Tastes Like Iron

A man laying on his back, with a cut on his neck. Wearing a suit and some jewellery. He lies motionless in the cold rain, his once-fine suit is now rumpled and stained with wet blood. His shiny jewellery glimmers in the light of my phone. The air is mixed with the smell of metal and rain, leaving the taste of iron on my tongue. 

This... wasn't a robbery. The valuables that are still on the body indicates that this was a murder. A rather clean one too. Staring at the body, I decided I should Investigate. I get one knee and hold up the light at his face. What I see in front of me is a man with stubble, shaved head and glasses. His eyes are still open, making it feel like he is staring into my soul. I examine his torso for any trauma, finding nothing. I open his suit jacket, searching for pockets. Inside his jacket pocket is a thick wallet. I take it out and examine it, for any signs of ID. This poor man was called Cooper Fox, and is born in August the 6th of 1997. Meaning he is 26 years of age. He's older than me... His business card says that he works as a Lawyer, sadly a better profession than mine. 

Laughing comes from behind me. It sounds menacing and it pierces my spine with shivers. I stop what I'm doing, turn off my phones light and cower behind trashcans to the left of the body. Their footsteps make a loud splash in the rain, allowing me to tell if they're getting closer. The sound of two men having a undecipherable conversation echoes along with their footsteps, making my imagination run wild and silent at the same time. Suddenly their footsteps stopped. Filling the Alley with a deathly quiet.

"Hey Short Bitch! get down here!" Says one of the men. A loud splash fills the alley out of no where. "I got you your food, now leave me alone or I'll actually kill you." says a woman. "Not yet tiny, we gotta make sure he's ripe." "His age is twenty five, isn't that ripe enough for you two?" "It sure is, but if only we could have some female blood though. They taste better" Says the other man "Then go get it yourself fuck face" "No, you still owe us for letting some of out prey get away." The woman grumbles and kicks the rain water, while one of the pair breaks away to the body.

"Huh... He had his wallet out." "Yeah, how else could I check his age?" she says... "Here." He hands something to her. "It's not our money anyway, he definitely wont need it." Giggling to himself. Sounds of grunting can be heard from the man next to the body. "You got it?" The other says. "Yep, I got it, now lets get out of here, it's gonna be morning in a few." Loud splashes can be heard, along with wind going everywhere. The woman sighs...

She steps closer to my hiding spot. My heart races in anticipation. The sound of her boots etching it's way into my mind like a song getting stuck into your head. Suddenly she stops. I don't make a sound, I don't make a single move. Because if I do, I will die. It feels as if an hour passes. My vison gets hazy and everything swirls as if I was drugged. I close my eyes in anticipation. My cover gets toppled over, the bins are on its side rolling everywhere, dumping trash everywhere. I look behind me in fear.

Nothing. Nothing is there. Not even the dead man that I was inspecting. I stay still anticipating my death, but nothing happens. I run straight out the alley, my footsteps echoing from the walls beside me. Adrenaline surges through my body, powering my legs even more. The darkness grows around me, trying to engulf me in it's nothingness. The alley twists as I run like I'm on a hallucinogenic, struggling to put one foot in front of the other. Behind me I imagine her chasing me, with the same weapon she used to kill the man, preparing for her next victim. I finally reach the bus stop, with a bus ready to board.

I hop on without caring about which bus it is. I stare into the alleyway I emerged from. I swear I saw it staring back at me. Piercing me with It's red eyes. Watching as I make my escape. The bus starts moving down the street. My body gets showered in the sense of relief, tempered by the lingering dread of what I encountered tonight. The night holds many secrets than I care to discover, but I'm grateful to know that I can leave that alley behind me.

As the bus stops at my destination, I get out and I get hit with the strongest paranoia like a punch in the gut. As I walk to my apartment, I cant help but look at the people around me, as if they are ready to kill me. They're all wolves, waiting to pounce at when they get the chance. It feels like I've been walking for hours and my mind is on the verge of exploding. I arrive at my apartment, and enter the lobby. That's where I find her again.