NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

It was my own scream, echoing eerily in my eardrums, that brought me plummeting back to Earth. And when I finally hit the ground, it was fast... and it was painful.

I fell to my knees with a thud, the sobs welling up within my chest, the heaves wracking my body. My heart thumped rapidly, my ears ringing from the explosion they'd only just been subjected to moments before.

I couldn't quite process the sight. I couldn't quite process the sound. I knew where I was... what was happening... but I felt like everything was going on around me. I felt like I was living outside my own body.

I gathered what little strength I had left in me, clamboring wearily to my feet as the metallic taste of blood settled on my lips and the scent of sweat and death assaulted my nose. Weakness washed over me and a dull ache made itself known in the front of my skull.

My mind raced with a million thoughts...

His family. His friends. His life.

My family. My friends. MY life.

What had I done? Oh my God... what in the hell had I done?

My brain told me to run, but my feet wouldn't follow its orders.

"Get out now!" The voice inside my head screamed.

My body refused to budge.

"Don't just stand there! For Christ's sake call someone!"... I reached behind me, absently grabbing for the phone that I knew lay just beside the register.

My fingers refused to dial the numbers.

Too sick. To scared. Too guilty.

Too... I don't even want to think about it.

I stared down towards the floor where he lay, willing... no forcing my eyes to focus on the silent figure slumped there below me. Blood surrounded him now -- oozing steadily from the wound on his neck -- taunting me as it trickled its way onto the cold, hard, tiled floor and puddled there before seeping slowly along the cracks and spreading out beneath my feet.

Hot tears poured down my cheeks at once. I never meant for this to happen. Never planned for this at all. I never intended to kill him. I never wanted to kill him.

Never.

His family. His friends. His life.

Gone because of me.

Just gone.

I stood there for what felt like an eternity just watching as he bled into the aisle.

The candy aisle.

Aisle number five.

I'd never forget it. His heart had long stopped beating. His chest no longer rose and fell. Death was ugly... I knew this now. I couldn't move... or didn't move. I never called. I never did anything but stand there watching as he died there on the floor.

The nightmare that wouldn't end.

I heard the door then. The sound of the chimes as it was swung open by an unsuspecting customer. The howl of the icy wind as winter air came rushing in -- nearly enough to frighten my out of my shock... just nearly. I rose my head and locked eyes with the stranger.

I knew those eyes. I knew that face. I knew him.

He stared at me. I stared at him. Neither of us spoke. He looked at my face and then down... back up again and he stopped in his tracks. He quickly raised his hands into the air.

I couldn't move.

He didn't move.

Why?

I glanced down and gasped at the sight of the gun, still there in my hand... now aimed at the man. I lowered it quickly, dropping it to my feet before I held up my own hands in a gesture of innocence.

"I'm... he's... it's not..." but I couldn't go on.

He lowered his arms but didn't move. I followed his eyes to the figure on the floor, watching as they scanned the body. That face - still covered in it's black mask. The puddle of blood - now completely surrounding the body. The metal baseball bat - still clutched tightly in the gloved fingers of his right hand. His expression changed, his face softening as his gaze came back up to meet mine.

His realization.

My desparation.

He pointed towards my head and spoke his first words since entering the store... "you're uh... you're.." but he couldn't quite get them out.

I reached up with my hand and felt for the first time what he was pointing to.

Warm liquid. Hot pain. Red fingers.

I looked towards him again and shook my head. The dull ache became a throbbing split. The room spun and then dimmed around me. The last thing I saw was him moving towards me... and then I was falling...