[DFM]

I pick the sword up from the moist concrete. At least it hadn't landed directly in sewage like I'd expected. I squeeze my way through the maintenance tunnel that leads to the main pipeline of sewer.



I can still hear the sirens above me. I should be able to navigate the sewers and come out relatively close to the Asylum... hmm... it'd be somewhere over there so I head that way...



No, this can't be right. I should have turned back at Access B.



What the fuck? Why is B this goddamn long? I must have past the Asylum five minutes ago.



Okay, this has got to be the right fucking way.



There, goddamn finally. At least the sirens faded out awhile ago.



I drop the shotgun and the sword near the manhole ladder. Hopefully no one's going to stumble on them before I come back for them.





I slowly lift the cover and peer out at the street. I'm almost directly in front of the Asylum. I crawl out of the manhole smelling like a drowned rat and charge for the main doors.



I throw them open and head into the club. Safe. Now up the elevator to see if Therese's murdered Jeannette yet.



Nobody stares at me as I walk by. They must be used to this shit by now.



The music fades away. I can't hear any shouting or gunfire from the office above. Either just in time or way too late.



I push open the door slowly, peeking in. Therese is standing by the bathroom door, magnum pointed straight at it. She's going to blow Jeannette away straight through the door.



She starts to turn around. Must have heard me come up.







"Ah, there you are. The hitmen at the diner were the last straw. Jeannette's escalated from childish pranks to murderous double-crosses and I'd be an idiot to sit around and wait for her to do it again. Once she's finished, we can conclude our business."

Her voice changes pitch and tone. Panicked... scared...

Jeanette.



"Don't listen to her! She'll kill us both! Save me and I'll help you find Bertram, I swear!"



"Shut up, Jeanette! I warned you to stay away from Tung. He's turned you against me! I always looked out for you! Always protected you! I defended you! But you couldn't stand it, could you? Couldn't take the fact that I was better than you, just had to try one last plot to ruin me and convince yourself you're not a disgrace."



"You never gave me credit for anything, Therese... I was the one calling the shots! Betram was always dancing on my leash. I organized the attacks, the thefts, the disappearances... I destroyed you, Therese. When your sad little empire falls apart, it'll be because I brought it down around your head. How does it feel? No matter what you do to me now you'll always have to live with the fact that I beat you."

I take a step back, one hand raised instinctively in a defensive position.

"Okay, woah, what..." Therese... I think Therese... looks at me.



"You seem like a decent sort, so I'll make a deal with you. Don't interfere, and I'll call off the feud. Once my sister's been taken care of, of course."

"I... I really don't... think I understand."

She seems surprised I don't get it.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm about to rid the night of this deviant, back stabbing whore! Do you realize that, despite her condition, she still... fornicates, with kine, no less! So despicable... so depraved..."

Jeannette smiles. There's something... like evil in it, despite the sweetness in her voice.



"You're one to talk, dear sister. Or... should I say Daddy's little girl?" Jeannette looks directly at me, still smiling. "Helen, my sour little pancake, would like to know just how depraved the Baron of Santa Monica can be?"

"Jeanette don't you dare-"

"She'd love for the world to think she's a saint. She acts all pious and holier-than-thou, but that's all it is. When we were kids and she thought I was asleep, I'd to hear father come in at night, creeping across the floorboards. Heard him whisper how much he loved her in her ear before he -"



"Finish that sentence and you're dead."



"What's the matter, Therese? Don't want her to find out how you became the pillar of the community you are today?"



"Shut up! Just SHUT UP! No one wants to hear your lies. I was the good girl. You were the wicked one! And despite that, despite that, I've always covered up for your mistakes. I've taken care of you. I've protected you and this is how you repay me?"



"Taken care of me? You've done nothing but keep me down, belittle me and blame me for every mistake you've made. Did you expect me to let you rule my life until the end of time? No, sister. You've had this coming since our last sunrise."



"Is that right, dear? If it wasn't for me, you'd never have survived this long. Remember? They tried to separate us, but I refused. I chose this life and brought you into so that we could stay together. Obviously, you've forgotten."

My eyes dart around the room. This is fucked up, this is insane. This entire city is out of it's fucking mind.

"Okay, look, I think... you need some counseling."



"Counseling? Look at her, Helen, she's a control freak. People, things, emotions... if she can't control something she gets rid of it. That's all that's happening."



"You're just a wild animal! You'll rub up against anything that'll take you in for the night, then, when you're stuffed and bored, you bite the hand that fed you."

I grab a handful of my hair.

"Well, that... I mean... she does kind of..."



"As I said, to trust Jeanette is to trust a famished jackal not to eat you while you sleep."

Jeanette shakes her head, she seems... almost sad.



"You don't know what you're doing, Helen. Therese'll never let you live. You've disappointed her. I tried to use you, yes, but I never tried to have you killed. I never asked to meet her in the diner and I never sent those men. She set the trap for you because she found out what you did to Va-"



"Unbelievable. There isn't a soul left who trusts you and you're still trying to lie your way out of what you've sown."



"That's how you're going to justify it? Killing your sister? Because I've 'earned' it? I'm surprised you even had to come up with that flimsy excuse. It's not like you have a problem with killing. Remember father?"



"Father loved me. I always did what I was told. You always hated that he loved me. You disobeyed him. You brought men home when he wasn't there. You were an awful daughter to him."



"Oh, stow it, Therese. See, pancake, father came home drunk one day and mistook me for Therese because I'd fallen asleep on her bed."

"That's not what happened!"

"Therese walked in while he was there and she saw me lying with him. So, she went to the closet and she pulled out his hunting shotgun, loaded it with deershot, and blew his brains out alllllll over the silly clown wallpaper."



"That's a lie! Father killed himself because of Jeanette! She made him miserable!"



"As I recall... he died with a smile on his face."

"Okay, I think... I think this is really... you should, ah... everyone should calm down."



"That is it. I'm afraid, sister, I must write your ending in this family's saga, and I want you to know I do so with great anguish and disappointment. I had such hopes that you'd change for the better, with my guidance. I've never been sadder to be mistaken."



"So, sweet sister, is this how it has to end? I admit... I always knew this night might come. You only tolerate something being out of your control for so long. Well." She sighs, hope deflating. "...any message you want me to give father? An apology?" Her tone and expression shift, both of them laced with venom.



"A love letter?"

In a half second the gun is raised to her head, and before I can think a round explodes from the chamber, Jeanette's... Therese's... head being blown backwards, blood splashing against the wall behind them. The arm holding the gun drops down, but the rest of her stands ridged. Arms limp, feet firm, head blown back away from view. After a few moments, her head raises up, bullet wound already healing.



"...Goodbye, sister." She sounds like she's going to cry. She looks up at me, almost pleading. "I had to do it.... do you understand? It was her or me. She... I didn't have a choice." She drops the gun to the floor and looks away from me. "...Tung's just a minor threat now. With... without... without her he's... there's nothing he can do. I'll... I'll call off the feud. ...wait here."

She disappears into an adjoining room and, after awhile, walks back to me, prim and proper again, no trace of what just happened.



"I've talked to Tung. He's hiding out in an abandoned oil tank at the old gas station. I told him that one of the conditions of our truce is that he help you. I think... our business together is finally concluded. Oh, and what you witnessed here... not a word to anyone."

The last bit carries more ice than I'd thought even she was capable of.



Do try to stay cautious. I'd hate to see someone like you meet your end because of wayward trust in another. And... if you're still around, I may have need of someone like you in a few years. Please, keep yourself safe until then."



I walk back to the elevator in a daze, brain only half focused.



What the fuck?