I never thought something like this would happen. Not after they walked away. Not after I faced them down and they disappeared into the shadows. For a brief moment, I had thought it was over — that I had won.
But as I took a few shaky steps away, something felt wrong. My body was heavy, and my vision started to blur. The adrenaline that had kept me standing, kept me moving, was fading fast, leaving behind a deep, aching emptiness.
What... is happening?
My legs wobbled, barely able to keep me upright. I stumbled, one hand instinctively reaching for my chest as a sharp pain shot through me. That's when I felt it — something warm, something wet.
I looked down at my chest, and my breath caught in my throat.
Blood. Dark red, spreading across my torn shirt, flowing out from a wound I hadn't even noticed in the chaos. My fingers came away slick with it, and for a moment, I just stared. My mind couldn't process it. I hadn't felt the knife, hadn't even realized one of them had gotten close enough to stab me.
I swayed on my feet, the dizziness growing stronger. It was like the world was tilting beneath me, like everything was starting to slip away. I could barely breathe — my chest felt tight, each gasp more painful than the last.
"So... this is it?"
The thought was strange, almost detached. But as I stumbled and fell to my knees, the reality of it hit me all at once. This was the end. My end.
I felt my body growing weaker, my vision tunneling as the edges of the world blurred and darkened. The pain in my chest was unbearable now, a sharp, searing heat that wouldn't stop.
I'm dying.
I knew it, even though part of me didn't want to believe it. But there was no denying the cold creeping into my limbs, the way my heart seemed to slow with each passing second.
It was over.
My life, all seventeen years of it, was slipping away, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
For a moment, I felt a wave of regret. There was so much I hadn't done, so many things I hadn't experienced. No real friends, no family left. Just years of survival, fighting to live another day, only to die here, bleeding out on a cold, empty street.
But then, my thoughts drifted to the family I had just saved. The little girl, her tear-filled eyes wide with fear, clinging to her mother. Her father, beaten but alive, because I had stepped in.
At least I did something right.
That thought gave me a strange sense of peace. Maybe I hadn't lived a life worth remembering, but at least in my final moments, I had made a difference. I had protected them. I had stopped something terrible from happening, even if I couldn't save myself.
My vision darkened further, the world fading around me. I could barely hear the sounds of the city now — everything was distant, muffled, like I was slipping underwater.
So, this is my end.
I fell back onto the cold pavement, staring up at the night sky. The stars were faint, barely visible through the glow of the city lights. I wondered if my parents were up there, watching over me, waiting for me.
Mom... Dad...
My eyelids felt heavy, so heavy that I could barely keep them open. But as the darkness closed in, I couldn't help but think that maybe this wasn't such a bad way to go. At least I hadn't died for nothing.
I did one good thing.
With that final thought, I let the darkness take me.