April 22, 2017

Part III

     Their connection has become stronger yet.
     Arthur knows where she is, without having to think. He senses the danger that she is imminently facing. This is how mystical the minds of angelic extraterrestrials such as Carmen can be.
     He leaves the house at noon, the sky glazed over with soft, light blue clouds. He knows that she is closer to the downtown area, so he turns down the road in that direction.
     Birds chirp in the background, the hum of distant traffic plays in his ears, and forsythias bloom all around him.
     There is no time for him to notice any of this though, for all that he can focus on are the cat's two glistening amethyst eyes, burned deep into his psyche.
      Buildings, houses, and signs flash by him as he is getting nearer to her every second. 
     He turns sharply, and sprints into a shady alleyway.
    He can feel that time running out.
     ...He has to save her before time runs out.
   -but now he is not alone anymore. Many footsteps are pounding behind him. His state of panic increases tenfold, because he has put together who the footsteps belong to.
     Everyone in town knows who they should be afraid of. These were the ones, the poisonous nightshades ...The Nightwalkers.
    Finally he finds her, along with six kittens. They are on the edge of the wall, at the end of the alleyway. He picks her up from the ground, and tries to save her while shielding the kittens, but he then sees all of them face to face, the entire pack.

    The leader has his pistol out, and it's undoubtedly pointed right at Arthur. He freezes. He can no longer move, and the cat is still in his arms.
     Time slows down once again, to where it feels almost frozen in this moment.
    -"Put your hands up, scumbag!... We sure as hell got your back against the wall this time!"           ...the words almost seem to drain away like water down a sink.
     Is any of this real?
   He throws his hands up... Or rather, his hands seem to throw themselves up.
     -"DROP HER!" -the boy's eyes gleam ferociously.
    There are people who you will occasionally come across, who have no compassion left in their souls, not an ounce of empathy or mercy left. They can commit cruel acts of terror and vengeance, for they never have received real human connection, and therefore they have turned cold... 
     -"I'm about to shoot you... Drop her now!... You have three seconds!"
        
     -"One..."
     

     ...Arthur doesn't move an inch.

     -"Two..."

     ...What will happen?

      
     "Three!"
    
     The bullet flashes forward with a deafening crack, and at the last minute, Arthur feels her escape his grasp... 
     But then... Something is different.
     She isn't in his arms anymore. 

     ...He doesn't seem to feel any pain...

    "...but I don't seem to be dead...," he thinks, not fully grasping the situation.
    "Unless this is really what death feels like...It definitely feels like I'm in hell..."
     As he finally draws his gaze downward, he can hardly hear the cackling and laughter around him.
     He yells in despair, clutching the cat's lifeless body.
     He yells again and again for someone to help, but once again, he seems to be entirely alone.