My heart races in my chest as my hands start to shake, terror running through my veins. Heavy footsteps echo in my ears like some cliche horror movie.

My eyes find Ash in the dark, as we lock eyes, I see the truth as clearly as if his mind is my own; we're screwed. My mama always warned me that I would get myself into some trouble I couldn't get myself out of one day. I just never thought my trouble would end with one of my friends brutally murdered and a psychopath sharpening his not-so metaphorical blade as he chases us into the dark.

They say at the end, everyone sees their past like a VHS tape on rewind. And maybe they did, but that's not what I see. I see my little brother's face, my mother's laughter echoing in my ears, Daddy cooking in the kitchen wearing a Spiderman apron... I see the faces of the ones I love, and I know the future.

My brother's wedding to a beautiful blonde, my parents' 23rd-anniversary party, my wedding to my savior, the birth of my first child swaddled in blue...

Crunch...

Crunch...

And all of a sudden, I come back to reality with an all-consuming rage. How dare he?

How dare he! Her life was not his to take! In that moment, I don't care if I die, but I'm taking this mother with me. I turn to Ash, kissing him hard on the mouth before I throw open my car door, hitting our attacker in the face hard. I pounce on him the second my feet touch the wet gravel, throwing a hard punch to his nose before aiming a second for his throat.

Unfortunately, I miscalculated the fact that our attacker is easily twice my size and fast. Fast enough to catch my wrist in a firm grip before breaking it like a twig, tossing me aside like I'm nothing.

My piercing scream shatters the silence in the darkness as white-hot pain shoots through me like a firebrand. My vision starts to go dark, but before the darkness takes me, I hear three gunshots and Keira's bloodcurdling screams.