Chapter 2
Wynonna caught Waverly and they both collapsed onto the floor.
Waverly pressed the bloodied shirt against her chest, her body shook with each gut-wrenching cry that broke free from her lungs. Wynonna held on tighter, trying to comfort the broken soul in her arms.
"Baby girl, I'll fix this. I promise." It's all that she could say. "Doc, rally the troops. Shits about to go down...fuck that...shits gonna explode!" Wynonna swore to herself that she will find who did this and make their last minutes on earth feel like an eternity in Hell, and then send them to Hell.
Rosita kneeled next to them and took Waverley in her arms, giving Wynonna the chance to examine the package. The only clue she could find was the writing on the outside, but that wasn't enough to go on. She took Wave's hands, prying loose the shirt that already stained her baby sis's hands red. She carefully unfolded the shirt. The shirt was stained dark red with blood, but something looked out of place. After further inspection she saw that a hole in the side was patched up with black lace.
"Fucking Widows!"
Waverly turned her body, hiding her face from Wynonna. She locked eyes with Rosita and for a second Rosita swore she saw Wave's eyes flash red. Waverly pushed herself up from the floor. She was focused, sober and furious. Her always present soft smile and compassionate eyes vanished and was replaced with pure madness. Rosita quickly realized that sweet little Waverley tapped into something supernatural and sinister. She looked around but it seemed like she was the only one that noticed the transformation.
"Let's go and kill us some widows" Waverley said in a too calm of a voice.
When the two Earps arrived at Nicole's flat they were met by the fire department, aka the Order, Sheriff Nedley, Dolls, Doc and Jeremy.
Dolls, Jeremy and Doc walked over to the jeep. None of them knew how to start the conversation. They felt nervous, they couldn't get any clues from the flat or Nicole's squad car, they had nothing and now they had to tell Waverley that.
It was Jeremy that broke the silence. He took Nicole's shirt from Wynonna and held it up in front of him to inspect the position of the patch in relations to Nicole's body.
"That looks like a possible fatal stab wound." Dolls grabbed Jeremy behind his neck and shoved him out of the way, his nose narrowly missing Wynonna's fist. "O shit...but math...shut up Jeremy" Even narrowly missing Wynonna's left hook he could not stop talking, because that's what Jeremy did when he got nervous.
Waverly bit hard into her bottom lip she had to keep it together, she had to stay focused. She felt the whiskey doing summersaults in her belly and she swallowed down the bile that crept up into her mouth.
Doll's tried to defuse the tense moment as quickly and efficiently as possible. "Before we jump to conclusions let's move this to the cop shop. Maybe we can track Nicole's phone and Jeremy can use whatever Lab equipment he has to find more clues on Nicole's shirt. Good news is Jeremy and I found out the identity of the widows, it's the..."And before Dolls could complete his sentence, Wynonna and Waverley said the "Gardner sisters" in unison.
"Doc...Doc! Dude you want to voice your opinion?" Henry absently nodded and said "yes let's meet up at the station" During all the drama Doc felt his lungs starting to fail, he tasted blood in his mouth and he tried to breathe without starting a coughing fit. Since Wynonna took his ring, death started haunting him again.
A high pitch noise stung Nicole’s eardrum. Her body jerked awake and she felt ropes cut into her wrists and ankles. She only then realized that it was her one screams that rang in her ears. The Black widow was pressing a branding iron into her thigh just above the knee. "Wakey wakey!" She pressed the iron into Nicole's other leg. "Your shirt did the trick. We got their attention."
Nicole felt her body go into shock. She was drenched in sweat and her left side felt as if a thousand red ants were chewing through her insides. Shivers ran up her spine and down her arms. Her legs cramped up and the muscles pulled at the burnt flesh.
She looked down at her jeans. Two identical marks in the shape of a W or was it an M stared back at her. She breathed in through her teeth trying not to breakdown and cry. She needed to focus; she needed to find a way out.
"A souvenir for you, so that you never forget what your baby got you into." Nicole lifted her head she wanted to scream, curse and cry. "Smile Deputy" before Nicole could re-act a flash went off.
"Now, you behave while I go and develop this lovely photo"
This was Nicole's opportunity. She had to find a way out. If the widow was planning to develop and deliver the photo to Waverley it would give Nicole enough time to free herself. Maybe if she dislocated a thumb, she could get out of her restrains. Nicole moved her hands and arms trying to figure out how they were tied up behind her back. Her wrists were tied together one over the other. She pulled in opposite direction to test the rope's elasticity. "Okay, so thumb it is." She pressed her thumb into her palm and wrapped her fingers around it, she used her other hand to apply more pressure on the joint. She squeezed hard and felt the painful pop. She bit her lower lip trying not to scream. Her eyes filled up with tears and she had to count till 10 to compose herself.
She slowly moved her hands into her lap. Her shoulders were stiff, and her arms felt dead. She bunched up the rope and stuffed it between her teeth. She took a deep breath through her nose, bit hard into the rope, and manipulated her thumb into, what looked like, the right position. Loosening the knots around her ankles took forever due to her thumb not doing what it's supposed to do. Now with all her limbs freed, Nicole knew she had to start moving, but her top shelf ass stayed clued to the chair. Was it fear that kept her from getting up, or was she afraid of the pain that was going to flood her body once she stood up? She stretched her one leg out in front of her.
"Mother fucker!"
She prayed to all the gods that the widow was out of earshot. Her jeans were melted into the raw flesh and it became a sticky oozing mess. Her one leg pant was freed and now she had to take n deep breath and loosen the other side without screaming, "One...two...shit" she whispered.
With both her legs now able to move more freely she pushed herself of the chair. She was unstable and struggled to walk each step bringing more pain and more tears. She made it to 4 steps and then collapsed against the wall. The door was 2 feet away, but her body was so weak she couldn't make it. Her legs started to bleed, the stab wound to her side started to bleed, everything was sore and she struggled to stay awake. Nicole decided to just sit and breathe for a moment. She needed to take in her surroundings and see if she could find something to use as a crutch.
The room was old, 100-year-old kind of old. The floor was cracked and made of stone. This was definitely not an ordinary basement in suburbia purgatory.
When Waverly walked into the station, she saw another package sitting on Nicole's desk. "Wynonna!" She couldn't handle another package she couldn't think or breath, she stood frozen in front of Nicole's desk.
The whole team walked to the other side silently agreeing that Wynonna should be the one to open it. The boys kept their eyes on Waverley, ready to catch her if she would collapse.
Inside the package was a plain everyday photo frame. When Wynonna saw the photo her heart stopped and she had to swallow the vomit that filled her mouth.
Slowly the boys shifted their attention to the photo and they too were filled with horror.
In the photo a redhead was tied to a chair. She had no shirt on and you could see a massive wound on her left side. It looked hideous; it was a combination of fresh and dried blood with black burn marks and blisters. Her blue jeans were stained with blood and a big W burnt into each leg. The worst was the look on Nicole's face, it was devoid of hope, and her eyes were lifeless.
"What is it?" nobody answered Waverley. "Wynonna, what is it?" after her second request was met with silence, she grabbed the photo from Wynonna.