The two women stared at each other. Julia held a large butcher’s knife. Val stood defenseless.

“Honestly, Val, I must admit that what I’ll cherish about the time we’ve spent together is how much you amused me. You really are precious, in a pedestrian kind of way.”

“You were my friend,” Val cried out.

“You weren’t mine,” Molly responded, matter-of-factly. Unfeeling.

“I shared things about myself with you! I trusted you!” Val screamed.

“I know, and in return I gave you back your life by hiring you. You showed up on my doorstep, pathetic as you were and I helped you out, and this is how you repay me! And you want to say we were friends. Is this how you treat your friends? Because maybe this is why you didn’t have any.”

“You only hired me because you wanted to kill me.”

Molly tilted her head, and pursed her lips, thinking about Val’s comment. “True.”

“You’re one sick bitch!” Val yelled.

Molly lunged forward with the knife. Val placed her arms up defensively, and the knife tore through her left hand. With her other hand, she swiped Molly across the face with a clenched fist.

The shock of the blow caused Molly to drop the knife and reach for the hand that hit her. She had Val’s wrist in her grasp and held firmly; she pulled back, twisting it as hard as she could.

Val screamed in pain, and tried to lash out, struggling as best she could, but the twisting continued; Julia wouldn’t ease up on her grasp. Val finally managed to break free, but not before she felt the snapping of bones.

“I’m sorry. Was that your bad hand or your good one? I can’t remember which one is which.”

Val cried out in pain, curling on the floor. Molly picked the knife up and came at her again. Val felt a burning sensation as the knife penetrated her arm and the warm oozing of blood as the weapon slid across her skin.

“I could have killed you already, but now I just want to make you suffer.” She sliced the knife again into Val’s arm and then her leg. “I’m going to filet you like a fish.” Each time the knife came at her, Val tried to defend herself.

In her fury of attack, Molly suddenly stopped and composed herself. Her lips curled into a sinister smile. She brought the tip of the bloody knife to Val’s face, turned it over and ran the blunt end down, not cutting her but leaving a trail of blood from the dripping weapon down her cheek.

“Where on that pretty face should I start first?”

She was close to Val this time and Val cupped the fingers of her undamaged hand into a fist and hit Molly across the jaw as hard as she could, stunning her for a second, but this was enough time.