Clarity

"If our love...is tragedy...Why are you my remedy?"

The power of love...a bond you can't break if the two (traditionally numerical) beings would not let it break. So why try to break it?

....

"What if it did break?"

...

"Then I'll tell you a story...of how your mother and I met..."

...

"Okay father...how did it happen?"

...

"It all started the night before I left my home world..."

It is the thick of the night. No light to be shown on the sidewalks of the old town of Brim. The air was crisp and cool, giving the mood an equivalency of a spooky dark night. It couldn't have been a more perfect setting for a man to be walking out of a bar...

Right?

This man is known as Leo Devon Richardson. He would always attend the bar in the late hours of the night, drinking his worries away because he didn't want to be reminded of his past. The past was his most known enemy and he didn't want to give into it. His solution to his problems was to return to the ever forsaken bar to ignore it.

He could've just gone to a therapist, but Leo is way too stubborn for that. He felt his reputation as a manager of Walmart would be shattered if they knew he went to a therapist to help him with his problems.

This is another way of saying "He's too embarrassed to go to see a therapist".

There's only one problem with this solution and it usually happens to all who drink their problems away...

Those problems still exist and come back to haunt you later.

This is exactly what happened to the man named Leo Richardson.

On this dreary spooky night, he decided to depart from the 'safe' haven. Usually, Leo decides to stay a bit late to try and sober up from all his drinking, unfortunately, he wasn't able to do this. The bar owner had to leave early, due to a sudden call from his wife saying she was going into labor. He quickly closed down the bar, leaving Leo and some other fellow drinkers to sit outside the bar.

This usually means bad news for most drinkers, especially ones who try to drive home while drunk.

Leo is sitting beside the entrance of the establishment, waiting patiently for himself to sober up enough to drive. Leo, unlike most drinkers, was able to be patient and calm whilst being drunk. Drinking made Leo more mellow than most, making him a perfect applicant to become a hard drinker. All these years of drinking away his past; its effected him to become what he is at this moment. He has lost so much over the years...

His only child dying to the hand of a murderous business man on shrooms...

The reality of seeing his parents getting killed by home invaders...

Getting kicked out of his only foster house due to being 'a worthless pile of shit'...

Living on his own for the past four years, without any outside source for help...

He's struggled and made it through it all.

But why am I missing something...it doesn't seem too clear to me...

Leo picks himself off the ground, letting the thought penetrate the inner depths of his mind. He couldn't help but dread the fact he's been missing this 'something' for the past six years. Ever since he was kicked out of his foster homes house and live at his grandmother's, he's been trying to figure out what he's been missing.

As he continues to concentrate on his thoughts, he snaps back to reality due to the sound of a car alarm being activated. Leo snaps his gaze towards the sounding car. What he sees, shocks him for a moment. A gang of teens, armed with crowbars and baseball bats, are attempting to break into a old four-door sedan.

At first, Leo couldn't figure out why these teens were breaking into a old sedan. Sedans at such condition were worth very little on the market. He couldn't figure out why teens needed it anyway, they didn't have a family to run.

...

Or did they?

...

Wait a minute...

Leo tries to focus in on the sedan. He looks carefully at the license plate, to identify the poor victims car. Leo gasps and starts to sprint over to the scene.

It was his car.

As he continued to sprint, he began dialing 911 to explain his current situation to the operator. As the operator picked up, he began to rapidly explain the situation and location, before dashing off to try and fight the teens off.

If only he realized what he was getting into...

Leo carried himself towards the vehicle, attempting to bash in the first teens head into the steering wheel.

Little did he know, this teen was actually an twenty year old man, dressed up as a teen to fool his enemy.

The twenty year old swung his arms at Leo, knocking him down to the ground, allowing his gang members to surround Leo.

Leo quickly got to his feet, preparing himself for a long fight by getting into stance. The gang members surrounded him and laughed, fighting in this way wasn't necessarily used anymore. Most gang members wielded many different assorted gun variants or combat knives.

Basically, if you didn't have a weapon concealed; you were dead meat on the streets. Leo was one of these people.

Before Leo could even tempt them, the gang members had their firearms pointed at him.

He couldn't even begin to blink, before one of the members discharged his firearm.

The pain, the problems, and all the relaxation he felt, shattered into pieces. He couldn't even manage himself, as the blood began to seep out from his new flesh wound. He grasped it, trying to block the passage of blood from leaving him. He didn't have much options left. He either stood there and died from his wound, or put up a fight by taking a few out, before he was killed.

He chose the latter option.

Being as swift and agile as a man could be, he quickly landed a punch on the gang member, knocking him out in one hit.

Picking up the gun, he managed to cock back the firearm, and fired another shot into the crowd of gang members. He was able to land a round into one of the members, sending the member to the Earth. In a desperate attempt to find cover, he tries to push past the crowd.

What a lousy attempt.

Immediately, a bullet hits him in his leg, making him grimace in pain. He staggers but tries to push on. As he tries to move on, another bullet hits him in his other leg, sending him straight onto the pavement. He laid there, motionless, regretting everything he ever did wrong.

This is the end, the end of me...Why now?

One of the gang leaders walks over to him and grins devilishly. He asks,

"Any last words, Leo?"

How does he know my... No way.

"You're one of the robbers who got away! Why are you trying to kill me and take my car?"

The man laughs and says,

"Because you took out my father and brother. You took out my homies and my only parent. You didn't care of who they were. Your car was only a distraction to lure you out here!"

Lero began to feel angry, but it quickly dissipated due to the lack of blood. He began to feel light-headed. Without emotion, he turns away from his killer and says,

"If you need to kill me to feel content with yourself, then do it..." Leo returns his gaze back to the gang leader and mocks, "Or are you too much of a pussy to do it?"

The leader heartily laughs and pulls out his gold plated M1911. He smiles and says,

"Meet my precious...She'll give you some clarity..."

In seconds, he takes off the safety and fires a bullet into Leo.

The bullet hits him in the chest, making him grimace; before seeing his final memories flash before his eyes.

From when he took his first playstation one game out of a blockbuster, when he met his friends for the first time at school, his first job at Walmart, getting promoted, and several other memories of his family; all flashed before him. This made him shed a tear, before gasping as the pain made his heart come to a slowing beat.

With a few last breaths, he looked up at the beloved night sky.

I still don't know what I'm looking for...but I won't be able to figure it out now...I wish the pain would go away and I could live o-

He wouldn't be able to finish his thought, as the sky suddenly flashed a violet color. The color, so vibrant and free, it was something he never saw before. He smiled, before closing his eyes.

Then, he felt nothing.