Earth Angel
Chapter Twenty
The night had just turned black as Brady pulled
his jeep into the service station on the highway. He pulled up to the gas pumps
and shut the car off, but left the radio on.
"I'm going to go in and pay for gas, and grab a couple of things. You want
to come in?"
Chloe shook her head. "Nahh, I'll just stay out here and listen to the
radio."
Brady got out and smiled at her. "Okay, be right back."
Chloe watched him walk into the store and then turned her attentions back to the
car stereo. She took the CD out and replaced it with something more relaxing.
Her body ached from the hiking and she couldn't wait to get home and take a nice
hot bath. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes tightly, her body
relaxing as she listened to the soothing melodies.
A few minutes later she heard a quiet, but audible, tapping noise on the hood of
the jeep. She opened her eyes slowly and noticed a small blue bird sitting on
the hood. Chloe leaned forward to get a closer look and the bird turned. It
almost seemed as it was looking directly at Chloe, greeting her.
"Hey there, little birdy."
The bird chirped at her a few times and then flew away in the direction of the
service station building. Chloe turned her head to follow it, and when it was
out of sight she noticed what was happening inside the station. She could barely
make it out from where she was, but she saw Brady very clearly. He was standing
in view of the glass doors and was holding his hands up in the air. She looked
closer and noticed an elderly man, the store's clerk and a young woman were all
doing the same. There was a small child with her arms around the young woman's
leg. They were all being held there by a thin, dark haired man with a gun.
Chloe's heart dropped into her stomach and she grabbed Brady's cell phone out of
his glove box. She quickly dialed 911 and waited for an operator to pick up.
"911, what's your emergency?"
Chloe nervously crept out of the vehicle and crouched out of view. "I'm at
the Mini Mart on Highway 37, the one by the Green Mountain hiking trails. I
think they're being held up."
"Are you in the store, ma'am?"
Chloe choked back a sob. "No, I'm outside. But, my boyfriend is in there.
There is a man with a gun inside. There are other people in the store, a little
girl. You have to send someone right away."
"Alright, someone is on their way right now. Remain calm and stay out of
the way of what is happening in there."
Chloe stealthily moved towards the store and crept down by the door. She wanted
to stay out of view, but still be able to see and hear what was going on.
"Are you still there? What else can you tell me?"
Chloe had tears running down her face by this point. She was trying not to sob
over the phone, but she knew that Keyes' warning was coming true. This had to be
the consequences. Her heart froze at the thought of losing Brady. She could
barely speak, but replied, "I'm here. It looks like he's taking the money
now."
"What does he look like?"
"I can't really see his face, but he's thin and about 5'10 or 5'11 maybe.
He's got dark brown hair, and a dark beard."
Chloe saw the man point the gun towards the young mother and her little girl.
Brady was yelling something at him as the man kept his gun firmly pointed
towards the young mother, his finger on the trigger.
A sob erupted from Chloe's throat and she frantically whispered in to the phone.
"Oh my God... somebody has to help... NOW. He's going to shoot her right in
front of the little girl. Please, help..."
The 911 operator's voice had remained calm thus far, but Chloe was starting to
sense the fear in the operator's voice. "Sweetie, you have to remain as
calm as possible. The police are on their way right now, you'll hear the sirens
any minute. He just wants the money, he's not going to hurt anybody."
Chloe saw Brady yelling and waving his arms wildly. She knew that he was trying
to stop the man from hurting this woman and her daughter. The man kept yelling
at Brady as he moved closer to the woman.
Chloe continued to sob into the phone. "I don't think so... I think he's
mad. He's going to kill someone. Oh my God..."
Chloe couldn't really hear what they were yelling back and forth to each other,
she only made out a few words here and there. She could tell that Brady was
trying to save the young woman, and it was only making the burglar angrier.
Chloe's entire body tensed up when she saw the man turn towards Brady. This time
she clearly heard his words as he shouted them loudly, "Well, then why
don't I just kill you?"
Chloe's body went numb as the man walked closer to Brady and rested the barrel
of the gun on his forehead. She let the cell phone slip out of her hand and hit
the ground below her.
"Oh God... this isn't happening... I can't let this happen..."
Chloe stood up and gathered all the courage left in her body. She stormed
through the door and screamed at the top of her lungs, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
BRAAAADY!!"
She saw the man turn around and point his gun towards her. She didn't know what
happened next except that it felt like a ton of bricks had hit her point blank
in the chest. She fell to the ground, but still felt nothing except for the
pressure on her chest. Her body felt numb, almost as if everything was happening
in slow motion. Brady ran towards her and fell to his knees beside her, the
shooter had already run out of the building. Brady laid his hand on her wound
and looked at her with fear in his eyes.
Chloe blinked rapidly as she looked into Brady's face. "Brady... it doesn't
hurt."
Brady pulled her up into his lap and kept one hand on her wound, hoping that the
pressure would stop the bleeding. "Oh God, Chloe... you're going to be
okay."
Chloe shook her head weakly. "No... I'm not. This is it. I changed history.
I'm sorry, Brady... I couldn't let you die."
"No, Chloe... this isn't it. You can't leave me yet. This isn't how it's
supposed to end. What about the minivan? And our 2 to 4 kids? Our house with the
pool and the gazebo and the puppies?:
Chloe's face was filled with pain. "I'm sorry, Brady. I don't want to
leave, but I have to. You can have all those things though, you have to move
on."
"I can't, I can't do anything without you."
Chloe weakly stroked his face with her hand. "You have to. Don't make this
all in vain. I want you to live, and you have to promise me that you will move
on and be happy. I didn't stand in front of that gun so you could die inside.
You have to be happy, please be happy for my sake."
"You're not going anywhere, Chloe. I'm not letting you go."
Chloe looked at him sadly, her face drained of all its color. "No, I have
to go. It's time to go... it's earlier than I thought, but I had to save
you."
Brady shook his head, his own tears dropping on to Chloe's face. "Shhh,
Chloe. You're going to be okay. I can hear the sirens already, they're going to
help you. You'll be fine."
"No, Brady... you have to accept it. I knew that something bad was coming,
and this is it. Just remember that I love you. I love you more than
anything."
Brady kissed her forehead and held her closer. "I love you too, Chloe...
Please don't go."
"I have to go. It's getting dark now, and it's time to go. But, I'll see
you again someday... I'll always be here for you."
Brady sobbed loudly and kept kissing her face as he rocked her back and forth.
The room around her grew darker and Chloe smiled weakly at Brady as she closed
her eyes. The last words she heard before all the sounds around her stopped was,
"I love you..."