Mending Open Wounds

 

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Mending Open Wounds

Off Camera

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Why?  That’s what IWC seems to be asking of me lately.  Why would I throw my lot in with Ethan and Alana of The Good Movement?  Why would I sell my soul, my principles, down the river just to become the IWC World Tag Team Champion?  The answer to that question has become increasingly clear.  I do not have a soul nor do I have any principles worth speaking of.  At least, the darkness that resides within me has no principles and no soul.  It doesn’t care about anyone or anything else but itself.  This darkness is what killed Tony Morgan, a man I had once loved, a man I had married.

Yet at the same time there is one person that brings a smile to my face, one person who brings a touch of light into my darkness; that person is none other than Polly Norah.  When Polly and The Good Movement reached out, looking for a replacement for Polly when she got injured, I knew I had to accept.  And while on the face of it it appears as if I did it just for the championship, there is that part of me that did it for Polly, that did it for my love of her, my desire to help her out in any way I can.

She has been forced to be a part of this Harem for a long time now, unable to escape due to contractual obligations.  As a friend and lover I could not stand idly by and just watch her suffer alone.  Misery loves company so perhaps one thing I could do was join her?  Maybe my presence within The Harem would make it better for poor Polly?

And if being a part of The Harem means doing Ethan’s dirty work for him then so be it.  I need some constructive way to feed this darkness within me, a darkness that seeks out the blood and pain of others.  Why not feed it with the screams and pain of victims chosen by Ethan?  I don’t care.  The darkness doesn’t care.  So TPKid has been chosen for extinction?  That is no problem for me.  On Riot I will gladly eliminate him.  I will gladly finish him off for Ethan.  It is a way of feeding the beast.

Unfortunately not every problem of mine can be settled with a little violence.  Just as with any war there is the physical fighting and there is also diplomacy.  I am not engaged in any physical fighting with my brother but a heated diplomacy, a cold war if you will, that needs to be resolved for my own peace of mind.  Mark O’Brian recently informed me that he didn’t want to have anything to do with me.  This is unacceptable.  I have to fix this someway.

That is what brings me to his and Ashley’s home in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  My finger gently touches the button that is clearly the doorbell.  I stand there and wait patiently after ringing the doorbell, waiting for the arrival hopefully of my brother.  I would rather speak to him right now and no one else.  Unfortunately, I do not get my wish granted and that is made abundantly clear as the door opens to Ashley Murray, my soon to be sister-in-law, standing there in the doorway.  The ice-cold gaze from her eyes tells the entire story: she is not happy to see me in the least little bit.

“Sophie….”

“Yes, I’m Sophie, and you’re Ashley, now that the introductions are out of the way may I speak to my brother?”

That ice-cold gaze turns into one of hate.  So maybe she didn’t appreciate my attempt at humor?

“No!”

Ashley attempts to shut the door on my face but I stop her by holding out my hands, blocking the door from being shut completely.  That’s one advantage to being a professional athlete.  I am much stronger than Ashley, someone who has had no real training in how to defend herself.  I can at the very least keep this door open.

“I don’t take no for an answer, Ashley.”

“Too damn bad!” Ashley grunts as she strains against the door but the force I am exerting is too much. “Leave!  Mark specifically said…”

“I know what he said.” I state definitively, interrupting her. “And I think he’d be interested in what I have to say.”

“Over my dead body!” She exclaims. “We aren’t interested in hearing what your type has to say.”

“My type, is it?”

“Yeah, your type…psychopaths!  Homicidal lunatics!”

The words string and ring true.  I have perpetrated many heinous acts.  I am responsible for the murder of the two men who framed Ashley’s twin sister for a murder she didn’t commit.  I murdered Carolyn Rose York, a former patient of Tony Morgan’s, before murdering Tony himself.  All of these acts, while suspicious, are all labeled as suicides.  Open and shut cases as far as the police are concerned as they really have no interest in solving them further.  Those people I killed and made it to look like a bunch of suicides, society never cared about them let alone police.  It was the perfect crime.  I couldn’t control myself and Ashley knows it.  Mark knows it.

“Maybe that’s true, but I have a right to speak to my brother.”

“Not if he doesn’t want to speak to you.”

We are at a stalemate as Ashley cannot force the door shut but yet at the same time I cannot overpower her.  Oh I could overpower her, but I would have to hurt her and I do not want to hurt her.  Despite what Ashley believes to be true, I am not evil incarnate.  I do love and care for my brother and my brother loves Ashley and doesn’t want to see harm done to her.  Thankfully the stalemate does end when a familiar figure, short in stature, comes walking into the scene.

“Aunt Sophie?”

Ashley is taken by surprise when her niece, Mark’s daughter Martina O’Brian, comes walking into the scene.   I use that surprise to my advantage to push the door the rest of the way open and sneak inside.  Once inside I stare into my niece’s eyes, loving eyes that gaze back up at me with curiosity buried deep inside, wondering no doubt where I have been and why I have stayed away.  A child like Martina has no way of comprehending the problems her father and myself are having right now.

“Martina…”

I approach her slowly and cautiously, bending down to my knees so that I am eye level with her.

“Don’t do anything to her, Sophie.”

“You think the worst of me, don’t you Ashley?” I shoot Ashley a smirk and then I turn back to face my niece. “There’s no need to worry.  I love Martina as if she were my own.”

“I missed you, Aunt Sophie.”

“I missed you too, darling.”

“Where have you been?”

“Always inquisitive?” I chuckle as I kiss her on the forehead. “I cannot answer that, dear, but make me a promise will you?”

“Sure.”

“Never stop asking questions.  Only the sheep, only the followers blindly accept the status quo.  Never accept the status quo on blind faith.  Question it at all times just as you questioned me.”

Martina nods her head. “Ok, Aunt Sophie.”

I stand up and smile proudly down at her. “She is very intelligent.”

Out of the corner of my eye I spot my brother approaching the scene. “She gets it from her aunt.”

I turn to face him.  He has his arms folded over his chest and is staring at me intensely.  I politely nod in his general direction.

“Hello, Mark.”

“Hello Sophie.”

“Mark,” Ashley interjects, pointing down at Martina “should I take Martina somewhere?”

He nods his head. “Yeah, take her to the kitchen.  Get her some ice cream while me and her Aunt Sophie have a talk.”

It is clear that Ashley isn’t too fond of the idea of letting me remain in the house but this is Mark’s house and Mark’s child so she reluctantly agrees.  Ashley grabs Martina by her little hand and leads her out of the room into the kitchen.  As I watch them walk away I cannot help but feel warm, salty tears forming in my eyes.

“Am I ever going to get to be in her life?”

“That’s really up to you.” I feel him grab me by my arm.  “Come on, we’re going into the living room.”

I let him lead me out of the hall area and into the living room.  I sit down on the sofa and he sits down next to me.

“That’s quite a daughter you have, Mark.”

“Thank you.” He says nonchalantly. “She’s very strong, very independent, and very smart.”

“Like her Aunt?”

He nods his head. “Just like her Aunt.”

“And what about Ashley?” I ask inquisitively. “The last time you and I spoke you told me she was pregnant?”

Again Mark nods his head. “Yeah and she’s coming along fine.”

“She certainly isn’t showing any signs yet.”

“Yeah, well, emotionally she is.  Her emotions are at an all time high and she’s already depressed about how her figure is about to go caput…”

“So you are experiencing all of the joys of being a husband and father?”

“That’s right, Sophie.” He smiles warmly, lovingly. “I love my family and I’d do anything for them.”

“That’s what I like about you, Mark.  You have always been loyal to your family.  But that brings up a good question…why?  If you care about this family so much, why let a minor business deal between me and The Good Movement drive a wedge between us?”

Mark stares at me with an emotionless gaze.  “You still don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?”

“If it were just the business deal then we would have no problems.  No, I don’t much care for Ethan or Alana, but I could put up with them, I could tolerate them if it meant you would be happy.”

A slight grin forms on his face despite himself. “In fact, I’m glad you are the IWC World Tag Team Champion now, Sophie.”

He places a hand on my shoulder. “I am a father now, Sophie, and as much as I care about you, I care about my little girl just as much if not more-so and, quite honestly, you are a dangerous person.”

“I’m…”

My voice trails off, I want to fight back and argue against him but I cannot find the right words.  To be honest, he is right.  I am a dangerous person.

“Don’t try to deny it.  You murdered four people.  I was able to overlook your first three murders, because they were done in the name of your family, they were done to protect us all.  But when you killed Tony…”

“Don’t say his name…” I interrupt slowly, quietly.

“You have to hear this, Sophie!” He exclaims.  “You stepped over a line when you killed Tony and I cannot just let that slide.  You are dangerous, Sophie, not just to others, not just to yourself, but to my daughter and until you get some real help for yourself I cannot allow you to be with us.”

I slowly bow my head in shame.  He is right, of course, and it hurts to hear it.

“I’m sorry, but you know it’s the truth.”

“You have no idea what it’s like to be me, Mark.”

“No, I don’t.”

I look back up at him with tear filled eyes. “No, you really don’t get it!  You really don’t understand the struggle I go through damn near every day of my life!”

“Then explain.”

I sigh deeply. “I have lived with this darkness ever since I was a teenager, Mark, and ever since then I have struggled against it.  It would whisper into my mind things to do, evil things, and at first I could fight back against it but as time went on it got more and more difficult until I just total control…”

“And that’s when you killed Tony?”

I nod my head. “Yeah…”

I wipe tears out of my eyes, tears of sorrow and grief as memories of Tony come back to my mind.

“I miss him, Mark.  I miss him more than you can ever imagine.”

“What about Polly?”

“I love Polly, don’t get me wrong, but I miss Tony and regret what I did.  But I couldn’t control myself.  I lost control.”

I sigh. “They say admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery.  I’m ready to take the next step and that’s what brought me here today.  I wanted to let you know that I have taken your advice.  I sought out professional help.”

“You mean…”

I nod my head. “Yes, I have placed myself in the care of a good psychiatrist.”

I grab Mark by his hands and squeeze them tight. “I can’t stand being away from you, from Ashley, and especially my niece.  And I can’t stand being controlled by this darkness.  I want things back the way they were, Mark and I am going to do whatever I can to bring us back together stronger than ever.”

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Thirst for Violence

On Camera

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The ring inside of this empty wrestling school is not the size of a standard, regulation wrestling ring.  It is slightly smaller.  The ring itself, though, does resemble your standard mat with its light blue coloring, black apron, black ropes, and black turnbuckle pads.  Sitting atop one of the turnbuckles is none other than Sophie O’Brian.

“Welcome to my world.”

She hops down off the turnbuckle and approaches the center of the ring as the camera follows her every step.

“This squared circle is my world.  I rule it because I am smarter than everyone else in this industry.  I am a master strategist who knows where and when to place her pawns on the board in preparation for the checkmate.”

“Any chess player, any military general, any strategist of any type will tell you that if you try something and it fails, and you try it again and it fails again, then maybe, just maybe, that plan doesn’t work and you should change.  The definition of insanity, they say, is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.”

She holds up one finger. “Mark and I had one goal since arriving here in IWC and that was to become IWC World Tag Team Champions.  My original plan was a very simple one; break up The Harem.  If I could tear The Harem away from Ethan then that would leave him vulnerable to the offensive onslaught of Total War.  He wouldn’t stand a chance.  But Kordy and Polly proved to be tougher than I had imagined and at Invictus they earned the respect of Total War, but more than that, Polly earned my love.”

“I realized that since my original plan wasn’t going to work that something else needed to change.  Perhaps I needed to change?  Perhaps I was looking at things the wrong way and I needed to put myself in the shoes of The Harem and even Ethan himself to see what they were doing right that kept the belts with them and their faction?”

“So did I sell out?” Sophie nods her head. “Damn right I did.  I made a hell of a business move and sold my services to Ethan and The Good Movement.  But I didn’t do it purely for business purposes.  I did it for Polly as well.”

A low chuckle escapes her lips. “And when I stepped into that ring with Kordy and brawled with Kathryn and Syren at Extreme Fury, I never felt more alive!  I never felt as good as that time when I brutalized them.  And it was at that moment at Extreme Fury when I realized that this alliance of yours truly and The Good Movement is providing a much needed outlet for me…”

Cue the dramatic pause “…an outlet for my sheer, unrelenting violence.”

“I have a thirst for violence, TPKid…a thirst that can only be quenched when I taste the blood of my victims, when I break the bones of my opponents and listen to their cries of agony, a thirst that can only be quenched with the total and complete destruction of an enemy.”

“This thirst is controlling my, Kid.  It controls me so much so that I really do not care who I hurt, so long as I hurt someone.  So if your good friend Ethan asks me to break you, if he asks me to rip your lungs out, if he wants me to gut you like a fish, then I’ll gladly obey, because inflicting pain and torment upon you and your body is just another way I can quench the thirst for violence.”

Sophie points a finger into the camera. “You declared war upon Ethan…YOU did…and now you have to live with the consequences of your decision.  You have to understand that Ethan has now decided to finish this the same way world war two was finished…by dropping the atomic bomb.”

“I am that atomic bomb, Kid and I am the perfect weapon to eradicate you because I am a proponent of Total War, meaning I will not stop, I will not quit, until you are destroyed in every way imaginable.  I will not stop until this war between you and Ethan has ended with you in a pool of your own blood.”