In the Alley

The cold streets sent a strange echo between the red brick buildings. Josie shivered, the moaning breeze just enough of a chill to seep into the thin arms of her jacket. Her heels clicked like an off-putting rhythm against the cement, and the squalor of party-goers was left behind for the silence of deserted streets. Josie checked her phone. Three minutes until midnight. She hurried her pace, anxious to arrive. 

As she hurried through the blackened streets, a suspicious feeling followed her from behind. Were hidden eyes watching her just beyond the circles of light from the flickering street lamps?  The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Josie picked up her phone to check the time. Two minutes left. Her phone was still at 85 percent after charging it at the party, so at least she wouldn’t have to worry about walking all the way back to 42 Irving Street in the dark. A cat scurried out in front of her, close enough that she almost stepped on its tail. Josie jumped back in surprise, the darkness of a broken street lamp barely illuminating the thing. For a fast moment, the tiny, gray creature stared up at her. Its back was arched and he let out a hiss before darting back into the darkness. Josie had half the mind to follow, sure she had seen that same cat on a missing poster, but she was already late as is. 

The streets were almost too dark for Josie to remember which led where. The light of the new moon no help at all as she squinted into the inky black. A minute late, she found the place she was looking for. Would he really care if it was just a minute? Josie tapped her foot nervously on the pavement, looking around at the quiet alleyway. The building across from her was an old pizzeria. Dark green ivy crawled up its sides, taking over the building with the exception of a small patch of red towards the top. Josie imagined that under that facade of green beauty, the ivy was slowly ripping that building apart. The owner of that pizzeria would have to cut out every trace of the plant, every root and leaf, to save his restaurant. A restaurant that no one even went to anymore. 

Something moved in the shadows, and Josie whipped around to see the very person she was waiting for. He was wearing a dark suit that hung off his thin frame. Easily taller than the average basketball player, he dwarfed over Josie. She tried her best to remain strong and not shrink away as he stepped closer to her. 

“I said before midnight, Josephine.” He lifted a hand to her face, caressing a lock of her auburn hair. His eyes looked upon her with a cold and unforgiving stare. “What happened?”

“Evelyn kept me at the party to meet a potential buyer.” She looked down, afraid of the unmerciful soul hiding in his stare. In a fast motion, he gripped her chin hard and forced her face up towards his. Josie swallowed, the motion grating against her neck. 

“Don’t you know how I feel about lies?” His face, inches away from hers, held the smell of iron. Josie glanced down to see a tiny spot of red on his collar. 

“I’m sorry, Marc. It wasn’t a lie.” Josie struggled to keep her breathing under control. “I tried to leave as early as I could. I just wanted to do what was best for you, for the business.” Despite herself, tears started to drip from her eyes, running onto Marc’s fingers that were still gripped around her cheeks in a way that would surely result in a bruise. He said nothing as if waiting for Josie to pull herself together. 

He released her face, wiping away a tear at the base of her eye with his thumb. He looked down at the moisture on his finger, rolling the salty water between his fingers. “When I tell you to do something, I would like you to follow through. You should be jumping at every opportunity I offer you.” He glanced over at her, and Josie could only manage a weak nod. “Good girl. Call Evelyn about the meeting. I want you both there.” 

Josie didn’t bother to touch up her face. She just pulled out her phone, but the black screen remained black as she pressed profusely on the power button. She looked up to see Marc watching her, and Josie struggled again with the buttons to no avail. Marc approached her again, taking the phone slowly from her hands. Josie didn’t dare resist. The sound of her phone shattering on the pavement made Josie jump, and she looked helplessly at the pieces of glass and exposed hard drive. 

“Josephine, sweetheart, why do you continue to be such a disappointment?” Marc didn’t move for a second, but Josie felt her fear mounting with every second that he looked upon her in silence. “I don’t think I need you anymore.” He sighed to himself, but those simple words were far from a casual statement. Josie lifted a hand to her face that came away black, the tears from earlier having mixed with her cheap mascara. 

“Please, Marc, I can still be of use. I can still help, I-” Josie stopped, the look in his eyes cold and devoid of emotion. The stare of a killer. Josie took a step back. Then another. Marc made no move, only looking straight into her eyes, a challenge for her to try and defend herself. Josie bolted, Marc’s laughter following behind her. Her shoes were of no help, the stiletto heel getting caught in every nook and cranny in the cobblestone street, so she ripped them off. She threw them behind her, hoping to hinder Marc in even the smallest way. 

Running back the way she came, Josie ran into a small space between two buildings. The street lamp above her was out, providing enough light for Josie to pray that Marc would not see her if he ran by. She clutched her head in her hands, sobbing as quietly as she could manage. In her darkness, something hard slammed her against the wall, Marc’s bony fingers around her neck tightened like a vice. Josie scrambled for air, clawing weakly at Marc, but he didn’t even notice. 

“What a spirited little thing you are. I thought for sure that you would accept your fate like all the rest. Wasn’t it you who came to me when you wanted to die last year?” He laughed under his breath as he watched Josie struggle. “I guess you were fooling both of us, hiding this fire underneath all that whimpering. Too bad.” He slid her up higher against the wall until her feet could no longer touch the ground. Josie choked and tried relentlessly to peel away his fingers, but Marc only laughed at her attempts. 

A small animal flung itself at Marc from the dark. He dropped Josie in surprise, and she fell hard to the ground, a sharp pain invading her leg. Her fingers landed on an abandoned piece of glass lying hidden and forgotten on the ground. She wrapped her shaky hand around it, the sharp edges already drawing blood from her hand. Marc flung the animal off his back and turned towards Josie once again. There was a rage in his eyes, a deranged man unhinged. He lunged towards Josie, and at the same moment, she shoved the glass spike upwards. Marc stepped back, noticing the blood pooling from his stomach. He turned his head up towards the sky, laughing like a hyena into the cloudless night. Josie crawled away, using her hand to drag herself along the pavement when her leg wouldn't respond. She found the small animal, her savior, and saw that it too was injured from Marc’s fury. She didn't hesitate, grabbing the animal and pulling herself up. 

Josie ran as fast as she could with her injured leg, hoping to death that Marc was dead. She looked down to see what creature was in her hands to find the small gray cat from before. She smiled down at the fuzzy creature and suddenly remembered where she had seen the cat before. Exactly a year before, last New Year's Eve, that cat had been lurking in the alley when Josie first met Marc. She whispered to the cat, grateful beyond reason that he had saved her once again.