Prologue
He staggered down the dark deserted alley. The odour of vomit mixed with urine invaded his nostrils, and the man wrinkled up his nose in disgust. Filthy animals, treating his town like a urinal.
Further into the black he stumbled, eager to get home and give his right hand a workout. His foot connected with something soft and he let out a groan. “Please don’t say its dog shit again”, he prayed. The amount of times he had had to scrub his shoes clean after a Saturday night of walking down this alley, he should be a professional shoe polisher.
He took out his lighter and lifted his right shoe. In his intoxicated state the movement made him lose his balance and he landed face first in a dis-guarded, ripped black bin liner, full of rotting rubbish that spilled onto the Deteriorating tarmac thanks to starved Seagulls.
“Argh!” he yelled, his voice stifled by the bin liner. For a moment it felt like he couldn’t breathe, that he was slowly being smothered. Death by garbage: now that was a funny headline.
He pressed his flat palms against the ground and managed with great difficulty to heave himself vertical again. The world swayed and he precariously stumbled against the wet brick wall.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” He muttered and set off down the alley. The laughter that seemed to echo around him sounded like a child’s. He stopped and looked back. There was nothing but an abyss of blackness; ahead he could hear the faint exhaust of a car, “must have drunk more than I thought.” The man said to himself.
He set off as fast as his body would allow, “bloody hearing things now.” He grumbled, trotting unsteadily down the alley. The laughter came again but this time seemed closer. The man spun and felt anger erupt inside him. “I know who you are! You’re that little piss faggot from down the block.” He shouted, his voice full of false bravado. “Fuck off or I’ll kick your head in!” The laughter was right beside him; it tickled the thin hairs that poked out his ears, making an unpleasant shiver travel down his spine.
The man flinched and staggered backwards. “I’m warning you, you little cunt.” His voice shook with fear, and he knew he had lost all hope of scaring his tormentor off. Turning towards the bright streetlamps of Main Street the man made a break for it.
He made it out the alley and leaned against the bakery shop wall, his feet safe on familiar ground. He took deep breaths and let out a shaky laugh. “Fucking little cockroach, thinking he could scare me like that.” He lit a cigarette that fell smouldering onto the cold paving, as strong hands grabbed him roughly and yanked the man back into the shadows of the alley.
His gurgled screams died quickly as the sounds of ripping flesh filled the air. Blood oozed down the paving and dripped into the gutter, just a few feet away a car lurched past.
Main Street was silent once more.