There's a timer attached to my wrist. I've had it for as long as I can remember. My parents' timers counted down to their first meeting. My cousin's counted down to her death. I don't have many friends, but I've got a couple of enemies.

About four or so months ago, I started training in various forms of martial arts in preparation for this day. There are about 12 hours remaining before my life event. I have a pretty good feeling the person or creature is going to kill me and I want to be prepared.

* * * * *

"Hey, Dexter! Wait up!" Genesis calls to me from somewhere behind me. I slow down so she can catch up.

"What's up, Gen?" I ask while glancing from her to the sidewalk to the tree a few yards away.

"Do you wanna go train again tonight?" She asks seeming anxious and excited.

"Sure, but isn't your timer almost done?"

"I've got about four hours left and I wanna spend it training."

"Alright. If that's what you wanna do," before I could finish that sentence she'd pulled my arm in the direction of our gym. Little did she know my timer was at four hours and she was my mark.

* * * * *

"Come on! You're not even trying! Hit me!" Gen complains while throwing several punches at me before taking a few steps back into her defense pose.

I glance at my watch which happens to sit on the wrist with my timer. 20 mins it reads. In 20 minutes I'll find out what my timer has predestined me to do to my best friend. I won't kill her and it's killing me keeping this secret from her.

"Timeout. Water break." I sit down on a chair and throw my sweat rag over my head to drape my eyes.

If my timer flashes "kill" on the display I will have been predestined to kill her. I've only ever seen three words on someone's timer: kill, death, and kiss. This one kid awhile back had kill/death flash on his timer just as he committed suicide. He couldn't take the pressure of not knowing what was going to happen to him, so he killed himself.

"Hellooo. Earth to Dex. Are you with me?" Gen asks while waving her hands in front of my face.

I swat her hands away, "Yeah I'm here. What's up?"

"It's almost time," she looked around nervously.

I glanced at my own timer. 2 minutes left until I find out what I'm doing.

She sat in front of me, looking at her wringing hands in her lap. She looked scared and worried about what might happen to her. I just wanted to grab her and protect her from anything that was about to happen. Her timer beeped twice and I heard her gasp. The display said, "death." My timer beeped and displayed, "protect."

I jumped out of my chair just as her childhood bully, who is now twice my size, charged her. I swung a roundhouse kick to his jaw, disorienting him a little.

"Gen! Go hide!" I call quickly to her before dodging his punch to my jaw.

"Dexter, I should have known you would be here. You and Genesis were inseparable."

"I have to say I never expected you to be here, Tom."

I knew using his real name would set him off since he only goes by Bull now. I dodge his anger attack and land a solid punch on his side where his lower rib is. He breathes heavily probably due to the fact I either cracked or broke that rib I just hit. He slowly turns around to face me. He had this look of anger and disgust. I blocked his attempts and landed a kick to the same rib I just injured. He doubles over from the pain and I kick his chest knocking the breath out of him as he lands hard on his back.

"You're going to leave Gen alone or I'll be tempted to kick your ass again, got it?" I say threateningly as I hold him up by his shirt.

"Got it," he whispers struggling to breathe. I release his shirt letting his body slump to the floor.

"Gen! Gen, it's okay now! You're safe!" I rush around looking in places she might've hidden. I see her sun-kissed blonde head pop out from a spot I'd overlooked.

"Dex, my timer still says "death," I don't think this is over."

I envelop her in a hug, "I'll protect you."

I hear her gasp and I look at my own timer. The display reads "kill" in bright red letters.

"Gen, I won't hurt you. I promise. I would never hurt you."

I look over at the sparring ring where I had left Tom. He was still lying on the ground. I ran over quickly to see his timer. It said, "death/kill," so I guess he has an objective and a destiny.

I am destined to kill Tom and he is destined to kill Gen unless I kill him first. He looks to be unconscious. I grab a weight and prepare to bring it down on his head to kill him.

I was unprepared for Tom to jump up and attack me. I shove him back and go for a punch to his temple. He blocks and strikes me in the chest. I stumble back to catch my breath before planning another hit. He comes after me and I dodge his hit. In the same motion, I land a kick to his temple.

He hits his knees and I grab a weight, slamming it into the side of Tom's face. Tom slumps to his side on the ground and rolls onto his back from the force. I hit him a few more times directly on his face. Before long, I stop hitting him to see if he's still alive. I don't feel breath on my finger or hear a heartbeat.

Gen rushes over to show me her timer displaying the word "safe." I envelop her in a hug.

"I told you I'd protect you."

"Always?" She snuggled in my chest.

"Always, best friend."