Death of a a Stranger Loss of a Human Ray Staunton was working busily at his kitchen counter on a Saturday afternoon His girlfriend Sue was coming over for dinner so he decided to make her something special her favorite - fettuccini They had been going steady for three years now and he felt ready for a commitment He had a stable job as a manager of Taser Security and Sue had a great job at the hospital as a nurse Ray was 29 and Sue was 24 They were happy Ray had these thoughts running through his head when he realized that he had no more milk for the sauce He went to the sink wiped off his hands and headed for the door Shit better leave her a note in case I m not back in time he said to himself He wrote quickly on a napkin dear Sue be back soon just getting milk love you Ray and with that taped it to the outside of his apartment door and walked down the silent gray corridor the hum of the complex wall lights keeping him company He opened the door to the stairwell quickly and began descending the five flights of stairs to the parking garage his footsteps echoing hollowly in the silence The underground parkade held no noise except for that of the occasional car door slamming in the distance and the ever-present hum of the overhead lights He walked straight ahead to his refurbished 1969 mustang pulled his key ring from his pocket and selected the proper key As he put the key into the lock the lights in the garage flickered a little and a cold wind swept past him causing him to shiver Ray looked around his surroundings slowly his body picking up on the classic signs of bad omens He was nervous Ray was just about out of the parking garage when a large black- panelled van came squealing around the corner heading directly at him He swerved to the left into the other lane his tires screeching from the sudden change His car swerved some more fishtailing wildly as he went onto the road Ray slammed on the breaks causing his car to skid a couple of feet before it stopped in the middle of the road a line of cars fast forming on his left side Some yelled at him Hey asshole what s wrong with you That s just stupid coming on to the road at that speed Ray looked to his left and saw a short blond skinny guy sitting behind the wheel of an orange Volkswagen only a few feet from his car I should come out there and kick your ass you little puke you almost trashed my car hell you could ve killed me Ray still sat there staring at the man Ray knew that there was almost no way that the guy in the Volkswagen could hurt him He looked very small and weak while he himself was 6 4 at 240lbs and was well-versed in various martial arts He put his hand on the door handle readying to open it and throttle the obnoxious dick head when he suddenly thought about what he was going to do He had never ever started a fight in his life and he wasn t about to now Ray glared at the guy who was glaring back put his hands on the wheel and drove away feeling his hands tremble Jesus I guess that van scared me more than I thought It was only a five-minute drive from Ray s apartment to the Safeway he pulled into He parked as close as he could get and hopped out not bothering to lock the door - he would only be a few minutes Just as Ray was entering the Safeway again he felt a cold wind brush past him again He shivered again somehow knowing that something would go wrong for him like it had in the parcade back at his apartment Excuse me sir would you like to try a free sample of our new liverwurst a young wearing a white blouse with a red apron asked him Ray just stared at her for a moment and didn t say anything he was still trying to work things out wondering what was going to happen Uh no no thanks he muttered to her and walked away quickly feeling his pulse quicken in fear of the unknown and somehow inevitable Ray quickly found the milk he was looking for and took it to the cashier where he stood in line behind five other people He stood there waiting impatiently behind an old man who was slowly picking cans out of his basket and placing them on the counter Ray stared vacantly outside when he gaze drifted over to where his car was parked Something wasn t right There were about four or five people hanging around his car one of them was leaning against it He then realized that these guys were either ripping stuff off from his car or just outright destroying it and right there in front of everybody Ray ran dropped the milk on the floor and rushed outside to confront the men They looked like your typical hoods Leather jacket ripped jeans greasy and unshaven Ray yelled at them What the hell do you think you re doing That s my car The men just stared at them One of them stepped forward and spat right in his face Ray felt himself losing control he felt a raw heated rage inside of him that seemed to be burning away his reason He leapt for the nearest man and grabbed his head and twisted There was the sound of crunching bone and a slight spray of blood as Ray snapped his neck The man s body went instantly limp and his bulk pulled Ray down until he let go He brought his hands up in front of him staring at them He could still feel the warmth and grease of the man s neck The rest of the men stood silently looking at their dead friend lying in the dirt of the Safeway parking lot his neck bent at an impossible angle Ray stared at the men who were now glaring at him in malice and he shook his head and kept on repeating I m sorry I m sorry I didn t mean to One of the men reached into his worn and cracked leather jacket to withdraw a very long and very wicked knife Seeing this the other three men did the same One came out with a club while the other two brought out knives similar to the first man s Ray looked to his right and left trying to find a means of escape That was when he noticed that anybody who walked by and saw the confrontation would just stand there for a moment watching then carry on about his or her business Oh Christ! yelled Ray when what was going to happen finally sunk into his numbed mind He ran The men followed Ray ran through the Safeway parking lot and across the street as fast as he could just barely making it ahead of a traffic light leaving the four men stuck on the other side of the road Ray ran straight into a dark alley trying to lose the men as fast as he could It was a long one one of the dark and dingy ones you see in the movies where some guy gets murdered Ray thought with a sudden chill He had to slow his run to a jog so that he could make his way through the heaped piles of trash As Ray was nearing the end of the alley a short and fat figure seemed to rise up from out of the ground It was too dark to make out any of the features of the being but there was enough light to reflect off of the barbed seven-inch knife blade in its hands Ray stepped backwards quickly and looked behind him The four men were walking slowly into the alley their weapons out and ready Ray felt the first thrust of the knife enter his lower back before he had time to turn around and check that other figure Ray clutched his back and felt the hot blood wash through and around his fingers Crying out in pain and anger Ray turned to face the little human and let fly with a powerful kick to the side of the person s head The kick was strong enough to crush the figure s temple killing instantly The body fell to the ground in a stinking heap of garbage He stood there looking at the body in an odd and perverse amusement then crumpled to the ground as the first of several blows from one of the four men rained down upon him He fought for consciousness feeling it slip away through his fingers like blood He tried to move to do anything but he could not His body was numb and he could no longer feel the club or the sharp kicks to his stomach ribs and head Ray took one last breath and screamed out Sue hoping that she would somehow hear him Ray lost consciousness and died a few minutes later many of his internal organs having ruptured and his head partially caved in A day after Ray s death a missing persons report went out for him Many people came forward saying that they saw the confrontation in the Safeway parking lot but did not know what had happened after that because they had other things to do It had never occurred to them that they could have done something to help the stranger who was in obvious trouble That same day in the early evening a little girl had been walking her dog As she drew parallel with an alley across the street from a Safeway parking lot her dog pulled hard against its leash dragging her little girl into the alley It kept pulling her into the dark alley for at least 20 feet before it stopped at two bodies lying on the ground Each one was blue as if they had been stored in a freezer Blood was congealed around one of the bodies surrounding it like a kind of cloak The little girl dropped the dogs leash and ran out of the alley screaming