Dark Alley

The voice on the other end terrified him to his core. Cold sweat trickled from his forehead as a chill ran down his spine. A strong surge of memories flooded his mind. His breath hitched, caught in his throat. He tried to speak, to form some kind of response, but the words died on his lips.

"Hey," the voice, echoing from the deepest recesses of his fear, hissed "You there?... or you died already?"

Kiba stood there frozen, his body locked in place as if turned to stone. His heart hammered a frantic rhythm against the ribs, a sharp contrast to the stillness that had descended upon him. Meanwhile, Hiroto and the other man shot a glance at Kiba, their brows furrowed in concern.

Kiba hesitated "I-I am here," his voice barely above a whisper

"Oh! That's good then. Where are you right now?" the voice asked playfully.

The hand clutching the phone trembled violently. His eyes darted around, scanning every corner of the road, searching for the source of the disembodied voice that crackled in his ear. A primal urge to flee pulsed through him.

With a stammering voice, Kiba replied "I-I am i-in my h-home, miss,"

"Is that so?...so you are in your home where cars are blowing horns, huh…?"

Kiba's uneasiness grew even more as the sound of the horns from the cars caught his attention. His mind was a jumbled mess, playing his previous encounter, an encounter filled with pain.

"I-I am w-watching a movie, miss,"

*Sigh*

A long, exasperated sigh echoed through the phone followed by venomous fury.

"Look motherfucker! I asked your shithead boss and he told me that you guys recently finished your job and are available. So you better tell me where you are right now or I am going to find you and shove that gun of yours right up your ass and pull the trigger…so, tell me where you are right now while I am asking nicely,"

The face of Kiba lost colour as it went pale, his lips went dry, and a lump started to form in his throat. He wanted to scream, run away as far as possible but he knew the consequences would be far more terrifying than last time. He parted his lips as his mouth started to form coherent words but the fear in his voice never waned.

"I-I am near T-Tamayura station…i-in f-front o-of an o-old b-bar," Kiba spoke.

"I see…seems you're pretty close. Now, you have a job to do. I am sending you a photo and a location…reach there and wait till the woman in the photo arrives…she has an item that I want…you must be with those two assholes, right?"

Kiba, his voice barely a whisper, replied "Y-Yes,"

"Then, wear some other clothes than your suit…to make it seem like you guys are random street thugs trying to steal money…now, go and reach there fast. She'll be there soon."

After giving Kiba all the information about the item, the voice hung up the phone.

The phone fell from his hand as if he were frozen in place. The other two behind tried to check up on Kiba, only to find out about the job they had been given by the person they feared the most.

"What do you want to do now, Kiba?" Hiroto, with a worried look, asked.

Kiba, his silence hung heavy in the air, met his friend's gaze. Despair clouded his eyes, a stark reflection of the hopelessness that had coiled itself around him.

"Let's just do the job quickly. I don't know want to know what she'll do if we don't."

"Yeah…but what about the clothes?" The other man asked.

"Let's just buy some cheap clothes from a store. We can rough them up a bit, make ourselves look the part," Kiba muttered.

"What about our face?" Hiroto asked

"Dude, I think we already have the face of a thug." the other man proclaimed.

"...and what about the car?"

"Let's take the guns and knives we have and leave the car here for the time being."

The idea of Kiba made the other two look at each other, their faces etched with concern before one of them gave a slight nod.

"Fine,"

*Ting*

A buzz from his pocket startled Kiba. He retrieved his phone and glanced at the screen, where a location and a photo of a woman were displayed.

The three figures hurried into a nearby store. Minutes ticked by as they rummaged through racks of faded clothes, finally emerging with mismatched garments that concealed their usual identities. A tense silence hung between them, broken only by the murmur of the voice in their ears, relaying final instructions. Two figures melted into the shadows on one side of the deserted street, while the third crossed, their gaze fixed on the designated spot.

Time trickled by, but few faces went by the designated road. The sun dipped below the horizon, plunging the street into an inky twilight, so too did hope begin to dwindle. The trickle of pedestrians had dwindled into a mere sputter. However, they kept waiting in the dark until a figure emerged from the shadows. A woman, somewhere in her fifties, walked the road with grocery bags in both her tired hands.

Kiba, a shadow in the grimy alley, stalked the woman from behind. Her hurried steps echoed a frantic rhythm against the deserted street. A prickle of unease crawled up her spine, the silence broken only by the harsh scrape of their shoes on the pavement. Suddenly, her pace quickened as if she noticed her pursuer.

A figure materialized from the gloom ahead. A man, his clothes ragged and dirty, sported a chilling grin that sent shivers down her spine. Panic surged through her. Trapped between pursuer and predator, she darted across the road, desperately seeking escape.

But there, waiting like a grotesque statue, stood another man. A glint of metal flashed in his hand – a knife, held aloft with a deranged smile. Fear, cold and primal, gripped her heart. Her mind reeled, options dwindling with each desperate glance. Three sides offered no escape, only menacing smiles and cruel intentions.

Then, a sliver of hope, a narrow alley, barely a crack between buildings, appeared near her. With a burst of adrenaline, she bolted towards the dark passage, praying it offered a path to safety.

She ran, desperation flicked in her eyes. However, that desperation threatened to extinguish as she hit a wall. She found herself in a dead end, trapped between the wall of bricks and monsters in flesh. she turned back, meeting the gaze of the three men.

With trembling voice, she spoke "W-What do you people want?"'

One of the men stepped forward, a slow smile stretched across his face. He pointed the knife towards the woman, the blade glinting menacingly in the fading light.

"Oh, we want many things…your money, those bags and that shiny locket…why don't you give us everything quietly and we'll let you go?" he replied, his voice dripping with malice.

Standing at the rear, Kiba thought in his mind.

'Everything went according to her plan. She positioned us in a way that she had no other choice but to enter the dead-end alley. She knew from what direction she would be coming from. What would be in her hands as if…she was observing her from the dark.'

The thought sent chills down his spine but with a clenched jaw, he forced himself into composure.

 'But, We can finish the job here with no one disturbing us. She told us we can do anything we want. As for the thing she is looking for…'

Kiba's gaze locked on the woman. Her grocery bags crinkled as she clutched them tighter. But a glint of gold caught his eye, a locket nestled against her neck.

"Please!" the woman choked out, her voice cracking with desperation. "Leave the locket and the bags. This locket is the last memory of my husband I have left. I'll give you all the money I have. Just please…" her voice trailed off.

"No can do,"

A silent exchange passed between Kiba and his partner, a flicker of eyes, a barely perceptible nod. Then, they were both in motion, closing the distance on the woman in a brutal ballet of violence. She reacted with the primal instinct of the cornered, flinging the grocery bag in her right hand at the figure lunging from her right. It connected with a satisfying thud, momentarily stalling him. But Kiba, a viper in human form, was already upon her from the other side. One hand clamped down on her wrist, the other a brutal gag across her mouth, shoving her back against the unforgiving wall. Just then, his partner, Hiroto arrived, a glint of steel flashing in his hand.

The woman's gaze darted between them, a silent plea for mercy twisting her features. But it was met with a sickening stab as the knife plunged into her outstretched hand, pinning it to the wall.

*Stab*

A muffled cry escaped from the woman, replaced by a choked gasp as the woman's strength seemed to drain away. Kiba finally removed his hand, revealing a face contorted in pain and silent horror.

"Ugggh…Pl-leas-see…," she rasped, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Like I said…can't do that," Hiroto whispered.

Hiroto stretching his hand forward grabbed the locket. With a menacing smile, he pulled it from her neck. Then as he headed for the grocery bag in her left hand, a glint of defiance shone in the woman's eyes. With a surge of unexpected fury, she slammed her head into his face. He crumpled, the stolen locket clattering to the floor. Before Kiba could react, a searing pain erupted in his groin as her foot connected. He doubled over, gasping. The pain ran through his body as he went limp and collapsed to the ground.

Seizing her opportunity, the woman ripped the knife from her pinned hand with a wince and snatched the locket. But freedom was a fleeting dream. The man she'd knocked down before, lunged, his hand clamping on her ankle. She went sprawling.

*Thud*

The locket bounced away across the pavement with a metallic clang.

*Tink*

Kiba and Hiroto, their faces contorted in rage, hobbled towards her. With fury in his voice, he ordered.

"Kill her,"