Quite simply put, Betsy, I am not here to stan you and Atara like most of the pathetic hornballs in this company. I am not Tommy Wish afterall. I am not someone who is here to watch modelesque Amazonian women from Mars walk amongst mere mortals. I am the mere mortal that is here to knock women like you off your proverbial pedastals. I am the bitch who will totally change your game and what you are all about."
I walked around briskly as I shook my head in disappointment. I clicked my tongue to match my demeanor.
"Simply put, I am here to break your fucking neck. I am here to change your life and not in a good way. I am not James Raven, I am not going to blow smoke up your ass. I am a realist. I know I am not perfect and I know I won't win every match but I guarantee I will win this one. I guarantee that. I guarantee you will know you have been in the ring with a fucking warrior following Warfare. As you lay there and gaze up at the lights, as Atara stands over your battered body, what will be going through your mind? Will you be thinking about how your breath is being ripped from your lungs? Will you be thinking about the family that never happened with James all because of your own selfish wants? More than likely you will be thinking about how you got here? How you wound up, flat on your back, and a good fucking wasn't the reason.. or maybe it was depending on what you are into.
Betsy, you are entering uncharted waters. You are looking for the wildlife but you were expecting a goldfish and found a shark. You were hoping for an easy win but instead you went face to face with greatness. You couldn't help yourself, Betsy, I get it. We all make dumbass decisions We all say stupid shit from time to time. Tell me Betsy, why do you do it more often than others? Why do you decide I am the one you want to sink your teeth into? Joke is on you. I like being bitten and I bite back. When I bite back I sink my teeth into the flesh and rip it to fucking shreds.
You have an air about you, Betsy. You demand that we all bow down to you and respect but what have you done to gain the respect besides sucking James Raven's cock? That is supposed to gain you respect? Oh honey, you have a lot to learn. You need to realize this business is who you know not who you do. The darkness this company brings will CORRUPT even the most charming individuals. Trust me, I know first hand what can happen. I have seen it all go down. I have seen the worst of the worst.
Your friendship with Atara is toxic as fuck. She is using you and you are too dumb to see it. She uses you to make herself look better. Manipulation, in any form, is unflattering. You look like an imbecile and that is just how Atara likes it. She likes that you are the DUFF to her. You make her look hotter by comparison, that is until she opens her ugly mouth.
Betsy, I pray you see the truth soon. I pray that you don't let this little charade go on for too long. I pray you see the light and lead yourself out of the darkness before..."
My face twisted in an almost demonic fashion as I brought my hood up over my head.
"... before you cease to be. You, like many before you, are being led down a dark and demented path. Atara is pure evil. I have sought to prove that in my time here in XWF. I have sought to show people the light and the truth of her ways.
Most, like you, refuse to see it. They refuse to allow themselves to wake up from the blissful dream. They refuse to see that it is truly a fucking nightmare. They refuse to wake up and smell the coffee. Betsy, people like you deserve to be walked on. They deserve to be absolutely destroyed as a person and left as a shell of their former selves. Betsy, you have brought all of this on yourself. You have brought the hate, the absolute void that I feel for you, on yourself. You have been the cause and all because you won't see the light.
It is right in front of you, Betsy. Grab it. Seek the truth so that you may be saved...
... or just fall like the rest. Become just another victim of Atara and the XWF elites little game of chess. Become just another pawn and let them run you into the jobber department. They may even run you into the unemployment line or worse, the grave. They want you to fail, Betsy. Atara wants you to lose to me. She wants you to be an absolute disgrace.
Why, you may ask? Why would your best friend and confidant want you to falter? To make herself look like a good wrestler. She wants you to fail to prove you are not her and she is not you. She wants to be able to say "You couldn't even beat Geri how in the hell should you be considered for the Shooting Star Title?" She wants you to fail so that when she does the same, she can say "But Betsy"
Betsy, she is not your friend. She is quite a different kind of monster. She is not a Goddess, she is a fucking witch in Goddess clothing. She is a fraud, and I hope you one day realize this."
I paced a bit more as I had an eerie feeling come over me. I looked outside to see a huge black wolf outside. I shuddered as I continued.
"Betsy, you never know who is watching you. You never know when those who have your back will snap and turn on you. You never know who is nearby. You need to carry yourself as such. You need to realize that not everyone who claims to be your friend is being truthful. You need to come to see that the reality around you is not always what it seems. Sometimes, there are bigger, more menacing things at work. Sometimes, it is all a mirage to trick you into doing the wrong things. Sometimes, it is all fake.
Fake like Atara... fake like you.
Betsy, come Warfare, you will know you have been in a battle and I hope to God you feel it forever. I hope you look back at our match as a turning point. As the point of your life when you woke up and realized the danger you put yourself in. I hope you realize that your date with Geri Vayden was a turning point in your life. A point where you realized that you were not untouchable or unbeatable. A point where you realized that, like all of us, you were human. You were mortal. You were on borrowed time.
I don't want to hurt you, Betsy. It didn't have to be this way. It could have been easier on you but you had to give in to peer pressure. You had to listen to James and to Atara. Soon, you will be like Shawn Warstein, an afterthought in the grand scheme of things. You will never emerge as a star, for you can't even think for yourself. You can't even do anything unless Atara tells you too.
Heed my warning, Betsy. Take it to heart. I mean every word. I am trying to look out for you. I am warning you... one last time. Don't enter that cage on Warfare. If you do, I am not responsible for the bodily harm you will receive. I am not responsible for your absolute changing. I am not responsible for what may happen. Atara is responsible. YOU are responsible.
If you do enter that cage, prepare to tell your fans and your family that you fucked up. Prepare to tell them that stepping in the cage with me was the worst mistake of your career and the worst mistake of your life. Prepare for your end of days.
We are all on a countdown from our first breath that begins counting to our last. Your last breath will be spent looking up at the lights and the stars that shine brightly over that soccer stadium. You will see your life flash before your pretty eyes as they close and you cease to be.
Remember, I didn't want to do this. YOU chose this fate Betsy. You dug your grave, now lie in it."
I clicked the camera off as I had a bad feeling come over me. I looked out at the field to see the wolf still standing there, almost as if it were beckoning me to enter the woods behind my house. I put on my boots as I walked out of the house and headed toward the wolf. As I approached it, it seemed to get farther away before it disappeared. The wolf looked familiar but from where? What did it mean? What did it have to do with Betsy and me and our match at Warfare? Time would tell.
I looked around as I thought. All I knew was I wanted to hurt Betsy. I had a heightened sense of pride in myself and a heightened want to infict pain on her. I wanted her to bleed. I wanted her broken. I wanted her dead. I had no clue what this feeling was.
I shook my head trying to shake it as I howled in pain a bit. I dropped to my knees and eventually I laid down in the field. A sharp pain ran thorugh my body. I was unable to move, almost as if I were being electrocuted. Almost as if someone else was controlling me. As I looked at the clouds I noticed one that looked like a human hand. It was very realistic looking.
I felt a hand on me, lifting me up. I snapped out of the trance I was in to see Derrick.
"Why ya laying in the field, weirdo?!"
I hugged him and kissed him. I smiled as I spoke.
"Oh, you know, just enjoying nature. We don't have much of this kind of wooded areas in New York."
He knew I was lying. I had lived in Wisconsin with him for months, damn near a year really. He and I walked in the house as we sat on the couch. I cuddled into him. The howl of a wolf is heard outside. Derrick broke the silence.
"I am going to get my gun"
I grabbed his arm. I kind of liked the wolf. I shook my head at him.
"Leave it be. You know we can do some howling ourselves. Your parents have Mikayla for the night and I bought a special outfit for tonight that only YOU get to see me in."
I stood up and walked toward the bedroom. I beckoned Derrick with one finger as I disappeared behind the door and the scene faded to black.
Darkness is all that is seen. Even I had no clue where I was at. I tried to venture around but it was a solid failure as I bumped into a wall and fell to the ground. A deep, raspy voice emerged from the darkness.
"Oh. You are awake. Do not try to move. There is no escape until you hear me out, Geraldine."
I shook my head before answering.
"Who are you?"
The voice spoke again, this time more cryptically.
"I am everything and nothing all emcompassed into one. I am that which will lead you into the future. I am your inner ambitions and I am the one who will lead you to the promised land."
I cried a bit, as tears flowed down my cheeks.
"Am...Am I dead?"
The voice snapped back.
"Dead? Not even close. Consider this more of a rebirth. A second chance if you will to make an impression on the XWF and the wrestling business as a whole. If you will only allow me to lead you, I can get you back to where you need to be."
My heart raced as I pondered the situation. On one hand this being, for lack of better words, knew me enough to get me while I slept, take me to an undisclosed location, and set all of this up. On the other hand, I couldn't blindly follow that which I could not see. My mind snapped back to the wold I had seen. I began replaying the beating I took the other day at the hand of Ash Quinn and Lycana. I remember Baphomet saving me for no reason at all. He could have let them kill me, but he called them off. Could it be?
"Baphomet? Is that you?"
The voice becomes more shocked.
"I am not he, but he and I are one in the same. You see, many are being called, all over the world, to reclaim the wrestling business for good. Many see it as evil for they do not understand. You, Geraldine, are someone I can use. Someone who gets it. You are a lot like Ash Quinn. You don't know when to give up. Like Lycana, you are a leader of the pack type of beast. Like Baphomet, you don't take no for an answer. I could use you, Geraldine."
I shook my head, still crying lightly.
"But, I am a loser. Have been for a while."
The voice cut me off.
"You have allowed people's perceptions of you to cloud your judgement on who you truly are. You hide behind that as a crutch. A crutch you do not need. Throughout history many top notch figures have tried to lean on something they did not need. Queen Isabella leaned on Christopher Columbus and allowed him and his people to commit pure genocide. The German people leaned on Adolf Hitler and we know what that caused. You, Geraldine Vayden, lean on the opinions of others to compensate for your own shortcomings. We are better to admit our faults than to try to act like they don't exist.
Humans are perfectly, imperfect. They are a hell of a species. They are so trainable yet they pull away from being trained. Some embrace it but in the wrong manner. Some never see their strengths. They never live up to their potential.
I see it in you, Geraldine. You want to succeed. You want to be one with your inner strength but you need guidance. You need a light to lead the way through the darkness. You need hope and I can be that hope."
Kinda sad this voice made a darkness joke when I couldn't see shit. The thing is, that comment aside, he seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. Every word he said flowed perfectly into the next one. He was getting through to me. I questioned the voice again.
"You compare me to the members of the Left Hand and yet, you won't tell me who you are. You are throwing out random ideas from history but they are not fully coming together and making sense."
From the darkness emerges a fire light. A crutch lays in the middle of the room.
"Pick the crutch up. Lean all of your weight onto it. "
I shrugged my shoulders and did as asked. With a quick burst of wind the fire died out and the crutch was knocked out from under me. I crashed into the concrete below with a thud. I rubbed my shoulder, which took the brunt of the fall.
"What in the hell was that for?"
The voice spoke again.
"You see, Geraldine, as I stated you have a crutch when you don't need one. All it takes is one powerful wind to knock you off of your feet because you depend on the crutch so much. Get rid of your crutch, Geraldine. Be yourself and not who others think you are. Lead, don't follow. That is what the Left Hand is all about. It isn't about evil or satanism. It is all about using your own strengths, your own skills, for good. It is about doing whatever you can to save this business. You see, like you, I care about this business. I care about those within it. I want to help but there is only so much I can do from a distance. I need boots on the ground. I need an army to save those who can't hear my message. I need people like you, Geraldine. Those who have a voice that people listen to. People like Lycana who are different enough to grab attention. People like Ash, who are take charge kind of people. People like you who, even when they don't realize it, have the ability to reach those who need to hear the message. You need to receieve the message and then help me spread it, Geraldine."
Still confused, I made it to my feet. I smirked as I spoke.
"I don't know if I believe in this whole thing. What is in it for me?"
If this person knew me like he claimed, he knew I needed an incentive.
"If you do this, all the success you want, will be yours. I know, deep down, you want to be the greatest inside that ring. I know you live to feel the thrill of the competition. By following us all the competition you want will happen. If you want to be the Universal Champion, it shall be done. If you want to be a tag team champion, it shall be done."
The thing about it is we are many. We stretch far beyond the realm of the XWF. No one is going to be prepared for what is about to come nor can they prepare. You see, many ages ago the prophecy was written. The wrestling world was going to be overrun by evil. Evils like Thaddeus Duks and Louis D'ville. Evils like Atara Themis and Jenny Myst. For every evil there must be a good.
Many people have us confused. They think we are evil. They see the change in Ash Quinn and they think we are some kind of band of hoodlums looking to fight for no reason. They think our mission is made up. They refuse to see the err of their ways.
It is our job to make them see. You have been chosen Mrs. Vayden. You are a chosen one to help combat this evil and help us cure the wrestling world of this disease."
Like always, I got sarcastic.
"Ooooh Mr. Disembodied Voice playing over a loud speaker. Why hast thou chosen me?"
Another strong gust of wind happened, knocking me back down.
"QUIET! I am being serious and all you want to do is keep pushing me and pushing me. For your own good, you need to pay attention. That is one of your faults that we can fix. You think everything is a joke. You think, everyone is out to get you. You create that scenario in your own mind. You keep playing the victim when you should be saving victims. It is time to recognize your true calling. It is time to save the wrestling world, Geraldine."
I didn't want to piss him off again but him calling me Geraldine was really making me think of my mother. She is the only one who ever calls me by my full name. She is the first evil I remember encountering. She was the first person I ever hit, in all honesty. The voice continued.
"We have called you to bring you to the right side of history. We are here to show you the way to your dreams coming true. Haven't you wanted to be the top of the top since your Action Wrestling days? You dreamed of being the Cruiserweight Champion and the World Champion but it never happened and you want to know why? You held yourself back. You made it so it would never happen. You beat yourself up and allowed them to keep slipping through your hands.
Then, you came to the XWF and made an instant impact on Anarchy. You weren't happy being champion on that show. You wanted more. With us, you will get more. You will get everything you have ever wanted. We will help you gain the world.
All you have to do is help us fight off the evil. Help us emcompass the wrestling world with our message. Help us show them that they need to follow us. In the darkness they need to venture. In the darkness there is a sense of belonging. You know this, Geraldine. You know that the darkness can be your friend.
Harness your power. Make it everything you know it can be. Make yourself everything you know YOU can be. You want the world? Start by taking a chunk at a time. Dig your way to the end of the tunnel. Follow us!"
With that the lights came on. I was in my basement, alone. No one else was around. I looked down at my hands, blood pouring from my nails. I looked in the mirror as I saw blood on my face. I had been clawing at my face again, like I do when I have nightmares.
This, however, wasn't a nightmare. It was so real. It was reality. I needed to face what was going on. I needed to face the magnitude of my own situation as I prepare to step into the steel cage with Betsy. I needed to admit that there was no way I was going to escape this. Ash, Lycana, Baphomet, and who (or what) ever that voice was would not leave me alone. Did I need to accept this as an inevitability?
Or could I fight it. Could I keep from joining the Left Hand and focus on myself and my own career. If I did that, would they eventually be pleased with the brutality enough to leave me alone? Would they leave me be for some other individual who would listen?
Anyone who knew me knew I wasn't easily swayed. I was hardheaded at times. I couldn't see the good things in front of me. Hell, how I married Derrick I will never know. I almost tossed him to the side to. I shook my head as I spoke lightly.
"It is going to take a lot more than empty promises and empty threats to get me to do the bidding of another. I am my own woman and I would remain that way forever. No one controls me. No one tells me what I should or shouldn't do. Not my husband. Not my junkie of a mother. And sure as hell not some random voice in my head. I know what I must do."
I laughed like crazy as I ascended the steps one by one. I didn't want to deal with this. Not now. Not ever.
Derrick sat on the couch as I poured him a beer. He knew I needed to talk to him about something serious. He maneuvered his body to allow a nook for me to cuddle in. I shook my head side to side.
"No, Derrick, this is something I need to stand for. It is going to be a lot to take in and you may never look at me the same again."
He looked at me, almost concerned, as he spoke softly.
"Are... are you leaving me?"
It was sad but cute that he was concerned with that. I looked down and then back up.
"No. It is nothing like that. It is just that..."
I took a moment to gather my thoughts.
"My nightmares are back. They are worse than before and I feel as if my reality is being warped. I feel like someone is pulling some strings in my life. I feel as if my life isn't my own anymore. I have you and Mikayla and that makes me happy but...
... I don't know. I feel like I need more. I feel like winning gold is the only way to validate me as a wrestler and as a human. I brag about being a winner. I brag about being an Olympic gold medalist. That was seven years ago. Seven long years and all I have won since then are a couple of throw away titles on Anarchy. I want more and I feel the nightmares are me trying to say that."
Derrick looked at me with a puzzled look on his face.
"Tell me about the nightmares, babe. I want to help you feel better."
I looked out the window, the wolf still standing there.
"That's just the thing, Derrick. I don't know when the nightmares end and when reality begins. I don't know how to explain it. I have been hearing voices. I have been locked in the basement, I have been going absolutely insane and I do not know why. I am being led in so many different directions that it is hard to say which path is the right one. I am trying to prepare for this match and I can't focus fully on it as I have the Left Hand coming at me at all times of the day and night. They are in my head. They are in my thoughts and my dreams. Hell, that wolf hasn't left from outside in two days. I am pretty sure it is sent by Lycana."
I dropped to my knees in tears as Derrick rushed over to me. He kissed my lips softly. He took my hand in his. A burning sensation came over my left hand. I looked down to see the words "Make Your Choice" almost branded into my hand. I pulled away from Derrick as he looked at me in shock.
"Are you ok? Did I hurt you?"
I looked down and saw my hand was back to normal. I shook my hand a bit as I hugged Derrick close.
"You didn't hurt me. I had a hand cramp. That's all. I just need to get my mind straight before I step into the steel cage or I may hurt Betsy. I want to win but I don't truly want to hurt her."
Derrick looked me in the eyes.
"Geri, I can't say I understand what is going on fully but I get it. You will win this match and I feel you will probably hurt Betsy in the process. You can't dwell on that. You have more matches coming up. You are going to do big things and I know it. I have to go catch my flight for Clash. I will see you in a few days."
Derrick and I kissed as we exchanged "I love yous." As he walked out the door, I felt something come over me. I felt the darkness bubbling deep within. The lights flickered and when they came back up my eyes glowed red from my contacts. I looked into the camera.
"Betsy! Are you getting scared yet? Do you see that there is no other way for this match to end than you losing? It was written in the prophecy that I would make an example out of you. Have you accepted that yet? Have you accepted the fate that XWF sealed for you? Have you accepted the fate that you sealed for yourself?
It didn't have to be this way. You could have left without a scratch. You could have left unscathed. You chose to fight me. You chose your own inevitable death to come sooner than expected. Your life is about to be altered and you can only blame yourself and Atara.
This week, James can't bail you out. You won't make me tap out. You will see, I am not Jenny Myst. I am a whole nother being. I am stronger, faster, and more talented. I am ruthless and I will not let you leave the cage until I am done with you. You can try all you want to back out but once that bell rings, it is curtains for you.
When you look back at what happened to get you here, you will see that your big mouth opening got you in trouble. You will see you should have just kept blowing James instead of jumping on Twitter. You will see that aligning with Atara was your downfall. Just like I said from day one that it was. You signed your own death warrant and caused this all to happen. Like dominoes falling, everything I am saying is coming true right before your very eyes. You still don't see it. Either by choice or by sheer blindness that Atara is causing. You seem to think your life and your career are fine when in reality the clock is ticking.Hour by hour. Minute by minute. Second by fucking second. Your life is ending and you won't come to terms with it.
So, keep living in your fantasy world where everything is rainbows and doves. Keep thinking you are following the words of a Goddess and I will make sure to show you the true rottenness in that friendship. I will show you the evil is not with me but rather I am on the side of good and just. The beating I give you on December 23, is going to be one to teach a lesson. One to show you precisely where you are in the pecking order.
It is also to send a message to Jenny Myst. I am coming for the title that is rightfully mine. No amount of pepper spray will change that. You fucked up. Plain and simple. When you sprayed me in the eyes at High Stakes, your death certificate was signed. When Theo signed the match for Warfare, your date was determined.
It is a message to Atara Themis. I have already beaten you once and that was before I found my true self, my true calling. I am out to teach you a lesson and teach you I shall. I am going to show the world what I am capable of. Betsy is merely the beginning, the sacrificial lamb if you will. She is the one chosen to begin my crusade. To begin my war against pure evil. You may say I am not the same anymore and you are absolutely right. I am stronger than ever before. I am more confident than ever before. I am going to keep proving it.
XWF, are you ready to be purged and cleansed? I am ready to take the whole company and turn it on its head before the new year begins. I am going to overthrow the elite of this fucking company. Keep throwing so called challenges at me and I will prove myself over and over again. It doesn't matter if it is a jobber like Griffin Macalister or a main stay like Peter Gilmour. No one is safe. Bring on Barney Green. Bring on Thaddeus fucking Duke himself. I will end them all on my quest for justice, on my quest for vengeance.
Congratulations Betsy. You win the lottery but you won't like the prize. Trust me."