The Waking Nightmare

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Victoria moved with the precision of a coiled spring.

She closed the distance in a single stride, her left hand striking Julian’s wrist with brutal force, knocking his aim upward. Before he could react, she drove the heel of her palm straight into his broken nose.

Cartilage cracked. Blood sprayed across his collar as Julian let out a pathetic howl of agony, stumbling backward onto the bottom stair. The revolver flew from his grip, clattering across the hardwood floor and sliding into the shadows beneath the umbrella stand.

Julian lunged forward on his knees, clutching his face with one hand while reaching blindly for the gun with the other. "You crazy—"

Victoria’s heel slammed down on his outstretched wrist, pinning his hand against the floor with crushing pressure.

Julian screamed, thrashing on the ground like a landed fish. "Get off me! Get off!"

"Look at me, Julian," Victoria commanded, pressing down harder until she heard the bones in his wrist strain.

He looked up, tears of pain and blood streaming down his face, his chest heaving violently.

Victoria reached into her trench coat, pulled out a small black audio recorder, and clicked the stop button. A little red light went dark.

"Every confession, every threat, every admission of premeditated murder," Victoria said, looking down at him with utter disgust. "Live-streamed directly to the Manhattan District Attorney's office. You didn't just confess to attempted homicide, Julian. You just added armed burglary, witness intimidation, and attempted murder on record."

Heavy footsteps pounded up the exterior stone steps outside. The front door was kicked off its latch, and four tactical officers poured into the foyer, flashlights cutting through the darkness, assault rifles drawn.

"NYPD! Don't move!"

Victoria calmly lifted her foot from Julian’s wrist and stepped back, holding her hands out in plain view. "He’s all yours, officers. The weapon is under the stand."

Two officers pinned Julian face-down on the floor, their knees driving into his spine as they wrenched his arms behind his back, ratcheting heavy steel cuffs around his bloody wrists.

Julian thrashed against the floor, spitting blood onto the wood. "She set me up! Look at her! She’s a monster! She planned this whole thing!"

Victoria didn't say a single word. She watched the officers haul him to his feet like a sack of garbage.

As they dragged him through the doorway, Julian caught her eye one last time. There was no pity on her face. No anger. Only the cold, absolute emptiness of someone who had already forgotten he ever existed.