“Run... Just keep running, you’re almost there.” I tell myself. I’d been running for the better part of 10 minutes when I look at my watch.

9:02 p.m.

“Shit!” I yell, forcing my legs to carry me faster. I had to get home quick before she worries. Tonight was the night that I was going to do it... Tonight was the night I was going to ask her to marry me.

Not paying attention to my surroundings, I catch my foot on a rock and fall hard on my knee, breaking my leg at a bad angle. The bone tore through muscle and showed through my pants, looking as though my leg were a snapped glow stick. I lay there for a moment, gaining my center of focus before realizing my ears are ringing and I look down and see the shape of my leg and panic, screaming bloody murder.

Down the road, in a small, rustic house that was torn and tattered but warm and lively, a woman pauses her tv and steps outside.

It was beautiful this time of night; the trees and foliage blowing in the wind, the wonderful starry sky and the sound of screaming... Wait, screaming? That’s not right. That could only mean someone’s in trouble.

“Jake! Come here quick! I think there’s somebody hurt!” the lady yells, looking into the house.

“What’s up?” A man of similar age comes out shortly after her, standing by her side, leaning against the banister.

“Listen closely... You’ll hear it.” she says, worried.

Sure enough, the screaming continues and he says, “Whoever is out there, stay calm! Help is on the way!”

He turns to the woman and says “Amanda, I’m getting the .357. You get the flashlight and meet me at the door. Let’s go!” he says urgently. “These woods are crawling with coyotes so we’ve got to act fast if we’re going to save them.”

“Right.” she replies, running inside, him in tow.

********

That .357 Magnum was a thing of beauty, as was it his most prized possession. He couldn’t count how many contests or competitions he’d won with it. Many sought after it for many different reasons, be it the historical value as it had been the very first of the production line, or the regality of it as it didn’t look like the normal steely silver. No, this piece of expert craftsmanship was of a black chrome with a blood-like crimson cherry oak handle finished with teal oil. Inscribed on the barrel in pure gold were the words:

“The First and The Last”

********

Jake comes out a little bit later with the gun in it’s holster, meeting Amanda by the door, which she hands him a hand-held spot light flashlight.

“Please be careful. Like you said, there’s loads of coyotes out there, so please try to come back safely.” She asks him.

“Always,” he smiles to her, “after all, someone’s gotta protect you.” he then runs off to the screaming stranger in the woods,

Back to me, I lay there in complete darkness, holding my leg, not trying to move it because with every movement, it shoots a hot flash of pain throughout my body.

“HELP!!!” I holler out, trying to keep myself composed but slowly losing myself to panic with each passing second.

I see a beam of light from the distance and hear someone call out: “Where are you? I can’t find you!” and start waving my arms as frantically as I can.

“I’m right here! Look for my arms, I’m waving them around like a ragdoll!” I yell back, seeing the beam of light pan around and focus hard on me once it spots me. I recognize the motion of running as the light starts bobbing up and down erratically, getting closer. I smile a bit as I see my rescuer arrive by my side.

He’s a young man, about early to mid 30’s and muscular build, short brown hair, what I can tell are blue eyes and bronze skin.

“What in the world are you doing out here in the middle of the woods?” he inquires incredulously, a look of amazement on his face.

“Don’t be surprised, buddy, but I was taking a shortcut back to my house.” I wince.

“A shortcut... In the middle of the woods... At night... Without a flashlight.... Yeah, okay.” he deadpans.

“Hey, I don’t have a car, otherwise I would have been home by now.” I retort.

“Fair enough, my name’s Jake, Jake Mitchell. What’s yours, stranger?” he asks, looking my body up and down, spotting my broken leg.
“Or should I just stick with Sir Leg and a half?”

“That’s a good one. My name’s Daniel. I’m a security guard down at the local jewelry store. "

“Nice to meet you.” he says. “Now, what say we get you back to my place to get that leg patched up?”

“You’re a doctor?” I inquire, but he chuckles and says “No, but my wife is.”

“No wonder you’re bulked up... She must have a great diet for you that the other doctors don’t want you to know about.” I laugh, though it’s through gritted teeth as the pain from my leg was still shooting throughout my body.

“Like you wouldn’t believe. Come on, let’s get you on your feet.” He laughs as he takes my hand and lifts me as if I weighed as much as a feather. I land on my good leg and my bad leg flops by it’s side, causing me to wince.

“I’m no good for walking with the way my leg is. I mean, I can try but all it’s gonna bring is me yelping like a dog.” I explain. He looks at me and chuckles.

“Who said you were walking?” he asks, then lifts me over his shoulder like a soldier would carry his fallen brother. “I just needed you up on your feet so I could lift you better.”

“Fair point. Remind me to talk to my boss so we can hire you. We could use a second security guard on deck. I’m the only one they have.” I say in amazement.

“Duly noted. Here, you hold onto the flashlight while I run. I don’t need it.” he says, handing me a handgun looking flashlight. As tradition to holding a new flashlight, I turn it on with it pointed at my face, partially blinding me. I quickly turn it off and say “Ow, fuck! That was bright.”

He looks back at me and says “Did you just...” and starts laughing his ass off.

“It’s not funny!” I yell, laughing as I say it.

“I’m so telling Amanda about this. She’s gonna roll.” he says, starting to run.

“Whatever. Let’s get this haul over before I bleed out. I’m starting to feel light headed.”

“Roger that. Let’s go.” and he straight up books it, expertly dodging trees and jumping over fallen logs and rocks.

20 minutes later...

As we get closer to his house, I hear snarling behind us and look, seeing 2 sets of eyes about what had to be 200 feet out so I yell out.

“Coyotes, 6 o’clock! 200 feet and closing!” and I see the house through the wood line. The coyotes close the gap quick as we get through the brush and to the porch, but what happens next, I couldn’t expect in a hundred years.

Jake runs up the stairs, but back flips off the third, pushing us up and over the two coyotes. He then pulls his .357 from its holster and unloads one bullet into both of the skulls of the coyotes, dropping them right then and there. He sticks the landing and calmly walks past the corpses of the animals, leaving them for the buzzards and whatnot to get them.

“Did you just do a superhero landing flex on them?” I say astonished by his abilities.

“Maybe.” he chuckles. “You know the super hero landing is really bad on your knees, right?”

“Not for you, big guy. Thanks for the lift. Do you have have any crutches at all? I think I can handle it from here.” I say, getting off his shoulders. After I land on my good leg, I get a closer look at him and notice small surgical scars around his eyes.

“Yeah. Amanda! Grab this guy a pair of crutches from the closet. We have a guest.” he hollers into the house, to which a woman of equal age comes out. She has beach blonde hair, a small frame with curves in all the right places, and the same small surgical scars around her eyes. In her hands, she carried two medical grade crutches.

“You must be Amanda. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name. I’m Daniel, though what I didn’t tell you, Jake, is that everyone calls me DC.” I say, offering my hand to shake. She shakes my hand, then hands me the crutches.

“Nice to meet you, Daniel. Or would you prefer DC?” she asks, curiously. She leans into Jake, wrapping her arm around his waist while he returns it with his own arm.

“Eh, either one. It doesn’t really matter to me. So, more importantly, I hear that you’re a doctor, Amanda. Would you be able to take a look at my leg?” I ask sheepishly.

“I am of sorts. I’d love to. Let’s get it set back in place, shall we?” she asks with a warm smile. “Jake, go get this man a drink.. He’s going to need it.”

“Already on it, babe. Hey DC, what would you prefer, vintage 100% moonshine or 20 year old Red Roscato Wine? We have both.” he offers.

“Let’s go moonshine first. I’m getting the feeling I’m gonna need it. It does give you four wheel drive, after all.” I say and he chuckles.

“That is true. That is 100% true. I’ll be right back with it. Amanda, show him to the couch so you can set his leg back in place.” he says, motioning to the living room as he walks off to the kitchen.

“Follow me, Daniel. We’ll get you back in proper shape, don’t you worry. Just follow me.” she says, motioning with her hand to follow her. I take a look out to their property to see what looks like a big opening dug out by something.

“You guys deal with coyotes often because something dug up your yard.” I ask with a little concern.

“Yeah, actually Jake dug that hole for the last couple of coyotes he had to put down. They just will not leave us alone, so he puts them down.” Amanda explains. I hear sadness in her voice as I follow her to the couch.

Jake comes back out a second later and hands me a glass of clear liquid and says “Brace yourself. It’s strong. Knock you on your ass quicker than a flicker.” So I take a deep breath before taking a good sip of the most fiery tasting alcohol in my life.

“Holy moly, that’s got a kick!” i say, coughing and wheezing, laughing all the while.

“Hey, I told you so. How do you feel?” he chuckles as he asks.

I take another good gulp before setting the glass down and saying “Fan-freaking-tastic. Let’s do this.”

Amanda gets into position and after what feels like hours, resets the bone properly and splints my leg.

“Phew... That wasn’t too bad, was it?” she asks.

“Thanks to your moonshine, no it wasn’t. Liquid courage if I ever tasted it...” I say, looking at them both and noticing their surgical scars again. This time, I look a little bit longer and Jake notices this, but doesn’t say anything about it just yet.

“So what were you doing in the middle of the woods in the first place? Did you lose a bet or something?” Amanda asks.

Jake chuckles and says “Daniel says he was taking a shortcut to his place.”

“Okay, would you rather hear the why or the whole story?” I ask in defeat, a sad smile on my face.

Amanda looks inquisitively at me and says “if there’s more to the story, start at the beginning. I wanna know it all.” and I chuckle at this.

“Alright, but just be warned that it’s a long story.” I caution. My earliest memories flooding my mind as I speak.

“Jake, sweetie, can you grab some popcorn? I’ve got a feeling that this is gonna be good.” Amanda begs playfully.

Jake smiles and says “Extra butter like always?”

“YES!!!” she exclaims excitedly.

He laughs and goes to the kitchen to make her popcorn. After he comes back, he shares a knowing nod with Amanda before sitting down beside her and they both listen to me tell my tale.

After a few hours of talking, I take another swig of my shine, then set it on the table, having finished it. “... And that’s how I ended up in the woods. It’s a good thing I saw those coyotes when I did, otherwise me and Jake would’ve been dog food.”

Jake sits forward and says “Well, Daniel, that’s true, but how did you see them? We were in the middle of the pitch black forest and I know you didn’t use the flashlight otherwise I would have seen it on the trees around us.”

“It’s something called Scotopia or scotopic vision. You’ve heard of it as it’s more commonly known as Night vision.” I explain. “In layman’s terms, I can see in the dark.”

“That’s incredible. Well, in any case, I’m sure she would have said yes. You seem like a really great guy.” Amanda says, sharing a knowing look with Jake who nods.

“Being a great guy is nice and all, but I wish I could give her more. I wish I was famous... I’d give her all the love I could and not have to worry about debt.”

Jake stands up as Amanda says “Well, in a way, you could say that me and Jake are famous.”

“What? No kidding?” I ask, my curiosity peaked.

“Yeah! They wrote about us in the paper. Made a whole article about us and everything. Won’t you get it for him, dear?” Amanda asks of Jake while he goes to the bathroom.

“Yeah, just let me hit the head real quick. Though to be honest, I gotta admit that I don’t think he’ll be able to handle our awesomeness.” Jake replies, a smug look on his face.

“Oh please. If I can handle Amanda manhandling my literal bones, I can handle a news article about you two. What’d you guys do, stop the ‘eye see you’ serial killers? You’ve got to be careful around those two. They’re dangerous.”

“That’s what they say, but I’m sure we’ll be okay. After all, we still have our eyes, right?” Amanda replies, matter of factually.

The signs were staring me in the face but due to the fact I was in a hardcore drunken stupor due to the moonshine, I wasn’t connecting the dots.

Jake Mitchell... Where have I heard that name from?

“Amanda... You and Jake are married, correct?” I ask curiously.

“Happily since we were 18. We did our vows when we were in freshman year.” She smiles, showing me her ring.

Jake and Amanda Mitchell... I know those names, but where?!

Meanwhile, Jake had been unloading his .357 and loading a singular bullet. The bullet was red-tipped and golden... “The Eye Catcher” as he called it.

“Babe, I still don’t think he’s ready to see it.” he calls out. He silently cocks the pistol before coming out, the frame against his chest.

“Okay, now you’re just teasing me. Come on, man.” I say, almost begging him.

“Alright. Here you go.” he chuckles, handing me the frame face-down.

I turn the picture over and in big, bold letters, it says:

EYE SEE YOU KILLERS IDENTIFIED AS JAKE AND AMANDA MITCHELL

After a minute of looking at it, I look at them and they’re smiling at me.

“You didn’t stop them... You are them. The Eye See You Killers... Which makes me what number of your victims? I know I’m not getting out of this alive.” I say, sobering up quick.

“You’ll be our 100th victim.” Jake says.

“Well, I guess that’s a high note. Do I get a final request? I have 3.”

“Amanda, he is our 100th. I say why not?”

“Very well. What are your final wishes?” she asks.

“Let me call Jessica and say goodbye to her. That way she knows not to come looking for you and my second is that she be spared. My third request is one final drink. I ran out of moonshine.”

“Well then... I haven’t heard that before. You’re willing to die for her to live?” Jake asks, amazed.

“Every time. Of course I would. She means the world to me.” I say, a single tear falling down my cheek.

“Very well. She will be spared. We will not look for her, nor will we kill her.” Jake says, offering a hand to shake, which I take and firmly shake it.

“As for the call, you can make that whenever you’re ready.” Amanda says.

“Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.” I say.

I pull out my phone and pull up Jessica’s number, then hit call, showing her to them.

“Daniel! I’ve been worried sick about you! Where are you?” she fires off question after question.

“Jessica, please, relax. I’m... Well, I wish I could say I was fine but after this call and the glass of shine they’re giving me, I won’t be able to be anything anymore. They’re honoring my last requests now.”

“They who? What’s going on?” she asks, I can see a tear forming in her eyes.

“The Eye See You Killers, babe. They’re allowing me to say goodbye to you one last time. They’ve also agreed not to come after you as well. I told them that I’d sacrifice myself willingly so that you may live on.” I explain.

“NO!!! Please no!!!” she starts crying. “What am I supposed to tell our son when he’s born?”

“Tell him daddy saved mommy and him like the super hero he was.” I say, tears forming and falling down my own face. “Tell him daddy loved him so much that he gave his own life for the scary people to go away.”

“You would have made the best father... You really would have.” she says through tears.

“Yeah, I know. I would have made a great husband too.” I say, pulling the ring from my pocket and saying “I love you, Jessica. I was going to give this to you when I got home but I’ll never get the chance, so I’d like to ask these two one final, final request and that be that Jessica gets this ring no matter what.”

Amanda takes the phone and looks at Jessica, saying “He’s a good man, you know. We’ll get you the ring no problem, just not in person. We have a drone that we can use.”

“Thank you” she says and Amanda holds the phone back to me.

“Almost done?” She asks, and I nod.

“Well, Jess, I’ve gotta go now. It’s time.”

“Stay with me until the very end. Please. If this is the very end, then I deserve to be there with you. Don’t you dare hang up on me.” she yells, and I give in.

Jake comes back with the moonshine and shows me the gun, which I show Jessica.

“The bullet I’m going to use will have an immediate effect on you. I call it the “Eye Catcher” because...” He pulls the bullet out and shows me the gold casing and red tip.

“It’s a beautiful bullet” I say. A sad smile falls on my lips as I look at it and say “What angle will you shoot me from?”

“Your choice.” he says, loading the bullet back into the gun.

“From the front. I’d prefer it that way. I’m not a coward... I’ll accept death with a sweet embrace.” I say.

“That takes a lot of courage. Jessica definitely chose a keeper.” Amanda says.

I take the shine from Jake and take a gulp of the liquid fire and place it on the table before propping my phone and Jess against it.

“Don’t be angry at them when I’m gone, Jessica. Forgive them as I have. My life belongs to you now, as it belongs to our son. Don’t waste it on anger or spite. Flourish and be plenty. You are my world and always have been. I love you, My Angel of yellow and pink.”

“I love you too... My guardian of green and blue. I’ll see you again someday.

I smile wider and say “Of course you will. We were meant to be together.”

Jake holds the gun to my head and says “Peek a boo, Daniel...”

Amanda finishes the phrase by saying “Eye See You” before Jake pulls the trigger.

BANG

And in an instant... My life is snuffed out... Or so I thought.

Author's Note

I'm trying something new, so please be patient with me.