The Dark Alley on Brooklyn Avenue

Russell Burns - Unedited

Russell Burns finished writing the last sentence of a letter. He glanced at the watch list on his left wrist. It was 10:23 P.M. He set his pen down, his elbow on the desk.

He was just nodding off, right there on the desk, still wearing a traditional suit and tie, when he heard a loud, groaning creak.

A footstep, followed by another.
He jerked his head up, quietly rose from his chair, and walked softly to the hall of his apartment building. He saw a hooded figure, carrying a large black bag.

Russell took a step back, alarmed, and the figure looked up. Moonlight gleamed in the figure's eyes. "You saw nothing!" A guttural male voice snarled. He broke the window with the bag and jumped through its broken frame.

Russell Burns just stood, shocked, taking it in. Then he exited his first floor apartment through a more rational way, the door.

He could still see the man, not far off, struggling with his bag. Russell decided to follow him.

He did, for about half an hour, passing alleyways, roads, and apartment complexes, staying away but just close enough to hear the man berating himself in the same, harsh voice, "I shoulda waited 'til midnight, the fool wouldn'ta heard be then! If only I'da brought my gun, that woulda shut 'im up right."

With a chill, Russell realized that the man would have killed him if he had known that Russell would be there.

That fact just drove him on, more determined than ever to find out what the man had been doing. Finally, the msn stopped and glanced around, seeing if there were any witnesses. Russell, luckily, was in a blind spot.
The man hefted the bag and threw it into the alley. Russell waited until the man was gone.

Then, he walked to the alley and unzipped the bag, more than slightly apprehensive. He steeled himself, hoping he wouldn't find what he thought he might. He looked down and he saw something he only thought he would see in a casket.

Russell Burns screamed, knowing that he would never forget the night he had followed a man with a black bag to a darkly lit New York City alley.