Burning Memory

Chapter 3

Living Nightmare

Darkness, so very dark. Why is it so dark? I looked around but all I could make out was the darkness and shapeless blobs. I heard a sharp gasp come from behind me, making me jump from the sudden noise. I turned my head to see where the sound came from. There, right behind me was her. The girl I loved more than anything in the world. My heart and soul, my shining star, Risa.

She was the only thing I could make out of the darkness that folded around us. Her long, brown hair was down and strands were out of place. Her shirt was torn at the sleeve and her uniform's skirt was torn all around the ends. I reached out to touch her but my hands wouldn't budge. I looked down and frowned. Why are my hands tied?

I looked back towards Risa and noticed she was crying. "Don't cry, Risa. I don't know what is going on but we'll get out of this."

Laughter erupted out of the darkness to my left. I turned my head and a shadowy figure stepped forward, letting his features come into view. He was tall, and heavily built. His blond hair was brushed back into a low, short pony-tail. His eyes were covered by sunglasses and his lips were pulled back in a chestier like grin. But all that didn't matter, because in his right hand was a gun, pointed straight at me.

"Do you really think you can leave? Just like that?" The man laughed once more, "No, you're not going anywhere. You're staying here until I get my ransom." The stranger made a 'click' noise with the gun and pulled it back down to his pocket, slipping it into a holster at his hip.

"Is that all this is about? A ransom?" I asked, my voice getting higher, and angrier with every word.

"Yes, don't you get it kid? Of course you don't," The man spit onto the ground to make a point at his disgust. "You grew up with money. Anything you wanted, you got. Money is everything, kid. And that's why you're here, I want money and your parents are going to give it to me for their precious son."

"What about Risa? Why is she here then?"

"Her, I don't give two shits about her. She is only here because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time," His grin widened to the point that I wondered if his face would split, "she was with you."

Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I was with Risa, walking home from school when a white van came out of nowhere and three men jumped out. Two ran towards me and Risa, each grabbing us and placed a cloth in front of our noses. They pulled us to the van where the third man held the door open. It happened so quickly that I didn't even have time to register what was going on. I freaked and started breathing really fast; my heart was pumping so hard I could hear it in my ears. They closed the van doors with us in the back. There was a loud rumbling noise as the car start down the pothole-filled street. I went to pull the arms away from me, or at least get the rag away from my mouth but the darkness swept over me, dragging me to the depths, past conciseness.

I looked back to Risa, who was still crying. The sobs muffled by a rag that was stuffed in her mouth.

"Poor girl," I turned back towards the strange man who insisted on speaking again. "She woke up an hour ago, must not have had enough chloroform in her system. Started screaming like hell, we of course slipped in another small dose of chloroform to put her back to sleep. Gagging her was the only way to keep her silent while letting her stay awake."

"Let her go, she has nothing to do with this." I yelled in an attempt to keep Risa safe. If anyone was going to make it out of here alive it should be her.

The man laughed even louder than before, "No," He choked out in between laughs. "She knows too much, if I let her go now she might blab before I get my money. She is staying right here. Besides, don't you think it would be more fun to include her in the game?"

Game? He thought this was a GAME?! I struggled with the rope that bonded my hands together, but it was pointless. I'm going to need a knife to get this off. I looked around but there was nothing, absolutely nothing besides the floors and walls. Wait? Where's the door?

There was a loud crackling noise that seemed to have come from the blonde. He looked down at his pocket and reaches for a black rectangular box in his coat. He turned around and talked in a hushed voice into the cell phone so that I had to strain to hear what he was saying, "Are you sure? ... Well, where are they? ... What do you mean you don't know? ... Well, find out." The man slipped the cellular device back into his coat pocket and turned back to face us, "Looks like your parents ditched you," The man gave a snorted chuckle. "They don't even care that we have their son. Guess you're not worth the money." The man walked closer now, pulling out his gun. "I guess I'll just have to show them that we're not playing around." The gun made a clicking noise as it was cocked. The blonde aimed the barrel at Risa's head.

"NO!" I yelled and struggled to get to Risa, to stop the man. But all of my attempt failed and only ended up making me land on my face resulting with another laugh from the man. "Don't do it! Kill me instead, let her go, do whatever, just don't kill her!"

"Now, why would I do that? If I kill you, I'll never get that money. But if I do nothing, your parents will think I'm playing; that I'm weak and wouldn't think of killing their son. But, if I kill your girlfriend here, it will show your parents that I mean business, and I'll get my money." The stranger threw his head back and laughed at what he said. When his laughter had finally died down he looked back towards Risa who was crying so hard that her checks where completely wet and sobs could still be heard through the rag. "Say good-bye, little one."

"No!" But my shout was drowned out by gunfire. Blood splattered all around the floor and walls. There was a dull 'thud' as Risa's life-less body hit the ground, a hole in her precious forehead. The man laughed again, seeming to enjoy his masterpiece. I stared at her body, willing her to get up, to be okay. But nothing happened for a long time. My voice was lost, I opened and closed my mouth but nothing would come out. I was finally able to speak after a few moments, though only in a slight whisper, "Risa? … Risa? … Get up Risa… Your okay, you just have to get up. Move, do something, anything. RISA!"

The man laughed at me, making my blood boil at the sound that he kept making. Laugh, laugh laugh, that's all he ever does, laugh. If I hear that laugh one more time I'll make sure he dies, a slow painful death.

"You're pathetic, did you really think I was playing. She's DEAD! D-E-A-D! Dead, and she's not coming-" There was a loud 'bang' as a second gunshot was made. This time though, it was the blonde man who fell to the ground. I looked behind me. My parents ran up to me and hugged me, squeezing me, murmuring sweet nothings. I couldn't hear them though because my focus was on the man standing behind them. He was tall, lean, with broad shoulders. His arms were at his side. In his right hand he held a silver gun. His hair was blacker than night, eyes a deep violet. Though he never said it, I knew who he was. The famous 'One-shot Vincent,' they say that he can shoot a man in the forehead from over 1000 feet.

The man nodded his head good-bye before I could even thank him. Leaving me in my sobbing parent's arms. I turned back to them, trying to listen to their words but catching nothing. Only an "I love you" here and a "we were worried" there. All I could think about was one thing, Risa is dead. She's really dead. And all I could do was watch her.

I woke with a start as my alarm clock blasted, blinking red digits exclaiming that it was 6:00 in the morning and time to get ready for school. I was covered in sweat from the nightmare, my living nightmare.

Re-edited 1/3/2013 by Mrsgaarayaoilover1995