“I know he came this way.”

I pushed the door open as I fell in on the floor, rubbing my eyes to try to dry them a bit. I looked around at the dark shack. I could barely make anything out.

“Hello?!”

I called out. Part of me hoped no one was around. A faint whisper of sound comes and an outline starts to take shape in the darkness. Moments after it, a voice, soft and lilting.

“I knew you would follow him here.”

I looked up at the blurred shadow of a figure. As Lycana stepped into the light she reached her hand out to me. I took it, standing up. I removed the black hood as my blonde hair, the driest part of my body, was the only part of me that seemed normal. I smiled lightly.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“It is.”

I shook my head side to side as I looked around.

“Where shall I sit?”

Lycana stepped back and extended a hand, indicating a small but plush chair behind her in the gloom.

“Here my dear, I believe we have some things to discuss… which is why Fenrir came to you this night.”

I nodded as I had a seat. I looked at Lycana, a little uneasily.

“W..we do?”

Lycana smiled as she came and perched on the arm of the chair, crossing one ankle over the other. She reached out and brushed a hand down my shoulder.

“Please, dont be alarmed, it is just me and you after all. I merely wanted to see how you were feeling about all the changes now that you have embraced the dark.”

I shivered as Lycana brushed my shoulder. I couldn’t explain the feeling. I liked it but it was different to say the least. I let out a sigh of relief.

“You know, part of me had always seen that it was there. I always felt like there was more to me than even I knew and nothing could change how I felt. Hell, even Derrick used to call me out on it. The nightmares. The feelings of loss. Something was always missing, ya know?”

Lycana nodded, studying my face intently. Looking deeper, under the surface, seeming to feel deep into her very soul.

“Stars shine the brightest in the dark Geri… It merely took you taking that step. It is your time now, to shine… Tell me, how do you plan on doing this?”

I looked down, feeling the eyes of Lycana digging deep within me. I looked back up, visibly confused.

“Plan on doing what?”

She reached out to cup my chin. Her eyes flashing now.

“Shine!”

I looked around trying to come up with something convincing. Truth be told, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Maybe I could trick her.

“Of course, it all starts with proving myself as the Dethroner. Taking the Queen, Jenny Myst, and casting her into the pits of hell. Making her suffer for the transgressions she pulled against me and Ash at High Stakes. Winning the Shooting Star Title wasn’t on my initial agenda but it is what needs to be done and I plan on doing it convincingly.”

Lycana shook her head and rises to her feet, moving to stand in front of the chair, her hands placed upon the back of it.

“No.”

She loomed over me.

“More Geri... Look inside yourself. Look into the darkness.”

I shot up out of the chair, almost tipping it backwards.

“I plan on completely maiming that stupid bitch. She has used my name to further her own for the last time. She has used the Left Hand name to her advantage for the last time. She is simply not good enough to beat me. She may think she is. I will kill her. I will rip her heart out. I will completely make her name meaningless in this, and any other company she may try to run to. I snuff out her shine while my star shines brightly!”

Lycana shifted as I shot up, now standing within an inch of me. She merely inclined her head as she ranted, a pleased, serene look coming across her features.

“Better. You must always look to the dark, let it guide you. Can you feel it in there Geri?”

I nodded as my eyes closed momentarily. When they opened back up they glowed a burning shade of crimson. I laughed a bit as I looked deep within Lycana’s eyes. It was as if she had triggered something deep within me.

“Jenny is but the start, Lycana. She is the example that must be made. Betsy escaped because I hadn’t fully grasped who I was. I hadn’t embraced the darkness. I deserved to lose. Now, I am going to harness the darkness to show the women here in XWF that I am not a person you want to fuck with. The question isn’t do I feel it. The question is, do they? Are they ready to face the darkness I have hidden deep within for so long? The short answer is a resounding Hell No!”

“You understand… but do you truly see?”

Lycana’s voice dropped to a gentle whisper as she moved to pace around me. She came to a stop before me once more.

“Do you embrace everything the dark offers? The pleasure of pain?”

I rolled my sleeve up, the scars from the past are visible. I laughed as I looked at her.

“Pain has always been a major part of who I am. I embraced pain when I was merely ten years of age. Pleasure? I don’t know if I would call it pleasure. I am more of a sadist than a masochist. I prefer to cause pain to others. I prefer to be the executioner as opposed to the target. I would rather inflict as much pain as possible. I would love nothing more than to watch Jenny Myst fucking suffer.”

Lycana smiled.

“Its a start.”

She gently nudged me back down into the chair, returning to her place on its arm once more.

“When I am through with you, you will open your arms to every element. Tell me, what does the beast inside you want to do to make Jenny suffer?”

I looked around a bit, as if trying to find a bit more inspiration.

“I would stop at nothing to disembowel her live on television. I would do anything to make her bleed from orifices she didn’t even know she had. I want to eat her organs. I want to make her become my sustenance. I want her to know that she is only good when dead.”

With a quirk of her eyebrow, Lycana laughed, pleased with my response.

“Hit me.”

I looked at Lycana with a perplexed look on my face.

“H...Hit you? I don’t wanna hurt you.”

“Yes you do.”

Lycana rose and held her arms open.

“Picture me as Jenny. Picture me as all the ones who told you that you wouldnt amount to anything. The ones who tell you that you cant. That hold you back. That screwed you over. Do it Geri. HIT ME.”

Without thinking I hauled back and allowed my closed fist to collide with the bridge of Lycana’s nose. As she rocked back I stopped to check on her.

“Oh my God! Lycana…”

She popped back up, gently touching her now bleeding nose. She stared at me for a long moment, before tossing her head back and laughing gleefully. Suddenly, her own arm cocked back and slammed an uppercut into my jaw.

“Now… FEEL it. Let the pain wash over you. Embrace it. Take it in, let it feed your anger. Each screaming nerve ending is a war cry Geri. Let it push you harder.”

I rubbed my chin before letting loose with a right cross. I moaned a bit feeling the ecstasy of the pain. Beginning to channel it differently than I used to.

“You really don’t want to do this. I will hurt you more than you are ready for. I will completely treat you as if you were Jenny herself. Please don’t make me do this.”

A look of pure delight flashed across Lycana’s face after she is rocked by a blow to her head once more.

“You need to understand.”

She stepped forward and aimed a foot at Geri’s middle, following it up with a sharp knee before backing off and waiting for the fireworks to begin. I snapped. I tackled Lycana and unleashed a fury of rights and lefts into her face. I was nearly unstoppable. After a few moments, I stood up and looked down, admiring my art.

“You made me do that. You wanted it and I gave it. You have no one to blame but yourself!”

A cheerful peal of laughter is her response as Lycana climbed from the floor, checking her jaw and the other abused parts of her face. She would have quite a few extra marks to compliment the ones she had received from Marf. The laughter died down to a chuckle.

“No, this was all you Geri.. and I’m proud.”

She moved forward to run her finger down the side of my face.

“You let the pain push you, this is what you need to do to Jenny Myst. Embrace it, let it guide you, then bring it out to her twice as hard.”

I smiled as I looked at Lycana. For some reason pain seemed to just be a part of her. I licked Lycana’s cheek softly as I glanced over to Fenrir.

“Is he ok?”

Lycana’s eyes cast to the side, alighting on a very stiff Fenrir.

“He is, he understands, though he dislikes what went on between us.”

She looked back to me.

“But… you, you can feel him, cant you?”

I tried to ignore the tingle going down my spine. I nodded.

“Yes. Ever since he was sent to me, I have felt connected in some way. It is weird. It is kind of like I know and understand him.”

Lycana moved over to place a hand on the head of the shaggy beast.

“Predator knows predator. It was in you all this time, and it sensed Fenrir. He can tell me much about you… but now, you… can do the same. Come, pet him”

I moved closer, a little apprehensively. I placed my hand on the head of the beast. Surprisingly his fur was soft and silky. I ran my hand along his head and back.

“He is calm. No jumping. No alarm.”

I kept petting him. A growl escaped my lips as I closed my eyes. I was seemingly transported to a different place. A woman sits alone with a fire burning in front of her. She chants to herself.

“Cum his immissis Adiuro animabus vestris
Alterum sempiternum erit sentire quod sentit,
Erit enim tempus, cum tu facis
Usque ad pugnam custodies igitur pugna.”

“Geri, open your eyes.”

I snapped back to reality, the current reality. I looked around as I pet Fenrir again.

“I am sorry you feel that way, boy. I will do my part in making it all ok.”

“You saw me. Did you feel what I did?”

Lycana studied me, carefully watching each emotion cross over her features. I looked at Lycana and smirked. I walked over to her and nuzzled my head into her chest a bit, almost animalistic in nature. I looked up at her.

“Yes, I did. You have given me a heightened sense of danger and a real bond with someone for the first time in forever.”

Not usually one to display affection or much emotions, Lycana allowed her arms to come around me.

“Whenever you want, you need only think of Fenrir and he will come. He is our link. Use him as you wish, draw from him. He belongs to us both in spirit.”

Lycana shifted, bringing her hands up to my cheeks, looking deep into her eyes.

“There is much inside you left unexplored. You must delve inside, look through the very worst of yourself, and bring it to the surface.”

I looked up at Lycana. I knew there was a darkness not many people had learned about me. I tried to push it away. I sobbed a bit.

“I wasn’t wanted by my mother or father. They were junkies who literally tried to sell me for drug money. I was put in a home from there. I never figured I would amount to much until I won in the Olympics. That was the last sense of pride I ever felt. In the time that followed I fell into many holes of depression. I tried to kill myself many times. I kept it hidden. YOU brought it out. How did you do that?”

“I am one with the darkness. I just lent it a helping hand. Do not think that it was I who brought forth all of this from you. It was there all along… you are strong, you are dangerous, you will destroy all who defy you. You are realizing it now… the power that you truly have. Your past, your present… will only serve to fuel your future.”

I nodded as I looked down at Fenrir who was calm as could be. I looked back at Lycana.

“I will learn to use it. I used to bottle it up. I used to let it go. Now, I will use it to my advantage. I will make sure each and every person who tries to defy me in the ring will learn that they are messing with forces that they can never understand.”

“You can bottle it up, but let it fester. Let it turn into a toxic pool that you can call on when you need it most. Let it all live inside you, and fuel your violence.”

Lycana stroked her fingers through my hair absentmindedly.

“They underestimate you… let them. Use that to your advantage. Save the venom for when it counts.”

I looked up at Lycana. It had been a while since I felt this connected to an individual. I smirked as I admired her. She was a hell of a teacher and mentor. I liked it.

“I owe you the world, Lycana. I owe you everything for helping me when you don’t have to. I wish I could find the word for what I am feeling.”

“Well, we are family now. Most label us a cult, but that cannot be further from the truth. As family, we support each other, we be what the other needs, we show our strengths and guide each other. We are connected… you and I… the wolf lurks in you, sensing my own. We play among the shadows, never letting the sight of what we stand for go.”

I smiled as I pulled away.

“Sorry, I got a little emotional there. I feel angry. I feel loved. I feel sad. All in one.”

Lycana maintained contact with me, holding my hand.

“It is understandable, the leap is never easy. You will feel all of those and more, you just need to learn how to work them all to your advantage. Focus your anger on Jenny. Your sadness… take it out on her. Use them all in that ring.”

Lycana stepped back, ready to bring the fire out of me once more.

“Now… who are you, and what are you going to do on Warfare?”

I looked up and grinned from ear to ear.

“I am the beast from hell that Jenny never expected. I am more than little Geri used to be. I am more powerful, wiser, and completely unstoppable. I am Jenny’s biggest nightmare and the nightmare no one wants to see across from them. I am the monster lurking in the shadows ready to jump out and snatch the life force right from their souls.

I am the bitch that everyone expects me to be just on a majorly different plane. What I see here is not an opportunity to be champion. I am seeing this as a challenge for the wolf within my spirit to make an appearance and completely eviscerate Jenny. I am the one who will rid the XWF, and the wrestling world, of Jenny’s incessant ramblings. I am she, who is going to be the wolf in sheep’s clothing that lures the likes of Jenny Myst into a false sense of security.Then, when she gets too close, I am going to snap her head off at the neck.

I am going to redefine what darkness means. I am going to keep fighting and running the trash out of here. I am going to bring the fire and leave the sacrifices deep in the trenches. As the smell of burning flesh rises, it will be seen as just another victory for Geri Vayden. Just another victory for the Dethroner. Just another victory for the Left Hand!”

A triumphant look came across Lycana’s face as she stepped slowly back into the darkened shack. Her work was done, for tonight at least. There were many more lessons to come, as time rolled on but for now… she was satisfied with everything I had displayed her this night. She feels the familiar tug of her own wolf, still settling down from the challenge hers had brought forth. It chafed at being held down, even from a family member. I would soon learn to control my own, to call it forth during my matches. Using its power to decimate all who stood before me... especially Jenny Myst. The darkness would come calling for me... and Lycana planned to put everything she had, into pulling the worst out of me.

“You will Dethrone her, and you will not only bring her to her knees… you will shatter her entire being.”

I smiled as I nodded in agreement. Lycana had raised a beast within me. She had lit the fire under my ass that others had tried, and failed to do. Long gone was the timid little stoner. Here to stay was the wolf, the dethroner. Come January 6th, Jenny Myst would be an afterthought and a true reign of terror would begin.

Long live the Dethroner and long live the Left Hand.

With a snap of Lycana’s fingers the scene faded to black.

I stood up and paced a bit as I peered out the window. The overcast sky sets the tone for the doom of XWF that I spoke about. To most the sky would be a cause for worry. For me, it was just another day in Paradise. I lifted the black hoodie over my head and walked outside. I did a little twirl in the rain as I continued to speak.

"They say not to let someone rain on your parade but what if I am the rain? What if I am the one who is going to prevent you from going on to Pay per View and defending the title. Ultimately, I owe Betsy Granger one anyway but that is then. I am living in the now. YOU are the one in my way and I don't like when people stand in my way. I don't think you are someone who is truly a champion. You are a paperweight and I am going to crush you completely. I am going to crush you mentally. I am going to crush you spirtually. I am going to crush you physically. When you look at me you may see the "Ganja Goddess" but believe me when I say this is the most focused I have been in years. Beating you is going to be my time to shine. It will be a pleasure to end your reign."

Looking around the wooded area, I found a stump on the ground. I grabbed a knife and carved "Here Lies Jenny Myst" into the middle of the stump. I laughed maniacally as the lightning cracked across the cold Wisconsin sky. I looked up as the rain poured on my face. I rubbed the water into my pores as an evil smirk came across my face.

"This rain right here symbolizes your tears as I rip the title from your cold dead clutches, Jenny. You may not see it but your reign is over. You barely escaped High Stakes with the title, how do you expect to escape me again? You stole MY victory. This time, I don't have Ash Quinn or Betsy Granger to worry about. Oh no. This time it is me vs you, one on one. You can't get my eyes off the prize. You can't stop me from winning. You can't stop me from putting you on your back and making you look up at the lights. As you lay there, pondering what went wrong, you can blame no one but yourself. You agreed to this match thinking I was still the same old Geri Vayden. You hadn't planned on me joining the Left Hand and embarassing you on Savage. You hadn't planned on me completely transforming who I am. You hadn't planned on me being able to harness the beast within my own self. For so long, the beast was hidden. For so long no one knew I was capable of the brutality I bring to the ring now. Hell, I didn't know I was capable of it. I didn't know the hell that I held deep within. I didn't know the hell I could reign on cocky little bitches like you. You are predictable. You say the same things week in and week out. "I am Jenny Myst. I am pretty. I am champion. I will win." It is all blah de fucking blah to me. I don't care about the words that spew like diarrhea from your mouth. I care about the damage I am going to cause inside the ring. I care about the pain I am going to inflict on your pretty little body. I don't fear you, Jenny. You are the XWF equivalent of Cher Horowitz from Clueless. You are trash disguised as class. You run around with an air about you, an air you haven't earned. You are the female version of Chris Chaos. You can win in matches that don't matter enough to make your way to a match for the ages and then you fail. Like Chaos failed last Warfare against Duke, so shall you fail against me. You will see that all is fair in love and war. You and I are at war. You are at War with a force you have no clue how to stop, no one does. You are at war with a changed woman. A woman who has found herself. I still don't fully know what I am capable of. How can you stop the unknown? How can you step into the ring with someone who is still finding the truth to her own powers. You see, Jenny, you are a one trick pony. You are as one dimensional as a Peter Gilmour sex tape. You are all talk and no action. You are nothing more than a failure that they handed a title to. You keep the title by circumstance. This time, there will be no circumstance. There will be nothing you can do to stop the uncaged animal that resides within my soul. You cannot put out this fire, on the contrary, you STARTED the fire. When you tossed me out of the ring in the Shooting Star Match at High Stakes and stole my title win, you lit the fire. You have done nothing in the weeks following except douse it with gasoline. You talk a big game but what is going to happen when you step between the ropes with me? When you can't run and hide behind Romeo and a God damned microphone and camera? What is going to happen when I grab you by your fake platinum blonde hair and tear you the fuck apart? What are you going to do when the nurses are feeding you through a fucking tube? I can see your pathetic ass now, eating a beef broth smoothie in the hospital when they wire your jaw shut. I can see you twitching as you attempt to keep running your mouth but can't. The XWF can thank me later for finally shutting you up. I will revel in the fact that I was the one that made you finally shut your mouth for good. I am going to make you regret ever agreeing to this match with me. I am going to make "I accept" be your famous last words. I am going to make an example out of you. An example that the XWF can learn from. An example to show that Geri Vayden is fed up and done being a laughing stock in this company. You will rue the day that you decided to come for me. You will regret ever bringing my name up. You will regret looking past me like I know you will. You will regret it all. You will make a perfect victim to show the glow up with Geri Vayden is real. You will see that I am not the same old stoner. You will see the blood of the wolves run through me. Lycana taught me that lesson. She taught me to look deep within myself. That is a lesson I hope you one day see, Jenny. Unlike Ash Quinn I won't become obsessed with you. Beating you isn't about me. It isn't about you. It is about what you stand for. It is about the airheaded nothingness that you embody. It is about you not being worthy of holding any gold in this company. What have you done that should make me scared? What have you done that warrants me not having a chance to win? I don't fear you, Jenny. I have no feelings when it comes to you. For to have feelings you must care. You must give a fuck about someone to have any sort of feelings, good or otherwise, toward them. You came into this business to be a sex symbol. You want your posters hung up on the walls of horny teenage boys so you can stay relevant. I want more than that. I want to end the stereotypes of wrestling. You hold yourself to a majorly high standard of beauty but beauty is only skin deep is more than a saying. I plan on proving that. I want to skin you alive and make you ugly as your soul is. I want you to bleed and I want you to cry. I want you to experience what death feels like. You see, the Geri Vayden you all know, is dead. Now it is time for me to do the world a favor and end the life of Jenny Myst as we know her."

As the wind howled like a lone wolf at the moon, I tightened the hood of my sweatshirt up. I smirked again as I kept speaking.

"The wind is sacred. It is a major indicator that bad things may happen. At Warfare bad things WILL happen for you. Your whole life will be flipped upside down. You will lose the one thing I know you value more than life itself. I know you are the one who lets the title lay beside you at night. You wake up many times to make sure it is still there. I can see you walking in the park pushing the title like a baby in a stroller. I can see you attempting to share a milkshake with it. You love that title and that is why I want to rip it from you. It is like me ripping your cold, barely beating heart from your chest. It is like me removing your life source. It makes it where I can do anything and you will HAVE to pay attention. It puts me and, more importantly the Left Hand, in the recesses of your mind. We will take up a permanent residence and there is not a damn thing you can do about it. We, then, will fully become unstoppable in this company. We will be the force to be reckoned with and you and the rest of Romeo's Rejects will be left with the thoughts of what if. What if you mattered as much as the Left Hand. What if you had a leader like Baphomet who cares more about our own successes instead of his own. That is the downfall of most teams in this business. They are put together to make their leaders look great. They are there to stroke the ego of the man behind the group. The Left Hand is different. We are here for one another. We are all equals in the eyes of Baphomet. None of us mean more than the other. That is another thing the XWF fears, equality. You, Jenny, fear equality. That is why you are so obssessed with a title that means you only fight women. The days of segregated wrestling are long gone. Women everywhere are holding world titles. I see Lissie Hope and Myojin being strong women. I see Lycana and Ash Quinn in this company taking it to the men. Hell, even Betsy Granger is about to make Centurion look like a little bitch. Then there is you. You want to fight Atara Themis forever. You want to hold our whole gender back because you are scared. Do you see the recurring theme here, Jenny? You are scared. I have said it before and I will keep saying it until you come to the realization that your fear is getting the best of you. What is going to happen at Warfare when you are face to face with the monster that hides under your bed? What are you truly going to do? How are you going to bounce back from a defeat at the hands of me and the Left Hand? Will this be one of the times you run away? I think it will. There is never a time that I run. I retired but I came right back. I craved doing the job I love. You are here to further yourself and I am here to further the business. You are trash and you are what is wrong with this company and this business as a whole. You are the trash that ruined it. You are the trash that pushed me away until the truth of Baphomet and the Left Hand brought me back in. You are a cancer and I plan to find the cure. You are going out in a blaze but it won't be a blaze of glory."

As the rain slows down I pulled a can of gasoline from a hollowed tree and made a trail from the tree to the stump with Jenny's name carved in it. I struck a Zippo lighter and dropped it on the gas. The stump exploded in flames as I spoke again.

"The blaze you are going out in will be the blaze of your own ego imploding deep within the trenches of your mind. It will be your career being killed by me and the Left Hand. It will be your legacy being over and done with. Make no mistake, I am not going into this match thinking you are not talented, you most definitely are, I just think your ego is your downfall. This is your chance to change it. Your chance to drop the ego and admit your faults. I am giving you an opportunity to raise your left hand and join us. Baphomet might allow it if you drop the attitude. So, Jenny, do it. Raise your left hand and wisen up like Marf did. Think about it, long and hard. How much do you value your career? How much do you value your life? When I look at you I see a cliche. I see a very invaluable human being. In order to be valuable to others, we must first value ourselves. That doesn't mean being cocky. That means living your life in good ways so that others can see it. It means finding family and living for them. I have a husband and a child but I also have a wonderful extended family. Baphomet has been the best leader I have ever known. He has shown me my worth more than anyone else in my life has. He has shown me that I matter. He is my rock in this company. He is my validation. Ash has shown me that my fighting spirit matters. She has shown my inner strength to me. The attacks her and Lycana did on me taught me that tough love. I see now that they did it all out of love and admiration. Lycana has shown me that I am the leader of the pack. I am someone who will stop at nothing to vanquish the competition. I am someone who will lead the pack into 2021. I may not want to be just a women's wrrestler but I guess if it means killing you then I will do it. Marf has taught me that he has my back. He has shown us all his loyalty. He has taught me that this business, much like life itself, has it's pains and torture's but it also has some amazing benefits. It is a business we can all be proud to be in. Jenny, what have you learned from Romeo? What have you learned by being in his good graces? My guess is he has done nothing but talk about his damn self. You fit right in with him seeing as you are both narrcisistic bitches who have no respect for anything or anyone but yourselves. I guess it takes all sorts to make a society. I am going to make sure that you are no longer an issue within the XWF. I am going to murder your character from within. I am going to beat you down mentally so that you will beat your own body down. Just when you think I am gone I will pop back up in your head. I will haunt your dreams and I will take the title from you. Try to stop me, I dare you. I fucking dare you to try. I will slap you so hard that your mom will feel it. I will turn Jenny into a MYST! See you at Warfare. Enjoy your final countdown as the champion."

I dropped to my knees as I looked at the fire still blazing. My face twisted to a look of sheer joy as the fire blazed higher. With Warfare upcoming, all I wanted in the new year was to completely decimate Jenny Myst and become the Shooting Star Champion. It was out of my normal feelings toward competition to fight so hard for a strictly women's title but my hatred for Jenny had grown to an uncontrollable rage and an uncontrollable urge to completely end her. I smirked as I spoke one last time.

"Jenny, enjoy your life after death. Enjoy your death by my hands. Enjoy your final days as I prepare to completely end you."

With that the scene ended as I laughed as loud as I could. No more visuals just the sound of my cackling laugh, almost primal sounding. I howled as the camera opens back up showing a wolf walking into the woods as I was no where to be seen. What will happen when Jenny and I clashed? Wasn't it obvious at this point? She was about to see her final match and her final days!