A Wolf Among Sheep

A walk in the dark

The cool air of autumn sunk into his bones as he clumsily walks down the dark road. The velvet emptiness enclosed him a few hours ago, out of all his talents, keep track of time was not one of them. The boy had originally wanted to walk around the park, but instead to his foolishness, decided it would be better to walk the wood. His train of thought at that point was there would be fewer people, however, now it was beyond dark and the air became colder and colder by the minute. Austin knew where he was, but it didn't change the fact that nights in  Blackbourne are quite dangerous. Blackbourne was a fairly small town between two cities 2 hours each way. Over the past few years, the crime from the cities had spilled into the once peaceful town. The crime rate had gone up to much that no person was to stay out passed 9:30. Yet, here Austin was sluggishly walking down the empty streets passing unlit windows and locked doors. He saw his breath in the chilled Autumn air, like smoke it rows up and twisted around itself before disappearing. Austin pulled his jacket closer to his body before tucking his hands underneath his armpits for warmth. The blood had left his toes and fingers to keep his body's core warm, however, leaving them feeling numb with cool sweat from his socks.

The boy stopped under a Streetlamp, surveyed his surroundings, he confirmed that he was only a few more blocks away from his house. He continued to move, making good progress before he had the sudden feeling that he was being watched. He looked around wearily,  his body shivered involuntarily at the menacing eyes that followed his every move. Thinking he would probably get mugged if he stayed too long, he walked down the sidewalk and tried to stay in the light as much as possible.

After 20 minutes of constantly worrying, Austin made it to his road. The only problem was it just so happened to be unlit by the protective halos of the city's Streetlamps. His anxiety only spiked by staring down the empty road. He took a deep breath and braced himself for the dark. Austin tried everything in his power to keep calm but every time his eyes trailed along the darkened path all of his senses warned him from doing so. Austin gathered up all the courage he had and started down the road. The leaves under his feet crunched from the pressure of his weight, while the freezing air rustled what was left on the trees. After he passed that section of sidewalk, he heard a second pair of shoes on the empty street. Now Austin's anxiety was through the roof, he wasn't prepared to fight and he didn't have anything that he could give them to leave him alone. A few seconds later he had made his decision.

He stopped and as soon as he did the feet stopped too. He readied himself by squaring his shoulders and placing his feet into position. If he could make it to his house, which was houses away, he could escape this situation. He stuck his hand into his pocket to grab his keys, as soon as his hand wrapped around them he broke out into a sprint. The wind pushed against him, his ears began to hurt from the wind and made it impossible for him to concentrate on picking up any sounds behind him. He ended up running so fast that he skidded across the concrete and almost fell when he tried to stop. His keys jiggled in his hand as he frantically looked for his house key as he jogged up the walkway and up the stairs. When he found the little puzzle piece, he jammed into the slot, turned it, and pushed the door open.

Austin stepped into the entryway before finally catching his breath. Something as simple as stepping into his home had a calming effect on him. He turned back to the door to shut it, but before he had the chance to close it all the way it burst open causing it to hit him and then hit the wall. He tried to get back to his feet, however, he was only to his knees before a pair of black biker boots stood in front of him. With wide eyes, Austin looked up, but before he could the man pulled out his gun and pistol-whipped him in the face, knocking him out in the process. The man chuckled and loaded Austin on their shoulder and left his house.