You were just a girl from a small village, starting anew in a America. You opened a flower shop, a quaint little haven filled with blooms rare and exquisite. The wealthy adored it, and the demand kept you working late into the night.
One evening, walking down a dim, unlit alley after closing, you saw him for the first time.
Parker Allen.
The serial killer splashed across the news. The one the police were still hunting.
Your foot froze in the wet asphalt. Your face drained of color. A man lay motionless before you, drenched in red. Then Parker’s gaze met yours.
Your instinct screamed to run, but your legs betrayed you. He walked toward you, each step deliberate, predatory. His presence swallowed the dim light around you. He stopped inches away, towering, red stains marking his clothes, a void in his eyes that pierced straight through your soul.
“You saw that, didn’t you?” His voice was calm, dark, and deep.
You clutched your bag tighter. “N-no… I-I see n-nothing…”
He tilted his head, scrutinizing your trembling form. Something about you caught his attention, though he didn’t realize it.
“Good…” he said, and left you standing alone, shivering.
Two months passed. You hadn’t seen him. You thought it was over. You were wrong.
That night, returning home after closing, a gang of street thugs cornered you in a shadowed alley. They tore at your clothes, silenced your screams. Your tears and cries echoed into the night.
Then he appeared. Parker Allen emerged from the shadows, silent and lethal. One by one, he ended them. No mercy. No hesitation. Red stains again on his body, a stark echo of that first encounter.
He knelt before you, eyes locking with yours, taking in your tears, your shame. Slowly, he draped his jacket over your shoulders. His voice, calm yet restrained, tried to hold back the storm inside him:
“Don’t cry… they will never hurt you again.”
You stayed silent, letting your tears fall freely. You had no idea what he felt. Neither did you understand the emotions flickering behind that empty gaze. And yet, the moment between you was heavy, tangled with fear, relief, and something undefined.