A POUND OF FLESH

Over

OVER

28

"Aren't you going to tell me to put my knife down?"

The hood veils his face at an angle so that all she can make out is the macabre smile pressed on his lips as he peers at her. Emma's eyes jump between Ron slumped over on the ground and the figure that is standing over him. The shadows cling to his frame making his being appear larger then possible. Her brain works to recall her training, as she tries to steady her grip on the handle of her gun.

"You're upset. I can see why you stepped away... and went to collecting. I am a bit of a collector myself as of late."

Her mind screams for him to shut up. The silhouette takes on wings that feel as if they are encircling her as he raises his arms and steps forward. The knife hangs loosely in his gloved hand, to his rear the crumpled mass of the young woman he has attacked lifts up ever so slightly before letting out a murmur and drops back down to the ground. Forgetting Emma, he returns to his initial task.

"Don't move," finally she finds her voice, it escapes as a croak through her parched lips.

He dances on the balls of his feet, appearing to debate which woman should garner his attention. Emma decides it should be her, "Drop your weapon."

"Now, I don't think I will be doing that. Not that it matters anyway."

"Matt. Put the knife down. It's over." Emma jumps as he lets out a high pitched squeal before doubling over in a fit of laughter.

"It's over? You think it's over?" The sentence barely escapes his mouth before he returns to the comedy club in his mind. Apparently she is hilarious.

After a few minutes the laughter subsides. Catching his breath, he straightens himself and regains composure. "Sorry, that was a rhetorical question." He pulls at the wrist of his gloves, releasing any wrinkles.

"Emma, what I found so humorous just now is that it is not over. In fact, it will never truly be over in the sense that you are using the word."

'He really has lost his mind', Emma thought as she kept her gun trained on the collected man in front of her. "Matt. It's over." She repeats the words, enunciating each syllable slowly.

"I am sorry. I can see how from your vantage point you might believe that this is all over, and to some extent you are in fact correct. You have stopped me. There are only three possible scenarios for how this situation will play out - and trust me; I have been on your side of the situation more than once."

"In the first version, I come at you; I overpower you - leaving your partner, yourself and the lovely Mary over there dead. I escape but realistically how long before I am caught yet again?"

"Second go, I come with you willingly, I go to jail - which again realistically just ends with me being brutally killed in prison, it is not really a great place for our type."

"Lastly, I come at you, you shoot me."

"So I understand why you think it is over. It isn't. It is the furthest thing from that."

"It isn't over Emma because I am Jack the Ripper."

A/N: Did you see that coming? Let me know what you think and again please remember to vote. And I promise, this is almost all wrapped up!