Born To Die | Vanessa Afton

20

Today was the first day that you were officially on your own. The weekend had all be about trying to prepare yourself but also not trying to think about it... If that made any sense at all. As you placed your police uniform on, you tried hard not to have any type of panic attack before going in. You had been put on your normal hours for now, just to get used to things before they put you on the day shift. Getting in the car also felt like a nightmare, you hadn't even driven there yet and you were already procrastinating.

Driving there, you practised putting a smile on your face, trying to look approachable and friendly. It didn't last long. Walking inside the police station was not as hard as you thought it was going to be. You walked up to the front desk with a small smile on your face, trying to hide the disappointment of Vanessa not being here. It made sense, you never saw her before during you shifts until you met her. As much as you didn't want to, you had to start to get used to it. 

"Where's Shelly?" The receptionist asked, looking behind you clearly confused. It was rare that the two of you were ever seen apart in this building. You were unsure of why she wasn't told, you thought she would be the one person to tell since she pretty much runs the administration of this whole thing. After standing awkwardly for a moment, you cleared your throat, ready to talk but she beat you to it. "Did you break up or something?"

"What! No. We were never together." You paused, wishing you never had to say that sentence. "I'm supposed to be going on my own from now on." You said, the receptionist hummed as she turned. She seemed quite amused with the whole situation and you could tell she was the type to gossip about everyone and everything. She handed you a pair of keys.

"New car that we were given. Don't crash it like the other guys." She commented with an eye roll, clearly done with all the reckless driving that the police officers do in this region. This was a high crime area so you had no doubt that those officers would try their very best to try to get the people by speeding and such. You nodded at her request and headed outside. It was now ten pm on the dot so you were quite shocked that Vanessa wasn't here yet. Maybe she had come early to avoid you? Maybe they changed her shift? Half of you didn't even want to know.

You started to drive around the neighbourhood aimlessly. You circled your normal route, going around the streets slowly, enjoying the peace and quiet even though it was very lonely without your friend there with you to entertain you or to just comfort you even if you felt content. As you turned the car, reminding yourself that you were still driving, you turned up the radio to hear the music more clearly almost as if it would clear your head. As you drove down a particularly quiet road, a car sped past you, going at least double the speed limit. This was your chance. You could finally say that you did something good. 

Following the car, still quite a distance away, you tried to keep your cool. You had done it a thousand times, even with Vanessa when she was trying to make sure you were fine with being alone. God, why can't you get her out of your head? As you focused on the car ahead, you watched as three heads moved frantically, there was now more to worry about. Suddenly, a man poked his head out of the window, he was holding something but you couldn't see what. 

Then, in the street light, you saw the glistening of a small pistol. Fuck. Now you were in trouble now. You couldn't tell what he was trying to do. Shoot you? Scare you away? Reaching for your bag, you dug your hand through, trying to find your radio just as a bullet was fired, colliding with your tire straight away. As you weren't going extremely fast, your car only lost a bit of control. As you tried to pull over, you crashed into a tree, and they had gotten away. 

Sighing, you exited the car and assessed the front of the car, that was definitely not safe to drive with due to the extent of the damage, not to mention the deflated tire. At least you were alright, well physically. What a joy it will be to tell the station that you crashed the car after that being the one thing you were told not to do. You got your radio out of your bag finally and explained the whole situation with was received with a disappointing 'okay'. 

You couldn't wait for your boss to find out how your first day alone went. Hopefully you didn't get fired. After all, you are on thin ice.