A Shot In the Dark

A Shot In The Dark...

An Action-Packed Book Adaptation Of "Bullet Train"

by Bryant Bowling

Table Of Contents:

Chapter I: Pg. 5

Chapter II: Pg. 9

Chapter III: Pg. 13

Chapter IV: Pg. 18

Chapter V: Pg. 22

Chapter VI: Pg. 28

Chapter VII: Pg. 31

Chapter VIII: Pg. 34

About the AUthor: Pg. 39

I

I get on a bullet train. I am looking for a suitcase full of money for my boss, and I have a hidden pistol because the job would be impossible without it. I get on the bullet train and look for someone with a suitcase.

I finally find someone sitting in the front seat of the first train car, holding the suitcase. Unfortunately, I overhear two guys talking.

"Look, there's the suitcase. Now John, all we gotta do is wait for the guy to go to the bathroom or some shit." one guy says. Shit. Just my luck. I hurry to the next car, not willing to blow my cover. I manage to slip into another car, just in time. I think to myself, "This is gonna be tougher than I thought..." Two train cars down, 2 British guys, different guys this time, are talking.

"Lemon, what the fuck are we doing here?" One asks.

"We are looking for a case full of cash. Goddamn it, Tangerine, why are you so stupid?" Lemon says. "I'm not stupid. If we get ourselves shot, it'll be your idea. You're stupid," says the one called Tangerine. They're talking about robbing the same case as me! Who would've thought... I keep listening in case they give any vital information away. I hear them talk about the "White Death."

"The White Death will murder us if we don't get that case," says Lemon.

"A scary lad, that one. We got fucked in our arses when we got him as our boss. We were destined to get killed," Tangerine says.

"Jesus Tangerine, do you think the White Death would have hired us if we weren't fit for the job?" Huh, so I'm not the only one my greedy boss sent out for the case. That fucking pig never said a word to me about this being some competition. What a sick fuck. This is going to be difficult. I continue listening to see if they have any other useful information. They seem very inexperienced...

They are not professionals like me. Who knew? The train pulls up and one of them says, "Alright, I'll look around the restaurant, you look around the bathroom." I get up just before I have the chance to hear this. I go to the bathroom to relieve myself. I enter the bathroom without any problems. (no one in there) I do my business and come out. As I exit the bathroom I suddenly see something: Right at the entrance to the bathroom is a briefcase, sitting on the floor. It is the one the 2 British guys were looking for. I snatch it and hide it in a large disposal bin, the last place these inexperienced nut cases would think to look. I take the case out of the bin.

Just then, I see the two British guys talking to the waitress, with a pistol pointed at her head. I shoot the skinnier white one, Tangerine, in the head, and I shoot the bigger guy, Lemon, in the chest. Just before I do this, I say, "Hey dumbfucks, I've got your lifesaver!" They bleed out in seconds, as the waitress thanks me. I quickly loot the briefcase. It contains $100,000 in unmarked $100 bills.

"Holy shit, I hit the fucking jackpot!" I say, dumbfounded. I head to the exit to get off, only to be greeted by an enraged young man with a gun, standing just outside the door. "Oh, and who may you be?" He eyes the briefcase, clearly also having been hunting it. I swing the case toward his face and it hits its mark. He falls to the ground. I take the gun from his body... and it's loaded and ready to use. "Hell yeah," I say with a smirk on my face. I take the opportunity in front of me and quickly exit the train with the briefcase. I exit the train, and I can see the two dead bodies on the floor. The waitress thanks me for saving her life.

II

A guy in a business suit walks up to me. He looks angry.

"Hey, what's that case you're carrying?"

"My boss sent me to get it, and I did. Nothing major, but please allow me to proceed to my office," I say calmly, yet still ready to use my gun as needed. The guy seems skeptical, but then he finally says, "Alright, proceed." I walk away, hoping I didn't just make an enemy. Suddenly I get a call on my cell phone from my boss.

"Where is the briefcase?" he asks.

"Got it right here sir. Walking to the office as we speak," I say confidently. My boss replies,

"Good job, Alice. See you soon."

The call ends and l am free to go to my office.

I begin to cross the sidewalk in front of the bullet train, but suddenly a young child runs in front of me, and I

accidentally knock them over. I help the child up. "Where are your parents," I ask the child. "Over there, behind the fountain," she says. As I look, I see a very wealthy couple, both of whom look extremely angry. They've just seen me knock over their child, and they're not happy about it. They start walking over to me.

"Did you just shove our child over?" The woman demands.

"I'm very sorry ma'am... I was in a hurry and I didn't see your child.." I try to explain. This woman is not having it. She screams, "How dare you hurt our child?" She pulls out a gun and points it at me.

"Let's see how you like it when I hurt you!!" she screams. "Please ma'am, that isn't necessary. I assure you that I will pay more attention next time. Look, I even helped your child up after she fell.." I explain to the woman.

The woman stares at me for a moment. Then, she says "Very well. I'll keep my eye on you." The couple leaves. I have just escaped death by a hair. I quickly head to my office. I enter the office and meet with my boss.

"Finally, you have the briefcase. How did it go with the British men?" he asks. I chuckle. "They weren't very good at their job.. all it took was a bullet to their head when they weren't paying attention. And they were armed just as much as me. Not complaining though, their inexperience made the job easier." He laughs, "Very well, Alice." He seems oddly calm about the fact that I just murdered 2 "innocent" men.

He opens the briefcase in front of him. "I'm glad you got the briefcase. This is a huge step for the White Death." He smiles at me, his eyes cold and lifeless. I smile sinisterly. I've been waiting to kill this guy all along, and now the chance is in front of me and I take it. I whip out my pistol and kill my boss with a single bullet to his head. "The White Death shall be no more," I say. I take the briefcase and walk out of the office, and head to my house. I walk out of the office, my boss dead on the floor, and everyone in the office seems to not have noticed yet.

I exit the building, and the night is still young. I press a button on my phone and the office building blows up in a mountain of smoke behind me. I feel like I'm in one of those epic walk-away scenes in action movies. I have a smug smile. People on the street run and scream in fear. I leave the scene with a giant explosion behind me, just like in an action movie.

What a badass.

III

I walk home, feeling incredibly satisfied and confident. I enter my home, and I decide to watch some TV. The news comes on.

"Tonight, the leader of the White Death gang, whose identity is still unknown, has blown up their office." My face is on the screen. Suddenly, I hear banging on my front door. "Fuck." I retrieve my assault rifle from under my couch. 3 heavily armed swat team officers are banging on my door. They scream, "FBI! WE HAVE A WARRANT!!! OPEN THE DOOR!!!"

I run to my secret underground garage, where my Ferrari is parked. I get in and recognize all of the deadly weapons I put in the back seat in case of shit like this happens. I start the car and drive down my underground runway, which continues as far as two states across, so I'll be covered for a while. A smug look reappears on my face. I hit the gas pedal and go down the underground runway. I feel like such a badass. Suddenly, l hear a noise coming from the backseat.

"Who the hell are you?" I turn around to see a strange man in a ski mask pointing a pistol at me. I empty my AR magazine into the man's chest. I spray the backseat with bullets, and the masked man falls dead to the floor. As he falls I can see a tiny bomb on his chest. The bomb is now ticking...and it's counting down. I have one minute to get out of the car before it explodes. I press the eject button and the man is ejected out of the car through the hatch in the roof. I pressed the eject button just in time for the bomb to explode, sending the dead man sailing into the sky. I look up at the sky and see his body raining down all over the city. People are screaming and running as his corpse lands on top of cars, houses, and even some people.

Suddenly, my phone rings. It's an unknown number. I don't answer it, and let it ring. The call continues. It rings constantly for 30 seconds. Then it finally stops. I am now the most wanted person in this country, and the top people in the FBI are actively hunting me down. The city news is still talking about me and the explosions. I smirk. I have a plan for everything.

I look at a button on my dashboard that says, "teleport". I am the only person in the world in possession of teleportation technology, and I have it in the form of a button on my dashboard. I press the button and hold it down and say, "Italy." As I press the button, I hear the police helicopters overhead searching for me. I keep holding down the button and I slowly disappear before their eyes. I am instantly transported to Rome.

I can still hear the helicopters in the distance, but I managed to transport myself before they were able to find me. I get out of my car and take a breath of Italian air. The air is so pure here compared to where I was before. I take a deep breath, and I'm in awe at how beautiful this city is. I notice a police officer staring at me. "Ciao," I say to him. He says "Ciao" back. I continue exploring the town. My phone starts ringing. I check the caller id, it says "Unknown number". The phone keeps ringing constantly. It never stops. The people in the town start giving me weird looks, they seem suspicious of who I am. My phone is still ringing. This guy is not giving up. I slip into an alley and dye my hair brown. I put a face mask on and put on a hoodie. I walk back into the street, looking like a new person. I look completely different now with my hair dyed brown, and people give me less strange looks. However, my phone is still ringing. After a few minutes, I look up and see 3 heavily armed swat team officers approaching me. They say, "You are Alice, yes?"

"Chi questa... Alice? Mi chiamo Maria Gonzez." I pull out a fake yet legit ID, and the photo looks just like the secret disguise I have on right now. The name on the ID reads, 'Maria Gonzez'.

The swat team seems satisfied, but not entirely convinced.

One of the officers says, "Please hand us your phone right now." I pull out my phone, which I had 100% wiped clean in the alley, and personalized it to look entirely different than what it did before, and I hacked it and changed my phone number to an Italian one, which is the legit phone number on the Maria ID card. The officers ask me to open my phone and show them my call list, which of course doesn't show up because I wiped my phone clean in the alley. The officers look at me and say, "well played". They don't take my "Maria" phone, but they do demand that I hand over the Ferrari keys. I pull out my keys, which are the keys to the car that "Maria Gonzales" drives on the ID. The Ferrari keys are still in the car, far away. The police officers seem annoyed for being tricked.

They tell me, "Have a nice day, miss "Gonzalez". I have escaped the swat team yet again. Suddenly, a man slaps my butt and says, "Wow. That's some nice Italian ass, baby."

IV

I'm so surprised that I stop walking. I turn around to see who this is, and it's an incredibly handsome man. The man says, "What's your name, beautiful??"

"Maria," I tell him.

"You look like an Alice... I'm gonna call you Alice. So, Alice.. what are you doing here by yourself?" This guy seems like he's not just one of the many people who want me arrested. He seems genuinely interested in me.

I pull him into an alley. "You know my name??" I ask him. He says, "I know a little bit about you." He seems kind of shady. He pulls out a cigarette and lights it. "So, Alice, how did you come to be on the run from the law?" I ask him, "You're not going to turn me in, are you?" He says, "No why would I do that?" He takes a puff of his cigarette. "So Alice... what'd you do?" I sigh deeply, and say, "So basically, I worked for this crime lord under the name of The White Death. He made me go look for a suitcase holding 100,000 dollars. Turns out, it was on a bullet train, filled with numerous other people looking to get their hands on the case. Two guys, in particular, a British crime duo- who were rather inexperienced- who went by the names Tangerine and Lemon, were on the train looking for the case. I snatched it, killed them both with a bullet to each head, and hurried off the train to my office to return the case to my boss. Little did he know, that day was his last day on earth. I shot and killed him, took the briefcase with me, and blew up the entire White Death building."

"Wow... that's a hell of a story. You're pretty hardcore," he says. He takes another puff of his cigarette but still keeps eye contact with me.

"So, you still got the money?"

"Hell yeah," I say as I pull out the briefcase. "Wow, how much money are we talking about?" He seems very interested. I see his eyes light up with excitement. "100,000," I tell him.

His eyes light up even more. He seems very impressed, but then he looks down, almost like he's embarrassed that he doesn't have any money and can't compete. I put the briefcase down, get closer to the guy and put my hands on his hips. I look into his eyes seductively. I see his eyes widen with excitement. He seems very impressed. He looks down at the briefcase. Then he looks back up at me and smiles. He says, "Are we going places tonight!?"

"If you want.." I say to him as I kiss him softly. He kisses me back, softly. He smiles and says, "Hell yeah." He grabs my hand and we both make our way down the alley. "By the way, I'm Nick," he says.

As I walk, Nick asks me, "So, where are you from, Alice? How long have you lived in Rome?" I tell him that I'm actually from California. He seems impressed. He smiles and says, "I've always wanted to go there!" We both continue to walk... He says, "So... Alice. What brought you to Rome?"

"My Ferrari and some tech nobody else knows exists yet," I say. Nick seems very confused. He says, "So you're some sort of scientist who invented the time machine?" He laughs, thinking that I'm joking. "It's more like.. teleportation," I say. He looks at me in shock, then he smiles. He says, "Oh come on... There's no way you're actually being serious right now.."

Nick stops and turns to look at me, he still has his hand in my hand. "Come on, it's in my Ferrari. I parked it in this alleyway. We have to be quiet.." I beckon for Nick to follow me to my car. He looks shocked because he hasn't seen my car. I walk back into the alley and walk over to my Ferrari, then I show him my secret under the seat button that reveals my teleportation technology. He is now even more shocked and can't speak.

"Come on, get in. We're going to Sweden. Oh, and don't worry about the hundreds of guns and the blood stain in the back seat. That's a whole other story," I say. Nick is so surprised that he doesn't question the guns in the back seat, the blood stain, or the fact that I just want to go to Sweden. He smiles and says, "Of course, lead the way Alice."

He gets into the passenger seat, ready to see what happens next. I press the teleport button on the dashboard, hold it down and say, "Sweden."

We both teleport away instantly.

V

I open my eyes, and we're at the edge of the woods on a snow-covered mountain. I look around and see some deer in the distance. We are both in the middle of nowhere, as far away from the police as possible. "Ta-da.." I say. Nick turns to me and says, "You weren't joking... I'm speechless right now. Is it possible to teleport into other worlds?" He looks at me, expecting an answer.

"I haven't quite figured that out yet, but it'd be nice.. no police for millions of miles," I say. He smiles, "I like that." Nick looks out into the snow-covered landscape. He turns to me and says, "So... Alice... What exactly does a girl like you do for a living?"

"Well... I did work for a crime lord, but that was before I blew his brains out.." I say. Nick looks surprised and says, "Wow... you're really just jumping straight into the deep end with me ain'tcha?" He laughs a little bit and then says, "So... what... you killed him and took his money?"

"Basically.. and, as I told you in Rome, I blew the building up," I say. He turns to me and says, "And now the police are after you because.. you're the most wanted woman on earth right now right?" He smiles and laughs,

"You really have the cops in a frenzy."

I giggle and hold Nick's hand. He smiles at me and says, "What do you plan on doing now, Alice?" We both stand in the snow. Nick looks over at me, expecting the next part of the story...

"I guess I want to get clean.." I say, "because I never wanted to do any of the crimes, but I felt some obligation to do it. I know this probably sounds cheesy, but I wouldn't mind turning over a new leaf with you.." He smiles, "Well you've found the right guy because I'm down."

"I guess we're in this together from here on out." Nick seems excited, but also nervous. I kiss him again and embrace him. Nick is very surprised, but also very happy. He hugs and kisses me back. In the distance, I see a small wooden cabin, deep into the forest. "Look," I exclaim, "there's a little log cabin over there! Do you think we could live in it?" Nick looks up at the wooden cabin. He smiles, "Absolutely, I don't want to draw attention to us anyway. And this cabin will keep us hidden. Do you know how to survive in these conditions, Alice?" he looks at me and smiles.

"I've been able to survive this long, I'm pretty sure I did my research on surviving in worse conditions than this. Plus, how can these be bad conditions when I have you?" I say. "You're great, Alice," Nick says with a smile on his face. He looks around at the snow-covered landscape. "So how will we get food around here?"

"I planned for that as well," I say as I run to my Ferrari to get a pile of canned foods. He looks surprised and says, "Wow, you really have everything figured out."He smiles.

"Do you have any other supplies besides this pile of canned food?"

"Well, I am experienced in hunting, so no worries there," I say. "Oh really," he says incredulously, "You're going to hunt for food!?" He has a huge smile on his face.

"Wow, you really do have this whole thing planned out huh?" As the both of us are talking, I notice that the sky is slowly getting darker- nighttime is approaching.

"Hold on, I'll go grab all the guns and the briefcase from my Ferrari," I say. Nick smiles, "You're really on top of everything..." He takes a few steps back, and waits for me to come back with all of my stuff. He then walks over to me, and gives me a cute hug. We're officially a team.

I settle down into the cabin with Nick, and notice the place is already completely furnished. The interior of the cabin is very cozy. It is already furnished with everything one might need. I look at Nick and ask him "Do you own this cabin???"

"Yeah" he says. "I always use it when i'm on the run." He smiles. I go to sit on the couch. "Well, Alice. What do you want to do now? We could cook some food and eat together, or we could just relax?" He sits next to me, and puts his arm around me, and I lay my head on his shoulder. He smiles, and closes his eyes. After a few minutes, I notice he has fallen asleep.

It's getting darker outside. A soft snore can be heard coming from Nick.

I get up and prepare dinner with some of the canned foods, in case he wakes up before morning. I prepare dinner very well, and set the table. I then go and sit back on the couch with him. I look up at the window, and see the moonlight shining through. In the distance, I hear an owl hooting. It is now completely dark outside. I see that he is peacefully sleeping. I then hear a noise coming from the hallways. I get scared for the first time in my life. I shake the guy to wake him up. "Someone else is here. I'm scared.." I say to him.

Nick wakes up and is really confused. He looks around to see what's going on. Then he notices a figure in the hallway. He stands up and immediately runs for his gun, ready to shoot. The figure steps inside. He looks like a huge man that works out regularly.

He's 6'6 tall and really muscular. He is wearing all black clothes, and he has a ski mask on, making it impossible to see his face. He has a gun pointed at my boyfriend, and I can tell that he means serious business. I gain some courage, and I quickly grab an assault rifle with a silencer and shoot the intruder. The intruder's body falls to the floor and he's lying down in a pool of blood. Nick looks at me and says, "Wow Alice... You are a badass." He is obviously really impressed with my skills. He looks down at the intruder's body and says, "Wow, we have a very professional robber." Nick looks at me and says, "What should we do now?"

"Should we hide the body?" I ask. He looks at me and says, "Yeah let's get rid of the body." He grabs the body and drags it outside. As we both enter the woods, I see that it's very dark. We then both decide to ditch the body in a far valley, where it can't be found. We look at each other and both smile. Then, my fear of the dark kicks in.

"Baby.. I'm scared.. I've never admitted it but the one thing I'm scared of is the dark.. I know it's really stupid.." I say shakily. Nick smiles, and then he says, "It's okay, I gotcha." He wraps his arm around me, and we walk back to the cabin together.

VI

As we get back inside the cozy cabin, I turn on the lights. Nick closes the blinds on all the windows. We both breathe a sigh of relief. I snuggle really close to him. I feel safe, because I know he will protect me from anything. The rest of the night is peaceful, as no one else breaks into the house. I fall asleep peacefully, and in the morning I wake up to the sound of my favorite food being cooked. I sit up and see Nick cooking eggs and bacon on the stove. He smiles and says, "Morning sweetheart, did you sleep well?" I smile and reply, "Yes dear, I slept wonderfully." He smiles and says, "I'm glad."

He walks over to the table and then he sets two plates on the table. He then pours two glasses of orange juice and says, "Breakfast is served." On the table, there are two eggs, a bacon sandwich with ketchup, two glasses of orange juice, and a plate of buttered toast. Suddenly, I hear a knock on the front door. 'We can't ever catch a break, can we?' I think to myself. He closes his eyes and yells, "DAMMIT." He immediately stands up and grabs his gun. He then walks over to the front door, and he looks through the peephole. He keeps the gun beside him, and then opens the door.

I grab my assault rifle, ready to help him. We both open the door. I point my gun at the intruder, and l see that he is the leader of the drug cartel. He looks at us and says, "I have come to end your life for good" He takes out his gun... Me and my boyfriend stare down each other and get ready for a showdown. He smiles at us both, and then he says , "You're not getting away with this." I shoot the leader in the face. He falls on the floor and dies instantly. The whole room is silent. Me and my boyfriend stare down at the dead man for at least 30 seconds. And then we both drop our weapons...

We smile at each other and hug each other... "I love you," I tell Nick. "I love you too, Alice," he tells me. He kisses my cheek, and I snuggle in his lap. He smiles and says, "I have a surprise for you" He takes out a small velvet ring box. He kneels down and says "Alice, will you marry me?"

I gasp. The ring is beautiful. "Y-yes! A thousand times yes!" I squeal excitedly. Nick smiles and he says "I love you too Alice." He stands up and puts the ring on my finger. He kisses me softly and we embrace each other in a warm, loving hug. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me," Nick says.

VII

Later that night, I have an idea. While Nick is asleep, I sneak out and down the mountain. I run to a church and ask the preacher to arrange a wedding by tomorrow evening. The church pastor agrees to get us two married, as long as we are both there by tomorrow evening. Now all I have to do is get back to the cabin...

I hike back up the mountain and sneak back into the cabin. I quietly snuggle back up with Nick. He is still sleeping. I look outside and see that it is now morning, so I have a whole day to get ready for the wedding. I then realize I need a wedding dress!

I sneak back out of the cabin and take a couple thousand dollars from the briefcase and head back down the mountain.

I am taking a risk to go buy a wedding dress, exposing myself to the public, but no one in Sweden really knows of our existence, and either way I'm doing it for my one true love. I walk into a dress store. "Hello, I would like to look for a wedding dress," I say politely to the lady at the front desk. She is a middle-aged woman, with grayish-blonde hair, and a casual tee and dress pants on. "Oh my goodness! Are you getting married???" the woman says excitedly. "How can I help you???" She pulls out a lot of wedding dresses and I start trying them on. I finally decide on a beautiful white dress, perfect for the wedding. "How much for it," I ask the lady. "$499," she replies with a smile. "Would you like to see how you'd look in it?" She points to a mirror.

The dress looks stunning. "I love it.." I say with stars in my eyes. I take out a thousand dollars and hand it to her. "The extra is for you being such a blessing in my life, especially in times like this, and making me feel wonderful today. Thank you," I tell the woman, with a huge smile on my face. The woman almost cries, "Thank you so much." She hugs me tight. "I know you're going to be the most beautiful bride ever.." she says. She looks at my ring. "And I bet your husband is a very lucky man," she smiles.

"He is," I say, "just as I am so lucky to have met him. We actually had our first date in Italy.. I knew right then we were meant for each other." "That's so cute," the woman smiles again. "I always love to hear stories like this. I wish you the best of luck." She gives me another hug. "Would you like me to wrap the dress in this white gift wrap and bag," she asks. "Yes please," I reply. The woman smiles and she wraps the dress beautifully.

The dress is all neatly wrapped, and she even puts a bow on top to make it look prettier. She hands it over to me, and I take the bag and she says, "Have a great day." "You too," I say, and I decide to head back to the cabin. I sneak back in the cabin and hide the dress in the closet, my excitement hard to contain. Nick is still asleep, and snoring loudly. I cuddle up to him. We cuddle on the couch the rest of the day, until sunset. It's almost time for the wedding. I gently nudge Nick, and say, "Babe, wake up.. It's almost time.." He wakes up, feeling completely refreshed. He smiles at me and goes to our bedroom, and comes out in a nice tux. I am wearing my beautiful white dress, and we share a gentle kiss. "I love you, Alice," Nick says. I look into his eyes dreamily, and we share another kiss.

VIII

At the wedding, I get really anxious but excited. "You look beautiful, and your dress is gorgeous," Nick tells me. He smiles, and looks into my eyes. "We're about to walk down the aisle, are you ready?" Nicm asks me. I then notice police officers standing near the entrance. My heart races. We both hear the sirens, and my heart fills with a sense of dread. As the officers get closer, I notice they are all carrying assault rifles.

"GET ON THE GROUND NOW!!" they yell, while pointing their rifles at me. The whole wedding party stops and stares. "Please," I beg the officers, "we were just about to get married! Please leave us alone!!" "You think you can get away with excuses," one of the officers yells at me, "you are under arrest for multiple crimes against humanity! GET ON THE GROUND NOW!!" Suddenly, I blurt out, "I do!" I kiss Nick passionately, and he kisses back. "I love you Alice, we'll get through this, I promise.." Nick says. The officers come up to me and put handcuffs on my wrists. Suddenly, the lady from the dress store stands up and says, "Wait! Take me instead! I killed 20 people last year and I have pictures of them all!"

The policemen look stunned, and turn to the lady. "Are you serious," one asks. The lady takes her phone out and shows one of the officers the pictures. The whole wedding party is speechless. The policemen look at every picture, and say, "Why'd you do it?" She says, in as calm as a voice can be, "Because God told me it would pay off one day." "Why didn't you tell anyone," another officer asks the woman. "Who better than God," she replies. After a long pause, a police officer says, "You will be arrested and charged with 1st degree murder. Please follow me ma'am." The officers take her away, the lady still as calm as can be, and the crowd stares in disbelief.

I hug Nick, crying on his shoulder. He hugs me back, and I turn to the wedding crowd to make a soon-to-be renowned speech. "I thank you all for being here to support us, even through the interruption by the cops. But one woman decided to stand up and admit her crimes in front of everyone, so that me and my wonderful husband could live together happily. That is real courage.

I will forever be grateful for the lady, and hope that she makes it out okay.. but now, because of her sacrifice, we can all stand here today in a gathering of not only a new relationship, but a new journey, a new chapter in mine and my husband's book of life. However, I challenge all of you here today to consider this ceremony as a day where you turn over a new leaf to live a better life. This cannot become official, without a toast to new journeys. Cheers." My speech has moved the whole wedding party to tears, and they give me a standing ovation. The clapping continues for 5 minutes, before Nick, my husband, stands up and raises a glass of wine and says, "To new beginnings, a toast to new journeys." "Baby, we did it," I say as I look at Nick lovingly. "Yes, babe," he says, "we finally did it." He kisses me softly. He turns to the wedding party, and says, "Let's celebrate like it's 1999!"

The whole crowd cheers. Suddenly, the LAST person I expected to see stands up. Lemon. "A toast to new beginnings," he says. "Lemon!" I scream excitedly. Lemon smiles. "A new beginning is always a good day. Have a great day everyone," he says, and then leaves. "Hey wait!" I hurry to catch up to him. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened on the train.. I-I hope you don't have to hide in the shadows to live peacefully.. like I did. Everything went downhill after I got that briefcase, until I met my wonderful husband.

I'm sorry about Tangerine, but he would want you to live on and start over and do good things instead of living your life in fear of the cops.." "Thank you, Alice," he frowns, "yes, I did have to live in the shadows.. But I realized something. Hiding only made it worse, I can't keep living the life I'm living.." He looks up at me, and says, "But I'm going to turn over a new leaf." He smiles, "Thank you, Alice." He hugs me.

"Tangerine would be proud, I'm sure," I say to Lemon. Tears run down his face. "Thank you, Alice.." he says. He then lets go, and walks away... into the sunset... I say a silent prayer to God, to watch over Lemon, and keep him safe in this life. I hear God's voice reply, "I will always watch over Lemon and keep him safe in this life.. You are my angel, Alice." I look to the sky and smile. I then hear Lemon's voice in the distance, "TANGERINE! It's you!" I can almost hear the joy in his voice, and a tear rolls down my cheek, a tear of happiness. I look to the distance, and see the two brothers united once again. I smile and turn around, and head back to the wedding venue, where my friends, and most importantly the love of my life, is waiting for me.

About The Author:

Bryant Bowling is a 16 year old writer and a fairly new, yet very experienced author. Bryant is adopted, and is in the marching band. Near the end of his first semester in 9th grade, the marching band ended their marching season with a huge success by winning the 2021 marching band championship. Although he is adopted, he loves his adoptive parents, just like they were his real parents.

Bryant has 2 dogs and one cat. He excels in all his classes, especially band. In his free time, Bryant likes to make music, draw, read, make YouTube videos, and play video games. He is planning to get 2 degrees. One in music and one in literature. He is already planning on going to Berry College in Rome, Georgia. Bryant has already written a Far Cry-based trilogy and a realistic fiction story about the horrors of being kidnapped.