Fallen Blood by Martin C. Sharlow Page B

going to take some thought.

    "I'm not sure, Heather, just not here. Now, are you coming, or would you like to stay here and explain all this?" He pointed at the officers again.

    "No." She said sheepishly, "I don't understand what's going on. They're...supposed to be the good guys." She nodded down at the men.

    "Apparently they missed the memo on that one." Brian said, as he started rummaging through the men's pockets.

    "What are you doing? I thought we were leaving?"

    "Do you really want to go looking like that?" He nodded toward the handcuffs. "There should be a key here on one of them, but damn if I can find it."

    "Brian..."

    "They always have one on them, at least in all the shows I've seen." He continued to frisk them

    "Brian!"

    " What ?"

    "Freeze!" A man's voice shouted at him from the doorway. Brian turned and to see that a lone officer stood in the doorway, his revolver drawn and held in both of his hands pointing right at him.

    "This isn't what you...think?" Brian stood up slowly with his hands held up just a little past his shoulders.

    "I said freeze!"

    "Okay, Okay, I'm freezing, but this has been a terrible mistake."

    "Walk over here!” The officer yelled, “Away from the others." Brian moved toward the man, until he was several feet away from Heather and the two unconscious officers.

    "Now, on the ground, and keep your hands where I can see them. Now!"

    Brian hesitated for a second before the officer began to order him again. What he did for love? How old was that song? Right now it was playing in his head, and no matter what he did, he couldn't shake it. Lets see, how did that go? The things we do for love...The things we do for love.

    The smell of the carpet said that it hadn't been cleaned in a while, which was surprising, as he had been sure that Heather's mom was one of those women who were really into cleaning, but the smell of it, with his face down in, clearly said her carpet wasn't on her list of priorities. Maybe he should have rushed the man. It might have worked. He may just have made it to him before the officer could pull the trigger. The problem was that he had been standing in the doorway, and that was literally flooded with sunlight. It would have taken a lot out of him, and he was already feeling his strength at an all-time low. No, he was sure he was doing the right thing.

    The officer put his knee in the small of his back, and he could hear the sound of opening handcuffs.

    "Put your right arm behind your back," the man ordered. When he didn't immediately comply, the officer grabbed his arm violently, and pulled all the way back, pinning it in what he supposed would be painful for most. The things we do for love.. He wondered if that song would haunt him for the rest of the day. Just as the handcuffs locked onto his wrist, and he felt both of the man's hands, Brian spun on the ground so he was facing the officer that was on top of him. Grabbing the man by the throat, he squeezed, and heard a satisfactory gurgle as the man choked and tried to gasp for breath. The thought of squeezing just a bit harder did play around in his mind for a brief second, but no. He hadn't killed any of these police yet, so why start with this one. Besides, he was sure Heather was watching everything, and the last thing he needed right now was for her to think he was some kind of monster.

    The man's body left an imprint in the sheet rock where Brian had flung him. He expected the man to get back up after that, but surprisingly, the officer remained where he had fallen. The other police, on the other hand, were now starting to move and rouse themselves. This was not how it went in the movies. They should have been out for hours, but of course this was the real world, and he just hadn't hit them hard enough.

    "Brian, how did you do that?" She was staring at what he thought was the officer he threw, or it could have been the imprint in the wall. Either one, he didn't have time to explain right