I remember my very first encounter with HIM. I was with my boyfriend Ryan. It was our three year anniversary and he had the entire day and night planned for us.
I stared out the window and felt the wind blow on my face and through my way light blonde hair. Ryan and I were on our way to the bank to pull out some money.
"Alright babe, I'll be right back out." Ryan said, as he opened up the driver's side door.
"Wait, I'll just go in with you." I said as I unbuckled my seat belt and opened my door.
"Are you sure? You don't have to Bree. It won't take me too long." Ryan asked.
I nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. It doesn't look too busy today, so it won't take too long." I smiled and exited the car, closing the door behind me. I secretly wanted to go with him because I always hated his bank. There was something that gave me the creeps.
Ryan and I engaged our hands as we entered the bank. There were only a few people ahead of us as we waited to be seen by a clerk.
The minutes were going by rather slowly. It seemed as if we were never going to be seen.
I could feel Ryan's eyes on me. I glanced up at him and smiled. "What?" I laughed.
"Nothing, you're just very beautiful." he smirked and then leaned down to kiss me. "I love you Bree."
"I love you too." I replied, kissing him again.
We continued waiting in the line. There seemed to be a woman having difficulties with her account and they were having trouble figuring out what the problem was.
I reached into my pants pocket and pulled out my cell phone to pass the time. I began getting lost as I checked all of my online social websites.
When I got bored with that, I quickly pulled up my camera and forced Ryan to take a picture with me for our anniversary. He wrapped his arms around me and then I snapped the photo. Followed by a few more extra ones. Some of them were silly and goofy faces.
Our silliness came to an end whenever we heard the sound of gunshots coming into the bank. Ryan quickly pushed us both to the ground. We hid behind a couple of tables. I hesitated on calling 911, I knew that I wouldn't be able to talk to them and that my phone would be too loud. I quietly shoved my phone back into my pocket.
"Hands up, heads down! Nobody make a move! Nobody!" We heard a couple of men yell.
Ryan kept his hand over my mouth so that I wouldn't scream. I could feel my heart going insane inside my chest. I couldn't hold back my tears.
The moments were going by, but in slow motion it seemed. All that could be heard were screams from people and the madmen yelling out their commands.
Out of nowhere, we heard another loud gun go off. Followed by another man's voice. "You have any idea who you're stealing from?! You and your friends are dead!"
Gunfire stopped, but only for a moment. They continued again after a few seconds. Then they stopped again.
We could hear two men talking to one another, but then there was a very loud crashing noise. There was talking again, and then more gunshots.
We heard the sound of footsteps coming towards us, we were getting ready to move to a different hiding spot but it was too late. A man in a purple suit and a clown mask had already found us.
My heart skipped a beat and I was having trouble catching my breath. I shut my eyes tightly, I couldn't look up at the man.
"Please don't kill us. " I heard Ryan beg.
I didn't hear anything back from the man in the clown mask. The room was quiet.
I felt Ryan let go of me and stand up. "If you feel the need to kill someone else, kill me. But please don't hurt her."
Now my heart was beating wildly. "No!" I screamed, still refusing to turn in that direction.
"Be quiet Bree." Ryan whispered.
The room remained quiet. Until suddenly, I heard the sound of another series of gunshots.
I was scared to open my eyes. I was scared to turn around. But most of all, I was scared to be alone with this dangerous man.
It took everything I had to open my eyes and turn in the direction of all the madness.
"Ah, hello beautiful." The masked man said to me.
My eyes filled up with tears when I spotted Ryan laying lifeless in a pool of his own blood.
I was about to run over to him but the masked man stopped me. He held his gun to me and forced me to my feet. Then he forced me to stand at the back of a school bus.
As he was about to push me inside the bus, the manager of the bank began talking to the masked madman. "Think you're smart huh? The guy that hired yous... He'll just do the same to you."
The man in the clown mask slowly started walking towards him.
The bank manager continued. "Criminals in this town used to believe in things.
By now, the masked man was standing over the bank manager. He crouched over him.
"Honor. Respect. Look at you, what do you believe in huh? What do you believe in?!" The bank manager yelled.
I watched as the man in the clown mask slipped something into the man's mouth and replied "I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you..." he paused for a moment. "Stranger." he finished as he pulled off his clown mask.
He stood up and strolled back towards me. That was when I got to see his face. His mouth was scarred, it resembled a big smile lined with red war paint. The rest of his face was covered with white war paint, except for his eyes which were very dark, smeared with black war paint.
I noticed a purple thread that was unraveling from the purple lining of his jacket as he walked.
I stared back at the bank manager, it was a grenade that the madman had slipped into his mouth. My eyes widened, terrified of what he was going to do to me.
He noticed me staring in horror, looking back at the bank manager, he seemed to be amused by this.
"Time to go." he whispered. He quickly picked me up and put me on the bus. Then he climbed into the bus and shut the rear door behind him, trapping the purple thread.
He pushed me up to the front of the bus and sat me down on the right side of the bus that would be closest to him so he could watch me while he drove.
"No funny business while I'm driving. You just sit there, don't try to escape. Or else." he pulled out his gun, reloaded it and then pointed it at me for a moment. "Got it?" he asked. I nodded slowly, then he started up the bus and quickly pulled out of the bank.
I couldn't help but to cry silently. Today was supposed to be a happy day. All I wanted to do was be with Ryan and enjoy our anniversary together, celebrate another year together with him and now he was gone. So far, this is the worst day of my life. I hoped that I was just living in a nightmare right now. That all of this was temporary and that I would wake up soon.
I wasn't sure on how long we would be driving, so I slowly curled myself up in a ball in the seat and cried myself to sleep