Downtown Hell

Chapter One

I was walking down a crowded street in the City of Manhattan, around 7pm on a Friday evening, when I remembered that my mom had asked me to get snacks for our game night the next day.
I didn't like the idea of staying out any longer, but then I thought it won't take long and the next store isn't that far away. So I walked faster, in order to be home before the dark. You don't want to be out after dark in Manhattan.

When I entered the store, I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn't noticed how tense I had been.

"We're closing in half an hour", the store clerk informed me. He sounded bored.
"I'll be out in a minute", I answered and went straight to the snack aisle. My little brother, Sam, asked me to get Cheetos, my mom wanted chocolate.
I took the bags from the shelf, walked over to the counter to pay for them and left the store.

It was cold outside and the wind tousled my hair. I checked my phone and groaned. Mom had tried to call me four times, but I decided not to call her back. I was gonna be home in half an hour anyway.

I decided to take a shortcut home, even though there was a possibility of getting mugged, but I had pepper spray in my pocket and two months ago, I had taken a self defense class.

But after about five minutes, I heard a scream echoing in the alley on my right. Everything in my head told me to walk the other way, to keep safe, but I heard a second scream. So I told myself screw it and ran towards its source.

It didn't take me long to find it. In front of some trash cans, three men had surrounded a girl that was roughly my age, about twenty-two.

"Please, just... just take it and.. and leave me alone", she begged and held out her purse in front of her like some sort of shield.

"Leave you alone?" The tallest of the three men stepped forward. I spotted a knife in his hand. "How about no? You really thought we'd let a pretty thing like you just get away? No, you're gonna stay here for a while." He laughed, a disgusting and arrogant sound, and came even closer.

The girl was sobbing uncontrollably now, her whole body was shaking.

"HEY." Oh god, why did I do this?? Shit.

The man turned around. "Look at that, another one. Has to be our lucky day, boys", he commented. "Bring her over here, would you?"

His friends approached me and I reached into my pocket to grab the pepper spray.
The first guy got a full load on his face and covered his eyes, blinded and screaming.

The second one kept his distance, the spray wouldn't help me here. I should've called the cops. But it was too late for that now and the man in front of me certainly wasn't going to wait for me to pull out my phone.

He jumped forward to grab my arm, but I dodged his hand and punched his neck. Surprised and dazed, he turned around, but I was faster. I kicked his kneecap and sent another punch to his nose. He stumbled back, blood dripping out of his nostril. Another kick to his balls and he was laying next to the first guy, who still had pepper spray in his eyes.

"I said leave her alone. Right now", I repeated to the man with the knife. He smirked.

"Fine. But you know what? I think I'd rather teach you some manners, you little shit." He tightened his grip on the knife and lunged forward.

I couldn't dodge fast enough, so I grabbed his shoulders and tried to keep the blade away from my body.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the girl he had threatened getting up and running toward the street, hopefully to call for help. But right now, I had to focus on the problem in front of me, not rely on other peoples' help.

He attacked again, faster this time. Too fast. He tackled me and we fell to the floor, his face only a few inches from mine. He backed away, breathing heavily, when he looked at my chest. I followed his gaze and couldn't quite process what I saw.

You guessed it.
The knife was stuck in my chest, only the hilt was still visible.
A small red stain appeared on my shirt. I gasped, barely able to breathe, but I heard footsteps behind me, followed by a small scream.

I turned around and saw the girl from earlier, along with a few people surrounding her. Two of them tackled the man that had attacked me, another one rushed toward me before I could collapse. He carefully let me sink to the floor, while instructing a woman to call an ambulance.

I tried to speak, but something was blocking my throat. I tried again, this time I spit blood; thick, warm blood.

"Hurry up", the man yelled. "Call a damn ambulance, she's dying."

I froze at those words. I wasn't going to die. That was impossible. But deep down, I knew he was right. My limbs started to feel cold and my vision got more blurry with every second passing.

"Hey, don't fall asleep, you hear me? Stay awake, help's on the way. Just keep your eyes open", the man told me. One last time, I tried to follow his orders, but I couldn't. I closed my eyes.

The cold had almost reached my heart now and the pain faded away. My eyes went nowhere and I fell asleep.