"Would you like to dance?"
I always figured I would never live a day to hear those simple five words. Bruce stared down at me with a shy smile. I had gotten to know him over the past half hour, possibly more than I knew my parents.
"I would love too!" I say a little more excited then I intended it to be. He takes my hand and pulls me out into the middle of the ball room where people were slow dancing. He places a hand on my waist sending shivers down my spine and grips my hand with the other. I place my free hand on his shoulder as we sway slowly to the music.
For once all week I wasn't bothered by Joey. Even though I had only just met him, he made Joey seem almost irrelevant. While we danced -or swayed- we talked even more. Mostly about our shared interests, such as boxing. I used to partake in boxing classes when I was younger but I stopped because my mom didn't think it was fit for her daughter to be in any position to fight, even if it could possibly help save her life one day. Bruce still took lessons though, mostly from Alfred who was a former SAS operative and an British MI6 agent and knew almost everything to know about combat and technique.
Every now and then my mother would look over at Bruce and I and give me a weird look that always followed with a smile. I'm not entirely sure what it meant but it certainly didn't make me feel very comfortable.
At some stage we paused from dancing to get more food but after eating we continued. After another half hour a sudden ear-piercing scream echoes through the hall. The music dies and everyone becomes silent. We all look around in search of where the woman screaming was coming from before gunfire erupts throughout the room. Bruce grabs my arm and pulls me to the ground. Everyone starts screaming and rushing out of the room while the gun shots continue. A man standing next to Bruce and I suddenly drops to the floor, a bullet encased in his skull.
I hold back a scream as I back away from the dead man on the floor. Bruce pulls me up and we stumble through the crowd of people towards Alfred and my parents. People scattered around the room, screaming, every now an then someone would just drop to the floor, dead.
"Alfred! What do we do?" Bruce asks with panic lacing his voice. "police are on their way, there isn't much we can do except wait at this point" He states with a grimace. "People are dying. They aren't going to stop shooting people until they achieve their goal" Suddenly a strange look appears on Bruce's face and before Alfred can stop him, he has turned around and is walking towards where the gunfire is coming from.
In a stupid, spur-of-the-moment, I decide for some strange, unknown reason to chase after him. Maybe it was because I didn't want to sit around and watch quite literally the only person who has ever taken an interest in my life get shot, or just because I wanted to try be a hero an get myself shot as well. Both theories were vacuous to an extent to which I wanted to scream at myself for fulfilling whichever one it may be.
I grab his arm. "Bruce-" He cuts me off. "People are being murdered at a party that I hosted and even though it is probably wiser to keep my distance and wait until the police arrive, I am not just going to sit and watch as innocent people are harmed partially due to myself" He stated with a sad look in his eye. God I loved how he worded that entire sentence.
I do the next crazy thing I could possibly do in that situation. "How can I help?
