Rescue Me

Prologue

This is the story of how my life changed forever and how I learned to never  take anything for granted ever again.

I can still remember getting out of the police vehicle and stepping onto the San Francisco street. I can hear the waves crashing down and I start heading towards the pier since it's the only way to go. I'm desperate to catch this criminal. The wind is blowing through my hair, it's almost blinding me. The smell and mist of the sea strongly hits me and I know that I'm getting closer to the pier.

In the distance I see him. This only motivates me to run faster, being completely reckless and forgetting about the rest of the officers. He knows that I'm coming after him, but he seems to be forgetting that a pier is surrounded by water and that he's not going to get away. In the distance I could hear other sirens, but they were too far. This was going to end up to be just him and me, I was the only one who could stop him.

I see the pier. It's getting closer and closer and so it the villain. I reach for my gun, hoping it doesn't have to come to this. He turns around and I'm taken aback; this man is not alone. He has a small child with him, not only this, but he's stopped running only to hold his weapon to the boy's head. I freeze and take shelter, close and safe enough for me to make a shot.

"Police!" I shout over my shoulder. "Drop your weapon!"

  "Or what? You're going to shoot me?" He replies in a sinister tone, "You won't do it. You wouldn't dare risk this boy's life."

I take a deep breath and turn my body towards him along with my weapon.  

"Let the boy go, this is between you and me, let's just talk this out."

"No! No more talking!"  I hear the sound of his gun cock.

I know that I have to act fast. I point my weapon steadily at him ready to take aim. His gun firmly remains on the scared child. I know that he's right. No more talking, it's time to act. It's now or never. I'm ready for the shot, my finger slowly inches closer towards the trigger, and for a split second it seems like time has stopped.

Before I could react, everything moved in quickly sped up. It's over now, it's all over.

The little boy's body dropped and my heart with him. I stood in disbelief as the scene registers in my head. Without a second shot, I fire my weapon and the bullet pierces the killer's shoulder. An agonizing cry follows along with spiteful, ludicrous laughter. He falls to the ground next to the boy and I rush over.

"Shots fired, I repeat shots fired," I call into my radio.

I snatch his weapon away, far enough so that he won't be able to crawl and get it. Collapsing to the asphalt, I apply pressure to the little boy's wound and hopelessly search for a pulse. I can't help but choke back tears as the realization sets in. This innocent child was gone and he wasn't coming back. This is all my fault. I didn't save him before. I couldn't save him now.

All around me, officers start to flood the site, but I am numb. Men and women run around in a frenzy trying to piece together what had happened.

I hear someone call in to their radio asking for a medic, and I want to tell them that it's too late. I wanted to scream and cry and break, but I just sat there paralyzed in shock.

And all I could hear was the damned laughter of his.

***

(A/N: I hope you enjoyed the prologue! If you did, don't forget to comment, vote, and/or share! Thanks! ~Andrea)