. . .

“Jane!” hisses Tom.

“Jane,” says Maria. Her voice is snide and somber. It is snomber. “How nice to see you.”

The gun comes up in Maria’s petting hand. Its barrel is as thick as Jane’s torso. It begins most ominously to whine.

“Almost,” says Jane. She reaches for a raindrop-covered rose. “Almost . . .”

She trembles there.

“Got it!” she shouts.

Maria’s gun finishes charging up. It chimes.

“And I,” sneers Maria, “have you!”

Maria is suddenly very excited about this. She’s never actually managed to kill someone before. She grins. The smile blooms on her. It bursts through her. It makes her face a rictus of exaltation. She —

Tom has released the chain. A counterweight on the other end of the looped end falls.

— fires!

B…

<< – 11 –

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