Pieces Part 1

Arrested

Reality:

"Ah!" I breathed rapidly. My heart thumped with vigor as I opened my eyes to Tina and I's apartment.

"Was that another dream?" I gazed down at my hands, testing the five-finger rule I used to discern reality. Indeed, no extra appendages were to be seen.

My muscles ached all over. I slowly rose from the floor, stumbling into the kitchenette as my body flailed to support itself on two feet. The crimson stains I marked on the surface took me by surprise.

"What's going on? Did I get shot?" My eyes scanned my skin for any signs of a wound—no gaping holes to be found here. Then what happened?

My eyes drifted to the apartment's maroon carpet.

And that was when I saw the lifeless blonde on the floor.

Tina's rotten corpse.

"What... What's going on?? Why am I?!..."

I darted my eyes around for any explanation. An intruder; burglary gone wrong. Something to explain this awful mess.

But only Tina, me, and a knife were in the room.

And that told a story. But not one I could accept to be painted as the truth.

An onslaught of footsteps could be heard advancing to our apartment building. A brusque voice yelled, "What room?"

Someone replied, "Apartment 107, on the other side."

That was where me and Tina were. Someone called for help!

"Radio, we are approaching the disturbance now. Standby!" The buzz of static got closer to my front door. I was quivering like crazy, but I was also too weak to move my frozen legs.

BANG, BANG, BANG.

"This is the police. Open the door."

Help was here to save me. No matter what Tina went through, Tina could be ushered to medical care and a rightful investigation.

Everything would be okay.

I shouted back, "I'm coming to unlock it!" I hesitated to check Tina's heartbeat, deciding that whichever personnel arrived would do better in the time I'd spend trying to decipher a pulse.

I practically dashed to the doorway, loosening the lock without a missed beat. I didn't even have to open the door for it to be flung wide open.

And for 3 red dots, be aimed straight at my forehead.

Two officers yelled, "Don't move!" They kept their weapons aimed at me as I was cornered back into the apartment. One of them glimpsed at Tina's corpse and glowered.

"BODY!" He announced over his walkie. I couldn't understand why the air was so hostile with these two—and why no one had come in with a damn doctor. Was no one here to HELP Tina?

One screamed before I could question their tactics, "GET ON THE GROUND!" I wasn't even able to raise my arms before being tackled.

"Damn!" I grunted. My waist was searing with pain as I tumbled to the floor. My skull was narrowly saved from splitting into smithereens on the pillar behind me. The attacking officer rolled me onto my stomach and handcuffed me from behind.

"I-I don't understand," I stammered groggily. Smirking at the blood that dripped from my mouth, the officer hoisted me to my feet and shoved me out of the room like a dog.

I was jolted into the apartment courtyard like a spectacle. Residents I knew gawped at me in horror, and cameras clobbered my face with their blinding flashes. I tasted the fame I'd never wished to feel again.