Something in the Way You Move [O'J]

Late Night Calls

Danny's POV

I'm walking down the streets of London at...oh, I don't know, roughly one in the morning...when I hear it.

A cry. Very quiet, but a cry nonetheless. It sounds like someone's in...pain? I walk towards the general direction of the cry, and soon end up standing in front of a black alley. I'm starting to wish I hadn't left the pub, but I wasn't feeling up to getting drunk tonight with Mark and Glen....I call out quietly, "Hello? Is someone down there?" The cries stop almost at once, like whoever's crying doesn't want me to know they're there. "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt ya..." When I hear nothing in response, I slip into the alley cautiously.

I pace up and down the length of the alley several times before I finally find the source of the cry. A small girl, probably no older than ten, cowers between two garbage cans. I kneel down slowly in front of her, holding out my hand, and murmur, "Hey, what's wrong? Why're you crying?"

She flinches away violently from me, as if she's...scared that I'd hurt her. I stand up and take a few steps back, giving her plenty of space. I hope. "Will you wait here?" I ask her gently, "I have a friend nearby, maybe you could stay there...you're too young to be on the streets..." She just stares at me, tense, as if she's ready to run. I back out of the alley and take out my phone. I call Jessie J, who lives a few streets over, praying she'll answer. After several rings, she does so.

"Hello?" she mumbles groggily.

"Jessie? Hey, it's Danny---"

"At one in the morning? I swear, Danny, this better be good."

"Well...good isn't the word I'd use for it. Listen, though, I just found a girl in an alley; she can't be more than ten. She's alone, she's scared, and---"

"You want to give her a place to stay?"

"Yeah; I'd take her back to my place but I think she's scared of me."

There is silence on the phone for a few moments, before I hear Jessie sigh. "Fine, then, she can stay here. Come over in five so we can go pick her up."

"Okay. Thanks, Jess."

"No problem."

We hang up. I head over to the girl in the alley and whisper, "I'm going to go get one of my friends. You can stay at her house, if you want." She stares at me, and I know she won't just come with me. I get up and hurry over to Jessie's house. Five minutes later, I ring her bell, waiting for her to answer.