Behind Blue Eyes

Dead End

Cassie's shift at the diner was uneventful, the usual flow of customers coming and going. She exchanged pleasantries, took orders, and served food, but her mind was elsewhere. The memory of the boy with the blue eyes and the strange encounter at the diner continued to haunt her thoughts.

As closing time approached, Cassie noticed the dark clouds gathering outside. By the time she locked up and stepped out, the skies had opened up, and it was pouring rain.

"Shit, how am I supposed to walk home in this?" she muttered to herself, pulling her jacket tighter around her.

With no other option, she started walking, the cold rain soaking through her clothes almost instantly. She decided to take a shortcut through an alleyway to get home faster, hoping to escape the rain sooner. As she walked, her vision blurred from the heavy rain, and she felt an uneasy sensation, as if someone was following her.

Her heart started pounding, adrenaline rushing through her veins. She quickened her pace, the sound of footsteps behind her growing louder. Whoever was following her was keeping up. Cassie began taking turns down different alleys, hoping to lose them, but instead, she found herself at a dead end.

Panic set in as she frantically looked around, trying to find a way out. Suddenly, three men stepped out of the shadows, all dressed in black clothing and wearing masks.

"What do you want from me?" Cassie shouted, her voice trembling with fear.

The men said nothing, continuing to walk towards her. One of them reached out and grabbed her arm, but she pulled away and started fighting back. The other two men joined in, and she kicked and punched with all her might. For a moment, she managed to hold them off, but she was soon overpowered and beaten badly. She screamed and cried for help, feeling utterly hopeless.

Just when she thought all was lost, another figure emerged from the shadows. Cassie couldn't make out his features, but his presence seemed to freeze the thugs in their tracks.

"Turn around and go back to where you came from. This does not concern you," one of the thugs yelled.

The man said nothing, continuing to walk towards them with a calm, determined stride.

"I'm warning you right now, I will kill you," another thug threatened.

The mystery man dodged a punch with ease, and a fight broke out. He moved with such grace and precision, dodging their blows and landing every punch he threw. In no time, he had knocked out two of the thugs. The last thug, who had been holding Cassie, threw her to the ground to join the fight. Cassie's body stung with pain as she hit the ground, unable to move.

The man finished off the last thug and then approached Cassie. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice gentle.

Cassie didn't respond, still in shock. As he knelt beside her, she noticed his tattoos and his bloodied hands. But it was his eyes that caught her attention—those piercing blue eyes. It was him, the boy from her memory and the diner.

He tried to help her up, and she winced in pain. "Sorry," he muttered, his voice filled with concern.

He picked her up gently, and she wrapped her arms around him, feeling an unexpected sense of safety in his embrace. He carried her to his car and placed her in the passenger seat, then returned with a blanket to wrap around her.

He got into the driver's seat and started the car. In that moment, Cassie didn't care where they were going or who he was. She just wanted to be anywhere but that alley. The warmth of the car and the blanket soothed her, and exhaustion soon took over. She felt extremely weak and eventually dozed off, the events of the night fading into a haze of rain and darkness.