[ WP ] Make us fall in love with your character , and then immediately kill them off .

If I was going to be honest about it I never really had a choice, not about any of it. When I was in the first grade another kid had pushed me to the ground and taken the ball that I was playing with. As I sat in the dirt crying my eyes out this ball of energy with red frizzy hair ran at the bully kicking him in the shins and pushing him into the dirt. It was love at first fight as she handed me my ball back with a smile just and the teacher led her off to sit in the timeout corner. When snack time came around and she wasn ’ t getting any as part of her punishment I sneakily shared some of mine with her. She told me her name was Melanie and the rest was history. 
 
 There was never any choice, as we became the best of friends growing up. She was there for me when my dad died when we were in 5th grade and when Gina Gorophallo dumped me in 8th. I was there for her when her mom split on her 13th birthday and when Ian Chambers dumped her sophomore year and then spread rumors about her. There was never any choice when kissed for the first time at 16. A lifetime of friendship, fun and mischief had brought us to this point; I knew her better than I knew anything else, better than I knew myself. After 10 years of being the best of friends the transition from friends to lovers was as natural as breathing. 
 
 So when she knocked on my bedroom window 2 days after her 18th birthday and after letting her in she told me through sobs how she had fought off her bastard drunk father as he had tried to climb into bed with her there was really no choice, we would run. 
 
 All things considered we had a good run, as good as two 18 year olds could have possibly had. We had my savings from the part time jobs I had been working to save for college and I had to sell the classic muscle car that my dad left me. It as hard but whatever it cost to save her I would gladly pay it. The problem was her dad was a cop, so it meant constant running. We never stayed in one place for too long; going from small town to small town, to stay off of the cop ’ s radar. We worked odd jobs, kept to ourselves, drank and made love. It would have been pretty romantic if not for the constant fear that he would eventually find us. 
 
 So when I came home from work one afternoon and her dad was sitting in our living room I knew that it was over. 
 
 “ Where is she? ” he growled at me as he pointed his gun at me. 
 
 “ Someplace you will never find her. ” I spat back at him. 
 
 He was across the room so fast I didn ’ t have time to move before starts exploded behind my eyes. I fell to the ground as a torrent of punches kicks and curse words rolled over me. I wanted to fight back but it was all I could do to defend myself. 
 
 “ You will tell me where she is or I will kill you! ” He screamed at me. Did he not know that when we ran 2 years ago I was prepared to die? To do whatever it took to keep him from her. I might not be strong enough to fight him off but I was at least strong enough to do this. 
 
 “ Ok ok just don ’ t kill me. ” I shouted, my voice cracking under the strain of his assault. Hopefully he couldn ’ t hear the deceit on my lips. He stopped hitting me and looked down at me breathing heavy from exertion. I felt the cold metal push against my temple as he crouched down beside me. 
 
 “ Where is she? ” 
 
 “ Aaaa at work but I can call her. ” 
 
 “ Fine but no bullshit, or your dead and nobody will find your body. ” 
 
 I nodded as I sat up and pulled the phone from my pocket. We had planned for this moment and I silently prayed she remembered everything we practiced as I listened to the phone ring. She picked up on the first ring. 
 
 “ David, is everything ok? ” 
 
 “ Of course sweetheart, I was just wondering if you could come home and bring dinner. ” There was a pause on the line as I heard a sharp intake of breath. When she spoke again there was fear in her voice. 
 
 “ He ’ s here? ” 
 
 “ Yeah, just pick something up I don ’ t feel like cooking. ” 
 
 “ Ok, I ’ m heading to the meet up point how long till you get here? ” 
 
 “ No, I ’ m thinking pizza. ” 
 
 There was a longer pause on the line and when she spoke again she was in sobs. 
 
 “ No David, is there no other way? ” 
 
 “ No, my love, pizza is for dinner tonight. I love you and see you soon. ” I hung up before my face betrayed my intentions. Her mom left on the day of her 13th birthday party, a pizza party. She hated pizza; pizza was code for the worst scenario possible. But she had understood and she would run and I would do the only thing left I could do for her. 
 
 I looked up into the triumphant face of her father and realized that he was about to kill me, what he didn ’ t realize is neither of us would be walking away from this. 
 
 “ How long till she gets here? ” He asked his face a mask of sadistic glee. 
 I stared into his face as my fingers dialed the code I had memorized for just this occasion. I could not make any mistakes for I only had one chance to save her. Any loss of focus would mean her death, and that I could not allow. 
 
 “ You won ’ t. I told her to run. ” His face contorted into a mask of fury as he prepared to kill me. 
 
 “ It doesn ’ t matter, after I ’ m done here I ’ ll find her no matter how long it takes. ” He said with a predatory leer. 
 
 “ No you won ’ t Mark, you aren ’ t leaving here alive. YOU WILL NEVER HURT YOUR DAUGHTER AGAIN! ” I screamed and I pressed send on my phone and activated the bomb I had placed below the floor boards for just a time as this.
