Chapter One

The dark street was silent and deserted. Nothing moved except for a chilly wind that swept around a corner and made a pile of old newspapers rustle. Howard Dorough shivered and pulled his coat closer to his body and began walking faster. He had to admit to himself that he was feeling a bit uncomfortable even though he had walked down this street a thousand times before. It’s weird how the look of a place can change so completely when the dark comes, he thought. Even the sound of his own footsteps was creepy.

Howie was on his way home to his condo after a night out at his favorite club 'The Icon' with some friends. They had had a great time and had danced all night, but right now all Howie wanted was to get home to his warm, soft bed. It felt like he was the only one awake in the whole town. He shot a glance at his watch. Ok, so it was 3:30 am so most people probably were asleep too.

Suddenly a loud scream cut through the silence and made Howie freeze to ice from horror. What the hell was that? Seconds later a man came running from an alley and smashed right into Howie, nearly knocking them both over. For a second they were face to face and stared at each other. The man was breathing heavily and his eyes flickered nervously.

"Dammit" he hissed and then turned around rapidly and continued to run down the street. Howie just stood and watched dumbfounded with his heart racing in his chest. When he got over the worst of the shock he shuddered and started to walk again, eager to get away from there. But once again he froze to stone in the middle of a step. He could have sworn he heard something. He listened intensely and there it was again. A weak wail came from the direction the man had shown up from. Howie’s first reaction was to run away from there as fast as he could, but that wasn’t what he did. What he had heard really sounded liked a human in pain. And Howie, being the kindhearted person he is, just couldn’t leave without making sure no one was hurt and needed help.

Cautiously he walked to the dark alley where the sound came from. "Is there anyone there?" he called out, his voice trembling. No answer, just the echo of his own voice so he tried again. "Hello?" This time he heard a moan from inside the alley. He gulped and stepped forward, guided by the sound. It was definitely someone in pain.

"Here... I’m here" a hoarse voice said which made Howie jolt. And there, behind a large dumpster he saw someone sitting in the shadows.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" he asked as he walked up to the person. When he got closer he saw it was a young woman sitting in an awkward position with her hand pressed against her shoulder and- "Oh my God!" Howie cried out in shock when he saw all the blood. It was obviously coming from somewhere around her shoulder. He sank down to his knees in front of the girl and for the first time he saw her face. Her big brown eyes were full of fear and begged him for help. Howie pulled out a scarf from the pocket of his jacket.

"Here press this against it" he said. It was the first thing he could think of. She did as he said and he helped her. God, there was so much blood! The girl tried to smile at him but instead a grimace of pain came to her pale features.

"Thanks... It’s probably not as bad as it- " she swallowed painfully "-as it looks. It’s just a knife cut but..." She blacked out. Howie was close to panic now. What was he going to do? He knew absolutely nothing about first aid, not to mention knife cuts.

"Oh sh*t" he mumbled. He had to get her to a hospital and that quick. Carefully he picked up her tiny body in his arms and carried her back out on the street. He put her down gently under the yellowish glow of a street light before he took his cellphone and called for an ambulance.