The Gunslinger

Chapter 1

    It was a beautiful day in March, the skies were clear, and Harvey could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin. There was a gentle breeze in the air that kept the heat from being too overbearing, and most importantly, she was there at his side. Liz was five feet, four inches tall and a hundred twenty-five pounds. She had short strawberry blonde hair that always looked like it was a second thought, emerald green eyes with long lashes, and a fair complexion spotted with what her mother always thought was an overabundance of freckles. The paint on her nails was chipped, and her nose was just a little crooked from a fight she got into back in grade school when she stood up to a kid who was a grade above her. She was nineteen, she wore torn jeans, a pair of well-worn shoes, and a Carnivel shirt, even though she was not old enough to attend the last time it was in town. She was an only child who grew up as a latch key kid, raised by a single mom who worked two jobs. But Liz tried her hardest to help where she could. That was how she met Harvey, working a shift at a coffee shop down the street from her house. There was no sort of love at first sight and the heavens didn't open through the clouds, she just thought he was charming, the way he awkwardly fumbled with his coffee as he asked her out.

It was not until they started dating that she found out that he had been going out of his way for weeks to visit that little coffee shop before he got up the courage to ask her out. When he finally found the words, she knew it was worth the wait. Now, here they were, holding hands, her head on his shoulder, talking about their interests, and sharing facts about their lives. He was a couple years older, and as they took a seat on the swings, he pulled a small bottle of whiskey out of his pocket. A smirk traveled across Liz's face. They goofed around on the playground for a bit, sharing swigs from the bottle as they both tried so hard not to cringe at the taste. Once they had exhausted themselves and a good amount of the whiskey, they began to walk again. She led him to a spot in the grass beneath a large willow tree, and playfully pushed him down before straddling him as he propped himself up on his elbows. She looked at him for a moment before she leaned in and kissed him. He could taste the whiskey on her lips. She attempted to break their embrace, but he pulled her close and kissed her again, flipping her onto her back as he did. She laughed, and that's when Harvey felt it.

A jolt of electricity coursed through his body. He felt alive. He was propped up on his elbows again looking down at her, her hair a mess. She gently bit her lip and lifted her eyes before he kissed her again, this time there was no stopping them. At least until they were interrupted by a rather large black lab with a snout dripping with drool. He was not sure what he had intruded upon, but he was happy to be involved, at least until his owner came sprinting over to claim him before apologizing. They just laughed it off and bid him farewell before Harvey felt it again, that jolt of electricity. Suddenly he was not in the park anymore he was laying in the gutter, it was raining, and there were two strangers standing over him.

"We're losing him."

He could hear Liz crying his name. He could hear other familiar voices as well. Was that his sister? He tried to pick himself up as he wondered what happened, when that failed, he tried to lift his head, but to no avail. His last chance was just to move his hand but when he succeeded, he wished he hadn't. It was hot and sticky. Blood, and a lot of it. He wondered for a moment if it were his, and then it all came back to him; the man he saw with Morgan, Liz telling him to leave it alone, that they would call the police, the way he turned around and the feeling of that knife in his chest. The way it felt plunging into him before being pulled out and reentering a little further down. He remembered the third time that blade entered him, he could feel it brushing up again his rib as it found its way into his heart. The way Liz screamed; he had never heard such a terrifying sound. He could feel the cold wet ground on his back, as the rainwater tried its hardest to wash away the blood.