The Short and Long of It

#NancyDrew Writing Contest

Inspired by the prompt for the #NancyDrew writing contest. The prompt is to write an unsolved mystery that's short enough to fit in a single comment. If you want to join the contest the submission deadline is  Oct. 3rd, and if you enter let me know, I'd love to read your short story!

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My first thought when I woke up was that I was definitely not supposed to be there. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the oppressive darkness, but I didn't need my eyes to feel the grimy concrete pressed against my cheek or the warm liquid seeping through my jacket or the sharp metallic smell of urine hitting the back of my mouth when I took a shaky breath.

Slowly, I sat up. My head felt heavy, and when I reached up to touch my temple, I discovered a deep gash from my hairline to just below my eyebrow.

I winced as pulled my hand away, the wound felt dry but there was definitely fresh blood on my hand.

I blinked, bewildered as I took in my surroundings. I was in an a dark alleyway. I could just make out movement in the shadows and I could hear the click of cockroach legs against the broken glass littered in the alley.

I put my hands against the ground, ready to stand up and get out of this filthy alleyway, that's when I felt it. The puddle was warm, and when I looked down I realized that it was blood.

My hands were stained red, my favorite jacket slicked red. There was a lot of blood in the alleyway, but I wasn't bleeding. Odd.

I heard wailing in the distance and the sound was getting steadily louder. Sirens. Hazily, I thought to myself that something horrible must have happened nearby.

Shakily, I got to my feet, but before I could fully find my balance the alley began to shift under my feet. I grabbed onto the wall just in time, managing to keep on my feet. Using the wall to steady myself, I started to stumble out of the alley. Vaguely, I considered that I might have been drunk. What else could explain why the world kept spinning around me, like a tunnel in funhouse.

Just as I made it to the entry of the alley, the world lit up. I couldn't keep my eyes open against the onslaught of red and blue flames, and the sirens were wailing louder than ever, echoing painfully in my throbbing head.

I managed to open my eyes just enough to see two shadows approaching me. They were yelling something, I couldn't think straight with all the noise, but my brain processed he was giving me instructions—no, an order.

"Hands up!"

I put my right hand in the air, keeping my left hand against the alley wall for support.

"Both hands up!"

I tried to follow his instruction, but without the wall holding me up my balance was suddenly off kilter. I tried to keep my feet under myself, but that only led to me stumbling to the right. I crashed onto the concrete, and I wondered if this was how I had cut my head open in the first place.

This time though, my hand landed on something soft. I pulled myself onto my hands and knees, using whatever I had landed on as an aid to push myself up.

It was hard to see anything with my blurry vision and the flashing lights, but vaguely I was able to make out that the thing I hand landed on was person.

"Sorry," I mumbled as I sat back on my heels, "I didn't mean to fall on you."

The person didn't respond, and I suddenly remembered the puddle of blood I found earlier.

"Hey, are you ok?" I poked a their shoulder, but I got no response. I wanted to help them, but part of me wanted to get as far away from them as I could. They smelled bad. They stunk of blood and urine.

Suddenly, hands grabbed my arms and jerked them behind my back. I could feel cold metal clamp down on my wrists, as I was yanked off the ground by my elbows.

"You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions," began the voice that had pulled me to my feet.

"Hey," I interrupted woozily as I slumped against the body holding me up, "That's from a movie, isn't it? Whoah! Is that a gun or are you happy to see me?"

"Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law—"

"Are you a cop or something?" I giggled cutting the voice off again, "Because, I think we need to call the, " I hiccuped, "the police." My tongue was heavy in my mouth and the alley was getting darker.

"Hey!" The voice shook me and jerked me upright, which hurt my head, but didn't turn the lights back on, "Hey, she's passing out."

"No," I mumbled, "She was already passed out. I don't think she's doing too hot." I learned back against the solid voice that was holding me up, "We should call the police or something."

Then the sound cut out.