A succession of water drops landing in a puddle somewhere, echoed loudly. The town was isolated and almost dead quiet; with the exception of the ranting, raving and endless laughter that accentuated the liveliness of the taverns and bars that emitted them proudly.

Palesa strode quickly, her long heels clapped nosily against the walkway paved with old-fashioned bricks. Lights flickered every time she past them; as if they were acknowledging her presence. The air around her shifted into a breeze that was tailed by a soft whistling howl. She wrapped herself deeper into her knee-long jacket and clenched tightly on both sides – as she folded her arms, making sure that no cold air gets through.

She let out a small scream and her stride came to an abrupt halt, wait? It’s nothing. Just another mischievous rat that’s on the hustle for some food – perhaps a meal it may call dinner?

Palesa descended down a darker walkway: the street lights of this area in particular were clearly of a lower quality. Apart from emanating a weaker light than the ones she had already passed, some were broken, others made electrical noises before flickering heavily, and others – also not working – dropped glowing sparks that Palesa had to evade. This section of the city made her skin shiver and summoned within her a level of anxiety she could barely ignore.

A man, appearance just as dirty as the looks he was giving her, smiled and revealed a set of teeth that clearly needed to be tended to by the masters of dental care. Palesa shot her gaze downwards to avoid his eyes at all costs. He laughed and it sounded as if his throat had been formerly harrased by smoke – toxic smoke. A stench filled the air around him and added shame to his presence. “Hey there butter legs, how’s about a kiss?” he sang in a deeply hoarse voice before bursting out into smooth laughter.

Palesa shook her head and continued her march. This part of the city was filled with abandoned buildings that had been clearly vandalized by the works of graffiti. It creeped her out, it almost looked haunted, or was it? She pulled her smartphone out and glanced at the screen, the numbers ’19:30′ stared right back at her. ‘At this time, I’m still not home,’ she wondered to herself.

The area surrounding her was decorated by a layer of filth, actually filth is a compliment. Everywhere Palesa set her eyes, a layer of thick grime dwelled. Let’s not talk about the group of women who were standing by the corner of the road, clearly under the influence, under-dressed and laughing hysterically. Anyone could have guessed their line of work, and no, absolutely nothing to be proud of.

Palesa strode past… an unexpected silence hushed the group of women. As the distance between herself and them grew, her ears picked up words she’d rather not wanted to hear: all sorts of snide and degrading remarks were spoken about her; these were shadowed by sneers, giggles and chuckles. ‘Some pathetic women, that’s all,’ Palesa thought to herself.

Passing a couple more taverns and a dead silence suddenly dominated, the only noises were the humming of the frequent breezes and the crawling of rats, and of course the sharp noises Palesa’s heels emitted as she walked.

A strange laugh emerged and faded into a long echo that travelled down the narrow walkway. Palesa had halted her march abruptly once again and turned her head vigorously.

A black shadow, on the side of her eye! She jolted in an instant turn. Nothing was there, just a dirty piece of newspaper riding the breeze as if it were a horse. The laughter echoed again, it appeared to be coming from all directions.

She shook her head and accused her imagination of betraying her senses. The shabby, dim street lights that were battling to do their job, were finally put out of their misery when they suddenly went off. Thank goodness it was full moon. At least in this dark and gloom there was some form of light.

Something was moving underground. Palesa’s breathing became shaky and her heart exploded with a succession of heavy beats. She looked back and looked forward, not one person was in sight.