'I just want today to be done with,' Lea thought to herself grudgingly as she made her way down the street toward her small, two bedroom apartment. After an eight hour shift at the restaurant, her feet ached, her head pounded and she wanted nothing more than to fall into her bed and pass out for the rest of the night.
'I have got to find a better job.' Lea laughed out into the night air openly at this statement. She knew her father would never let her work anywhere else besides Barkers, her family's restaurant. Her dear old dad had dreams of his daughter taking over the family business when he kicked the bucket. Even though she hated the long hours, the rude customers and coming home smelling like chicken every night, she knew she wouldn't be working anywhere else.
Barker's was tradition.
Lea had worked the late shift many times before, so she was accustomed to the walk home in the dark. She had lived in New York City all her life, so the busy night life no longer frightened her.
In fact, it was more peaceful than anything else. She welcomed the light breeze as it blew through her hair and tickled her sun kissed skin. The scumbags pretty much left her alone. She knew how to handle the bold ones who didn't. She considered herself a strong woman; she didn't take any BS.
Eventually Lea reached her least favorite section of the trek home, which was a particularly empty straight of sidewalk for New York City. A series of alleyways loomed to her right. She avoided staring down them at all costs. The way they seemed to go on forever sent shivers down Lea's spine.
Usually, Lea trained her eyes forward, trying her best not to pay attention to the complete blackness that surrounded her. She usually plugged into her iPod, and the music helped to drown out the odd whispers in the air. But she had left her iPod at home that morning, which left her ears completely exposed to the oddities of this particular part of the city. She felt way too in tune with the rest of the world that night.
'Suck it up,' she chastised herself quickly. 'The sooner you get past this, the sooner you'll be home...in bed.'
She nodded in agreement with herself and took a deep breath, then began the walk cautiously, taking one step at a time. She knew she should probably just run past, but couldn't bring herself to do it. When she began to feel a bit more comfortable, she picked up the pace. Then she heard something that put the hairs on the back of her neck on edge.
It sounded like a whisper; not one from the breeze but an actual person. Lea couldn't make out any distinct words, but they came from a human's mouth, of that she was positive. She stood frozen with fear, straining her ear to listen more closely.
There it was again.
Once again no words, just the sounds.
But she knew for a fact it was coming from the alleyway.
'Just ignore it,' she told herself quickly. 'The faster you get out of here, the faster you can be home!' Lea wanted nothing more than to listen to that voice inside her head. But she knew she wouldn't. For some reason she found herself ignoring her concience often. Her curious nature had gotten her into trouble many times in the past, and this was no exception. She made her way toward the alleyway and strained her ear to hear anything more. But she heard nothing...the whispering noises had stopped.
'It's not too late to turn back,' the voice inside her head told her again.
Again, she ignored it.
Instead, Lea leaned forward more and whispered, "Is anybody there?"
She listened for an answer. There was none. Had it all been in her head? Were the kitchen fumes from Barker's finally getting to her? She brushed off the noise as her imagination, and turned around to continue on her journey before anything could happen to her. 'It was a bad idea to come so close to the alleyway anyway,' the voice chastised.
Suddenly, Lea felt strong arms wrap around her thin fram. She tried to scream but it came out as a whisper. The arms engulfed her and dragged her deeper into the alley, before she had time to fight back.
Everything happened so fast, her head began to spin and a second later she found herself pinned up against a cold, brick wall. Fear shot through her as a circular, metal object jammed into her temple forcefully. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand clasped over it to thwart her efforts.
"Don't make a sound," a low, manly voice demanded, "Or I will shoot you."
