Merging Shadows

The middle aged man had scratches and bruises forming. A trail of blood ran down his face. The blood was his tears; they only started off with a few drips but soon it was pouring out. The front of his white shirt was covered in the inevitable crimson.

Her faint steps allowed her presence to be unknown. She had followed the wisps of breathes that she knew too well -- they were filled with pain. She slows her pace and hid alongside the walls. She became within the shadows. She watches the scene unfold in front of her, only to see a figure fall to the floor unconscious. The man with the gun straightened his spine and took a quick glance around to assure himself no one witnessed the crime scene.

The noiseless atmosphere changed when a protruding sound blared out. “WELCOME TO MY HOUSE, PLAY THE MUSIC TOO LOUD.” She cursed under her breath and fumbled for her phone out of the backpack she carried. When she ignored the call and the music died down, she looked up only to be met with penetrating forest green eyes.

Face to face with one another -- his strong hand grabbed her wrist. She rolled her eyes and proceeded trying to take her wrist away from the stranger’s grasp. She kneed him in the area she knew would hurt most. He grimaced but did not even flinch.

She looked at him, “What the heck, how can you tolerate that pain? You should be on the floor crying.”

He took a step closer to her and her eyes drifted to his waist.

“Woah, is that a matte black colt mustang?”

His mouth hung open, “you aren’t afraid?”

“Nope.”

A small smile replaced the scowl on the guy’s face. It was masked quickly with a smirk.

“You won’t mind this then.” In less than five seconds he grabbed her, pushed her against the wall and held the gun to her head.

She did not even flinch. In fact, she pulled out a weapon of her own. The handle shone black and had intricate 3D swirls to give it an edgy look. The blades were folded into the protectant handle but rapidly came out with a “swish” to help defend her against the attacker.

The tip of the gun dug further into the spot, just two inches from her ear; the knife pricked his stomach.

The smile tugging on the edges of his lips, broke out into a grin. His chuckle was light and was laced with amusement. “You know what? I like you.”

“Yeah, you like me as much as that dude over there; don’t you?” she pointed at the dead man with the jagged point of her knife.

His body twists in the direction she pointed to. Before he could utter another word, he felt a force wrenching something out of his hand which resulted to his tight grasp, loose and free.

He returns to his original position only to be faced with his gun towards him and a smirk on the girl’s face.

“Where did you learn to do that?”

She shrugged, “Saw it in a movie, thought I’d give it a shot.”

“You’re cute. And that was a clever pun for a chick like you. How about I get to know you better.”

“Better not try anything. Remember, I have the gun, you a*****e.”

He pats her shoulder, “How about some ice cream?”

They walk side by side under the dark sky. The single source of light was the moon. The trees swayed from one side to another along the breeze. Their footsteps protruded the silence that was casted. Alongside the noises made by their steps, her backpack made a “click-clack” sound that went in sync with her footsteps.

He broke the silence, “Why are you carrying a backpack at this time of night?”

“Why did you kill that man?”

It was quiet for some time, until she spoke up again, “Exactly, they’re both questions we don’t want to answer.”

A light in the distance, shows that the two were close to their destination. In no time, they were in front of a dimly lit ice cream parlour. He held the door open for her.

“Wow. Who would’ve thought you’d have manners?”

“I am not that bad of a man, you know.”

“That’s why you killed that guy back there right?”

He quickly placed a finger on her lips, “Shh, don’t let anyone hear.” He looked around to make sure there weren’t any ongoing listeners.

In front of them was a big air conditioned cabin that held a variety of flavors of the frozen treat. The lady behind the counter got the ice cream they both wanted. Once they both paid for their ice cream separately, they walk out the parlour and began to explore the city together.

It wasn’t until they had both finished their ice cream when he asked, “Can I have my gun back?”

“Why should I give it to you?”

“Cause it’s mine!”

He went for the gun. In a feeble attempt to hide the gun, she put it behind her back and backed away.

He seized her by her shoulders and brought her down.

“Give me my goddamn gun!”

“No!”

By now, the two of them had a grasp on the gun, trying to tug it away from the other. He finally managed to snatch the gun out of her hand. He stood up to his full height of 6’2” and raised his arm to precisely aim the gun at his target.

“Boom!” the trigger had been pulled.

The bullet grazed her ear and flew past her. Her right hand promptly grabbed her ear. Her fingers were drenched in blood as she tried to cover up her wound.

“You’re such a dumbass! Are you out of your mind? Were you trying to kill me?”

In an instant, she stood right in front of him. She no longer held her ear, allowing the blood to drip freely.

His head whipped to the other side as her hand struck his cheek with force.

“What are you? A freaking murderer? First you killed that man and now you’re after me? I’m freaking calling 911!”

She pulled out the rectangular device from her pocket and began to dial the numbers. She only typed in ‘9’ when her phone was plucked out of her grip.

“Give me my phone back, you cold hearted jerk! Just give me my phone back and don’t come near me!”

“No, if I give you your phone back, you’ll call the police --”

She cut him off, “Of course I am! You just tried killing me--”

Before she could say anything further, he covered her mouth with his palm.

“Shush. I admit, my hand slipped and I didn’t mean for your ear to get injured but I had to shoot --”

She licked his hand and he repulsively brought it back; allowing her to speak.

“You’re telling me you HAD to shoot? Yeah, you HAD to shoot me --”

“Shut up and let me explain!”

“Why? So you can make excuses?”

“No! Shut up and let me speak! I was aiming for the man behind you!””

“So you’re telling me you were shooting at someone behind me? That’s your second kill today! And it doesn’t change the fact that you almost shot me!”

“The man was aiming his gun at you! I didn’t want to see you hurt!”

“Why the heck would some stranger point a gun at me? Are you out of your mind to think I would believe you? Besides, you should have thought twice if you didn’t want me ‘hurt’!”

He grabbed her by the shoulders and used his strength to turn her around.

“Get your blood stained hands off of me, you murderer!”

There, on the gravel lay a man with blood pooling out of his chest; his fingers reached out as if he held something but had let go and a few inches away a gun rested on top of the cement .

“You see now? I was doing this to protect you, I didn’t expect your ear to get hurt. I’m sorry, I owe you one.”

“Uhm, can you please explain why that psycho was after me?”

He sighed, “He wasn’t after you, he was after me. My dad was a gang-leader and expected me to step up and take his place once he died. I didn’t want to be involved in a gang or anything, I just wanted to live a simple life. My father didn’t want that. When I told him I wasn’t going to take his place, he grew crazy. He disowned me as his son and told his gang that the first one to find and kill me would get to be the new leader. The first guy I killed back there was a member of the gang and so was the man,I just shot.”

“Holy crap. I’m sorry for blaming you. But what about your mom?”

“Died when I was 7 because of cancer. She was always there for me, but when she needed help the most, I was worthless.”

The second those words were out of his mouth, a pair of arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace.

“I am so sorry.”

They stayed in that position for about 20 seconds, until he pulled away and gave her a slight smile.

“So, what’s with the backpack? I answered your question and now it’s your turn.”

“Err, well my dad died in a car accident when I was 9 years old. My parents loved each other so much that my mom went crazy when he died. She became an alcoholic and started doing drugs. She always attempted to hurt me, but as I got older I began to fight back. And now, I am just fed up with having to deal with her. I was close to my parents too, but once dad died, mom was never the same. I became so irritated by her, I decided to pack some of my stuff and leave this city, to go somewhere that she would not be able to find me.”

“Seems like we both have sob stories, huh?”

“I guess, but I am way past that now.”

“So, about needing to leave, mind if I join?”

“Let’s do it.”

Reviews

[2glam2giveadam]

Your detail in the story is beyond great. I like how you moved the story along, and the plot line of the story. I think the characters moved a little fast they go from just meeting each other to caring if the other gets hurt. The relationship connection was there but it went really fast. Their background stories were developed nicely, you could have made it a bit more sad or traumatizing to make them they way they are now like killing people. Overall it is a great story and i really like it!