ALL GOOD GIRLS GO TO HELL

In the inevitable certainty that I would go tonight, I saw myself clinging ferociously onto this saying: "If you still hear the gunshots after being shot, the... whatever the hell comes next.

Thursday by 5:30 pm had its evening buzzing with wonderful chaos in Philadelphia. Everyone had a peculiar in-orderliness to bring to the table; from babes jogging to guys cycling to workers secretly longing for rest from the day's work, but traders leaping for joy, as this was practically the best time to disown their products to the right buyer. Whilst nature carried on its cause, I had just finished my training and was headed home. As wonderful as Philadelphia's evening was, the traffic at that time was something I always feared, and even now, 7 pm would be the earliest that I'll arrive at my apartment. I checked my watch which read 5:35 pm, moved down the walkway, greeted a few traders, and boarded a bus going to 225, North Calvert Street Apartments in Baltimore, Maryland.

The ride home was quite enjoyable, under the waning light of the Sun, I could see why people never missed this phenomenon. Indeed, the setting of the Sun was beautiful, together with the Calypso track booming from the radio, one could say my body was steadily being prepared for a sound sleep. I entered my apartment by 7:15 pm, and without thinking much, I aimed for the bathroom. I was already half-naked when I noticed my left arm felt a little lighter than usual. The phone pouch on my left arm was empty, unfortunately, the gym would be locked by now, meaning I'd have to wait for its re-opening by 9 pm to get my phone. So I did away with the rest of my clothes and entered the bathroom. Dragging myself out of the bathroom, I could feel the effects of my training, and my muscles started throbbing. I picked up a patterned blue T-shirt, tied the end into a knot, wore fitted grey joggers, and headed out by 7:48 pm on my Puma sneakers.

An uneasiness crept under my skin as I stood in front of the Gym, it felt more like someone hurriedly broke in because all the security lights were off, and the door was slightly opened. Still, the feeling didn't stop, so I packed my hair into a bun style and went in. Caution was my very option presently, and if I didn't know where the switch was, I would have hesitated to go in. When I turned on the lights, I found a very strange scenario – Why would anyone gag themselves and sit close to a training bar? But when realization dawned on me, I scurried down to the bar. Four girls and a little boy were gagged and tied to the pole, and if this was a kidnap, I was beginning to question the sanity of the perpetrator. My watch struck 8:25 pm, and the timing couldn't be any more perfect. The nearest police station was a 30-minute arrival at best, which was more than enough time to get away with whatever they were planning. One of the girls had already confirmed my suspicion, and as I began untying the stubborn rope, the next expression of the other children warned me that I was in danger.

Shortly after I moved from the girl, I saw the shadow of a man's shoe that failed to land a hit on me. I stood and scanned him properly, knowing I could incapacitate him if there were no interventions, but he thought otherwise. In a fuss, he ran towards me, throwing the first, second, and third punch, but were diverted easily. I was still a newbie to the Krav Maga technique, however, random punches didn't faze me again. I landed the first hit to his heart, the next to his nose, then his knee cap, but as I was about to land the final blow, my brain bounced angrily and my body crashed heavily on the floor. My worst fear had come to pass, my opponent was not alone. I struggled seriously, trying to regain my balance, but my head was still dazed. Whoever landed that punch intended to kill me, but as I opened my eyes, I realized it wasn't a punch... I was hit by a fire extinguisher.

Just as I managed to get on my feet, my legs left the ground and my whole body crashed down again. The second man was pissed that someone interfered with their plan and was bent on removing the threat. He kept on lifting and throwing me back to the ground, and by the fourth time, I was losing breath, my eyes were failing, my skull had cracked and my face was bleeding. His repeated rampage suddenly reminded me of how light-weighted I was, I could count five broken ribs, my left arm was already condemned, but that wasn't enough, he then kicked me in the gut and threw me to the glass on the wall. To be honest, by the time I landed, I was grateful that my spine was not destroyed, nonetheless, I could barely stand. My initial plan was to stall for a time after I contacted the police, but after the last shard of the glass had kissed my wrecked body, my eyes were bloodshot, and I didn't care anymore, but those two would die by my hands.

I painfully folded pieces of glass in my hands for my next attack, and when I was lifted again, I blinded him, held his head tight, and slammed it into my knee. I couldn't worry again about the pain I endured, and as his partner, my first opponent came for the assist, I broke his knee, jammed their heads together and my last roundhouse kick got buried in their necks, with their heads painted into the floor. And that was it, the war was over. Forcefully dragging my failing body, I inched closer to the children to untie them, then I heard a gunshot and my legs immediately went weak. Off all the variables, I wasn't expecting a gun. Was the roundhouse kick not enough? As I looked back, my hand instinctively held the front of my neck, but the man who shot me collapsed, and I went down too. The bullet had pierced my throat, and I started choking, with every slight crawl, my strength depleted and I could see the children struggling desperately to lose their bonds, to help me, but they couldn't.

I was finally able to reach one of them, and my teeth and right arm worked their hardest till I eventually untied her. As the last bit of my strength freed the girl, she haphazardly untied the rest of the children, and they came rushing to me, re-applying pressure on my neck. It was an extremely foolish decision, one that cost me my life, but I was relieved. Any moment now, the Police Department would arrive and the children would be safe. "Please ma'am, don't die! Hang in there! You already called the Police, please stay with me." Sadly, I was already too far gone. I could no longer recount the number of hits I had taken, the damage I'd been blessed with, blood cried out of the various parts that were pierced, and couldn't withstand the constant barrage of the attacks. As it turned out that I was the only one who could even put up a fight, that last move he made had sealed my fate.

I could feel my lungs in my throat, my heart moving down my spine and my consciousness fading out. Lying on the floor, I couldn't tell if this man-made madness shifted the position of my organs, but I knew this was the end. I was going to die!

Moments later after I heard the wailing of the Police cars, I drew the girl in and asked for her name. "It's okay Anna, you are safe now. Children, Aunty Emily will not be able to make it but don't cry, Aunty will be protecting you from the other side." And with that, my hand left her soaked face, putting up one last smile as I finally closed my eyes.