There were about five boys gathered outside the dark alley - almost the other half of their group. Khamil and Poppy walked up, hand in hand, as Omar and Pikey followed.
"Where is he?" Pikey asked, answered by Calum slowly pointing down the alley.
"TZ saw him run down here."
"It's a dead end. He's still there, but he might have a gun."
Khamil's eyes flicked to Pikey, and then to the silver glint sticking out of his belt. He remained silent, but looked up at his friend warily. Pikey noticed.
"He'll keep killing us, Khamil. You know he will."
Khamil said nothing, only locked steady eyes with his friend, and then looked to Omar, who spoke up.
"Where are the others?"
"Don't know. They ran off. The police didn't catch anyone though."
Khamil looked into the blackness of the alley, a grainy abyss. It seemed to waver out at him, floating in a silent darkness. They all waited, watching as slowly, Pikey stepped forwards.
"Come out."
His voice echoed. Then, following steady footsteps, a figure blended out of the gloom, the bright eyes visible first. Khamil's grip on Poppy's hand tightened. The figure's hands were empty.
"Go on, then," came the dry voice. "Kill me."
Pikey was out for blood - but Khamil's part in this was finished. Before anything further happened, he grabbed Poppy and began to walk in the opposite direction, blocking out the shouts that followed.
"Khamil!"
Pikey looked across as his friend walked away into the night, his exit symbolic of his disapproval, and then the urging shouts from behind him forced his attention back to Hade.
"Just kill him, Pikey!"
Poppy laced her arm around Khamil's, and in a brisk walk, the two walked away from the scene, just in time to hear Hade's haunting laugh reverberate, before two sharp gunshots were fired. They didn't even hear him fall, their walk too fast. As a cold air enveloped them, Khamil wrapped his arm around Poppy, shielding her from the wind. A couple of moments later, the sirens started up again in the distance, ringing around the empty streets.
YOU ARE READING
Snow Space
General FictionBorn and raised into a life of crime, Khamil Brooke tries to escape his roots as he develops a budding romance with a girl on the other side of town. When the whole world seems intent on keeping them apart, Khamil turns his anger to a rival gang - a...
