit more time, and a little bit of information.

Molly finished packing and together we drove off to the airport. We didn’t really talk, mostly we just sat in the car, thinking to ourselves. Molly tried to break the awkward tension a few times, but Anna was refusing to say anything, and I was too busy thinking. I felt bad for Molly. She had absolutely no idea how to deal with any of this, and I was forcing her to learn on the fly. She had no reason to be in this mess, but I put her there. And now she was paying the price for my mistakes. But so was everyone in my life.

We got to the airport and walked inside together. We got to the security area, and I quickly called one of my former bodyguards, who was now working at the airport. I told him to watch Molly at all times until that plane took off. He agreed, and said that nothing would happen to her as long as he was around. I trusted him more than almost anyone I knew. Plus, this was a public airport. With the amount of security, nobody would dare try anything. Too much of a risk.

Molly: “Well, I guess this is it for now”

Brandon: “Remember, please don’t tell Todd about my parents. He needs to find out on his own, so that he can deal with it on his own”

Molly: “I won’t, I promise. Just promise me that you’ll be ok. I don’t want to lose you Brandon”

Brandon: “Trust me, I’ll be fine. I’ll be right here in this exact spot when you get home, after I deal with this whole mess.”

Molly: “Alright. Bye Brandon. Love ya”

Brandon: “Love ya too Molly”

We hugged tightly, and for what seemed like hours, even though it was only half a minute. I didn’t want to leave Molly, but I had to. One of the really good things I had in my life, and I knew that no matter what happened, I would probably never see her again after this.

Molly: “Bye Anna, it was nice meeting you”

Anna: “Likewise Molly”

Molly turned away and walked over to the security check with my old bodyguard. Anna and I watched as she was checked through safely. Before she walked down the terminal hallway, she gave us both one last wave, before vanishing from our sight. I turned to Anna.

Brandon: “We can’t waste any more time. If we’re going to respond, we need to do it right now. The longer we wait, the more people get hurt”

Anna: “I was about to say the same thing. Any plans?”

Brandon: “I have a few ideas, but I’ll need some help. All I need to do is find out where El Chapo is hiding, and we can start right away”

Anna: “And you have a way to do that? Hasn’t he been hiding somewhere unknown in Mexico for a decade?”

Brandon: “Yeah. I marked one of their cash pickups. They’ll drive it back to wherever Chapo is, and he’ll find it.”

Anna: “Isn’t that a bad thing, if he finds it?”

Brandon: “Usually yes, but not this time. I got a special tracker that the military uses now, from my contact. It looks like a regular tracker, but it doesn’t actually do anything. Until it breaks. Once someone or something damages the casing, it sends out one quick signal before breaking. And it sends it right to my computer. So once he destroys the bug, I’ll know exactly where he is”

Anna: “Sounds like a plan”

Brandon: “Can I drop you off at home? I need to go do something personal before we do this”

Anna: “Is it go to see Karly?”

Brandon: “You know me so well”

Anna: “Yeah, I need to shower and change and all that anyways”

We left the airport as quickly as possible and ran over to our car. We hopped in and began to drive home. We didn’t live too far from the airport, and after about a thirty minute drive, I dropped Anna off at home and began the lengthy drive across town to where Karly’s parents lived. It took about an hour with the traffic. When I got there, I slowly pulled up into the driveway. Karly’s car wasn’t there, but her parents car was. I figured I might as well talk to her dad while I was there. I walked up to the door and knocked. Her dad answered the door.

Karly’s Dad: “Hey Brandon, this is a surprise”

Brandon: “Hey Mr. Zedic, is Karly home?”

Karly’s Dad: “She actually went out a few hours ago, and I haven’t heard from her since. I was hoping she was with you”

Brandon: “No, I haven’t talked to her in a while”

Karly’s Dad: “I know. Brandon, I really hope you’ve figured things out. I don’t like seeing my daughter so upset. She wants to see you, you know that right?”

Brandon: “I know, I want to see her so badly too”

Karly’s Dad: “All you have to do is get out of whatever it is you’re in.”

Brandon: “I wish it were that simple”

Karly’s Dad: “It is that simple. Whatever it is you’re doing, just stop. If you truly love Karly, she’ll come first before anything or anyone else. You guys can work whatever issues you have out as long as you just go back to the way things used to be. I really do love you Brandon, but you’re an idiot if you choose anything over my daughter”

Brandon: “I know, I know. I’m really trying. I don’t want to get Karly involved in what I’m in. I’m getting out. Once I’m out, Karly will be the first person to know”

Karly’s Dad: “Good. Oh, and Brandon. Promise me that nothing is going to happen to Karly”

Brandon: “I promise”

I turned and walked away from the house, leaving Karly’s dad staring at me from the open door. Clearly Karly had told him that I was into something bad, but had left out exactly what. Or maybe he just didn’t want to tell me that he knew. I figured it was the former, because he was a cop. If he knew what I was into, he’d have really no choice but to arrest me.

I really wanted Karly back. No, I needed her back. But right now, this was the best thing for both of us. As long as she was with her dad, who was probably keeping extra protection on her at all times if he knew I was into some bad stuff. And I couldn’t have Karly in any kind of danger.

It was weird that her dad hadn’t heard from her all day though. Karly loved her parents, and she would never worry them on purpose. And with me in all this shit, her dad would love to know where Karly was at all times. But maybe Karly just needed some alone time. Everyone needs some alone time once in a while. Lord knows I needed it. In fact, now was the only time I’d get any alone time for a while. I guess I better take advantage of it now. But I did need to let Anna know what I was doing. I grabbed my phone and called Anna. It went to voicemail, if I knew Anna, she took like hour long showers, she was probably still in there.

Brandon: “Hey Anna, it’s Brandon. I just need some alone time right now. Hope you understand. You could probably use some too. Obviously lock the door tonight, sleep with the gun, rig up the security system, all that shit. I’ll be back in the morning. Call me if you need anything. I’ll just be at the usual hotel.”

I hung up the phone and tossed it in the car. I sat down and just waited for a bit. I didn’t want to drive, I just wanted to sit there and think. But I needed to be truly alone for that. Once I got to my hotel room, I could lock the doors, lie down in bed, and just think. I needed this.




I pulled up to my house around seven or eight. I hopped out of my car, energized and ready to seize the day. Not actually, but I did feel really good. I had a nice night alone to think over everything that had happened. To figure out what I was going to do next. I knew exactly what needed to happen. And on top of that, I finally got some sleep.

I walked into my house and called out for Anna. No response. That was weird. Maybe she was still asleep. I walked up to her room and knocked. No answer. I opened the door. The bed was a mess, things were everywhere. I immediately pulled my gun out of my pants. I looked around the room. I could see Anna’s phone lying on the ground behind the bed. There was a table set up, with Anna’s laptop on it, opened up. I didn’t want to look at it, but I had to. If anything had happened to Anna, I couldn’t live with myself. Anna was my life.

I opened up the computer and looked on the screen. There was a video player opened, with a shot of a dark room. I could make out a figure, but there was not enough light to see it. As if on cue, the light turned on, and El Chapo was sitting there, in a chair, crossed legged, smiling.

El Chapo: “Right on schedule”

Brandon: “What the fuck have you done?!”

El Chapo: “Oh me? Nothing. Just another step in destroying your life.”

The camera shifted sideways and I could see Anna’s bloody face, hanging down on her neck. She was breathing and awake, which was a good sign. But clearly she had been beaten pretty badly. She was tied up to the chair tightly. The camera shifted back to El Chapo.

Brandon: “You’re fucking dead if you hurt her any more”

El Chapo: “Oh but Brandon. You haven’t even seen the best part”

The camera shifted again, and my heart stopped.

Tied up to another chair on the other side of El Chapo, with the same bloody and beaten face as my best friend Anna, was my wife Karly.

She was alive too, but was clearly in pain. She couldn’t even lift her head to look at the camera, even when El Chapo told her to. He laughed as I fell back on my bed, in shock.

El Chapo: “What’s the matter Brandon. Cat got your tongue?”

I couldn’t speak. I could barely even breathe. I couldn’t even believe what I was looking at. He got the two people who mattered most to me in this world.

El Chapo: “Don’t worry Brandon. I’m not going to kill them…yet. I still want you to do something for me”

Brandon: “What?”

El Chapo: “I want you to go to your wrestling match at From the Ashes. I want you to walk out there for your match. And I want you to shoot yourself right in your stupid fucking head. Blow your brains out on pay-per-view. Only then will I release these two. You have my word.”

Brandon: “Your word doesn’t mean shit to me”

El Chapo: “Well I guess you’ll have to live with your wife and best friend’s deaths on your conscience. As if your parents and other best friend weren’t enough”

Brandon: “That’s all I have to do?”

El Chapo: “That’s all you have to do”

Brandon: “Seems easy enough. Do I have your word that you won’t hurt them from now until I get in that ring?”

El Chapo: “You do. Oh, and before I forget. If you think you’re going to come and find me, and play the hero and save the queen and princess, think again”

El Chapo pulled out a little bug from his pocket. He held it up to the camera so that I could see it. It was the bug that I had placed on his delivery. My heart started to beat again. This was my chance. I just prayed that he didn’t know what it was or how it worked.

He didn’t.

El Chapo crushed the bug between his fingers. At the same time, my phone beeped. Perfect. I started to laugh. El Chapo was certainly shocked by my laughing, as he suddenly looked concerned.

El Chapo: “Is this funny to you?”

Brandon: “You fucking idiot. You fucked yourself now”

El Chapo: “What are you talking about?”

Brandon: “You murder my parents. You murder my best friend. You kidnap my ex-wife and my current wife. You’re trying to ruin my life. Well guess the fuck what Guzman. I’m going to fucking murder you. I’m going to chop your fucking head off and set you on fucking fire, just like I did your pathetic little son. You hide in your fucking mountains because you’re a fucking cowardly piece of shit. Well guess what fucker? I just found out where you’re hiding. And I’m coming for you. So do whatever the fuck you want for your last few days. Because you’re fucking dead.”

I picked up the computer and snapped it in half. I grabbed it and threw it across the room, smashing it against the wall. He crossed the fucking line. My wife was off limits. He wanted a war, he was getting a war. And I wasn’t going to lose.