Erika fell to the floor as the the bullet exploded into the air. All she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and wait for the pain. The same pain her father must have felt once trying to protect her.
Erika was shivering violently as she experienced a bright white flashback. Her father lay still in the streets of Los Angeles dressed in his blue uniform. Just a police officer driving his daughter to school and yet shot down like an animal.
A younger version of herself ran to her father sobbing and he brushed back her hair and smiled weakly. Then in a voice slow with pain "I love you princess" "I love you too daddy" his eyes closed for the last time and his head tilted to the side.
"Daddy! Daddy please! Don't go! Don't go..." Two strong hands of another young officer pulled her away and held her too him keeping his eyes trained on his best friend.
Those same hands were softly placed on her shoulders and the images melted away back into reality. Two blue eyes stared into hers. "Daddy?" Erika whispered. Too late she noticed his red hair. "No princess. Pete."
Pete was crouching next to Erika. She looked around at the boxes surrounding her one in particular was above her.
Part of the edge was a splintered hole now. The bullet missed and Erika knew how too. She knew Pete had jumped in to save her without her actually seeing it happen. That's how her father had died.
"Uncle Pete... I... you could have d... you should have let-" "What is wrong with you!" Ed said quickly coming up to her. Pete whipped around and glared at him intensely as if daring him to come any closer. He felt Erika move behind him.
She slowly stood up trying to take it all in but the room was spinning. From what she could see one man was being dragged off by more officers that had appeared on the scene the other... lifeless.
Erika looked at Ed dazed and dizzy. Her voice was barely a whisper as she stammered "I- I- I" she sat again suddenly no longer able to ignore the tilting room.
She didn't want to look at anybody. She didn't want to look at the man. She didn't want to remember. A sickening feeling entered her gut.
"Hey. It's going to be alright ok" Pete soothed trying to calm Erika down. It wasn't working. "I messed up." She muttered backing away "I could have gotten us all killed." Her words became louder and she looked up at them with tears spilling over "I can't d- do this anymore. I'm sorry!"
Erika dashed out of the room still a trying to push away the pain, disapointment and dizziness. She failed like she had so many years ago and it was going to happen again and again and again. She just knew it only this time around there wasn't going to be a next time around.
