Free Endurance (Heart of Stone) by D H Sidebottom Page A

himself for the bitch fight
coming but Ava sighed heavily and pursed her lips thoughtfully. “You actually
surprised me, Vic. There you were, ready to kill me yet here I am, struggling
with what to do with you.”
    Vickie frowned, her eyes flicking with trepidation,
“What?”
    “Well you see I have a little problem.” Ava started then
sat on the chair facing Vickie, who was currently strapped to another one.
    “And what might that be, dear.”
    Ava smirked and shook her head at Vickie’s antagonism.
“Etta. Even if you don’t give a shit about your daughter, doesn’t mean the rest
of us don’t.”
    Vickie actually looked stunned and confused, “What the
hell are you on about?”
    Ava looked shocked at Vickie’s lack of principles, I
wasn’t.
    “Etta… your daughter.”
    “Yes,” Vickie snorted. “I know who she is.”
    “Jesus Christ, Vickie. If I finish you, I leave that poor
girl with no family.” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as
she glared at Vickie, “Then that makes me as fucking evil as you.”
    Vickie actually stuttered but covered it quickly with a
lift of her perfectly groomed eyebrow, “Awww, such a dilemma.”
    I watched the blood spray from Vickie’s mouth as Ava’s
fist connected with her mouth, her lip splitting wide open under the pressure
as her teeth knocked against each other. “Do you ever think about anyone else
other than your own miserable self?”
    Vickie hissed at the pain but stared straight at Ava in
defiance, “Etta will be fine. She’s ready to handle things. She’s even fucked off
that pussy whipped son of yours. Etta needs no one, I made sure of that.”
    I watched as Ava’s face contorted with the knowledge of
George’s doomed relationship. “She’s pregnant Vickie, with yours and my grandchild.
Does that mean nothing?”
    “Not really. Before you know that little bairn will be
ruling the slaves with an iron fist, just as his mommy will do and George could
have done.”
    “Are you telling me Etta knows about the girls?” I butted
in.
    Her eyes whipped to mine and a triumphant smile curved
her mouth, giving her a sinister appearance. “Who do you think entices the
teenagers?”
    My legs trembled as my lungs groaned under the shock.
Whilst I was disgusted I was also impressed with Etta’s manipulative skills,
she had brilliantly pulled the wool over my eyes.
    Ava’s eyes closed slowly as she shook her head. “Then I’m
glad Etta ended things with George. I want him nowhere near this… this evil.”
    She stood back up and walked over to Sam, her hand held
out in front of her to accept the gun. She strolled slowly back over to Vickie,
her fingers sliding up and down the muzzle before she lifted her eyes and
stared straight into Vickie’s soul. “You have three options. You die or you
take Etta and get the fuck out of here.”
    “And the third?” Vickie asked as she moistened her dry
lips with her lips.
    “You won’t like the third so I won’t offer it.”
    “Don’t underestimate me, Ava; I’m as tough as you.”
    Ava nodded but then frowned sadly, “I’d say you’re
tougher than me, Vic. You know why?”
    “Why?” Vickie asked as she finally gave Ava a dejected
look.
    Ava hesitated and regarded the gun with an almost loving
expression. “I have empathy Vickie, you don’t. Nothing can hold you back, not
even family matter to you. The only thing that matters to you, is you. Whereas
me, my family mean more to me than my own life. They are the oxygen that feeds
my blood, the nutrients my body needs to survive and the strength that keeps me
upright daily. It’s the empathy in me that weakens me.”
    Vickie nodded humbly but then smiled softly, the expression
looking awkward on her. “But you have something I could never have Ava.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Endurance; the natural instinct to survive for your
family.” She sighed and once more the vice controlled her, “Do it. Finish me.”
    Ava nodded and held the tip of