Two Falling Stars
A wise man once said that a falling star indicates a falling warrior. And the same star never falls twice. Some might not notice at first, for there are billions of stars in the nighttime sky, so what should one less star mean to them? Besides, most are only concerned about their own, making sure that theirs is the one star that never falls. If that is the case, then most are terribly deceived. Every night a star falls, every night a soul separated from its body, one way or the other. But if most, or at least that wise old man, had been paying attention one particular evening, they would have noticed that not one, but two stars were falling. And that their paths were mysteriously coming closer and closer to the other.
This very night, one young man made his way into not just a death trap, but a suicide mission where most are concerned. He had a score to settle. Not just with one particular person, but himself. Was he truly alive? Or would he for the rest of his life just walk through it as though on a constant sleepwalk? For him, this was the only way he could know for sure. The tall building he entered had been echoing the sounds of gunshots and stained by the spilled blood of those who chose this violent way of life. But this man was only looking for a particular person's blood to be spilled. After miraculously making his way to the top with only minor injuries, he finally arrived, and made sure this vicious crime lord knew why he was here. Before he fatally shot him.
The man on a mission eventually made his way down from where his duel took place. And every gunman there could only watch with amazement at the fact that he was the one who emerged victorious. But he did not walk away unfazed and unchanged. He clutched his side and limped as he walked, ignoring the blaring lights from above all focusing solely on him, until he finally stopped.
He raised his hand, smiled at his audience, and said only one word. "Bang." With that, he collapsed to the ground. And no one, not even the man himself, knew whether he had managed to face his former best friend and live, or had finally done what he needed to do before he finally left this world.
Meanwhile, at a seemingly unrelated place, alarms have gone off inside an insane asylum. One of their unfortunate inmates has escaped, and she is determined to not be dragged back there, even while the two men behind her relentlessly pursue her.
Her plan, which she had concocted for weeks, had gone perfectly until this moment. Her wrist-tracker had been disabled, and she managed to sneak out just as the orderlies realized she was not where she should be. But her white clothes had marked her in the dead black of night, and she'd been spotted. While she was almost half-starved, she ran the fastest she ever remembered running while the men behind her had it in their minds to run faster.
"Stop where you are!" one of them shouted, readying his taser should he need it. But she ignored him. In fact, she ran even faster.
"Stop! Stop!" the other shouted even louder. This time, she did dare a look back, and let out a scream when she saw they were coming closer.
But when she looked back, her mind refocused itself as she ran up a boulder, jumped for the hanging branch of a nearby tree, and then leaped for the top of the bordering concrete walls. She fell on the other side with a hard thud. Still, she managed to get herself up and return to her run, letting it take her through the darkness to the one place she'd be safe. But as she did, she realized that she was not only running from those who'd imprisoned her, but the memories that had plagued her all her life. Images and sounds filled her mind. A woman's dying scream. A man on top of her. The sound of a knife against flesh. Her own screams of protest as she was dragged away from the one place she'd ever called home.
Maybe she truly was mad... No. She shoved that thought away as she continued to run, even as her body began to want otherwise. She had to get away. And she would. She knew she would. What she did not know, which was even more terrifying than what she'd left behind, was what the future might have in store for her.
