Midnight, In the Storm [on temporary hiatus]

One - Murder under a moonless sky

Weightless drizzles of melting sleet descended from the ever gloomy evening's weather upon the stucco-brick buildings, a brighter contrast to the untamed sheets of rain pelting the paved roads half a clock ago. The sky had gotten slightly brighter, albeit still not enough to light up the shadowed, deserted evening sidewalks of 12th street, far from the flurrying movements of the quiet town, Vethernbel's central districts.

Audree May Laurent sought the still evening as the perfect opportunity to finally sit down and get her much needed share of rest. The day had been a long one, interview after interview - still no job she found considerable.

She could've gotten any higher-up, better paying job easily but she knew better than to aim for any position of attention. Not when the target on her back seared ever as bright.

Safety was what she longed for - tired of all the running as years piled over years - not money.

Even if this small town was considered 'low-crime', she'd never fully settled in yet, having lived there for mere months. Wariness had never yet failed her , a fellow friend that'd never let her down - she wished for it to stay that way.

Palms cupping a mug of hot tea, Audree stared vacantly at the city's distant metropolis from her window, she took an experimental sip of the streaming liquid.

And that was when the screaming began - raking, clawing and shredding at her mind - the terrorizing shrieks evoking a flash flood of memories in the dam which was her mind, piercing through the steady pitter-patter of the rain and the disarming calm of the evening.

She slammed down a solid wall right before the wave, before the flashbacks could hit-

Bang.

A gunshot.

Bang.

Two gunshots.

Silence.

Her heart stopped.

She swiftly set her mug down, jumping to her feet. She looked down, but all the fogged wide windows and bright streetlights allowed her was the brief glance of a hotfooted blurry figure cloaked in black shooting down the avenue - and the woman in the bright yellow raincoat...bleeding out on the pavement.

She'd froze on the spot, shocked by what she'd just witnessed.

This isn't you Audree, get a grip.

She shook herself of the daze clouding her thoughts and picked up her cell phone. Hands shaking, she dialed 911 - barely remembering what happened next as she'd promptly conversed with the network operator and filled her in on the situation, a constant watchful eye set on the streets below.

Time is ticking.

Making a flash decision, Audree concluded that the officials arriving in time to save the woman from meeting her end in a pool of her own blood was indeed slim.

Her mind and body instinctively functioned as she sprinted past the broken elevator and bolted down the dim stairwells barefoot, into the cold drizzle of the evening and towards where the woman laid.

Shielding the both of them from the rain with an umbrella she'd picked up on the way, she turned the woman's limp form upright. She knew she was acting from instinct - but that was better than just standing by. She could only hope that the attacker would be wise not to return.

What do I do, what should do, what can I do...

Her mind frantically rambled as she gazed, wide-eyed at her blood soaked hands- Where were these jittery nerves even coming from? She doubled the wall keeping the flashbacks at bay.