Cut and Run

"Reckon I'll fold," Adelaide sighed, puffing one last breath out of her cigar before she stamped it out on the card table, leaving her hand behind, and stood to head toward the ladies washrooms. She could feel the eyes of all of the men at the card table watch her walk as she left, their gazes crawling along the curvatures of her body in her jeans. Luckily, the walk was short, and she escaped them as she swung the wooden washroom door open with one hand.

The entire saloon was quiet, nothing but the sound of the workers playing their late night cards and a leaky faucet or two cutting through the still, humid air. Inside the washroom, the girl, just turned 21, stared at herself in the mirror in front of one of the sinks. There was a small window on the opposite wall pouring in moonlight, lighting the space along with a lantern placed by the door. She turned, her long blonde hair swishing around her shoulders as she gazed out at the world. The moon was big and round, no doubt it was full. It hung over the community like a big Christmas bulb, glinting every bit of light it could back onto the scenery.

Adelaide turned back to the sink and tucked her hair behind her ears, inspecting the slight stain she'd put onto her lips with raspberry juice earlier that morning. She'd done it once her father had already left for work. Even though she was quite old enough to watch after herself, The Mayor never agreed. She was a little, fragile girl to him... at least when she wasn't killing people by his order.

"You can come on out," Adelaide offered in her sweet, southern drawl, padding at her lips with the tip of her index finger in the mirror, cool as ever. She'd been able to feel a presence in the room since she arrived, and although she wasn't completely sure who the eyes belonged to, she was sure they were on her.

In a matter of seconds Adelaide was thrust into one of the stalls, the door swinging back and forth with an eerie creak as she straddled the toilet, pressed against the back wall by a figure about her size. Even in the low lighting she knew it was her. It almost always was.

"If it ain't my favorite painted lady," Adelaide giggled smugly, choking slightly as she felt Hallie's forearm press harder against her windpipe, pinning her back further against the wall.

"That so? You gonna pay me for this visit?" Hallie asked, though her tone was like stone--cold and unmoving. The two had been adversaries quite literally since their births. Born only two days apart the girls--one The Mayor's daughter and low-key assassin, the other a scheming prostitute--had never gotten along. Adelaide was known for her righteousness, and revered among the townsfolk as the only true enforcer of justice. Hallie was often at the center of trouble, known as the woman to talk to for illegal goods, and outsider correspondence often in relation to organized crime.

"How much do I owe ye?" Adelaide huffed, muscling Hallie back against the right side of the stall. Hallie's shoulder length red hair glistened in the moonlight, the same illuminating her face. Adelaide noticed a bruise yellowing around her left eye but didn't think much of it, men loved to get rough with their ladies, while running her hands along the bodice of the girl's dress. She felt over her breasts and down her hips, and then around her back, breathing heavily against Hallie's ear as she hiked up her petticoat and pulled a gun out from her underclothes, chuckling.

"You don't owe me nothin', Darlin. 'Fraid fallin' for my tricks is free," Hallie shot back, as Adelaide felt the cool barrel of a gun run along her temple. She looked down at the second gun in her hand and examined it quickly... no bullets.

"Yer gonna spoil all our fun, huh? Right before we get to see who's who? You that scared about yer daddy? ...What bosh," Adelaide frowned calmly, exaggerating her expression, knowing the girl wouldn't shoot her. She'd heard stories about how Hallie'd never taken a life, even when it had almost cost her her own. This was simply a scare tactic, being used to try and get Adelaide not to kill the girl's father. But it wouldn't work, even Hallie knew that in her heart of hearts. Adelaide wasn't an easy scare, and Hallie's father had been on her hit list for a while. His time had come.

"One of these days yer gonna cash in, too, Addy. You really wan it to be at the hands of a girl like you? Taken before your time?" Hallie asked, her tone unreadable, somewhere between a couple different emotions.

"I don't care. Only thing I wan do is cut and run. Go some place other than here," Adelaide admitted honestly, suddenly feeling tired, stepping back from Hallie's gun and walking out of the stall. Hallie let her, following a moment after. They stood staring at one another in the mirror, the moon even brighter in the window.

"You could have killed me years ago..." Hallie thought aloud, not even finished with her inquiry before Adelaide's boots started clicking toward the door.

"No reason to," Adelaide said back, shrugging, walking back out of the washroom without another word. Though, both girls knew, that just wasn't true.

Something like ten the next morning, as the sun was just rising up over the mountains, Adelaide prepared for her job. She dressed in her favorite pair of jeans, chaps, and boots, pulling on a plaid button-up her father had given her as a birthday gift. She hated the colors, and it was a size or so too small, but not wearing it would appear ungrateful. Her hair tucked up under her leather hat, she plucked her gun out of her bedside drawer and headed out to the barn.

She noticed her father out there, standing, smoking his morning cigarette.

"Howdy," Adelaide smiled, tipping her hat to her father, who leaned gently back against the barn, bathing in the morning sun. He had that look in his eyes, sharp and determined. He knew where she was about to go... and what she was about to do. Seeing his stare, suddenly she felt the air start to hum.

"Don't dilly-dally. I'll have breakfast made by the time you get back," the man nodded calmly, taking a long drag from his cigarette.

"Thanks, Daddy," Adelaide said softly, pulling her horse around the barn door by it's reigns, leaning in to leave a small kiss on her father's temple. Before she could pull away he suddenly grabbed her face, his strong, calloused hand rough against her cheeks.

"You bring him back here alive," the man hissed, a new darkness having blossomed in his eyes that Adelaide didn't recognize, "Above snakes. Got it?"

The girl furrowed her brows in confusion, a pit having dropped into her stomach at the quick change in plans.

"But what about-?"

"Do as I tell ye, girl," her father growled once more, which was all she needed to hear to keep her trap shut. A good, strong-willed nod later she hopped onto her horse and started toward Hallie's home. She couldn't shake the feeling that had washed over her while talking to her father; suddenly her blood ran cold. She usually didn't take jobs that gave her a bad feeling, but this one wasn't exactly optional. As was the case with all of the hits her father sent her to carry out.

Bout a mile out from Hallie's home, Adelaide climbed off of her horse and started on foot, glad the morning wasn't all too humid for once. Her walk took less time than she imagined, but as she made her way toward the house she felt more and more sure that something was amiss. She could feel it in the ground, like the earth was swaying beneath her.

By the time she was snaking around the back wall of the home, her heart was hammering in her chest so hard she wondered if she might die before she even made it inside. Easily enough though, she found an open window in an unoccupied room and hopped in. Her gun, held ready at her hip, felt heavier than ever. She would have to be careful about this. If her father wanted him alive, she would have to deliver that. If there were any complications, she might as well not return home. In her head, she started running through possible avenues for success. She knew that if she shot him though, the likelihood of him not bleeding out on the ride back was slim. She'd have to think of something else entirely.

Catching her breath in her throat, she nearly rounded a corner into the family room, where Hallie's father sat rocking in a rocking chair, sipping on a beer. The house was a mess, cluttered with garbage and dust. Adelaide found herself panicked suddenly, wondering if Hallie was home. But no, she wasn't. After all, she'd only seen one horse outside on her way in. The man was home alone. For how long, she hadn't a clue, so she knew she was going to have to be quick about this. She took a step forward and the board underneath her foot shrieked like a live animal, scaring her half to death, and also alerting her prey to her presence.

"Hey!" the man slurred, standing from his chair and whipping around, stumbling over his own feet. He was definitely drunk, which Adelaide thought may work to her advantage. Without thinking, she held up her gun at the man, who even through his drunkenness looked outraged at that. "Who are ye?"

Adelaide swallowed hard and inched toward him, her eyes darting around the room to see if he had any kind of weapon lying around. She didn't see one, but wasn't confident in that deduction, especially with all of the mess everywhere.

"You need to come wit me, sir," Adelaide said, breathing through her words so as to not allow her tone to shake. The man laughed, howling at her request.

"Like hell I'm goin' anywhere," he spat, lunging at Adelaide before she could predict it. In a moment's quickness he had her pinned against the wall, her gun sliding across the wooden floors with a disheartening rumble.

"Ain't ye Mr. Mayor's girl?" the man asked then, dropping his beer onto the floor with a shatter, glass speckling the floor, his hands pinning Adelaide's arms above her head. Her hat rolled off of her head and landed on the floor with all the mess, her wavy blonde locks falling down around her face. His eyes brightened at this, and she felt her heart begin to hammer once again.

"Let go of me," Adelaide growled, trying to fight against the man, and failing miserably. She was strong, been herding cattle since she was in diapers, but she couldn't compete with his manly frame.

"I think I'll keep ye," the man smirked, his breath hot and sour against Adelaide's lips, grinding his pelvis against the girl's waist. She could feel that he was aroused, and felt her stomach turn over, fighting the urge to gag. She had to get away, somehow, but every thought she had was clouded by fear. She couldn't get away. She couldn't get away.

He had the gun against her head then, her own gun. She was placed on the kitchen table like an animal, posed on all fours, jeans pulled down to her knees, undergarments torn off and discarded on the floor. That plaid shirt her father had bought her, that she hated so much, had the buttons ripped off now. His free hand was up underneath her brassiere, cradling her chest. And Adelaide couldn't remember the last time she had cried, but as he fondled her at gunpoint she sobbed and sobbed. She prayed, like her mother had taught her. Like she had prayed at her mother's funeral all those years ago, over and over again wishing her mother would return to her. She never did... she never did... But this, she feared, as she felt the man's lips on her neck, would never leave her.

Between choking sobs she missed the sound of the door popping open, but noticed when she felt the man's motions fall still.

"Get off of her," Hallie called out, standing in the kitchen now, her own gun pointed at her father. Once again he laughed, that cackling laugh that made Adelaide want to vomit. While the man was distracted, Adelaide managed to get off of the table, struggling to cover herself once more with her torn clothes. Before she could get too far though, the man grabbed her by her neck, holding her against his chest. Once again Adelaide had the gun to her head, standing completely exposed, eyes begging Hallie to do something. Anything. Their gazes connected for no longer than five seconds, and then Hallie fired without hesitation. Two shots, one into her father's knee, causing him to collapse, and then another, after taking a few steps forward, into his brain. He slumped onto the dusty wooden floor like a sack of flour, making a hollow thud. His brains half poured out of his caved in skull, the house pungent with the smell of metallic blood.

Adelaide stumbled back against the kitchen table in shock, her eyes wide with horror. She looked down at Hallie's father and then back at the girl, tears still rolling down her cheeks. Hallie was already moving around, panicked, gathering things from around the house into her shoulder bag.

"We have to go," Hallie muttered, disappearing into a room connected to the family space. She walked back out holding a baby in her arms, swaddled in white. Adelaide pulled her jeans back up and tied her shirt into a knot at the front, covering herself well enough. Tears still blurring her vision, she stepped forward and looked at the child. It couldn't have been older than four months, tiny, with little curly red hairs poking out of it's round head. Then it clicked.

"You had a child," Adelaide spoke aloud, wiping at her tears as she stared at the baby in the girl's arms, "But who..?"

Adelaide watched as Hallie's eyes, completely numb, drifted to her father's body lying on the floor. A wave of unimaginable grief washed over the girl, and she cupped her hand with her mouth, once again disgusted. The reality of her previous situation became all the more real. Before she was able to speak, though, Hallie started toward the door.

"Now. Time's wastin'. We have to go now," Hallie said sternly, holding her sleeping child against her chest as she kicked open the front door.

As Adelaide stood staring at the girl, she felt her heart rate finally calm. The air stopped humming. The world stopped swaying. She remembered what she had said the night before about wanting to cut and run. She'd been telling the truth, something she rarely did.

"Why take me? I been nothin' but foul to you," Adelaide asked then, her eyes still soft around the edges, her body language small and scared, more broken than Hallie had ever seen her. Hallie took a few steps back into the house and grabbed Adelaide by the hand, smiling. The air sparked again to Adelaide's surprise, and she held the girl's hand in return. For some reason, it felt comfortable. Adelaide had never been one to believe in things destined, but that moment just slightly changed her mind.

"'Member when you said you ain't had a reason to kill me?" Hallie said softly, pulling the girl out of the house and over to her horse, "No reason not to take you."

But as they climbed onto Hallie's horse, placing her sleeping child into a basket attached to the side, with Adelaide slowly wrapping her arms around the other girl's waist, they both knew what she'd said just wasn't true. There were copious reasons for Hallie not to take the girl with her, just as there had been copious reasons for Adelaide to kill Hallie, but something stronger than reason had taken hold...