A/N: So here's my first (posted) fanfic. It's a little experiment with
different POV's . For all of you who have read Akutagawa Ryonosuke's
'Rashomon', you know how this works. For the others, well, read and see.
^_^
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the RE characters. Just love to use them for my stories..
A Day to Remember
The Lover's Story
The officers in their blue uniforms, standing out against the sea of white flowers, respectfully saluting to one of their own for the last time, the low music carried away by a gentle spring breeze, towards a slowly setting sun, bathing the sorrowful faces of those present in a warm light. It's all so beautiful, so romantic in a way and I'm sure this is how he would have wanted it to be. Without the shadow of a doubt this is the most moving funeral I ever attended and at the same time it's the one thing I wish I would never have to witness. As they lower the casket to it's final resting place, the girl is burying her face deeper into my side, her tears soaking my black dress and I pull her closer yet, not only to comfort her, but also to comfort myself. I wish I could have seen her again under different circumstances, but I am glad that she is here, if only for a while. He had meant so much to her, to both of us, that I feel, if anyone could ever relate to what is going on inside of me right now, then it's Sherry. Of course there is my brother, there is always Chris, offering me his shoulder to cry on, stretching out his helping hand unconditionally, catching me when I fall. When he talks to me, he claims to understand what I feel, since he too has lost someone and not for the first time, but he can't deny that my loss is a different one. That my pain is so much deeper than he could ever imagine. To him, Leon was a friend, maybe even his best friend. To me, he was so much more than that. He was my lover, my soul mate, the father of our unborn child. I still can't believe that he is gone. Forever. That I will never again wake up to the sound of his soothing voice when he tells me he loves me before he leaves for work. Never again drown in those crystal blue eyes when he leans over me, kissing me good night. Never again will I feel the gentle touch of his hands caressing my body, pulling me closer into his arms, holding me like nothing in the world could ever bring us apart. I am trying to be strong. For Sherry's sake, for my own sake, but the sound of her small voice, weeping ever so softly against my chest, her fragile body clinging to mine for support, breaks my will and the first tear trails down my cheek. "How are you holding up, Claire? You wanna leave?" I shake my head as Chris puts his hand on my shoulder, forcing me to look at him. "Are you sure? Nobody's gonna blame you if you can't put up with this anymore." His eyes, full of concern and sympathy are resting on my face, waiting for an answer. I will myself to nod, tears running freely now and then I can't hold it back any longer. "I miss him so much, Chris. How am I supposed to live without him?" I fall into Chris's open arms, trembling uncontrollably as I sob into his chest. "It's so unfair! How could this happen? How could he just get shot? Right there, in front of everybody?" "I wish I knew, Claire. I wish I knew." He says, running his hand through my tangled hair. It's the same old question, I have asked him over and over again ever since that horrible day that I had to watch Leon, the love of my life, die.
I couldn't have been happier as I left the doctors office, hopping down the last two steps outside the main entrance of the hospital, before I stopped in the middle of the neatly kept driveway to take another look at the printout in my hand. I squinted at the black and grey shadows mingling into each other, within the cone like shape on the slick paper. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't see it! It took me almost a full minute to realise that I was holding it upside down. Frowning at my own stupidity, I quickly turned it around. It had changed the perspective alright, yet in no way did it help me to find what I was so desperately searching for. No matter how many times the doctor had patiently explained it to me, pointing out every detail of the ultrasound scan, I couldn't make sense of this mess. That however, wasn't going to have any negative effects on my being in a fantastic mood. It would take a lot more than a distorted first baby picture to ruin my day. "Boy or girl?" Startled by the unannounced question, I spun around standing face to face with a heavy set, middle-aged woman, wearing a big grin on her flashy cheeks. "You can actually see it?" I blurted out in surprise. Her grin elongated into a smile, squeezing her piggy eyes even closer. "Honey, I gave birth to six children in my time. I read them things like a newspaper." "Well, it's a boy. I just found out today." I had secretly been hoping for a girl. Ever since Sherry had left to live with her relatives in California, I missed having another girl around the house. "My first one was a boy too. 8 pounds. Big guy. Still is." Her face wobbled as she let out a short laugh. "Did you tell the father yet?" she asked. "There is a father, isn't there?" "I'm about to. He'll be all out of it when he hears the good news." And that wasn't an exaggeration either. Leon had been convinced it was a boy from the very beginning, not even considering the possibility that it might be a girl he'd come up with a different name every day. He was so excited about finding out the sex of the baby that he'd called me three times this morning, driving me up the walls until I had threatened not to tell him at all, if he didn't stop bugging me every five minutes. "You better hold onto that one. Good fathers are hard to come by these days." The woman said with a smirk, before she bounced up the stairs and out of my view. Yes, we were both excited about this. So excited that I had completely forgotten about staying in the waiting area until Leon came to pick me up. Well, now that I was already outside anyway, I had no intention to climb back up to the fourth floor and the thought of being crammed into a stifling hot room with a bunch of overly moody women for another forty-five minutes was making me nauseous. It was a sunny spring day, still a little chilly, but warm enough to walk around in a sweater without freezing to death and breathing the fresh air after spending most of the day inside a building full of sick people, gave me the idea of simply changing our agreement around. Instead of Leon picking me up, I would go pick him up. It was only a twenty-five minute walk to the police station, taking a shortcut through the park, I could even make it in twenty. A little exercise would do me good and besides, I was craving some sweets really badly and the convenient store two blocks away from the police station was more tempting to me than ever.
It had only taken me thirty minutes to walk through the park, stop at the store for some grocery shopping and devour half a box of sour cream Pringles on the way from the store to the station. What can I say, pregnant women change their cravings like teenagers change their pop idols. I had cut through an ally, to be able to walk along the front of the big Victorian style building that housed the police station. I figured my best chance of not accidentally missing Leon would be to pass the main entrance for a quick glance at the duty board, checking if he'd already signed out and then heading straight on to the front parking lot, where he would park the Jeep. If the car was still there, I could just wait for him outside.
The main hall was busy as usual, especially at this hour, when the officers from the morning shift left and the afternoon shift picked up their duty. The plastic seats along the west wall were overloaded with people, waiting for somebody to pay attention to their requests and complaints, all the while arguing with each other over who was going to be next. There were people pacing up and down the hall, officers waving around folders, shouting across the counter over the constant ringing of phones. The noise gave me a headache, making me wonder how anybody could get their work done in this chaos. What was going on here today anyway? I greeted a few familiar faces on my way to the front desk, nearly bumping into a detective, who cautiously held a young woman by her arm, leading her towards a room on the opposite side of the hall. The woman was sobbing uncontrollably, as she was wiping at her eyes with a paper towel every so often. I stopped for a moment, watching them as they passed me. Something really terrible must have happened to her, maybe she had just lost a loved one or she had fallen victim to violence and I felt truly sorry for her as my mind conjured up an image of a big, drunk husband beating up on this tiny, defenceless woman. I willed myself not to think about it anymore as I pushed through a group of people occupying the front desk. After all, I was here to announce some good news, not to worry about other people's sorrows. I propped my elbows onto the cool, wooden surface, leaning over the counter to get a sneak peak at the board on the wall behind it. "Leon already left. You just missed him." The hint of a smile crawled over my face as I caught sight of Michael Lopez, the owner of the booming voice, pressing the receiver of a phone against his broad chest. "How long's he been gone?" I asked, a little disappointed. He shrugged, giving me a thoughtful expression. "Four, maybe five minutes?" "Thanks, Mike." I was already on the move when I heard him calling after me. "Hey, Claire! Boy or girl?" "Boy!" I shouted back over my shoulder, catching a grin spread out over the Hispanics handsome features before I turned and hustled towards the exit. "Somebody's gonna be really happy to hear that!" he yelled over the noise in the hall, obviously completely indifferent to whoever was waiting on the other end of that phone he had been holding. I threw my arms up in victory, beaming with pride and I could almost feel Mike laughing behind my back as I picked up speed. Hopefully I would still be able to catch Leon on his way to the car. If not, I could always ask Chris to give me a ride back to the hospital.
I squinted my eyes against the sudden brightness outside, ready to scan the parking lot to my right for the Jeep, that would most certainly stand out against the other cars. I didn't even have to do that. Once my eyes had adjusted to the light, I could make out a figure, standing in the middle of the driveway, some ten meters away. It was Leon alright, shielding his eyes against the sun, staring at something above me. From where I was standing, I couldn't see what it was that had him so preoccupied, but I could hear him shout something, before he stretched out his arms towards the sky, as if reaching for the clouds. "Leon! Leon, over here!" I frantically waved my arm to get his attention. He yanked his head in my direction, dropping his arms and at the same moment I saw a small object drop from the sky, glistening in the sun for a second before it hit the ground with a low clunk, skidded across the rough asphalt and came to a halt only inches away from Leon's feet. "Claire? What are you doing here?" He shouted over the engine of a passing police cruiser that pulled into an empty parking space next to him. "I came to pick you up." I answered, as Leon crouched down to gather up what looked like a set of keys. "Didn't I tell you to wait for me at the hospital? Why you're always ignoring what I say?" He mock scolded me. I held onto the plastic bag with both hands, bouncing it against my knees as I rocked back and forth on my feet, trying to look as innocent as possible. For a brief moment a car distracted me, turning into the street that ran along the back of the parking lot. I didn't give it much thought, even though it was a rather unusual car, a white low rider with shiny chrome railings all along the side and a big heck spoiler. Cars pass all the time, right? "Well, I thought you wanted to hear the good news as soon as possible." I offered as an n excuse for my not following orders. I still didn't pay much attention to the car, even as it awkwardly pulled onto the sidewalk behind Leon. "I do, but you shouldn't be walking around all over town, carrying heavy bags in your condition." 'My condition'. Every time he said that, it made me feel like I was sick or handicapped or something. I put on a frowning face as I prepared to give him a scolding as not to treat me like an invalid, just because I was four months pregnant. His recent over-protection was beginning to seriously annoy me. 'Don't carry heavy stuff. Don't take the bus to school, I'll give you a ride. Don't go out alone after dark. Don't go hiking in the woods.' He was worse than my brother. For the first time, the white car struck me as weird, when from the corner of my eye, I saw both, the man in the back as well as the one sitting behind the steering wheel, roll down their windows. A ray of sun was reflecting on what I believed was one of the chrome railings, blinding me for a split second. "You're making it sound like I was." I didn't get to finish my sentence for it was suddenly cut short by a deep threatening voice, from somewhere behind Leon's back. I couldn't understand what the first man said, but I heard the other one loud and clear and I felt a cold shiver run down my spine almost instantly. "Time to pay, sucker!" he yelled for everyone to hear. From that point on, everything happened so fast I could hardly grasp it happened at all. A woman's terrified shriek from the parking lot pinched my ear and I felt a strong hand locking around my upper arm, yanking at it so forcefully that I accidentally let go of the plastic bag. It slipped from my grip and hit the ground, milk splashing over my sneakers, vegetables and the half empty box of Pringles littering the floor. I struggled to regain my balance, nearly tripping over my own feet as the hand kept pulling me to the left. The last thing I saw was how Leon whirled around to face the car, instinctively reaching for his gun, and then a huge metal container blocked my view. I didn't have to see it, to know what happened next. A shot thundered through the air, glass was breaking as something impacted with a muffled thud, followed by another, shot, not as loud as the first one, a smaller calibre. Time seemed to be standing still for a moment before all hell broke loose. The officer who ducked behind the container with me whipped the gun from his holster, inching towards the edge of the container, yelling at me to stay down, while somebody else had already opened fire immediately joined in by others. The officer's radio crackled to live, barely audible over the cacophony of gunshots and shouting. I heard only two words emerge through the static, gripping my heart so tight that I thought I was going to faint. "Officer down! Officer down!" I pressed my hands against my ears, shielding them from the noise that pounded at my head, all the while hoping, praying that it wasn't true, that Leon hadn't just been shot. There was the screeching of tires, engines roaring to live and sirens echoing all around me as I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to block everything out. What had only taken a couple of minutes had seemed to me like an eternity of life in hell and when the noise had finally died down I dared to open my eyes again, staring blankly at the rusty metal in front of me, my vision blurred by the tears of fear welling up inside of me. I swallowed them down as I stepped out behind the container, remaining in a state of shock for a couple of seconds as my worst nightmare had come true right before my eyes. "Leoooon!" I didn't know why I screamed his name for the chances he could still hear me were close to zero. When I was finally able to move again, a pair of strong arms locked around my waist, trying to keep me from running down the driveway to where Leon lay motionless on the ground, with two other police officers crouching over him checking for any sign of life. I knew those arms all too well, they had held me many times whether those times had been good or bad. But in my state of terror and anguish, my brother couldn't hold me back, not even if he had chained me to the wall and with a strength unknown to him, I began to kick and punch until I had yanked myself free from Chris's grip. "Claire don't!" I didn't listen to him, I didn't care. Before I reached the end of the driveway an ambulance had already pulled up through the crowed of spectators on the sidewalk and came to a stop in the same spot where only minutes ago the white low rider had parked, the car with the men who were responsible for the horror I was going through. "What the hell are you staring at? Move on, damn it!" It was Chris's angry voice raising up from somewhere behind me. "Johnson, get those people out of the way, before I break some jaws!" He ordered before gently putting his strong hand on my shoulder. I placed my hand on top of his, incapable of doing anything else as I was staring into Leon's lifeless eyes. The paramedics rushed towards us, kneeling down, immediately starting their work. Like in trance I followed their every move with my eyes until Chris carefully turned me around, tucking me into his arms and I pressed my face against his chest, crying. The way he held me, I knew he was thinking the same thing I was thinking. There was no way Leon was going to live. My world drowned in a sea of tears, every sound around me blocked out by my own sobs. I only came to my senses when Chris shook me repeatedly, calling my name over and over again, mumbling how we had to get to the hospital and that there was still a chance. I didn't know how he got the key to the Jeep or where he found the note, for everything that happened after I had seen Leon lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood is a blur to me. God there was so much blood. It was everywhere, on the shattered window and hood of the police cruiser, on the ground, on Leon's chest, soaking his uniform in a dark crimson. So much. Even on the note that I held onto all the way to the hospital. I don't know what happened at the hospital. I think that at one point Chris was having an argument with someone, but I'm not sure. The only thing I will never forget is the look on the doctor's face when he said the inevitable words, the words that pierced my heart like a spear, ripping a wound into my soul that might never heal. "He died on the way to the hospital."
I dry my tears with the paper towel Chris hands me, forcing a tiny smile on his face. I think I will take him up on his offer to move in with him. I am going to need a lot of help with the baby coming in a few months and staying at the apartment, filled with all of Leon's stuff, our stuff, isn't going to make thing's any easier. Every little thing I see in that place brings back a different memory, so strong, so real, that I can feel his presents. Just like he was still there, like he had never left me. Chris strokes my hot cheek with his rough hand, his eyes, filled with grief, resting on my own. "Come on Claire," his soothing voice a mere whisper "I'll take you home." I nod in agreement as I begin to realise that for the past six days, I've been shutting myself off from the world, even worse, I shut myself off from my brother, refusing to talk to him, pushing him away, when all he was trying to do was comfort me the best way he can. Maybe it's time for me to give Chris a chance, to open up to him. Maybe it's time for me to start facing the world again.
A/N: Next chapter: The Friend's Story
So Leon's dead. We know that much, but Claire didn't really see a whole lot, now did she? Maybe somebody else saw a little more...
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the RE characters. Just love to use them for my stories..
A Day to Remember
The Lover's Story
The officers in their blue uniforms, standing out against the sea of white flowers, respectfully saluting to one of their own for the last time, the low music carried away by a gentle spring breeze, towards a slowly setting sun, bathing the sorrowful faces of those present in a warm light. It's all so beautiful, so romantic in a way and I'm sure this is how he would have wanted it to be. Without the shadow of a doubt this is the most moving funeral I ever attended and at the same time it's the one thing I wish I would never have to witness. As they lower the casket to it's final resting place, the girl is burying her face deeper into my side, her tears soaking my black dress and I pull her closer yet, not only to comfort her, but also to comfort myself. I wish I could have seen her again under different circumstances, but I am glad that she is here, if only for a while. He had meant so much to her, to both of us, that I feel, if anyone could ever relate to what is going on inside of me right now, then it's Sherry. Of course there is my brother, there is always Chris, offering me his shoulder to cry on, stretching out his helping hand unconditionally, catching me when I fall. When he talks to me, he claims to understand what I feel, since he too has lost someone and not for the first time, but he can't deny that my loss is a different one. That my pain is so much deeper than he could ever imagine. To him, Leon was a friend, maybe even his best friend. To me, he was so much more than that. He was my lover, my soul mate, the father of our unborn child. I still can't believe that he is gone. Forever. That I will never again wake up to the sound of his soothing voice when he tells me he loves me before he leaves for work. Never again drown in those crystal blue eyes when he leans over me, kissing me good night. Never again will I feel the gentle touch of his hands caressing my body, pulling me closer into his arms, holding me like nothing in the world could ever bring us apart. I am trying to be strong. For Sherry's sake, for my own sake, but the sound of her small voice, weeping ever so softly against my chest, her fragile body clinging to mine for support, breaks my will and the first tear trails down my cheek. "How are you holding up, Claire? You wanna leave?" I shake my head as Chris puts his hand on my shoulder, forcing me to look at him. "Are you sure? Nobody's gonna blame you if you can't put up with this anymore." His eyes, full of concern and sympathy are resting on my face, waiting for an answer. I will myself to nod, tears running freely now and then I can't hold it back any longer. "I miss him so much, Chris. How am I supposed to live without him?" I fall into Chris's open arms, trembling uncontrollably as I sob into his chest. "It's so unfair! How could this happen? How could he just get shot? Right there, in front of everybody?" "I wish I knew, Claire. I wish I knew." He says, running his hand through my tangled hair. It's the same old question, I have asked him over and over again ever since that horrible day that I had to watch Leon, the love of my life, die.
I couldn't have been happier as I left the doctors office, hopping down the last two steps outside the main entrance of the hospital, before I stopped in the middle of the neatly kept driveway to take another look at the printout in my hand. I squinted at the black and grey shadows mingling into each other, within the cone like shape on the slick paper. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't see it! It took me almost a full minute to realise that I was holding it upside down. Frowning at my own stupidity, I quickly turned it around. It had changed the perspective alright, yet in no way did it help me to find what I was so desperately searching for. No matter how many times the doctor had patiently explained it to me, pointing out every detail of the ultrasound scan, I couldn't make sense of this mess. That however, wasn't going to have any negative effects on my being in a fantastic mood. It would take a lot more than a distorted first baby picture to ruin my day. "Boy or girl?" Startled by the unannounced question, I spun around standing face to face with a heavy set, middle-aged woman, wearing a big grin on her flashy cheeks. "You can actually see it?" I blurted out in surprise. Her grin elongated into a smile, squeezing her piggy eyes even closer. "Honey, I gave birth to six children in my time. I read them things like a newspaper." "Well, it's a boy. I just found out today." I had secretly been hoping for a girl. Ever since Sherry had left to live with her relatives in California, I missed having another girl around the house. "My first one was a boy too. 8 pounds. Big guy. Still is." Her face wobbled as she let out a short laugh. "Did you tell the father yet?" she asked. "There is a father, isn't there?" "I'm about to. He'll be all out of it when he hears the good news." And that wasn't an exaggeration either. Leon had been convinced it was a boy from the very beginning, not even considering the possibility that it might be a girl he'd come up with a different name every day. He was so excited about finding out the sex of the baby that he'd called me three times this morning, driving me up the walls until I had threatened not to tell him at all, if he didn't stop bugging me every five minutes. "You better hold onto that one. Good fathers are hard to come by these days." The woman said with a smirk, before she bounced up the stairs and out of my view. Yes, we were both excited about this. So excited that I had completely forgotten about staying in the waiting area until Leon came to pick me up. Well, now that I was already outside anyway, I had no intention to climb back up to the fourth floor and the thought of being crammed into a stifling hot room with a bunch of overly moody women for another forty-five minutes was making me nauseous. It was a sunny spring day, still a little chilly, but warm enough to walk around in a sweater without freezing to death and breathing the fresh air after spending most of the day inside a building full of sick people, gave me the idea of simply changing our agreement around. Instead of Leon picking me up, I would go pick him up. It was only a twenty-five minute walk to the police station, taking a shortcut through the park, I could even make it in twenty. A little exercise would do me good and besides, I was craving some sweets really badly and the convenient store two blocks away from the police station was more tempting to me than ever.
It had only taken me thirty minutes to walk through the park, stop at the store for some grocery shopping and devour half a box of sour cream Pringles on the way from the store to the station. What can I say, pregnant women change their cravings like teenagers change their pop idols. I had cut through an ally, to be able to walk along the front of the big Victorian style building that housed the police station. I figured my best chance of not accidentally missing Leon would be to pass the main entrance for a quick glance at the duty board, checking if he'd already signed out and then heading straight on to the front parking lot, where he would park the Jeep. If the car was still there, I could just wait for him outside.
The main hall was busy as usual, especially at this hour, when the officers from the morning shift left and the afternoon shift picked up their duty. The plastic seats along the west wall were overloaded with people, waiting for somebody to pay attention to their requests and complaints, all the while arguing with each other over who was going to be next. There were people pacing up and down the hall, officers waving around folders, shouting across the counter over the constant ringing of phones. The noise gave me a headache, making me wonder how anybody could get their work done in this chaos. What was going on here today anyway? I greeted a few familiar faces on my way to the front desk, nearly bumping into a detective, who cautiously held a young woman by her arm, leading her towards a room on the opposite side of the hall. The woman was sobbing uncontrollably, as she was wiping at her eyes with a paper towel every so often. I stopped for a moment, watching them as they passed me. Something really terrible must have happened to her, maybe she had just lost a loved one or she had fallen victim to violence and I felt truly sorry for her as my mind conjured up an image of a big, drunk husband beating up on this tiny, defenceless woman. I willed myself not to think about it anymore as I pushed through a group of people occupying the front desk. After all, I was here to announce some good news, not to worry about other people's sorrows. I propped my elbows onto the cool, wooden surface, leaning over the counter to get a sneak peak at the board on the wall behind it. "Leon already left. You just missed him." The hint of a smile crawled over my face as I caught sight of Michael Lopez, the owner of the booming voice, pressing the receiver of a phone against his broad chest. "How long's he been gone?" I asked, a little disappointed. He shrugged, giving me a thoughtful expression. "Four, maybe five minutes?" "Thanks, Mike." I was already on the move when I heard him calling after me. "Hey, Claire! Boy or girl?" "Boy!" I shouted back over my shoulder, catching a grin spread out over the Hispanics handsome features before I turned and hustled towards the exit. "Somebody's gonna be really happy to hear that!" he yelled over the noise in the hall, obviously completely indifferent to whoever was waiting on the other end of that phone he had been holding. I threw my arms up in victory, beaming with pride and I could almost feel Mike laughing behind my back as I picked up speed. Hopefully I would still be able to catch Leon on his way to the car. If not, I could always ask Chris to give me a ride back to the hospital.
I squinted my eyes against the sudden brightness outside, ready to scan the parking lot to my right for the Jeep, that would most certainly stand out against the other cars. I didn't even have to do that. Once my eyes had adjusted to the light, I could make out a figure, standing in the middle of the driveway, some ten meters away. It was Leon alright, shielding his eyes against the sun, staring at something above me. From where I was standing, I couldn't see what it was that had him so preoccupied, but I could hear him shout something, before he stretched out his arms towards the sky, as if reaching for the clouds. "Leon! Leon, over here!" I frantically waved my arm to get his attention. He yanked his head in my direction, dropping his arms and at the same moment I saw a small object drop from the sky, glistening in the sun for a second before it hit the ground with a low clunk, skidded across the rough asphalt and came to a halt only inches away from Leon's feet. "Claire? What are you doing here?" He shouted over the engine of a passing police cruiser that pulled into an empty parking space next to him. "I came to pick you up." I answered, as Leon crouched down to gather up what looked like a set of keys. "Didn't I tell you to wait for me at the hospital? Why you're always ignoring what I say?" He mock scolded me. I held onto the plastic bag with both hands, bouncing it against my knees as I rocked back and forth on my feet, trying to look as innocent as possible. For a brief moment a car distracted me, turning into the street that ran along the back of the parking lot. I didn't give it much thought, even though it was a rather unusual car, a white low rider with shiny chrome railings all along the side and a big heck spoiler. Cars pass all the time, right? "Well, I thought you wanted to hear the good news as soon as possible." I offered as an n excuse for my not following orders. I still didn't pay much attention to the car, even as it awkwardly pulled onto the sidewalk behind Leon. "I do, but you shouldn't be walking around all over town, carrying heavy bags in your condition." 'My condition'. Every time he said that, it made me feel like I was sick or handicapped or something. I put on a frowning face as I prepared to give him a scolding as not to treat me like an invalid, just because I was four months pregnant. His recent over-protection was beginning to seriously annoy me. 'Don't carry heavy stuff. Don't take the bus to school, I'll give you a ride. Don't go out alone after dark. Don't go hiking in the woods.' He was worse than my brother. For the first time, the white car struck me as weird, when from the corner of my eye, I saw both, the man in the back as well as the one sitting behind the steering wheel, roll down their windows. A ray of sun was reflecting on what I believed was one of the chrome railings, blinding me for a split second. "You're making it sound like I was." I didn't get to finish my sentence for it was suddenly cut short by a deep threatening voice, from somewhere behind Leon's back. I couldn't understand what the first man said, but I heard the other one loud and clear and I felt a cold shiver run down my spine almost instantly. "Time to pay, sucker!" he yelled for everyone to hear. From that point on, everything happened so fast I could hardly grasp it happened at all. A woman's terrified shriek from the parking lot pinched my ear and I felt a strong hand locking around my upper arm, yanking at it so forcefully that I accidentally let go of the plastic bag. It slipped from my grip and hit the ground, milk splashing over my sneakers, vegetables and the half empty box of Pringles littering the floor. I struggled to regain my balance, nearly tripping over my own feet as the hand kept pulling me to the left. The last thing I saw was how Leon whirled around to face the car, instinctively reaching for his gun, and then a huge metal container blocked my view. I didn't have to see it, to know what happened next. A shot thundered through the air, glass was breaking as something impacted with a muffled thud, followed by another, shot, not as loud as the first one, a smaller calibre. Time seemed to be standing still for a moment before all hell broke loose. The officer who ducked behind the container with me whipped the gun from his holster, inching towards the edge of the container, yelling at me to stay down, while somebody else had already opened fire immediately joined in by others. The officer's radio crackled to live, barely audible over the cacophony of gunshots and shouting. I heard only two words emerge through the static, gripping my heart so tight that I thought I was going to faint. "Officer down! Officer down!" I pressed my hands against my ears, shielding them from the noise that pounded at my head, all the while hoping, praying that it wasn't true, that Leon hadn't just been shot. There was the screeching of tires, engines roaring to live and sirens echoing all around me as I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to block everything out. What had only taken a couple of minutes had seemed to me like an eternity of life in hell and when the noise had finally died down I dared to open my eyes again, staring blankly at the rusty metal in front of me, my vision blurred by the tears of fear welling up inside of me. I swallowed them down as I stepped out behind the container, remaining in a state of shock for a couple of seconds as my worst nightmare had come true right before my eyes. "Leoooon!" I didn't know why I screamed his name for the chances he could still hear me were close to zero. When I was finally able to move again, a pair of strong arms locked around my waist, trying to keep me from running down the driveway to where Leon lay motionless on the ground, with two other police officers crouching over him checking for any sign of life. I knew those arms all too well, they had held me many times whether those times had been good or bad. But in my state of terror and anguish, my brother couldn't hold me back, not even if he had chained me to the wall and with a strength unknown to him, I began to kick and punch until I had yanked myself free from Chris's grip. "Claire don't!" I didn't listen to him, I didn't care. Before I reached the end of the driveway an ambulance had already pulled up through the crowed of spectators on the sidewalk and came to a stop in the same spot where only minutes ago the white low rider had parked, the car with the men who were responsible for the horror I was going through. "What the hell are you staring at? Move on, damn it!" It was Chris's angry voice raising up from somewhere behind me. "Johnson, get those people out of the way, before I break some jaws!" He ordered before gently putting his strong hand on my shoulder. I placed my hand on top of his, incapable of doing anything else as I was staring into Leon's lifeless eyes. The paramedics rushed towards us, kneeling down, immediately starting their work. Like in trance I followed their every move with my eyes until Chris carefully turned me around, tucking me into his arms and I pressed my face against his chest, crying. The way he held me, I knew he was thinking the same thing I was thinking. There was no way Leon was going to live. My world drowned in a sea of tears, every sound around me blocked out by my own sobs. I only came to my senses when Chris shook me repeatedly, calling my name over and over again, mumbling how we had to get to the hospital and that there was still a chance. I didn't know how he got the key to the Jeep or where he found the note, for everything that happened after I had seen Leon lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood is a blur to me. God there was so much blood. It was everywhere, on the shattered window and hood of the police cruiser, on the ground, on Leon's chest, soaking his uniform in a dark crimson. So much. Even on the note that I held onto all the way to the hospital. I don't know what happened at the hospital. I think that at one point Chris was having an argument with someone, but I'm not sure. The only thing I will never forget is the look on the doctor's face when he said the inevitable words, the words that pierced my heart like a spear, ripping a wound into my soul that might never heal. "He died on the way to the hospital."
I dry my tears with the paper towel Chris hands me, forcing a tiny smile on his face. I think I will take him up on his offer to move in with him. I am going to need a lot of help with the baby coming in a few months and staying at the apartment, filled with all of Leon's stuff, our stuff, isn't going to make thing's any easier. Every little thing I see in that place brings back a different memory, so strong, so real, that I can feel his presents. Just like he was still there, like he had never left me. Chris strokes my hot cheek with his rough hand, his eyes, filled with grief, resting on my own. "Come on Claire," his soothing voice a mere whisper "I'll take you home." I nod in agreement as I begin to realise that for the past six days, I've been shutting myself off from the world, even worse, I shut myself off from my brother, refusing to talk to him, pushing him away, when all he was trying to do was comfort me the best way he can. Maybe it's time for me to give Chris a chance, to open up to him. Maybe it's time for me to start facing the world again.
A/N: Next chapter: The Friend's Story
So Leon's dead. We know that much, but Claire didn't really see a whole lot, now did she? Maybe somebody else saw a little more...