The Darkness Gets Bigger

Running.

My feet pound against the damp cobblestone path, stepping into the occasional puddle causing water to spray up my skinny jean clad legs and soaking my trainers. Alex is close behind me, and the two of us sprint under the night sky, trying desperately to get away through the dimly lit back paths. My lungs are screaming at me to stop running for just a moment, and I can feel a stitch forming in my side, but I have to keep running. Both of us have to if we want to get out alive. Hurried footsteps follow behind us mixed with angry shouts.

Then I hear the splash of a puddle and the footsteps beside me are silence. Skidding to a halt, I spin around and see Alex sprawled on the ground, slowly pushing himself up. He looks over his shoulder as the shouts get louder, and he turns to look at me with wide eyes.

"Go Jack, keep running!" He shouts, motioning with a hand for me to go. I simply shake my head.

"Not without you, I'm not." I reply calmly, surprising giving the situation we have found ourselves in.

Without hesitation I run to Alex's side and grab his arm, pulling him to his feet. The front of his shirt is damp and smeared with dirt, and the knees of his jeans are ripped and the skin underneath is cut ever so slightly. Grabbing his hand in an iron grip, I set off sprinting again with Alex close beside me. The footsteps of the people pursuing us are closer than before.

"Why didn't you just go? You could have gotten away!" Alex cried out as he looked over his shoulder again in panic.

"I couldn't just leave you, Alex! Best friends, remember. Besides, I would rather it me than you if it ever came to that."

"But-"

"No Alex. I would take a fucking bullet for you. Now come on, we need to get out of here."

Focusing on the path ahead of me, I can't help but notice Alex smile slightly out of the corner of my eye. The corners of my mouth turn up slightly, and we continue to run. Soon the footsteps and shouts are at a more comfortable distance from the two of us, but we keep running at full speed anyway. The more distance we put between ourselves and our pursuers the better.

Running.

Soon we reach a dead end of sorts. A brick wall obstructs our path, and it much be about ten feet high. Frantically I begin to look around for some escape, any way to get out of here. Nothing. With a shaky sigh, I turn to Alex who is staring at the wall intently, as if the answer is hidden among the bricks, or about to jump out from between the cracks.

"We're fucking screwed..." I mumble under my breath as panic begins to set in.

"No we're not. Come on Jack, that's quitters talk. I'll climb up to the wall, because no offence but you are terrible at climbing."

"None taken, I don't have the time nor the capacity to take offence right now."

"That's good then, so I shall continue. As I was saying, I'll get to the top of the wall and I'll help you get up. I may need a boost to get up." Alex explained with so much confidence, that it worried me slightly. It's like in those films when the hero is so confident that his or her plan will work, but it ends up completely failing.

"Are you sure this is going to work? I mean, what if I can't manage to boost you up? What if they get here before you can pull me up?"

"I am confident that this will work. Now come one, we need to hurry."

"I'm not sure..." I say uneasily as I look over my shoulder.

"Jack," Alex places a hand on my shoulder to catch my attention, and he looks me dead in the eye. "Do you trust me?"

"I...yes, I trust you."

"Are you positive? You don't sound so sure."

"I'm positive. I trust you with my life, Alex."

"That's good, because right now I need you to trust me. Now come on, give me a boost up."

Crouching down, I hold out my hands as Alex places one of his feet on them. Placing one of his hands on the wall, he counts to three and I push him up. With ease he pulls himself up onto the top of the wall. The voices and footsteps of those after us are getting closer by the second. Looking behind me, I begin to worry. What if they turn that corner right now? What if they get me? What if Alex has left without me? A cough from behind me grabs my attention, and I turn to see Alex holding out his hand, a single eyebrow raised. I shake my head, I am such an idiot for even thinking that Alex would leave me behind, besides I trust him. He would never do anything like that to me. Without another seconds hesitation I grab hold of his hand and with his help, I clamber over the wall and fall with a thud on the cobblestone path on the other side. Alex jumps down beside me and we begin running. We turn numerous corners, and to be honest I have no idea where I am anymore. Turning into a dark alleyway lit by only the moonlight, completely clear apart from two metal trash cans beside each other against the brick wall of a building, I see a road at the far end.

"Come one Alex, we're almost there!" I shout as I continue to run.

However, Alex's footsteps have stopped. Skidding to a halt, I listen carefully. The shouts of our pursuers are no longer there, but the footsteps of my best friend aren't there either. Weird. I hear something click, and out of curiosity I turn around.

"Alex, come on we need to-"

My words get caught in my throat. My eyes go wide as I look at the scene before me. Alex is stood facing me fifteen feet away, his arm is raised and a handgun is in his grasp. The gun is pointed at me, and my eyes snap from Alex's face to the barrel of the gun. He's biting his lip and he looks...guilty. My brain is screaming at me to run, but I'm frozen to the spot.

"Alex? What are you doing?" My voice cracks, and I can feel tears in my eyes as I look at my best friend.

"I'm sorry Jack, I'm so sorry." He tells me with a shaky voice as a single tear falls down his cheek, but apart from that his face is emotionless.

"Ale-"

BANG

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The person that you’d take a bullet for is behind the trigger