Chapter 2

>> >>< Sapphire ><< <<

I expected to feel myself fall to the ground in a pool of my own blood and brain particles. Or at least, feel the bullet burst through my skull like a needle through glass.

But all I felt was a splash of warm liquid on my face.

>>< Gunshot ><<

The second shot came almost immediately and I jumped in fright. Still, I don’t feel dead.

The hands holding my hair loosened just like the hands holding my hands behind me.

But then an arm quickly wrapped tightly around my neck and the cold barrel of a gun jabbed at my head roughly;

“Stay the fuck away...!” Blondie’s voice snapped in my ear.

“The fuck are you, huh? Stop right there!” He yelled.

“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?”

I don’t see anyone though. All I see is a pitch-black darkness ... Oh, wait...

I snap my eyes open only to realize I’m being used as a human shield. And the first thing I see is a man in all black holding a gun to my face.

He stands gallantly menacing less than five yards from me. And despite the low light, I can see his shirt buttoned only halfway as a jacket drapes loosely over his shoulders.

His gun says the same as the stoic frown on his face. And I swear he looks like Hades in a shirt.

Maybe Blondie thinks he looks like Hades too. His arm around my neck tightens and his breath comes as shuddering pants;

“Th ... The fuck are you, huh!?”

The terror in Blondie’s voice is clear, but all I can do is stand frozen in ... I don’t even know if it’s terror or dread or maybe disbelief.

Anyway, there’s a gun in my face and the man wielding it does not look anything less than death itself.

But then his eyes fall on mine.

His blue eyes look through me as if in gentle reassurance and I believe in him.

His eyes are a direct contrast to the menace of his stance and demeanor; his eyes are like that of an angel...

“Answer me, motherfucker! Or I swear I’ll blow her brains out!” Blondie yelled, jabbing his gun at my temple roughly.

The stranger returned his attention to my captor;

“You seem to have misunderstood this situation,” He said with such calm and vindication I’m sure he’s going to save my life.

“I’m not the hero that saves the damsel in distress...”

- Oh shit! He’s going to kill us both -

“ ... I’m the Grim Reaper.”

>>< Gunshot ><<

I froze in my spot and shut my eyes tight, expecting to hear a second shot.

Or maybe I’m already dead and the darkness I’m looking at is just the space where I’ll eventually see the light or something.

But then I feel the arm around my neck loosens as Blondie free falls with a heavy thud.

I open my eyes slowly; all around me, the men lie unflinching on the ground with blood squirting out of bullet holes in their heads.

Dead...

- They’re dead -

My hands automatically go to my mouth as a sob escapes my lips.

I was ... I can’t believe I’m alive. Fresh tears flow freely down my cheeks as I try to stop the sobs.

“Are you okay? You look shaken.”

I look up to see the stranger is already standing in front of me with his gentle eyes playing on mine. Hades or not, Grim Reaper or not, he saved my life...

“You’re safe now.” He said with a sigh, brushing hair from my wet cheeks as he pulled me closer.

And I just fell on him.

Clinging tightly to his chest as all my pent-up emotions came crashing down like an avalanche.

I don’t normally go around crying on stranger’s shoulders. Hell, I’ve never cried about my life nor have I ever put my troubles on anyone else’s shoulders.

But I can’t take it anymore.

Maybe it’s the aftermath of the terror or the pent-up frustration. Or maybe it’s just the Christmas season.

I just cried like a child.

I thought I was dead for sure back there. And for what?

All for a $10 worth of stupid heirloom that has never brought anything but misery to my life. It’s like the opposite of the lucky charm it’s supposed to be.

Even after I threw it away, I almost got my brains blown out.

My life hasn’t been interesting but I’ve settled on a constant daily grind. Yes, I’m miserable, I don’t know the meaning of happiness, and I barely even have enough to eat an average meal.

But at least my life was never anyone’s decision.

“It’s not fair,” I sobbed nonchalantly, burying my face in his chest as my tears and sweat soaked his shirt.

I don’t care though, I just cried;

“I ... I can’t take it anymore!”

“Then stop taking it.” His voice vibrated through my entire being like a command and I momentarily stopped crying.

He pushed me back with a firm hand on my shoulder. My fingers adamantly remain locked on his shirt like a magnet and I look up into his eyes;

“Life is exactly fair.” He said, “But only if you make it fair.”

“If you want it, take it. Even if it isn’t being offered.”

His words immediately sent a kind of peace through me and my heart raced.

It is as though he knew what I needed to hear and he said it exactly how I needed to hear it. Even more oddly, the words sounded like reassurance.