Milo Foster, that's my name; I'm an all-around average guy, 22-years old, and this is the night that my life came to close...or so I thought.
Just like any other night, I was taking a walk through the streets of my neighborhood with my earphones in, listening to some music. You know, to clear my head and all that jazz. As I made my way down the poorly illuminated, cracked sidewalk, I managed to hear some muffled shouts through my earphones.
"Hmm?" I stopped and expressed my confusion while pulling out my earphones.
It was coming from an alleyway about 50 meters from where I was now standing. I walked over as quietly as possible. You can never be too careful I guess.
I was able to see a hooded man standing in front of a young man and woman; the hooded figure's back was turned to me. The couple looked to be in shock, but I couldn't see why. I maneuvered myself around the front of the alleyway, in the hooded man's hand I was able to see a gun.
He had the weapon aimed at the young couple, finger on the trigger. I'm no hero, but I wasn't going to do abandon them. There's no way I'd be able to sleep at night. I back up out of sight and dial the number for the emergency services.
"911, what's your emergency?" Said the operator on the other end.
"Uh, yeah, I'd like to report a robbery on 45th Street Grover Road," I said in a hushed tone.
"Okay, and are there any other details we should know?" The operator questioned.
"There's a man with a gun holding up a male and female, they're young from what I can tell," I added.
"Okay sir, well send help right away, please ensure your safety and stay on the line."
"Get on the ground!"
At this point, I turn my attention to the crime currently being committed. I crouch walked to a dumpster in an alleyway, not breaking my eyes away from the situation at hand. Once behind the dumpster, I was able to see everything from a blind spot that I couldn't easily be spotted.
"Alright, alright, please, just don't shoot!"
"Shut it, just get on the ground!"
The two complied with the man's demands. At this point, I was maybe only 4 or 6 meters away from the man. The hooded man began looting the young man's pockets, and I noticed the woman fidgeting with something. It was almost barely noticeable.
Just then, she lunges at the man with a pocket knife, driving it into his leg. The couple then made a mad dash for the opening in the alleyway. Everything happened so fast after that. The man grunted in pain, ripped the knife out, then screamed in frustration.
He raised his gun up the couple and fired off at least 5 rounds. He grazed the young man's shoulder, but the couple kept running and managed to disappear around the corner. The hooded man ran after them, but I knew that if I let him chase after them he would have a direct line of fire at the young couple.
Crap, what do I do? There's no time to think about it. As the man ran past the dumpster I had been hiding behind, I dropped my phone, leaped out and grabbed him by his left foot, effectively tripping him. What the hell am I doing?!
His hood had come off. His face was rough looking and he had extremely disheveled hair, like he hadn't slept or showered for days. I jumped on top of him, eager to keep him down.
He elbowed me in the face, throwing me back a little. He then twisted his body in a way so that I would fall off, hitting the back of my head on the pavement. He had no momentum when he did this, mind you. What with this unnatural strength, is he a crackhead or something? My vision was a little blurry, but I couldn't let this bastard go after them.
I jumped at him again, delivering a punch to his jaw. I couldn't really see straight, and I could barely stand up from the disorientation. The man seemed to take damage from it, but it didn't stop him for long.
"Where the hell did you come from!?" The man yelled at me.
"I won't let you kill them," I professed almost drunkenly from the disorientation.
The man then smirked. Before I knew it, my ears were ringing and I could only see white for a second. I fell to my knees, then my face as the man stood over me and laughed. This asshole laughed.
"People like you never tend to live long," the man mocked.
Of course, I couldn't hear him, my ears were still ringing, but I could tell that he was laughing. Within the cacophony of ringing in my ears, I was able to hear the distinct sound of police sirens. The man's smugness quickly changed to panic and anger.
"You...you bastard!" He yelled before sending a quick kick to my face.
Damnit, I could really die this times around. My senses are beginning to dull. What's with this guy, beating a guy who can't even fight back. I can't stand this kind of unfairness. At least the police made it, could've come a little sooner though.
The man lifted his gun up to me, aiming straight at my face. He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. He pulled again, again, and again to no avail. He must've used it all up. Looks like I get the last laugh after all.
"D-Damnit! I was so close!" The man exclaimed in furry.
He then tossed his gun aside and began running down the alleyway with a slight limp. This idiot, he just left a major piece of evidence behind as to what he just did.
Have fun rotting in prison, asshole. I feel cold, but at least my stomach feels warm. Warm? I place my hand on my stomach. It's wet. I lift my hand up in front of my eyes only to see the crimson red liquid staining my hand.
I guess it was worse than I initially thought. It's getting so dark. This is it, I'm gonna die. There were a few anime series I wanted to finish, and I just recently got my bachelor's.
All those years of hard work, for this? I see out of my peripheral the couple coming down the alleyway. I try to speak, but only exasperated wheezing comes out. Get away from here, what are they doing? Wait, there's an officer with them.
"Is this the guy?" The officer asked the couple.
The guy...does he mean me? Would the guy lying in an alleyway, bleeding to death be the one who committed attempted armed robbery?
"No, this isn't him, I saw his face and that's not him...holy crap he's bleeding a lot!" said the young woman.
"Well let's not stand here, let's go get the paramedics!" the young man spoke up.
The couple rushed away, but the police officer stayed behind. He crouched down to my level and solemnly traced a cross in front of his chest. Suddenly everything went dark and I could no longer feel the world around me.
Is this the afterlife? The endless darkness and lack of senses made me feel strange. Although it seemed my reality had come crashing down, I was still able to form cognitive thought.
Wait what's this, it feels like I'm being pulled toward something, a light? No, that's not it. The light's coming towards me. I could only see white and I passed out once again.
In my hands, I could feel something soft, yet sharp. It's like...grass? I opened my eyes to find myself in a meadow. I sat upright and was met by a gentle breeze.
All around the meadow, there was a thick tree lining. I'm guessing, I was directly in the middle. So from the CenterPoint, the radius of the meadow was about 1.5km. The meadow seemed to form a perfect circle with the tree lining.
While the perfect geometry of the meadow was pretty impressive, what was in the sky was by far one of the most astonishing things I had ever seen. In the sky was the largest, brightest crescent moon I had ever seen. This place is pretty nice.
As I sat there looking up at the moon, all of my memories came flooding back into my waking mind. I ...died, so how is it that I could still be alive? Am I alive? What's happening? I had so many questions with no way of answering them. While I was lost in thought, the gentle wind had changed.
What was once a gentle breeze began to form a vortex of violent wind around me. The wind grew darker until it was pitch black. The storm of darkness was seemingly absorbing the moonlight. I stood up on my feet.
"Oh come on! What now!?" I said out loud to no one in particular.
Reader's Bonus
Name: Milo Foster
Age: 22
Height: 183cm
Weight: 176lb
Complexion: Light-Skin
Hair-Color: Black
Eye-Color: Light-Brown