On a warm autumn evening, I waited under a red-leaved oak. As I gazed at the large clocktower across the street I sighed, 5:40, he was late. I waited quietly for a few more minutes before I felt a hand on my shoulder. When I turned around I saw my boyfriend Zach, out of breath and sweaty."Sorry, I'm late. I got caught up in a lecture." I gave him a smirk and lifted his hand off my shoulder. "You should have just called and told me, now you are all sweaty for our date." He gave me a small smile then a hefty hug, his large frame enveloping me. "In any case, it is good to see you again Emma. Sorry that school has kept me so busy." As he released me, I put a small kiss on his cheek before stepping back.
We continued to talk for a time as we walked toward the city park, watching as colored leaves slowly fell from ruby and golden trees. Eventually, we reached the front gate and started to follow the winding paths until we came to the top of a large hill. We found a bench and gazed over the park as the sun fell below the crest of the city skyline. As the last rays were fading, Zach looked over to me and put his hand over mine before sliding off the bench and onto one knee. I gasped as he reached into his pocket and removed a small box. "Emma, I have loved you since I first met you four years ago." He opened the box then continued,"Emilia Martin, will you marry me?" Tears of joy began to fall from my face as my mouth tried to form the word yes.
That is when I felt cold metal against the base of my skull followed by a deep gravelly voice,"Give me the ring and this girl will live. Then hand over your wallet if you want her to be unharmed." Zach locked up as he noticed the man that had snuck up behind me. Immediately Zach started to stand, but the man pressed what I assumed was the barrel of a gun tighter onto my skin. Very slowly Zach handed over the ring saying, "You are a despicable human being!"
The man let out a raspy chuckle as he grabbed the ring box and slipped it into his pocket. "No hard feelings, I saw something I wanted and you couldn't stop me." The gun moved down to my spine as he pulled me off the bench by my ponytail. "Now you wallet boy" As he gave the command the man moved his hand to my throat. Dreadfully Zach complied, making a small performance out of the act before reaching toward me with the wallet. As the man moved his hand to grab the wallet I let my legs buckle, causing me to fall to the floor just as Zach took a massive swing with his hand right at the man's head. Then I heard a gunshot and a scream from Zach as he fell with a hole in his leg. The man looked down at us and spoke in a monotone voice, "Bad choice" before firing a few more shots into Zach. As I looked at Zach's bloody form I broke down into sobs and fell to the ground. Then I felt the man pull my hands revealing him looking at me and smiling with piercing green eyes before he pulled the trigger. After the first shot, I could only see the red of my own blood, but I heard seven more soon after. Weakly I pulled my dying body toward Zach's limp form before everything faded into nothingness.
