It happened in a sunny parking lot in Miami, just after four-thirty on a Sunday afternoon. It was the kind of day where the heat shimmered in the scorched air and seemed to melt unmercifully into its victims skin. A hip furniture store was celebrating its grand opening weekend, and the parking lot was overflowing. Undiscouraged, she had parked in the employee lot behind the building, and an hour later exited the store with a heavy lamp that had a quartet of light bulbs arranged artfully on bendable metal pipes. The store was preparing to close and now the customer lot was nearly empty, although a semi had parked near the back and obstructed the view of her car. A tall, stocky man leaned against the side of the semi smoking a cigarette, probably on break from unloading.
She rounded the corner of the truck and unlocked the door to her sparkling white Corvette, throwing her purse inside on the passenger seat and debating how to fit the lamp in without damaging it. She heard a swift metallic clink and moments later a large knife flashed dangerously close in her vision before being pressed against her throat. A beefy arm wrapped around her upper chest from behind and the sharp scent of a freshly smoked cigarette invaded her nostrils. "You are going to climb into the back of that truck," a thick, harsh voice growled in her ear, "and if you give me any problems about it, I'll make you into a Pez Dispenser and then you'll go into the back of the truck."
"If you want money, t-take my purse. Paycheck, just cashed," she stammered, her body stiff from surprise.
"Idiot woman," the thick voice replied angrily. "I want your car." With horror Lisa realized that there was blood sliding down the skin of her throat and soaking into the hem of her shirt. "Drop the lamp, get in the semi, now."
She had been fearless up until that day. Still in the healthy epitome of her youth, she had never had a reason to consider her mortality a fleeting, delicate thing. Complying with his demands was such a simple choice, really. However Lisa preferred creating her own options. If the guy just wanted money, that was one thing. But her Corvette was her baby, and she was going to fight for it.
Lisa tightened her grip on the base of the lamp and screamed like a banshee as she walloped the assailant on the side of his head. The light bulbs broke against his skin and sliced the flesh to ribbons. The attacker bellowed in pain as the glass chips caught in his eyelashes and scattered across his face. Suddenly his iron hand grasped the back of her neck and threw her with ruthless force against the side of the car, hard enough to leave an ugly dent. Black fireworks exploded in her vision and she staggered wildly in pain.
"Up for a little bit of fun are ya? You should've told me," he mocked with a harsh laugh. He shook his head and sent glass shards flying through the air. Holding the knife against her throat, his hand slowly groped its way down her torso and leisurely explored her body. He chuckled lecherously in her ear as he reconsidered locking her inside the truck just yet, and an instant later she felt his clammy fingers digging up her torso and fumbling over her bra.
Her fingers had turned numb while her pulse had gone hysterical. For a second the knife dropped away from her throat as he concentrated on unhooking the bra strap, and she didn't hesitate to use her chance. Her knee connected with his groin and she swung to smash her palm up his nose, except he recovered before she was able to regain her balance.
Lisa ducked his wildly aimed punch, but was unprepared to see the bloody knife headed straight towards her throat. Without thinking she grabbed his hand, tried to throw it to the side, but he had too much momentum… She stepped backwards at the last moment, futilely watched as the knife sank cleanly into her skin before her very eyes…
Blazing pain, unlike anything she had ever felt before… the liquid heat still rising from the pavement danced with her briefly before she fell to the ground amidst her lamp and the splintered glass from the bulbs…
The car door slammed nearby and caught her attention. The man's blood streaked face sneered at her from the driver's seat. The burning hatred in his eyes seemed almost dreamlike in its severity. The engine roared to life and the car was instantly in motion. From her vantage point on the ground, she watched it reverse in a wide arc, looked under the bottom of the semi to see the vehicle take off towards the street.
Almost absently she glanced down at the knife still embedded in her chest. She was vaguely surprised that it didn't hurt as much as she had expected. Blood from the wound dripped steadily to the ground, mingled with the glass, and the sun lit up the pavement to reveal a red, sparkling field of bleeding diamonds.
Seconds later, a terrifying, heart-stopping scream. Not her own. Whose? She forced her eyes away from the grotesque blood-soaked sight and looked towards the street. A customer had stepped from the sidewalk and into the parking lot right as the madman was hurtling past in her Corvette. The body was slumped lifelessly on the ground.
Tears stung her eyes; she blinked slowly. If she had simply stuck to being a people-pleaser and not fought back, the man would have been long gone before the customer ever exited the store. Her selfishness at having to play the hero had gotten an innocent person killed… And it was only then that Lisa fainted from pain. After that her life had broken apart, like the shattered lamp she had left lying there on the bloody pavement.