Excerpt: Reflective Glare

As I approached the mirror with the baseball bat in hand, I saw Elliot’s crystalline eyes grow wide and his mouth fall into a perfect ‘O’. The shock was clear on his face.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
I adjusted my grip on the bat, ignoring him. I couldn’t get sidetracked now. Not when everything had become so clear. I took an experimental swing, the muscles in my upper arms stretching languidly beneath my skin.
“Whoa, slow it down, slick.” He pulled his hand through his hair and then ran it over his face, his anxiety and apprehension apparent. His eyes flickered back and forth as though he was looking for an exit, an escape. We both knew there wasn’t one.
I shook my head in disagreement. “I can’t. It has to be done.”
“Whoa, Emerson, just - fuck - just stop, okay? Put the bat down and think about this for a moment, okay?” If I wasn’t hearing it first hand, I would hardly believe that he, Elliot James Bradshaw, was pleading, but it had to happen this way. I couldn’t turn my back on him now, not when I’d made my promise.
“I have to, Elliot,” I replied. My palms were beginning to sweat and I could feel my nerves getting the best of me. Elliot could see it, too.
“Please, Emerson, don’t do this.” His voice cracked, giving way to his panic. “You don’t want to do this!”
“This is the only way.” I flashed him an apologetic smile as I took my position, bat poised over my left shoulder. I rotated the bat in a counterclockwise circle like the professionals do on televised games. “I’m sorry.”
And then I swung.