Velvet Vengeance
574 Words
Scene 1: The Devil’s Contract
FBI Headquarters, 4 a.m.
Agent Rossi slid a black folder across the steel table:
"OPERATION SOULSTONE"
- Objective 1:Terminate Carson Blackwood (codename: Wraith)
- Objective 2: Eliminate "Subject Omega" (any child exhibiting prophetic abilities)
- Asset: Jason Moretti (Inmate 7382)
"Sign, and we extract Jason tonight," Rossi said. "Refuse... he hangs at sunrise."
Staria’s burned palm throbbed. "You want him to kill his own child?"
"We want him to save yours," Rossi corrected. "If the baby shows no gifts by age five, she lives. A gamble, Miss Thorne. Do you feel lucky?"
She signed in her own blood reopening the diamond scar.
Scene 2: The Extraction
Rikers Island, Maximum Security
Shadows bled across the prison yard as Jason received Rossi’s "gift":
- A lockpick hidden in bread.
- A guard’s uniform draped over a laundry cart.
- A note in Staria’s hand: "Meet me at the chapel ruins. Trust no one."
Chaos erupted:
- Jason jammed the pick into his cuffs.
- Inmates rioted orchestrated by Rossi.
- A sniper’s bullet took out the tower guard.
Jason stole a motorcycle. Crashed through gates.
Carson waited at the exit, diamond glowing like a coal in his chest.
"Going somewhere, cousin?"
Scene 3: The Safe House Reckoning
Abandoned Cathedral, Bronx
Staria nursed a new wound: Julian Thorne’s switchblade graze from their loft struggle. Jason burst in, reeking of blood and gasoline. Their reunion was a collision:
"You shouldn’t be here"
"You signed me up to murder our child"
"TO SAVE YOU!"
He pinned her against stained-glass shards, fury melting into desperation. His hand slid under her shirt, finding the bandage on her ribs.
"Did Julian do this?"
"He wants the diamond. Carson does too. They’re working together now."
Jason’s kiss was punishment and prayer. "I’ll kill them both. Then Rossi."
Scene 4: The Diamond’s Hunger
Carson’s Underground Lab
Julian watched Carson fuse the Bleeding Star to a laser array.
"Why save Jason? He’ll come for you."
"Because she’s pregnant," Carson hissed. X-rays glowed on a monitor: Staria’s womb. "The baby’s blood is pure prophecy. With it... I won’t need the stone."
He injected Julian with indigo serum.
"Distract Jason. Bring me the girl. Or I’ll carve the diamond from my chest... and put it in yours."
Scene 5: The Gallery Ambush
Julian’s "Bleeding Star" Exhibition
Staria arrived alone, disguised in a black veil. Julian’s forgeries hung beside Sofia’s death portraits.
"Jason’s late," Julian taunted, pressing a blade to Staria’s bump. "Carson’s cutting him out of your future literally."
Gunfire shattered skylights.
Jason rappelled down, shattering a $10M "Van Gogh."
"Let. Her. Go."
Julian laughed until Carson’s voice boomed:
"Enough."
He stood atop a floating platform, diamond connected to Tesla coils.
"Give me the girl... or I vaporize Manhattan’s grid."
Cliffhanger: The Choice
Lightning arced from the diamond. Buildings went dark.
Jason aimed his gun at Carson’s heart.
"Do it, fratello," Carson goaded. "Kill me... and the baby dies with me. Our blood is linked now."
Staria grabbed Julian’s fallen knife. Plunged it into her own palm splattering blood on a canvas.
The painting ignited:
Jason’s bullet ripping through Carson’s diamond... and the blast engulfing Staria’s womb.
"NO!"* Jason roared.
Carson smiled. "The future’s mine, stellina"
A single shot rang out.
Not from Jason’s gun.
Agent Rossi lowered his rifle from the rafters.
"Asset 7382... your first target is neutralized."
Carson collapsed. The diamond shattered.
Staria screamed as shrapnel pierced her stomach.
- Writer
