The Story of Blood and Roses Chapter 37

[Gasping for the breath I don't need, I tried to look up at the face of my killer . I stared in horror as I saw nothing, but charred fragments of skin hanging off of bones . There were no eyes, no sockets to place them in; no eyebrows to give the man any features . The thing just had a thin line for an opening—his mouth . No lips . If closed, one wouldn't even think it existed .

'WAKE UP!' I shouted at my own subconsciousness . If I didn't wake up in the next few seconds, I would probably lose my mind .

"Did you have fun hiding?" I could just stare at the faceless figure . It was a growl of anger he let out when I didn't answer . "I'm tired of following you around . This is it . No one can save you, anymore," he said . "Any last wishes?" he deadpanned . Of course, I wasn't given a chance to answer . "Time's up, kitten . Now, you die . " I saw his hands jerk against the trigger . I heard the sound of the thing go off . I felt the cold, hard material against my skin for the fraction of a split second . I felt the gut-wrenching pain as the bullet locked itself in place . I could smell the faint smell of burning skin from the firearm being held to close to the juncture of my eyebrows . Yet, I wasn't dead . I realized in a jolt that it was merely a dream; a painful one, but a dream . I was living the dream of a horrible death .

I couldn't even remember my mission at that moment .

My mission? What mission?

I couldn't remember .

All I could think of was Sean, the black car, and impending death .

I felt the pain after the deafening sound of twelve more bullets leaving the gun .

I welcomed death . ]

.

The address to the private shooting range was sitting in my inbox when I woke up . I'd woken up altogether too early . I wondered how little I'd slept .

I had been drenched and in dire need of a shower . As the cold water rushed over me, I tried to remember the dream . Most of it was lost . It was all shock and terror and no real memories . I knew a bit about dreams . They could be three things; a manifestation of our subconscious, a long forgotten memory or a prediction of the future . I had ruled out the second option before I'd even thought about it, but then there was the last one . I never really did have dreams that told me the consequences—the future . I'd believed that I lived in the moment: one day at a time .

The first option gave me comfort . I knew I'd been thinking of the black car that tailed me and the fear that someone had messed with my car . But how had Sean come into the scene? Was it because I'd given him a lift a couple of times?

Maybe .

As the time passed in the shower, I was determined to hold on to the memory of the dream, but with each drop of water that ran down my skin, the memories, too, ran in different directions; ran off until I just remembered the fear I'd felt and the blurred image of a faceless man holding the gun at my head .

It didn't matter anymore, I decided by the end of the shower .

I just stopped thinking about it and got down to work . I needed to get someone to check my car out and reach the shooting range in a few hours .

.

Standing in front of my car—the same one that induced that wretched dream, made me nervous . I could almost hear the ticking of a bomb, but I ensured myself that no one would be stupid enough to plant a bomb that would be easy to find .

As the mechanic checked over my car, he furrowed his brow and poked around a little longer than I would've liked and in the end with a sigh came back up to face me .

"Your car is in perfect condition . " His smile didn't falter as I asked him to take another look . "There's no need . I realize that you were a bit worried, but you have a beautiful car . I think it was just some kids who wanted to check it out . "

It made sense, but I was adamant that it wasn't just that . I was suspicious by nature and this was definitely suspicious . Maybe I could get my hands on the CCTV footage of the alley . I think they had a camera in the area . It was then that I remembered a fragment of my dream (so much for forgetting about it) .

"Do me a favor, check the brakes again . " He nodded, understanding my worries .

Proving that my worries were unnecessary, the brakes seemed to work just fine when the mechanic checked it .

I paid the man and with a final prayer to whatever god was up there . I entered the car and drove towards my destination—the shooting range .

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Chapter end