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"Joshua!" I can hear it, just barely over a rumble of sound. It... It sounds like Bethany, but she sounds so far away, I can barely hear her over that god-damned noise. The noise is so infuriating, completely unintelligible yet loud enough to almost completely block out the one thing that is clear in this misty haze, Bethany...She sounds so distressed, inconsolable even. I have to help her, have to open my eyes, have to makes sense of it all.
I cling to it, the sound of her weeping, the sound of her desperate pleas of "no" and "it can't be", even as they fade away till I can no longer hear her. I push forward through the fog, even as it feels as though hands are grasping my limbs, trying to pull me back into the black abyss. A sliver of light nearly blinds me as my eyes start to open, and suddenly the unintelligible sounds become clear as day. Gasps, people yelling, some commands like "call 911" and "make way, clear a path", others simply making noises of pure terror.
A gruff voice speaks just as the brightness begins to wane, "Hello Joshua". I recognize that voice, however before I have a chance to place it I am drawn from my own thoughts. I'm at the edge of a large crowd of people, following everyone's gazes my eyes land on Bethany. She's kneeling near the cross walk, blonde hair falling out of her bun, blue eyes wide with tears and pure terror, blood pooling around her knees. Wait... blood? I try to call out to her, to ask what happened, if she is ok but no sound leaves my mouth. I try to run to her but my legs refuse to budge so instead I allow my eyes to fall back to the ground, trailing along the blood toward where her eyes are glued. In an instant I wish I hadn't.
There before her I see... myself, and a man I have never seen before. He's just standing there, holding a metal pipe covered in blood and brains which also cover his face and clothes like a twisted version of a Jackson Pollock painting. He's just standing there smiling, a huge shit eating grin on his face as he stares down at the gaping hole in the back of my head. The force of the blow he dealt strong enough pop out one of my eyes, which now just dangles out of the socket, my body lies in a puddle of my own blood, like a master less marionette, twitching once and a while as what's left of my brain seemingly tries make sense of what is happening. In horror at the sight before me I cry out, and although my voice still doesn't answer me, I now see my mouth gape open and closed as my body struggles to follow my command.
The man above me smiles at this before letting his gaze land upon my vantage point. To my horror I feel myself, no not myself, but whoever's perspective I now share nod in affirmation to the silent question. I try to call out again, this time not to Bethany, or in wordless terror, but instead to the man above me as he raises the pipe above his head for what I am certain will be the final blow, to plead for my pathetic life. He stops momentarily looking up, locking eyes with me, somehow aware of this instinctual urge of mine, as his grin only grows bigger, showing yellowed and chipped teeth.
I watch helpless as he brings down the pipe one last time, a horrendous noise filling the air, the sound of bone being broken and crushed and my brain being mashed even further, making me want to puke the way only those sounds could. Such force was exerted into this blow, that a gory mixture of blood and brains splattered onto Bethany's face, so terror stricken, so in shock is she that she barely flinches.
A flash of silver, a handgun I realize, and for a brief moment, I fear he will kill Bethany as well. Yet, just as the cops push through into the desolate space occupied only by Bethany, my murderer and my mangled body , he turns the gun on himself, only pulling the trigger once he certain it is placed securely under his chin. A loud bang, and a moment later the man crumples to the ground lifeless, our blood pooling together into one puddle, while Bethany in her stupor continues to stare on, like the man is still standing before her.
"I told you Joshua", says the gruff voice as everything starts to go dark again, "refusal to comply would have dire consequences."