Kyra laid on the couch, her legs propped up on the armrest. She let out a heavy sigh as she stared at the ceiling, watching the ceiling fan spin lazily – every now and again catching a glimpse at the particles of dust the sunlight caught as it shone through the windows.

Turning her head towards the only other person in the room with her, she heard the unmistakable sounds of pen scratching against paper and wondered both how often they clean their ceiling fan and what the hell they were scribbling down when she hadn’t said a God damned word yet.

Finally, Kyra sighed again and turned her attention back towards the ceiling.

“I guess you wanna know why I’m here, huh?”

Thinking a question would garner some kind of response from the ominous presence here to ‘help’ her with her sleep issues, she glances towards them once more, only to see them peer up over their oversized glasses and nod their head.

“Fine. I haven’t been sleeping very well… for a while now. I don’t really know when it started. I just know that it’s… It’s getting to me.”

Kyra stopped again, hoping for a question or something to help her get started, but once more, she glanced over to see a pair of expectant eyes trained on her, waiting for her to continue.

“I guess this is where you’d ask what I thought was keeping me from sleeping, and then I’d tell you that I don’t know. But then you’d say that you think I do know…”

Kyra brought her arms up and crossed them over her chest and sighed for the third time in the last few minutes. To say she was uncomfortable with this entire thing was an understatement. But she’d told Ken that she’d seek out help, so that’s what she was doing. It didn’t hurt that her therapist had a kind face.

At least it appeared that way.

After a few more agonizing moments of silence, with nothing but the scribbling of that pen on that notepad, Kyra finally continued.

“…And I’d break down into a long, drawn out story about my childhood and my sister – Where I’d go on and on about how my father wasn’t a very nice guy to me or my sister and blah blah blah.”

She waved her arms around dismissively.

“But we got away from the mean guy, albeit at different times and I held that against Lucy for a really long time. Might have led to a lot of the really bad things I did over the years… but the worst thing I ever did… Well, that’s what I did to Lucy. I hurt her really badly. If someone didn’t stop me, I might have done something even worse.”

Kyra stopped now, and closed her eyes as she shook her head. She hated thinking about it, let alone talking out loud about it. But then again, she thought to herself, this might be easier than dreaming about it over and over again.

After a few more moments with no response, Kyra pulled her arms down and let them drop to her sides.

“I don’t know. Maybe that’s why I’ve been dreaming about what I did.. And dreaming about succeeding. I guess I haven’t gotten over the guilt. But how do you get over the guilt of doing that to someone? Let alone someone who didn’t deserve it?”

This time she really did expect an answer as she sat up and stared straight at the person sitting in a chair across from the sofa, their eyes still downturned as they continued penning something into that notebook.

“…How do you get over it?”

Kyra asked again, hoping to get their attention and finally they did look up, eyes wide as saucers. Kyra scoffed.

“Have you been listening to a word I’ve said?”

She glanced at the notepad in their lap and stood up, leaning in to take a closer look. Her eyes widen as she sees what her ‘therapist’ had been doing the entire time she was spilling her guts on that couch.

“You’ve been drawing the entire time?!”

A pair of deep brown eyes looked up into Kyra’s.

“But Mommy, I wasn’t sure what to write!”

Kyra looked down at her daughter with disbelief and a hint of amusement as she moved back to the couch and sat down.

“You said we were playing therapy and that I was your therapist… But I dunno what therapists do!”

“Well they sure as hell don’t draw while their patients are bearing their souls to them.”

Kyra retorted as Ken stepped into the living room, a look of bewilderment on his face.

“What’s going on in–”

Adina popped up out of her chair and held up the pen and paper for Ken to see.

“We’re playing therapy! I’m mommy’s therapist!”

Ken raised an eyebrow as he looked past Adina at Kyra, who simply shrugged her shoulders.

“Oh, really? This isn’t what I meant by ‘get help’.”

Ken continued giving Kyra a look while Kyra shook her head.

“No, it wasn’t. But.. Before you walked in, Adina was about to give me her ‘professional’ opinion. Weren’t you, baby girl?”

Adina’s eyes widened.

“Yes Mommy!”

Ken didn’t look convinced though, as he moved further into the room and took a seat in the chair that Adina had been previously occupying. Adina came over to him and he pulled her up onto his lap and the two began looking through Adina’s doodles while Kyra sat on the couch and shook her head.

“Ahem.”

Kyra cleared her throat. Adina and Ken looked up at her as she leaned forward, elbows on her knees.

“So, you were gonna tell me how to solve my little problem, Baby girl?”

Adina nodded her head.

“Well, I think… Professionally, Mommy.. That if you said you were sorry and Aunt Lucy is okay, that it’s all okay now.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. You were actually listening to me, weren’t you?”

Kyra replied, stunned. Adina simply nodded, as proudly as could be.

“Not bad advice.”

Ken chimed in, letting Adina slide down from his lap.

“So what do I owe you for this ‘session’, doc?”

Kyra asked, grabbing her daughter and kissing her on the forehead as the little girl struggled against her mother’s affections.

“All your money, Mommy!”

Kyra scoffed and tickled Adina until she eventually slipped out of Kyra’s grip and ran out of the room screaming about Kyra owing her all her money. Kyra shook her head.

“You better run, you little shit.”

She said, sitting back on the couch. She could feel Ken’s eyes on her as she looked around the room.

“So…”

Ken finally said after a few minutes of silence, and Kyra avoiding his eyeline.

“As much as I’d like to think that was a good first step, do you believe that going to your five-year old daughter was the best idea? Please tell me you didn’t actually tell her everything.”

Kyra rolled her eyes.

“Of course I didn’t. I was very vague, thank you very much.”

“Vague? Not to be that guy, but why would you even be vague with her? And what happens if she tells Lucy about this? I’m glad you opened up to someone, but Adina’s not who I had in mind.”

Kyra’s eyes narrowed on her fiance.

“Listen. I’m not gonna be one of those parents who lies to their kid. I told her I did some bad things. I told her I did some bad things to her aunt specifically, and that I felt bad about them. And if she tells Lucy? Hell, it’s not something Lucy doesn’t already know, Ken.”

She shook her head.

“And I know that’s not what you had in mind, but if you haven’t already noticed, I’m not very good at this, okay? I’m trying.”

“I’m not asking you to lie. I just don’t think this is the sort of thing that you should go to Adina with. There’s a HUGE difference between not lying if she asked you and just letting things out.”

Ken stood there, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked sternly at Kyra as her face turned red and she turned away. His reaction softened as he realized that maybe he was being too hard on her.

“You don’t have to do this alone. You know that. What can I do to help?”

Kyra didn’t answer right away. Instead she just stared out the window. Finally though, she pulled her gaze away and stood.

“I know I’m not alone. But I gotta figure this out on my own, and yeah.. Maybe this wasn’t the first step that you had in mind, but it is a step in some kind of right direction, I hope.”

She turned to leave the room, but when she got to the doorway, she stopped and turned around.

“And guess what, Ken? Even if I never tell Adina a God damned thing about the shit I did… It’s all out there for her to see someday when she’s old enough to look that shit up. And maybe, just maybe if I’m honest with her now about it, then she won’t see me as some monster when she sees the shit I’ve done to Lucy, or her father for Christ’s sake. So keep your judgments for everyone else and give me some fucking credit for trying to do what’s right for her, and maybe even myself in the process.”

Kyra finished the sentence and turned to leave the room again. Ken gently clasps his hand on her shoulder.

“Hold on. You okay? You want to be alone? You want me with you? Tell me what you want and I’ll respect that.”

“I don’t want you to go anywhere.”

She turned and moved back towards him, laying her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. The two simply stood there for a few moments before she finally spoke again.

“I’m not okay… But now I at least feel like I can go to an actual therapist and maybe I can figure this all out.”

“What about now? What do you want from me now?”

Kyra thought about it for a moment before looking up into his eyes.

“Well for one, gonna need a loan to pay off my former therapist. But seriously?”

She wrapped her arms around his back and squeezed.

“This is nice.”

 

Long, wavy brunette locks cascade down across the back of a worn leather jacket, worn by none other than Kyra Johnson as she stands, her back to the camera – Staring out at the Chesapeake Bay on a rather chilly November evening.

When she finally turns around, we can see that beneath that jacket she’s wearing an old school ‘Carnage Wrestling’ T-shirt, the eyes of the skull used on the logo peeking out from between the zippers.  And as the sun sets behind her, the wind begins to pick up and she pulls the jacket closer to her chest.

“I guess I’ll get the niceties out of the way right off the bat.   I’m a simple girl with simple tastes.   I like steak and potatoes.   I like a whiskey on the rocks every now and again.   But more important to this moment right now, I’m a girl who enjoys a little bit of violence.  But then again, who doesn’t?   I mean, we’re all in this business for a reason, right?  And this week, I get the distinct pleasure of stepping into another triple threat match with Mr. Tony Savage and the Dark Destroyer.  Wow.   I’m so lucky, right?”

She chuckles as the wind begins whipping her hair around.

“And that’s not sarcasm, fellas.  I’m just glad it’s not Officer ‘Can’t keep his trap shut‘ again.  Besides, I know at least one of you has some talent behind that pretty face of yours.  And while I’d love to let you two argue about which one of you I’m referring to, it’s too fucking cold out here to even entertain that thought.   Tony, you’ve come in here guns blazing and I respect that.  I respect that a hell of a lot.   So much so that I almost wish this were simply a one on one match between the two of us.  But that’s not the case, now is it?”

She grimaces.

“Dark.  Destroyer.  What nice things can I say about you, huh?  I guess there is one thing.  But I honestly don’t know if it’s actually a compliment, or if it’s going to piss you off.”

She shrugs her shoulders.

“Eh, whatever.  You remind me of someone else, someone who I’m not going to mention because in doing so, I risk summoning their presence and trust me, no one wants that.  But I will say, while you remind me of this person – you’re a more ‘evil’, and more interesting entity.  So there… Compliments!  I surprise even myself sometimes.”

Kyra takes a step back, looking pleased with herself.

“But this isn’t a compliment contest, is it boys?  This is a ‘who’s gonna beat who’s ass the best’ contest, and I’d love to stand here and tell you that I’m gonna win that contest.   But I can’t.  In Carnage I was surrounded by some of the most talented people in the industry and hell, I went out there and beat my fair share of them.  But here?  People around here are just as good at what they do, but I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m an outsider – but the air is a bit… thicker here.  While I know I can go out there and give you two everything I got, and I know I can make Monday night a night either of you won’t forget.. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be the last fighter standing.”

She shrugs her shoulders.

“And if I’m not?  Oh well.  Onto the next.   Because let’s be honest here, like I said – Tony’s been on fire since he got here and I wouldn’t be surprised if he walks out Monday night with another win under his belt.  And Destroyer?  I might joke around, but I suppose you’re not too shabby yourself.   I just hope that the two of you don’t look at my name on the card next you ya’lls and think that I’m just gonna make it easy on you.”

She chuckles.

“Because I don’t make it easy on anyone.   I’ve fought and clawed and bled for everything I’ve earned in this business and while my list of accomplishments is nowhere near as grandiose as some others in these parts, that doesn’t make me any less proud.  And it sure as hell doesn’t make me any less hungry for violence.  So let’s go out there and put on one hell of a match, fellas.   It’s time to introduce you to ‘The Jawdropper‘… And trust me, she’s pretty excited to punch you both in the face a few times and even more excited to leave you with a memory of her that you’ll remember forever.”

She blows a kiss at the camera and winks as the scene fades slowly to black.