The rain hits my flesh and rolls off, dyed a sickening crimson. The blood from my wounds is washed away little by little with every drop. Pain overwhelms me, mentally, physically. I hurt in ways I didn’t know possible.

Memories flash themselves over my mind’s eye at a sickening pace;

I I remember the first day we met. I saw her at her work, we made eye contact, and I knew that she would go on to play a huge part in my life. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. I suppose it was just destiny. Fate. Whatever you call it, I could feel it in the air that day.

I remember everything; all at once.

The first time we spoke.

The first time we touched.

The first time we kissed.

I can remember the first time I told her I loved her. The stars were out that night. They shined above us as we lay on the hood of her car in the desolate field like so many diamonds. The moon was a shadowed orb, mysterious, alluring. As was she.

It was the night before Halloween. Three years ago.

The night I told her I’d die for her.

The night before everything went to hell. /I

A heart-rending scream erupting from my left pulls me back to reality. I fall slowly onto my knees. The mud is pushed up and out, flying through the air in brown flecks. Bloodied rain water pools around my knees. I take a breath, a long, slow, rattling, wavering breath. The euphoric lightheadedness the oxygen caused sent me into the past once more;

I I walked her home that night, three years ago.

Screams came from inside her house. Her did didn’t even wait until I was out of earshot before he tells her what he thinks of.

He doesn’t seem to like me much.

I stand, transfixed, as I hear words that seem to sear my very soul.

“If I ever see you two together again, I’ll shoot you where you stand. Pack your things. We’re leaving.

I can hear her sobbing from where I stand. But I was far too much a coward to show my face and console her, or say goodbye. /I

Another breath, it hurts to breathe. I slump forward onto my hands, my weakened arms shaking with my weight bearing down upon them. I cough, and I thought for a moment that one of my lungs would be expelled from my body, so violent was the spasm. That wasn’t the case, however.

The cough yielded nothing but half a mouthful of blood.

I She didn’t call me the next day. Her dad always told her to pack, but he never went through with it. Nevertheless, her silence had me paranoid. I drove to her house after work. It was void of both her and her father. A lot of their things were gone. I had no idea where they had gone.

I was filled with hatred, for myself, for my cowardice. Because of my own lack of fortitude, I hadn’t even been able to say goodbye.

It took me nearly two years to find her after that. /I

I spat the blood from my mouth, drawing another shaky, painful breath. This was the end; it was over now. I could tell. A damn shame, really.

I The cornfields rolled by. I was so tired that I found their passing deeply hypnotic. I nearly veered off of the road after falling asleep on several occasions. I had been awake, and driving, for three days. I stopped only to eat and acquire gasoline.

Then I saw it. Her father’s car was parked in front of a house. And so was hers.

My heart leapt, then skipped a beat. Most members of their own family didn’t even know her father owned property this far away from home. It had taken me nearly two years to even get the information that led to my finding them. And I had driven through five different states to get here.

I felt a few seconds or so of fear when I knocked upon the door.

But, when she opened the door, all I seemed to feel for the longest time was her lips against mine and the warmth of an embrace that had been two years postponed. I

Reality beckoned once more; though it was beginning to become confusing. I wasn’t sure anymore what was really happening and what wasn’t. At the moment, all I knew was pain; and the voice.

“Daddy…dad…why?”

I For a year I had driven to see her in secret, whenever it was possible. Her father was never home by the time I got there, he worked the graveyard shift at a factory.

Most of the time.

The one time he came home early, we happened to be in a very compromising position. And he attempted to make good on his three year old vow. /I

I can remember it like it was yesterday, which is rather odd, considering it happened just seconds ago.

I We had heard the front door open, then close. There was nothing we could possibly hope to do. She and I shared a glance, and we heard him walk into his room while we dressed hurriedly, wondering silently how managed to miss seeing my car. /I

As it was, he hadn’t missed a thing.

I I ran out the front door, she followed me, and he followed her, gun in hand. He pointed it at her, and began to pull the trigger. Without even pause for thought, I dove wildly in front of her, and managed to land on my feet, and received a torso full of bullets. /I

I fall the rest of the way to the ground, face down. The mud was sickeningly warm, even thought the rain was chilling. I raise my face slightly and see her father’s boots before me.

My fall to the ground had seemed to take an eternity, but I knew it had taken only a few seconds.

They were arguing now. She was crying, he was screaming. She screamed, then I heard the sounds of two people fighting, testing strength over an object.

Her father was huge, she never had a chance.

I heard the unmistakable sound of cold steel striking against a human skull, and a limp figure fell next to mine.

At least we would be together in death.

I turned my head to face her;

And found her father lying next to me. A gunshot pierced the night, and a crimson mixture of blood and brain matter splattered upon my face.

She knelt next to me; placing her lips against mine for the final time, ignoring the gore that streaked my face.

I finally found my voice;

“I love you.”

Her response seemed to take a millennium.

“I love you, too.”

I died with a slow-motion smile playing across my face.