Since You've Been Gone..

The End Of A Life- PROLOGUE

Prologue

It's dark. The phone rang. One, two, three times, but there was no reply. 'Hmm', she pondered, 'he must be asleep.' She smiled to herself, imagining his handsome face. Mouth slightly parted, face softened. 'I don't want to wake him', she thought. 'I'll be fine going home by myself.'

Little did she know.

She put her earphones in and turned the music up loud. The Band Perry singing 'If I Die Young' boomed into her ears. An omen.

If the music hadn't been so loud maybe she would have heard the approaching footsteps.

Step, step, step.

Maybe she would have had time to get away.

Step, step, step.

But it wasn't... And she didn't.

A hand roughly grabbed her shoulder.

Adrenaline and fear coursed through her body and fight or flight started to take over. But it was not quick enough. She could see the silhouettes of many men surrounding her.

As they got closer she saw that they were, in fact, only teenagers though they carried themselves with a great sense of confidence. She was used to dealing with over-confident people like that, 'there'll be no problem.'

So she thought.

Her earphones are yanked out of her ears. She'd been so absorded in her thoughts that she had not realised that the music was still playing.

'Give us your money, your phone, your iPod. Anything valuable.' Said a male in front of her. He had broad shoulders and wore a lazy smile. He couldn't have been much older than herself. He was quite good looking with his honey-coloured curls and sea-green eyes but he had nothing on her love. 'Snap out of it,' she thought to herself. 'Got to be aware. Got to be careful.'

As if to reinforce her thoughts the guy repeated. ''Give us your money, your phone, your iPod. Anything valuable.'

If she'd co-operated maybe the following events would have gone differently. But a defiant 'no' was said.

The one who had grabbed her let go, and went round to stand next to the boy who had previously spoken. The others stepped back. He was obviously the leader of this group. Tall, well-built with broad shoulders. He had heartless dark eyes in which her pale face was reflected.

He leaned towards her. 'Last chance. Just give us anything you have.' She had to co-operate now. Right?

Every cell in her body was screaming at her to give up but, yet again, a clear 'no' was said. She was not one who just accepted being told what to do.

He chuckled, and the rest of the gang soon joined in. She looked round nervously and started to inch forward only to be blocked by the body of the leader.

'Sweetie.' He sighed, putting a stray, chesnut hair behind her ear. 'I hate wasting things- people included. But you should have just listened. You should've listened and given me your things. I'm not in the mood to be arguing with a stupid child. I don't like being denied. Disobeyed.. So you must pay.'

Her heart skipped a beat as she about caught the glint of a blade in the moonlight before she felt a searing pain. Darkness enveloped her. More pain.. Would it never stop?

Soon enough she is stripped of her belongings and left for dead. Deep down, she knew she wasn't going to make it. Although her life didn't flash before her eyes, per se, she had many flashbacks too quick to see but yet as clear as anything had ever been. Her mother comforting her after a nightmare, the death of her father, the birth of her little brother, her first kiss. Many flashbacks

The last thought she would ever had was of her boyfriend. She saw him sleeping, a vision of some sort, and thought, 'At least he didn't wake up.'

Finally, she succumbed to the hands of Mr Reaper, relieved of the pain.

A pointless death.

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