I met him on the stairs. He was a shadowy figure who was built like a mountain. The thundering vibrations from the music coming from the living room were still echoing out here, on the dark fire exit stair case. I knew I couldn’t lie to myself; I was terrified of this man. His very presence frightened me. I couldn’t tell whether my clothes were soaked from the rain or the sweat pouring off my body. He was dressed in a long black rain coat with his collar up hiding his face. I could only make out his glare when the lightning struck and exposed his piercing eyes. The thunder started to drown the sound of the music from inside and the rain hitting the metal staircase was rattling; yet in my mind there was complete silence. I felt as if there was nothing else around me. Just this man and myself. I put my trembling hand deep into my jeans pocket and pulled out a handful of cash. The notes were drenched and soggy so I had to be careful they wouldn’t tear. I don’t even want to think what would have happened to me if I couldn’t pay the man. I held out my hand. It was shaking violently. The flashing silhouette of the figure I can now only describe as monstrous, reached deep into the inside pocket of his coat and picked out a small cling film bag with the drugs inside. He placed his leather glove on to my hand and dropped the bag into my palm.
All of a sudden the man’s face lit up but this time not due to the lightning. Blue and red flashing lights glimmered across his scarred face. I panicked and looked around me and a faint sound of sirens could be heard over the deafening thunder. I went into a state of panic, were the police coming to break up the party or have I been seen? I knew I didn’t have time to wait around, I didn’t know what to do. ‘Quick! Give me the money, kid!’ said the dealer sharply. But it was too late, my instinct had already taken over, I pushed past him and as he slipped over and fell down the stairs I was already running down the street.
‘What am I doing? What am I doing?!’ I uttered to myself as I sprinted down the road. The rain was still showering down but now heavier than ever, the water hurting my face as I ran through the rain drops. I knew it was only a matter of time before he found me. ‘Why didn’t I just give him the money?’ But by then I knew it was too late. He would be sure to have killed me if he got me… or worse. Another bolt of lightning struck down ahead of me. I was about to turn into Cranmer Road, then I heard a bellowing shout ‘Oi!’ I turned around and he was there. He shouted something else but the noise of the storm was too much for any man to be heard, even a monster such as this one and I wasn’t going to wait around for his words to become any clearer. He was stood at the bottom of Church Road and he started running towards me and he drew what looked like a blade from the inside of his coat. I knew then I had to run for my life.
As I was running I was thinking to myself, why me? Why did all this trouble always happen to me? I always tried to be a good kid. I swore to myself that was the last time I helped a friend. I was awarded straight A’s in all my work, stayed late after school, I was accepted into Oxford to read Law and now I’m running away from a drug dealer trying to kill me. I knew that deal was going to be trouble. “Oh go on mate” he said. “For Tom, your best pal. Nothing bad will happen. Just meet him, pay him the money and get the drugs. Look, I’ll even give you an extra hundred quid for doing it for me.” Oh how naïve I was.The world was my oyster. I could have graduated from Oxford, taken the BAR exam and become a barrister. My dream. That ‘extra hundred quid’ would have been pocket money. But no, there I was, running for my life. Now the only time I would have been in front of a jury would have been for a drug scandal, not exactly how I planned my first experience in court. I had to snap back to reality as I remembered why I was running and what was chasing me.
I sprinted down Cranmer Road but I was starting to get tired, all those years of doing... well... nothing was catching up with me. My options were starting to run out. I couldn’t go to the police; I mean what story could I have told them? My drug dealer’s trying to kill me? No, I had to keep running. Thankfully what he had in strength he lacked in speed as there was no sign of the man. I slowed myself down to catch a breath. I hid next to a dumpster in an alley to try and figure out what I could do next. It was only a matter of time before he found me. A police car slowly drove past the alley where I was hiding as another bolt of lightning cracked through the sky. I held my breath and stayed hidden in the shadows behind the dumpster as the police car drove by. When I heard the sound of the engine fading away I stood back up and looked again. I saw an approaching shadow coming towards the entrance of the alley. I held my breath again and watched with the uttermost concentration. Eventually a large man drenched with water stood at the entrance of the alley, wearing a long coat with gloves. I quickly ducked my head back down again hoping he hadn’t seen me. Unfortunately I could hear heavy footsteps splashing through the deep puddles in the alley. I sat there quivering, trying to figure out how I was going to react to this situation. I could hear him approaching. I picked out the bag of drugs from my pocket hoping that maybe if he had the drugs back he’d stop his psychotic venture. But I wasn’t kidding anyone. I knew inside that’s not what would have happened. But it was worth a try. I stood up and launched the bag of drugs at the face of the dealer and I ran. It bought me some time but the man seemed angrier now than he was before as he now was also in a full sprint. As I ran around the corner and down another alley I encountered a dead end. All that was in front of me was a large wired fence. The man seemed to have discovered a new-found speed and was gaining. I had only one option. I had to clear the fence. I ran at it full speed. With the rain piercing my skin and shoes filled with water from the puddles, I jumped at it and started to climb up and over the wired fencing. The man was an arm length away when I had fallen to the ground of the other side. I stood back up immediately and carried on running... although this time... my heart wasn’t racing. Everything didn’t seem to be in a rush or in a panic, but everything slowed down. I looked up and another bolt of lightning scarred the sky, this one more ferocious than the rest. Then I looked to my left and saw numerous blue and red flashing lights coming towards me. The noise of the storm, the sirens, the furious monster behind me, all seemed to be silent... for that split second. And then... a most appalling noise... bang.
