Tainted Love

⇸ Chapter 5 ⇷

The town's Main Street was just as much of a cesspool as Charley remembered. Men hoisted traffic cones as they bounded down the street, and girls fell out of club doors, tripping on their heels. She knew she couldn't judge; she probably didn't look much better on her way back from the meet. The important thing was finding Alice. It wasn't like her to wander off in the middle of the night without telling anyone.

Despite what Ryan thought, it was pointless going into any of the clubs, there was no way in Hell Alice would have gone to any of them. Her best bet in searching that end of town was to look through the alleys to see if she'd gone searching for things left by people in the clubs that the staff had tossed. Though, after the incident at work, she was reluctant to go back down another alley alone. But if Alice was in trouble somewhere and she'd chickened out, she knew that she'd never forgive herself. Starting at the top she began scoping out every back alley in the centre. Calling Alice's name, one hand cupped around her mouth and the other wrapped tightly around her keys.

She found nothing, aside from the odd vomiting drunkard and rat scurrying around the bins. She turned down the alley behind Vibe in a last-ditch effort before moving on to the other side of the street when that feeling that she dreaded returned.

A wave of unease passed over her as if someone had just walked over her grave. Mustering all the bravery that she could, she tightened her grip around her keys.

"Fuck off, asshole! I'm not in the mood to play whatever game this is!" She called into the alley but again, just like last time, she was met with no answer but the feeling lingered. She pushed further into the alley, trying her best to ignore her newfound stalker. "Alice?" She yelled, attempting a new approach. "If this is you I'm not playing! Ryan's worried, he's out looking for you!"

Nothing.

Rats squeaked around her as they dug through the bins behind the club. Trying to focus on them and not the ghostly presence that followed her, Charley pressed on. Something felt off about that alley. Something about the way the concrete sat on the floor, the way the bin bags were piled, the way that the rust on the bins looked brighter. A wave of fear flushed her entire body. The rust was brighter because it wasn't rust. It was blood. She could tell from the way that it glinted in the low light.

"Fuck!" This seemed like more blood than your average drunken injury.

"What have you done?" Charley whispered to the unknown presence that followed her, but again, it remained silent. Her feet picked up from under her as she began to sprint down the alley, the watchful eye still hot on her tail. She kept running until she rounded the side of one of the large bins where she saw the reason behind the blood. "Fucking Christ!" She yelled, dropping to her knees beside Jack who lay slumped against the wall as if he had been placed there with some care. Sure, this was probably a trap but there wasn't time to think about that. Charley began to dig in her bag and shakily dialled 999, placing the phone next to her on speaker as she tried to wake Jack. His body had gone pale, the blood caking his neck and clothes so vastly that she couldn't even see where he had been hurt.

"Hello, emergency service operator, which service do you require? Fire, police, or ambulance." A calm voice from the other end of the line interrupted.

"Urm... ambulance." Charley stuttered, tears beginning to well in her eyes as blood soaked her hands and knees.

"I'll just connect you now." She knew that police would have been a viable option but if the person who did this was still here, she'd have likely joined Jack already by now.

"Hello, ambulance service. Is the patient breathing?" She took a moment to check his chest, it rose weakly before falling again.

"I think so?" She choked.