23 comments/ 57988 views/ 3 favorites A Terrible Thing to Have to Do By: magmaman {This one isn't erotic, but it is horror, I guess? So the closest fit is non-erotic.) +++ When Conrad's daughter Samantha picked spring break to come home for a visit it was a bit of a surprise. But he was tickled pink that she was coming. Samantha was a ray of light in any room she ever walked into, just like her Mother, Mary Ann. When they were home with one or both of the kids around, even now that they were sort of grown up, everything was right in the world. He finished early sighting in the .22-250 bolt action rifle he had been working on for weeks for a customer that morning, cutting the session short when the target came back and he had put the entire magazine into a one inch circle. He loved working on the interesting combination weapons for customers, it not only was a very fun part time hobby but a lot of people around knew how good he was at building and repairing them, so he was earning some pretty good money with the sideline business. He had made the stock himself, special length to fit his customer, then carefully modified and polished the bolt action so that it was smooth as silk. It was a very good varmint and target tool as rifles go, with a muzzle velocity of a shade over 3600 feet per second one could describe the weapon as fairly hot. Lots of other rifles had more velocity, or even more energy at range but Conrad knew the rifle he held in his hands would be excellent at the target competition. He loved those competitions, without fail it came down to Henry Morgan that worked as a County Sheriff and Conrad at the end. Firing at 100, then 200 yards they were fairly even, finally it was 600 yards at a 6" target and so far Conrad had came up second every single time. Still, not bad, not bad at all. Very few shooters could hit a six inch circle at 600 yards at all. Add in a bit of side breeze and most couldn't hit the back board. The Deputy and he had mutual respect, in fact, he was the man Conrad was making the rifle for. Conrad had asked him what he wanted the tool for once, Henry just laughed and told him, "Duck hunting." That was funny, very likely the round was close to molten by the time it was 100 yards out of the barrel, it wasn't a Deer rifle or hunting rifle really, it was mostly a target gun for fun. The job had gone as smoothly, now he hurried home, to be there for Samantha when she arrived. +++ His daughter Samantha always called him Sonny for short, everyone did. That started when Samantha was very little, she would sit in the rays of sunshine pouring in the window and chime out with "sunny, sunny, sunny" over and over. For some reason everything that made her happy she would then call "sunny" and Conrad was gentle and kind to her. Samantha took to calling him that, and it just stuck the day his wife Mary Ann called him that one day without thinking. Of course Samantha wasn't really his biological daughter but that never crossed his mind, she was his and that was all there was to it. Normally young women her age took advantage of the opportunity to head for a beach somewhere and go crazy during Spring Break, if any of the videos he had seen were an indication. His mind flashed back to Spring Break during his own college years, it had been a wild and on the drunken side few days. Spring was a nice relief from his machinist classes, he had that overwhelming interest in firearms and target shooting, he was learning how they were made so he could design and build them. Finding out how to make the parts from Carbide and other alloys instead of the cheaper and easier to work Aluminum and steel was interesting. But even nursing an insanely painful hangover that day on the beach, he had spotted his future wife Mary Ann. She was on top of a big water filled plastic barrel, dancing in a bikini that probably didn't completely fit the description of a bathing suit. A better description might have been a show off suit, it would have fit right in at any strip joint on Earth. She was quite simply the most beautiful thing on the planet to him. She was also very drunk but she could still move her body in a way that struck a note in him. All he could do was stand there and stare. Conrad shouldn't have been horny at all, less than 30 minutes earlier he had found himself on top of some woman out in the bushes, in fact the was the second one that same evening. He could not for the life of him remember her name, or the other one either for that matter. In fact, he wasn't really sure that he would recognize her if he saw her again. It had been mindless, drunken sex, he had been walking up the path to find a place to privately throw up. She had been squatted down taking a leak, so he stopped and watched. The woman had finished up, giggling. Then she walked over to Conrad and ran her hand down his bare chest. Five minutes later they were going at it on a blanket. From the sounds nearby in the darkness they weren't alone doing that. Conrad even forgot about being sick for a short while. Spring Break was one crazy time. He was walking back to the beach party when he saw Mary Ann dancing on top of the barrel. Conrad stood and stared as she used just her toes to bounce herself up and down, causing her breasts to jiggle, move precariously. The suit top was sliding on her body, coming dangerously close to giving up it's position, the upper edge hung barely from her nipples. Mary Ann knew that, of course. Her eyes drifted over the people standing around, then they settled on Conrad and she smiled. One eyebrow lifted slightly, her lips pursed before looking away. Conrad fell totally and completely in love at that exact moment. Even feeling like crap, Conrad made the attempt to chat her up later and got nowhere at all. It probably didn't help that he looked like shit and smelled the same way. It also didn't help that he was painfully shy, it's hard to come up with smooth lines with a tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth. The only reason he had even ended up having sex that night is that both times he was available and more or less got grabbed. That second woman had simply walked over to him and ran her fingers down his chest. She didn't stop when she got to the top of his bathing suit, she just reached inside and grabbed his cock. Conrad had no real need to try and talk to her, seduce her. He also forgot about needing to puke, although he did manage that a bit later. That was the day he quit drinking completely, having seen the one woman that he knew he wanted more than anything else in the entire world and having blown the first impression completely stuck in his mind. It took Conrad two full weeks to find out her name, he must have asked a hundred people at the beach party, no one knew. He saw her a couple more times that trip, both times with a big guy that had the beginnings of a beer belly on him. The last time he saw her that trip, she was climbing into the tiny back seat of a late model sporty looking car with two other girls, that same guy and another taller and thinner guy up front. She had on tiny little shorts and a halter top that time, she was having a struggle getting into the vehicle. The big guy with the beer belly reached out and put his hand right on her ass and gave her a push, to much laughing and giggling from everyone. Conrad memorized the license number, it had an Idaho tag on it. A call to a friend that had ways of finding anyone, anywhere, no matter how hard they tried to hide and he had a name and address of the car owner. It was easy from there, it turned out to be her vehicle. By the next Fall, Conrad was going to college in Boise. That by itself was insane, a complete transformation, switching schools and curriculum, moving more than 600 miles, all to be closer to a woman that had no idea he existed. He had no way to stop himself, he wanted to see her again, be with her. It took him three more long months before Mary Ann actually spoke to him. He made it a point to present himself as often and as well as he could, which really wasn't very good. Without fail he would become tongue tied or say something lame like "Nice day today, huh?" She never appeared to really even notice him or even answer, other than to nod. Mary Ann was studying to be a nurse. Conrad had never dreamed of taking any medical classes at all, now he found himself interested. The interest became a fascination, he realized that helping people when they were in some kind of medical trouble offered great rewards. The studies changed from classes he had to put up with to that same fascination he had when he was building a rifle or handgun. There are just two kinds of human bodies, yet every single one is completely different. Conrad knew that is was unlikely he would ever be bored. +++ How is it possible to be completely and totally head over heels in love with someone that he had spoken to perhaps less than a half dozen times? Conrad had no idea. Plus she had that boyfriend, the same guy with the pot belly so Mary Ann was untouchable. The closest he ever got was one day she was sitting outside alone at a sidewalk cafe and he got his own sandwich and asked her if he could join her. She looked around quickly, then smiled and nodded. "You are in some of my classes, aren't you?" She asked, her mouth half full of her sandwich. "Yes, I am Conrad." He told her. That was just a short chat, then a "bye now" but it was a high point in his life. Conrad was devastated when he found out that Mary Ann had agreed to marry her boyfriend right after graduation. Miserable, he just embedded himself in his schoolwork. Some things are just not meant to be no matter how hard a person wants it. +++ Conrad graduated with a degree in nursing, jobs were easy to get. He found that he enjoyed going to work each and every day. He even dated a few times but the women he met somehow became close friends. By then it was easier to talk to them, and for some reason several of them would call him for advice, relating with tears the flaws in their own situations. He held and comforted more than one of them. The vast majority wanted only that. For some reason Conrad didn't quite understand, women acted like he was the big fuzzy Teddy bear on their pillow, and no real threat or concern to them. They all seemed to go for the big bad boys, Conrad was the complete opposite of that. The truth is that he was no real threat to any of their virtues, in his mind was Mary Ann. The rare incidents of sexual activity were little more than friends passing by. +++ After he took a job, he rented a condo and shared that with a young woman named Sara Combs. She was single and dated a lot. She also paid little if any attention to Conrad other than being friends. It was not unusual at all for her to run around the apartment wearing nothing but a pair of panties, sometimes not even those. Conrad actually got used to it and paid no attention himself. Once he was in the shower and she had a hot date and was running late. He was floored when she got impatient and climbed right in there with him, grabbing the soap bar right out of his hands. To Sara Combs, Conrad was just part of the furniture, someone to share costs with so that life was easier. But that day was the first time she had seen Conrad completely naked, she looked down at him and grinned. "Damn!" She exclaimed. Then she rinsed off and got dressed for her date. Conrad just shook his head at that one. But Sara Combs was the one he found out what regular sex was like with. She came home one night depressed, her latest thing just had not gone well. The very few attempts Conrad had made prior to that with other women had all been that day at Spring Break, or the very few quick and simple one night stands after. A few times some woman he knew would be over, usually blubbering about how her boyfriend did this or that. A couple of times their mood would change, he never was real sure of the why of that. Without fail though, every one of those situations were just passing by in the evening type things. He had finally become bored with that and avoided those situations From the time Sara moved in, for nearly three long months, Conrad had been totally celibate. Every woman he met fell short, so he devolved into solo sexuality, the vision of Mary Ann up on that barrel in his mind. Then Sara came home one night, she was a bit under the weather. Another of her frequent dates hadn't panned out for some reason or another. Conrad noticed her looking at him with a smile, then somehow she was on top of him in the chair. It was morning before she was finally done with him, it was also the one and only time he was ever late for work. Sex became a nightly event, he actually did like her and she had a great figure. Things also didn't go very well after that, for some reason Sara seemed to think that meant she no longer had to pay her share of the rent and expenses. Three months later he finally got her out of there, even though he made good money there was no way he wanted to carry all the costs of keeping up the condo by himself. Not even for regular sex. It was quite a fuss, he made up his mind that this would never happen again. Another of life's lessons learned. +++ Conrad's next room mate was a woman named Beth Benton, much older and on the matronly side. She worked at the clinic, one of the Nurse Practitioners. She quickly became relaxed about him being there, she thought nothing at all about nudity. But she was chubby, with big heavy breasts that gravity was winning the battle with, so that worked a lot better. They lived together until one day he spotted a house for sale and bought it. By that time he could easily handle the costs, he lived there in the four bedroom place by himself, using one of the spare rooms for his firearms hobby. +++ It was about a year later when he noticed his right foot was hurting. He also noticed he was taking streaks of breaking a cold sweat for no real reason, and there was sometimes a burning sensation on the top of his feet. It was uncomfortable, it felt like he was being burned, then they would tingle. Working as a nurse required a lot of walking, and it was becoming a problem. When the red spot formed on his right foot and he realized it was turning outward slightly, he knew. Being a nurse, for some time he had known what the problem likely was, but he went directly into denial about it. After all, he wasn't even 30 years old yet. The Doctors tested and came up with what he knew by now, he was stricken with Onset Diabetes. That is something that changes a person's life completely. Very quickly his diet changed which controlled things for awhile, and he had to test his blood daily. He never did quite get used to the constant needles. Even at that, his foot got worse and worse in a far more rapid progression than is normal. Knowing the inevitability and finding himself unable to deal with the continual pain, he asked the Doctors to do what they must. They argued with him about that for a while, wanting to keep him on the IV drip. Finally they agreed. Probably after he told them that he would get some pain killer, and cut the damned thing off himself. By that time, he probably wouldn't have even needed the pain killer, he couldn't really feel his foot or leg, even though he had constant pain it was like if came from somewhere else. The surgery went well, for several months Conrad managed to get by with the little scooter as his leg healed. Then they fitted him with a new leg, told him he was scheduled with a Physical Therapist that would teach him how to walk on it before they would give it to him full time. They did give him the leg, though. At first there was some serious resistance, they wanted him to see the therapist first to teach him to walk on it but he got so crabby they gave up. "Here then, let's see what happens!" The nurse handed him the thing when he began to get a bit on the loud side. His exact words were, "Give me my god damned leg!" He strapped on the thing, shoving the little threaded portion embedded in his stump down into it securely. Then he stood up and walked out, pushing the little scooter ahead of him as the Doctor and his nurse stood there surprised. Outside, he loaded the scooter, got into his van and drove home. He was glad they weren't there when he managed to fall down trying to get out of the van at his house, though. It did take a few days to get used to basically walking with one stilt. Conrad was happy, for the first time in well over two years he was mostly pain free. He had already taught himself to walk quite well using the new leg, and he had used the tools he worked with fixing guns to hand fit the upper portion of the leg. That was an advantage, there normally wasn't a single sore spot. But the therapy sessions continued, his Doctor had insisted. The first few sessions were at the hospital, then they assigned him to an out patient clinic. He was sitting in the waiting room reading a boring magazine a week or so later, when Mary Ann walked out! "Conrad?" She called out, looking around to see who would respond. His heart skipped a beat. She looked at him oddly for a moment, then took him in the back room. "Don't I know you?" She asked. "Yes, we went to college together." "Oh! Sure, I remember. Nice to see you. Well, let's get to work." +++ Three months later they were married. Her marriage had broken up, her first husband had a problem with beer and one thing led to another and it all became too much. For a while Conrad worried about it perhaps being a rebound, but it became obvious quickly that Mary Ann had fallen completely and deeply in love with him. The jigsaw puzzle that had been his life slid together and was complete. The family was ready made, Samantha was barely 6 months old. The second child, Skip, arrived just a year and a half or so later. By then everyone was calling him Sonny. He even began to sign his name that way. With the two of them working in the medical field his ongoing ailment was well managed. Life had been very good, as close to perfect as it was possible to be. Of course there were side effects, but the times when Sonny had problems with performance were not an issue, Mary Ann welcomed his other efforts and was always happy to respond in kind. When his stump of a leg hurt badly, she used her soft hands and some lotion to rub it for him. For some reason that was erotic as hell, that often ended up with them making wonderful love. Mary Ann did that a lot once she figured that part out. +++ Now Samantha was coming home for Spring Break. Sonny loved that idea, she was the Apple of his eye, and a spitting image of her mother. Skip was off on a week long mountain biking trip with some friends, so it would be a fun time to catch up with his daughter. Mary Ann was at the office, it was her last shift before she would be off for two weeks herself, Sonny was already off. He got up several times to look out the window, knowing she was about to arrive. Down by the end of the driveway he noticed a dirty white van, he saw a man with long hair get out and go around to the back. Sonny didn't think too much of that, it was a public street down there. The man went back up to the front of the van, then a skinny dark haired woman got out of the back and they stood there talking. Sonny was paying more attention to his Plum trees, now in full bloom and beautiful. Just then Samantha turned the corner in her little red Honda and he forgot all about them, but noticed they both watched as she drove by. She pulled up and got out, Sonny met her on the doorstep and they hugged. "Hi, Daddy!" She said, holding him tightly. A Terrible Thing to Have to Do She looked great, her long blond hair in soft waves, dressed in a nice conservative gray business suit. Sonny was completely proud of his little girl. "When does Mom get home?" She asked, heading instantly for the fridge like all kids do. "Around 7 tonight." Sonny told her. She found the Jello and fruit that Mary Ann had made and set there deliberately for her, got a bowl and plopped down in a chair. "Late shift for Mom, huh?" She asked, stuffing a spoonful of the Jello into her mouth and squeezing it back and forth between her teeth like she always did. "Yes, 12 hours today, then we will both be off for two weeks." That was as far as he got, there was a sudden loud crash from out in the garage. +++ "What in the hell was that?" Sonny exclaimed, getting up. "I don't know, it sounds like something fell over?" Samantha set down the bowl. Sonny went to the window, he couldn't see the garage door from his vantage point but he saw the white van still parked down there. Their driveway was nearly 100 yards long, he didn't see anyone around the vehicle. Just then there was another noise, Sonny walked quickly to the drawer, unlocked it and picked up his Italian made F.llipietta .45. It was a heavy revolver, he liked it, taking it to the firing range often. It wasn't loaded, he never kept loaded guns in the house, a habit he had developed from when the kids were little. But whoever was in the garage wouldn't know that. The rest of his firearms were in the main locked case, except for the .22-250 he had been working on. He kept all of his customer's firearms behind a false wall in the hallway closet, that was locked, too. That was another habit from when the kids were little, he had built the false wall in such a way that a person could look at it and see nothing but the back of the closet. Down low near the floor was the simple lock that kept the sliding panel secure, operated by a square cut key stock wrench which he had in his pocket. Sonny walked over and quietly opened the side door to the garage. "Who is there?" He called out. He heard a sudden gasp from Samantha, then his head exploded. The first thing he saw when he woke up was Samantha. She was sitting on the floor, her hands behind her back, her face was bloody. She looked at him, a terrified expression on her face. All she had on was her blouse, it was torn open. Her gray skirt and underwear were gone. She had her legs held tightly together, knees pulled up. Tears were streaming down her face. Sonny tried to get up but realized his own hands were restrained behind his back. Looking down, he realized his artificial leg was also gone. He turned his head, a slender woman with long dark hair was sitting in his chair, eating some of the Jello. She had on a tank top and filthy looking blue jeans, her arms were covered with tattoos. She looked over at him when he moved, her expression blank. She was wearing a mask, but it was pulled up onto her forehead so she could eat. "What are you doing?" He demanded. "Shut up!" She told him flatly, stuffing another spoonful of Jello in her mouth. "I can't get the motherfucking thing open! Did you find the keys?" Sonny heard a voice, looked over and the tall slender man came into the living room. He also had several tattoos, and he was wearing a mask. "Quit stuffing your face, bitch! I need the fucking keys!" The man yelled at the woman. "Shove it up your ass, Mike! The asshole is awake, ask him." She took another bite. "Fuck! He can see your fucking face! You said my damn name!" The man yelled at her. "Aw, so what?" She retorted. The man looked at Sonny, then he shrugged. "Hey, we ain't gonna hurt you, bud. We just want the guns, tell me where the fucking keys are and we will leave." He pulled the mask off, then actually smiled, although it looked more like a scowl. Conrad could see his teeth were yellow, dirty looking. His long stringy hair looked unwashed. "The keys aren't here." He told the man, instantly getting slapped across the face. "I will cut your fucking throat, you lying bastard!" He screamed in Sonny's face, a blast of stench wafting from him. Sonny didn't answer, his head was spinning. "What do you want?" He asked finally. "Give us the money, credit cards, The fucking guns, tell me where the god damn keys are!" "No!" The man got an expression of rage on his face, he turned and walked over to Samantha, pulled out a small knife and drew the blade down her chest. Sonny saw the instant line of blood on her chest, shuddered as she let out a scream. "I will cut this bitch up if you don't tell me!" He had her hair by one hand, the blade to her throat. Then he reached down and slashed her blouse off the rest of the way, cutting her again in the process. He stopped, looked at her, then reached down and squeezed her bare breast. Samantha let out another scream. "Nice tits, I will fuck this cunt right in front of you if you don't tell me!" He snarled. "Don't hurt her! Leave her alone! They are in the bedroom!" Sonny gasped. "In the jewelry case." He added. It was locked too but he knew it could be broken open. There was no way in hell the man could break into the gun case without a cutting torch. The man let go of Samantha, turned and walked into the bedroom. The woman got up and stood in front of him, Sonny realized she had a large butcher knife in her hand. It was one of their inexpensive blades from the kitchen that Mary Ann used to chop vegetables for salads, it was very long, the blade was wide. He was trying to reach whatever was holding his hands with his fingers but couldn't. "Please, just take what you want and leave." He told her. "Quit wiggling, motherfucker. We are gonna anyway." She said, the same flat expression on her face. That was when it hit him, the man had been wearing a mask but she wasn't. Then he had taken his off. Just then the man came back in. He had Sonny's .45 revolver in his hand, was loading it with shells he had found. It was a single six action so he had to align the shell chamber and was having a hard time doing that. His hands appeared to have a nervous twitch. He kept dropping the rounds, not bothering to pick them up, just reaching into the box and grabbing some more. "I got the fucking keys, grab what you can find and let's get out of here." He ignored Sonny sitting there, shoved the heavy pistol into his belt. Sonny was sure then. They were going to kill him and Samantha, and Mary Ann was due home any minute. He had no idea what time it was, but it had to be close. He looked over at Samantha, her eyes were closed. She had apparently passed out, and she was bleeding heavily from the cuts, a sheet of blood was flowing down over her bare chest. He looked carefully with his practiced eyes, saw the cuts were not deep. Sonny said a little prayer that they would be done and gone before Mary Ann got there. He wanted it to be quick. The man went into the other room, he was back in seconds. "Go get the van, back it up to the porch." He told the woman. She gave Sonny a sidelong look, then went out the front door after handing the man the huge blade which he also slipped into his belt. The man went back into the side room, came out with an armload of his firearms, then he went back in and got the rest. The front door opened, the woman came back in. "Start loading!" He ordered, she walked over and picked up several rifles, went back outside. In a few minutes they had them all, the woman also had an arm load of Mary Ann's clothes, she went outside with those. "We are taking the broad." He told her when she came back in. "Why the fuck do that?" She asked. "Because I want to! Besides, she is insurance!" He yelled. "Asshole, you just want to fuck her." "Yea, so what?" "Fucking asshole!" She yelled at him, but she went over to Samantha. She tried to drag her limp body, but it was impossible. "I'm not going to carry this bitch all by myself!" She said. "Don't! Leave her alone, just take what you want and go!" Sonny yelled at them. "Yea, just a minute." The man reached into his belt, pulled out the pistol. "Hey, don't! You will have every cop in the fucking State over here!" The woman snarled at him. He thought about that for a moment, stuffed the pistol back into his belt. He walked over, took the heavy knife from his belt. He walked up to Sonny with a grin on his face, leaned down and drove the blade into his stomach. Sonny felt the shock as the man shoved as hard as he could, then the handle broke off. "Fuck!" The man looked at the handle in his hand, threw it down. "Jesus! You really stuck him!" The woman said, her eyes big. "Hell yea, that should do it! Fucker sure as hell can't walk." Then he laughed, went over and the two of them dragged Samantha out the door by her arms. She was completely limp. Sonny heard the van door open, then slam shut. Sonny felt his mind begin to fade, then he passed out. He came to moments later, hearing a steady throb. It took him a a few seconds, then he knew it was the engine in the van running. He tried to roll over, his side felt wet. He knew that was blood, oddly the huge blade didn't hurt that badly, it was more like a bad shock than pain. Then he felt something behind him. The blade was jammed solidly into him, the point sticking out the back. Pulling his arms up, he could feel the tip of the blade cut into his wrists. He turned his hands as far as he could, feeling for whatever was holding them. The sharp tip of the blade caused whatever was holding his wrists to part instantly. Glancing down, he saw the zip tie lying on the floor. He tried to reach behind himself but he could barely touch the tip of the blade, it was sticking out his back a full two inches. He threw himself backwards on it, shoving it out the front. Reaching down, he started to pull it out, gashing his fingers to the bone in the process. Then he thought better of it. For a few seconds his head spun again, he fought to remain conscious. The engine in the van stalled, then started up again and sat there, idling. It wasn't running well, he heard the engine rev several times. Mustering his strength, he rolled over onto his stomach, feeling the heavy blade shift again when he did that. The van was still idling, he could hear it through the open front door, smell it's exhaust. He began to crawl towards the closet, his mind spinning. Reaching into his pocket with his bloody fingers, he found the two inch long bent rod that turned the lock that was down close to the floor. He dropped it several times, finally managing to turn it. He slid the panel back, fighting with everything he had to keep from passing out. The van idled with an unsteady throb outside. He heard the engine speed pick up as he was crawling back towards the open door. It started down the driveway. Sonny moved as quickly as he could on his elbows, still fighting to not pass out. Reaching the doorway, he swung the rifle around, levering a round into the chamber, grateful that he had not removed the cartrides. Normally he would have, but he had simply put it away in his haste to be there to meet his daughter. All he could see was the rear end of the van as it rolled down the long driveway. For a moment he thought of firing through the rear of the van, to save Samantha from the terror he knew was coming. But he couldn't see her, and he was unsure of where she was exactly. He sighted on the rear doors, thinking of placing several rounds a few inches apart. She would be right there, probably near the center. He started to fire, then hesitated. The van slowed at the end of the lane and stopped, began to turn to the left. The side window and the man came into view, he was looking to the right. He swung his head back towards the left as he started to pull out. Sonny quickly shifted his sight, found the man's head in the scope, set the dot on it and squeezed the trigger. He didn't see the effects of the round striking but saw the side glass explode, for a terrible moment he thought he had missed him. He opened his left eye to look. The van suddenly swerved to the right, went over into the ditch, the left side tilted up, the rear tire spinning crazily. He rammed another round into the chamber just as the woman crawled out of the passenger side. She stood up, looked up towards the house over the top of the van just as the cross hairs of the scope settled on her face. He saw the expression clearly, it was shock, fear. Sonny squeezed off the second round. That one he saw hit. Her head snapped back, then she fell out of sight. Sonny turned to try and crawl to the phone, losing the battle, he passed out. +++ Mary Ann was driving the new Acura briskly towards home, eager to see Samantha. She made the turn down the main road towards their house, then she saw the white van. It was tilted into the ditch, the rear tire spinning. She stopped, startled. The drivers side window was shattered, but she saw no one behind the steering wheel. She got out and cautiously approached the driver's side door, glancing in was a shock. There was no doubt at all the man was dead, his body was leaning over to the right. Little remained of his head, the rest was spattered across the window and dash. She ran back to her car, touched the button for the car phone, saying "911!" when the operator answered. She gave the location quickly, then ran back to the van, ignoring the operator telling her to stay on the line. Standing on tiptoe, she could barely reach the ignition through the broken window, she shut it off. It shuddered and hissed for several moments, then stopped. She saw the passenger side door was open, realized someone was lying there on the ground. She hurried around the back of the vehicle, a woman lay there. She was obviously also deceased. "My God! What in the world?" She thought, in shock as she glanced up towards their house up the hill. She realized their front door was standing open. It took her a moment, then she saw someone was lying in the doorway. Next she spotted Samantha's little red Honda parked up there. In sudden panic, she dropped her purse, took off at a dead run. +++ Sonny lay there not moving. The rifle lay by his right side, the stock covered in blood. She touched his neck, felt a pulse. Glancing down at the pool of blood, she saw the end of the blade sticking out of Sonny's back. Then her training kicked in. She had the bleeding partially stopped when she heard the sirens down by the road. She ran through the house looking for Samantha, she wasn't there. Mary Ann ran back outside, waving her arms and yelling at the emergency workers down below. They looked up at her, not understanding. A police cruiser sat there with it's lights flashing, the officer was standing by the rear of the van looking at the woman's body. She ran down the driveway as fast as she could go. Sheriff Henry Morgan pulled up just as she got to the road. "Sonny is up there, he needs help and I can't find Samantha!" She told him as he got out. "What's that over here?" "Two people, they are both dead, Sonny is hurt badly, I think he shot them." Henry said something to the ambulance crew, they went up the hill. Then he walked over and opened the rear door of the van. "We have another one in here..Oh God, it's her." He climbed inside. "She is unconscious but alive, I need you in here, Mary." Mary Ann was already climbing in. "In my car, the case. I need it!" She told Henry. He quickly retrieved the medical kit from her car. She began stopping the blood flow. "The cuts aren't deep, but she has lost a lot of blood." Mary Ann watched as the crew loaded her into another ambulance. Then she made it to her car before she broke down. Sheriff Morgan took the lead on the trip to the hospital, sirens blaring. They were driving very fast. She would have been moving much faster but the big police cruiser was in the way, and the Sheriff slowed at each intersection, being cautious. The ambulance was far ahead. Samantha she knew was going to be fine, the tip of the blade had sliced up her chest when the man had slashed her garment open, but the cut was not deep. She had several other cuts on her chest, one smaller one on her neck. There were no cuts on her lower body, just bruises where they had roughly removed her clothing. The Doctor shook his head no when she asked him if she had been raped. She was grateful for that. Sonny was in surgery for over four hours, finally they came out and spoke with her. "He lost a huge amount of blood, we have done the best we can. It's up to time and God now." She was sitting by the side of the bed when Sonny woke up the next day. He was pale and confused, then finally he became more aware. "Is Samantha all right?" Were the first words out of his mouth. "Yes, she will have scars, but she is doing fine." Sonny smiled and nodded, closed his eyes and slept. Samantha, Mary Ann and Skip were all sitting there when he woke up again the next day. He was still very weak but they had reduced his condition to guarded. They all talked quite a bit, there was no mention of what had happened though. Later, Henry Morgan came in. He asked them to allow him to speak privately, they all left to get something to eat. Sonny told him the story, Henry sat and listened, nodding. "We were looking for that pair, they did a home invasion over in the next County. They killed one couple, and they had enough weapons to outfit an army in that van, besides yours. Bad ones there, you did us a favor." "It doesn't feel good." Sonny felt his eyes getting damp. "I know. Believe me, I know. But you saved Samantha, maybe Mary too. If that pair had gotten away with her...?" "I know. But my first thought was to...to..." Sonny choked up at the thought. "Samantha?" Henry walked over and put his hand on Sonny's shoulder. His eyes were wet, too. He understood, Sonny would have killed his own daughter before he would let them get away with her. "Well. That is the end of it, I am glad you are healing." He got up to leave. "Hey, Henry?" "What, Sonny?" "See you at the next competition, I will beat you this time." He tried to force a smile. "We will see about that!" The Sheriff grinned back. He stopped at the door, looked back, concerned. "Yep. We will see about that. You are going to be all right, aren't you?" "Yes." Sonny answered quietly. He wasn't sure of that. He closed his eyes, the vision of the woman's face in the scope filled his mind. Taking out the man did not bother him, he was totally evil. The woman? She was evil also, he had no other option. He knew he had been forced to end it there. But her face. Looking up at him, her expression burned into his mind. He felt an involuntary shudder, opened his eyes again. The vision faded, returning again as he closed his eyes. Sonny knew it always would.