Running Through Darkness

By Emily Sharp

In a town near Los Angeles, Nicole is forced to sell drugs by her dad. When her ex-boyfriend saves her from a bad situation they must work together to get out of town safely, and to save each other.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781626759619

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Chapter 1

It was quiet and dark in the streets as I walked home from my job on Saturday night. I lived in a small city and worked every night until twelve.

The alleys were dark and the gas stations were abandoned. No cars were on the street, everything was still.

I walked past the rundown grocery store I passed every night. The guy who worked the night shift sat at the counter, half asleep, knowing that no customers except maybe myself would come.

I decided to drop in and get a coke, like I did almost every night. I still had a ways to walk before I got home. The doorbell chimes made noise as I walked in, faintly echoing around the store. It was a small store with just a few things and one counter.

The street outside was black and I could see the traffic light changing for no one, its light the only thing making anything visible. The highway ran overhead and the half-used apartments across the road were the only signs of life. Some were boarded up, some broken into, but others had a faint light glowing from between the broken blinds.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and started in search of the one caffeine-free diet coke they might have in the store.

I gave a nod to the cashier, Ralph, and he grunted in reply. I was the only customer that ever came in after nine, so Ralph and I had gotten acquainted, seeing as how he was the only night person and worked from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day. It was the best job most could get, and one of the few in the neighborhood so he was lucky to have it.

Just as I was reaching in to grab the diet coke I’d found, I heard a noise. I jerked my head around and out of the corner of my eye I could see Ralph had done the same.

A beat up green Suburban drove past on the street. Ralph and I shared a quizzical glance. Nobody drove around or was out in our side of town past nine o’clock besides me. It wasn’t safe. I grabbed the coke and paid.

I’ll call you, I said. We all had an understanding in our neighborhood. If something happened, we called each other. You had to know what was going on, for the safety of yourself and those around you.

Thanks, man, Ralph said. I walked out, with the doorbell chimes sending an empty, hollow sound through the store.

The people in our area of town protected each other. If any other neighborhood tried to hurt us or fight against us then it was an all-out war. That was why I was following this car. To make sure my family, blood or not, was safe. At first I was walking but the car kept getting faster. Finally, I was running to keep up with it.

The Suburban turned a sharp corner. I was surprised. It had turned down a street with a dead end and the only thing on the street that wasn’t out of business and boarded up was a drug store. This drugstore wasn’t a medicine shop. It actually sold drugs. Our police didn’t shut it down because they bought from there, too.

I walked toward the end of the street, trying not to be seen. Ralph should be calling people about now to alert them and they’d be waiting to hear what happened.

I saw a flash of light and shortly after, the door of the Suburban opened. Two big men in suits stepped out and then disappeared into the shadows looming off of the walls.

I heard a woman’s voice and then a man’s. They were whispering, but I couldn’t make out their words.

I caught a glimpse of blond hair reflected in the moon’s light. I sucked in a sharp breath and then immediately regretted it, hoping they hadn’t heard me. I knew that hair well.

That was my ex-girlfriend, Nicole. She was a good girl, though, one of the few of us in this neighborhood who didn’t do drugs, so what was she doing with outsiders? She could get in big trouble for something like this.

I saw her shake her head. My eyes had gotten used to the dark by now and I could make out vague shapes. Nicole pressed her body up closer to the wall as the guys in suits neared her.

Apparently she was refusing to give them what they wanted. One of the men grabbed her arm and started shaking her, pushing her and shoving her. She started screaming and I could tell blood was flowing freely from her nose and her mouth was swollen.

I clenched my jaw in anger. Who were these people? What did they want so bad that they’d come into our neighborhood and hurt a young woman to get it?

Slowly I pulled out the gun from inside my pocket. The metal was cold against my fingers. I carried it with me at all times in case I needed it. Everyone in our neighborhood carried a gun, except Nicole. She thought it was wrong. But now I definitely needed it, and was glad I had it.

The second guy had gotten involved in the abuse. I’d had enough. They couldn’t do this.

I raised my gun and fired a shot. I could see the men freeze. Nicole wasn’t moving though.

I ran towards her and grabbed her arm, not caring if I hurt her or not, just knowing we had to get out of there. I guess she got the idea because she started running beside me.

As we neared the convenience store I could hear a car door slam farther away and knew the men must be coming after us. We didn’t have much time and we couldn’t let them see us.

I started sprinting and Nicole sped up to match my pace. We had both done track in high school and trained together, so we knew what the slightest change in our muscles meant. I was glad for this now. My first priority was to get us safely hidden. Then we could talk.

We rounded the corner to the store and banged through the doors. For the first time ever, Ralph was awake and ready. I told him we needed to hide.

He gave a quick nod. I knew he’d heard the gun shot, and gun shots meant no questions asked. He took us into the break room and shoved us into a small closet which he then locked.

It was a small closet with no room to move. My back was shoved against the farthest wall and Nicole’s hands were on my chest with her back against the door.

This was awkward. Sure we’d talked since we’d broken up and acknowledged each other as friends but had never really hung out. Now we were squished close with our faces an inch a part, Nicole being just a bit smaller than me.

Th-, she started out, but realizing her voice was too loud whispered, Thanks for saving me. They probably would have killed me if it weren’t for you.

The sound of her voice stunned me. We broke up after high school because she thought she was going to college. She didn’t but we didn’t get back together, either. We were going our separate ways. She was going to be successful and I didn’t want to slow her down.

Then I remembered why we were here and I had a few questions for her, more than a few. Who were those men and what did they want? seemed like the most important, and were the ones that came out of my mouth first.

She let out a sigh and glanced down. I took her chin and tilted her face towards mine. I need to know, was all I said.

She nodded and sighed. She wrapped her arms around my waist. I nodded to let her know I was here for her.

They were clients of my fathers, they pay him good for lesser quality but they know he has the good stuff. Lately, they’ve been making me pay for my safety, sometimes a kiss, sometimes my jewelry, but lately their demands have been more extreme. I finally said no. They’re from The Break, she said.

I nodded. Her dad sold drugs and usually made her give them out to people if he couldn’t do it, but if the people saw her first and became a regular, he kept sending her.

The Break was a fancier neighborhood across the bridge. They had money to spare but were much more violent than our neighborhood.

I stroked her hair and she buried her face in my chest to muffle the sound of her crying. I gave her a hug. I’ll help you through this, I said. She lifted her gaze and stared, as if reading my soul. We moved closer to each other. I bent down to kiss her when suddenly the chimes went off.

We froze. We could hear the gruff voices of the men and Ralph’s voice. He was trying to act stoned and clueless, which made me smile. He was doing well. I knew he wouldn’t give us away.

Slowly I maneuvered my body so that I was facing the door and Nicole was behind me. She still had her arms wrapped around my waist and now I had my hands wrapped around her back.

The men were searching the store. Ralph was following them around, telling them not to touch this or be careful with that.

Then the men entered the break room. Nicole and I didn’t even breathe. We could hear them rustling around with Ralph’s footsteps behind them, his sneakers different than the click-clack of the men’s dress shoes.

Come on, John, they aren’t here, we finally heard one of them mutter.

We heard a faint click as the door closed, and the sound of the men’s shoes faded. We still didn’t dare come out. After about five minutes, but what seemed like a year, Ralph came to get us.

He waved us out of the closet but I refused to leave the break room. They might still be waiting to see what happened, or if anyone came out.

Ralph sat down at one of the two four-person tables in the room. We sat down, too. Ralph didn’t say anything, just waited.

After a few minutes Nicole took a deep breath and started her story. She left out the part about her having to pay. She just told Ralph that her dad messed up and they’d taken it out on her. This wasn’t a lie. Her dad did mess up by involving Nicole in his dirty work. She wanted no part of it.

Ralph nodded his head, pushed his chair back, and left the room.

Nicole and I sat there. She was thinking so I kept my mouth shut. I hadn’t seen her in so long. I missed seeing her smooth, shiny hair and her flawless skin. She never wore much makeup; she didn’t need it. She was perfect.

She looked at me. I attempted a smile. I failed; I knew it and could see it in her eyes. No matter how hard I tried to make her feel better, we both knew this was bad.

I’m sorry about all this. I promise if there’s anything I can do I will. I’ve missed you Nicole, I said.

Her face lit up in a big smile. It was one of the many great things about her. Anything could be happening but she’d still find a way to put a smile on her face and carry on.

She leaned over and gave me a hug. When she stood up she touched her lip. I forgot that it had gotten hurt when she was in the alley.

My face scrunched into an angry scowl. We had to do something about this. I was tired of living this way. I wanted a safe neighborhood where I didn’t have to carry a gun everywhere. I wanted a future for myself and any children I might have some day.

I walked out the door of the break room, the paint on it peeling from the frame, and into the store. I was pretty sure the men were gone by now, but even so, I was careful.

Ralph was at the counter. I glanced at the old clock above his head that sometimes ran fast or slow, but it was good enough. It was somewhere around two thirty in the morning.

He was talking on his beat up phone, telling people what happened. At the moment he was assuring someone that the gun shot didn’t kill anyone.

Now that I thought about it, our whole neighborhood probably went into red alert. People probably woke up their kids and dragged them into the designated safe place. We all had one. I felt bad that I might have ruined somebody’s rare happy dream.

Nicole slipped her hand into mine and gave it a squeeze. I smiled down at her, thankful that we knew each other so well we didn’t need to talk.

We stood beside the counter, out of sight of the dirty windows until Ralph got done. He slipped his phone back into his deep pockets and looked up at us. He told us that the neighborhood was aware of what had happened.

Our neighborhood had a sort of safety time. This was where everyone was extra careful. If anyone knocked on your door in trouble, you let them in, even if they were your worst enemy. It was just the way things worked. You kept other people safe to keep yourself safe.

Our safety time would probably last a month or so because of the gunshot. Gunshots always cranked up the time, they meant it was serious, not just a pointless fight that could be