Niko Left a Will behind:
These dark streets are unforgiving. As I sat and watched Carl self immolate, a sickness boiled within me. This wasn't the way to save the city. This wasn't the way to be a hero. He was a cop after all. A good guy. He wanted to find the killer, same as the rest of us. And he could have given us the information we desperately needed.
I left the table, in deep thought. If Carl wasn't the killer, then who? Who?! And what could he have been trying to tell us?! I let out a cry of fury and kicked a stone into the gutter. I went into the nearest convenience store, bought a pack of cigs and some booze, and began to drink myself into a stuppor. I wasn't ready for this. This wasn't the life I'd chosen for myself. I wanted a life filled with women and money, but all I had was death. Bob the clerk didn't even ask about the blood over my jacket. The blood of Carl. The blood of an ally.
"So there you are Niko." Came a voice from behind me. I turned.
I didn't even see the shooter's face. My vision was blinded by a flash, and I hit the cold, hard pavement. A dark silhouette walked away. "A pity we could never see eye to eye." The voice said. I couldn't even tell if it were male or female. White noise filled my head, and a piercing headache grew.
So this was the end. I'd always known it, in a way. They said that life flashed before your eyes as you died. They said that there was going to be a tunnel. But all I saw were the moonlit skyscrapers, towering into the heavens. A monument to man's desire to build a new world for themselves. A better world. A world that I wouldn't get to be a part of.
Maybe my kid would. I wouldn't get to see that though. There were going to be a lot of things I wouldn't get to see. I had Ariana Grande tickets in my drawer back home. I was going to give it to Lil' Niko on his birthday. That was going to be tomorrow. Now, nobody would find them. Nobody would be seeing the pop goddess. Life was cruel sometimes. I was a year sober today. I broke my record. I guess it didn't matter. Nobody would find out. I was still a sucsess story. A sucsess story covered in blood and gore.
But I could still write something with my own blood, though. I cupped it in my hands, and wrote something down on the gritty pavement. It was hard to find a place that wasn't already covered by my innards. I wrote the first letter. It was a struggle. "S". Then a C. ...Then an R. Then an E. Then a W. I shuffled forward, making space for the next word. Y... O... ....I couldn't move any more, and the newly pooling blood had erased my delicate work.
"Hey dude, are you okay?" Came a voice. It was some kid. Oh no. The voice was familiar.
"L...Lil' Niko?" My voice croaked.
"Oh no! Oh no! Someone, get an ambulance!" My child screamed. "Dad? Dad! D-Dad!"
I cracked a smile.
At least I wouldn't die alone.
