Trial and Error

Rosie

The man with the mysteriously familiar voice was the only thing on my mind. As I was locking up the store, making sure everything was ready for when we opened tomorrow, that man was the only thing I was thinking of. It confused me, too.

The fact that I was already fixated on someone I never even saw nor spoke to; I only heard his voice. Yet, it was enough to keep my mind completely occupied.

I kept a frown on my face as I thought about him, and stepped out into the cold New York air. I locked the door to the restaurant and double checked it before making my way down the sidewalk.

It was about 12:30 in the morning, but surprisingly there wasn't much people on the streets in this area. It always baffles me because I thought that New York City was supposed to incredibly busy no matter where you were.

Not this street, apparently.

I shrugged to myself and continued walking, careless thoughts entering and leaving my brain at will. At times I'd laugh at something my brain had thought up, and other times I'd smile wistfully.

It wasn't until I heard a yelp coming from an alley next to me that I jolted and stopped in surprise.

I furrowed my eyebrows and squinted, trying to get a better view into the pitch black alley but still saw nothing. I heard another yelp, followed by a groan. The voice sounded like a male. I stepped forward slightly to see if I could see anything, and slowly pulled out my cellphone, in case I needed to make a call.

But soon, I heard rapid footfalls and noticed they were only getting louder. As if someone was running towards me. I fumbled around in my pockets, looking for anything that I could use to potentially defend myself but found nothing. It seemed to be useless however, since a tall man, wearing a black ski mask suddenly appeared out of the blackness, pushing past me and running. I stumbled and fell back into the street and watched him as he ran.

Cursing and swearing softly, I picked myself up and brushed off my hands, shaking my head in the direction the man ran off in. I was about to keep walking to go home when I heard a moan come from the alley way.

I looked into the dark again, turning to look down the street that the man had run down, before I looked back into the alley way.

I bit my lip.

I should just walk home. What if this is a trap? It's probably a trap.

I nodded and moved forward to continue the walk back to my apartment but stopped and looked down the alley again.

But what if there's someone down there that needs my help?

I contemplated a bit, and finally, for some weird reason, decided to go inside to look for the person.

"Hello?" I called, slowly walking forward. I pulled out my cell phone and turned on the flashlight.

"Hello?" I called again, clearing my throat, "I heard someone. Are you okay?"

Just then, I heard a small cough in response. I kept walking forward, moving my flashlight around to get a better look.

I stopped when I landed on a dumpster and noticed two feet sticking out from behind it. I quickly ran towards them and gasped when a man lay against the wall. He had a black jacket on, with his hood up so it was covering his face, but his hand was clutching his stomach and it was covered in blood.

"Oh my god!" I gasped, falling to my knees in front of him.

"Sir, are you okay?" I asked, propping my phone against the dumpster. It gave off a small glow from the flashlight.

The man coughed, "does it look like I'm okay?"

That's when I froze.

It was the voice from earlier. The one that sounded like Harry but not at the same time. I looked up at the man and frowned when I noticed that the shadows kept most of his face hidden. I snatched my phone and shined the light in his face.

He groaned and winced, squinting his eyes away from the light.

"Could you get that away from me?" He asked.

I was too shocked to move though. Because it was him. The same green eyes, the same face...but just more mature.

It was Harry.

"Hey? Hello? Flashlight away from me please," he said tilting his face away from me.

"Oh my god," I breathed. He frowned and turned his head back to look at me. Since the flashlight was shining in his eyes he couldn't see my face since it was dark out, so he gently grasped my phone in his hand and directed the light up to the sky in between us so it would illuminate both of our faces.

I watched, mouth hanging open, as his expression turned from one of confusion and annoyance, to recognition and shock.

I heard him take in a short breath as he looked at me. He placed the phone on his lap, flashlight still showing our faces and slowly reached out to touch my cheek. His eyes glistened with worry and fear, and another unknown emotion as he looked at me, wincing slightly at his pain.

"Rosie?"

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Sorry I'm literally never updating. Life has just been really crazy but I'm trying to get back into it mainly because writing is a way for me to get Out my stress and I think I need it since most of my stress now is going into food lolol.

But I hope you like it!

Thanks for reading!!