THE RAIN NEVER ASKED
1027 Words
Rain began before dawn.
By evening, it had settled over the city like a stubborn guest, soaking rooftops, swallowing traffic noise and blurring every streetlight.
The café emptied slowly.
One customer lingered over a newspaper.
Another packed away a laptop with obvious reluctance.
By half past eight, only the smell of roasted coffee and freshly mopped floors remained.
Amelia knelt beside the pastry display, counting what was left.
Three butter croissants.
Two cinnamon rolls.
One slice of chocolate cake.
She scribbled the numbers into a notebook already swollen with receipts.
The owner switched off the overhead lights one row at a time.
"You should head home before the rain gets worse."
She glanced through the window.
"It can get worse?"
He chuckled.
"You'll find out."
She smiled, tied her apron into a neat bundle and slipped it into her canvas bag.
The café door chimed as she stepped outside.
Cold air met warm skin.
She pulled her jacket closer.
The bus stop sat two streets away,
Usually she'd wait.
Tonight she kept walking.
Money saved on transport meant breakfast tomorrow.
Her shoes splashed through shallow puddles.
The paper bag tucked beneath her arm held cough medicine, pain relievers and a packet of ginger biscuits.
Hazel liked ginger biscuits when she wasn't feeling well.
Amelia checked the time.
8:47 p.m.
She reached for her phone.
One message waited.
Hazel;
"Don't forget your umbrella this time."
A small laugh escaped her.
Too late.
The umbrella had stayed behind the café door.
Again.
She replied with a picture of the rain instead.
A second later...
Three laughing emojis appeared.
That was enough.
The walk felt shorter when Hazel laughed.
The neighbourhood changed as she continued.
Bright shop fronts gave way to older buildings.
The sidewalks emptied.
Only the rain remained faithful.
A sharp gust swept through the street.
A newspaper tumbled past her feet.
Then...
Silence.
Not the comfortable kind.
The sort that made a person notice how alone they were.
Amelia slowed.
A narrow alley separated two abandoned buildings.
She'd passed it hundreds of times.
Tonight something felt...
Wrong.
She couldn't explain why.
She looked once.
Nothing.
She took another step.
A sound drifted through the rain.
Metal scraping against concrete.
Then...
A low thud.
She stopped.
The sensible choice was obvious.
Keep walking.
Someone else would check.
Someone always did.
Didn't they?
Her feet refused.
She sighed to herself.
"This is exactly how people end up in horror movies."
Even so...
She turned back.
Rainwater trickled into the alley, carrying bits of leaves toward a clogged drain.
It was darker inside than the street behind her.
Brick walls rose on both sides, stained by years of weather.
Her eyes adjusted slowly.
Nothing.
She almost laughed at herself.
Then lightning flashed.
For less than a second...
A figure appeared.
Someone sat against the far wall.
Head lowered.
One knee drawn up.
Completely still.
The darkness swallowed him again.
Amelia's breath caught.
"Hello?"
No answer.
She stayed where she was.
"Are you alright?"
Only rain replied.
She looked back toward the road.
Cars continued passing.
Their headlights never reached the alley.
She stepped inside.
One step.
Then another.
Her heartbeat sounded louder than the storm.
The figure didn't move.
Not even when she stopped an arm's length away.
A man.
Dark coat.
Black trousers.
Rain clung to strands of hair that hid most of his face.
One hand rested against his side.
The other lay open on the ground.
She crouched carefully.
"Sir?"
Nothing.
The smell reached her before the blood did.
Metal.
Sharp.
Fresh.
Her gaze dropped.
A ribbon of dark red slipped between his fingers, diluted by the rain before disappearing into the drain.
Not a scrape.
Not an accident.
Something deeper.
Her pulse quickened.
She reached for her phone.
Emergency services.
That was the right thing.
Always the right thing.
As her thumb hovered over the screen...
The man's fingers moved.
Slowly.
Painfully.
They closed around her wrist.
Cold.
Far colder than rain should have allowed.
Amelia froze.
His grip held no strength.
Only urgency.
His head lifted a fraction.
Enough for her to glimpse part of his face.
Pale skin.
A sharp jaw.
Eyes closed tightly, as though even opening them demanded too much.
His lips parted.
"...No."
The word was barely audible.
Almost stolen by the rain.
She leaned closer.
"What?"
He swallowed.
"No..."
A strained breath escaped him.
"...hospital."
The grip loosened.
His hand slipped from her wrist.
Silence returned.
Amelia stared at him.
Hospital.
He'd refused it.
Why?
Fear?
Debt?
Something worse?
Lightning crossed the sky again.
This time she saw it clearly.
The wound.
It wasn't shaped like anything she'd seen before.
Not a knife.
Not a bullet.
More like several deep slashes, torn through the fabric of his coat.
Goosebumps rose along her arms.
She glanced toward the street once more.
No one had noticed.
No one was coming.
The rain continued washing the blood away as though trying to erase the evidence before morning.
Amelia closed her eyes for a brief second.
She thought about Hazel waiting at home.
About the money left in her wallet.
About every warning she'd ever been given.
Don't trust strangers.
Don't get involved.
Walk away.
She opened her eyes again.
The stranger hadn't moved.
A slow breath left her lips.
"...You picked the wrong person to collapse in front of."
She slipped her phone back into her pocket.
Then shrugged off her jacket.
Carefully, she folded it beneath his head to keep it off the wet ground.
"Don't make me regret this."
She stood and hurried toward the street.
A taxi had just stopped at the traffic light.
She raised both hands.
The driver shook his head before she had even reached the road.
She stepped directly in front of the car.
Its brakes squealed.
The driver's window rolled down.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Amelia pointed toward the alley.
"I need help."
The driver's annoyance faded.
He followed her gaze.
"...Someone's hurt?"
She nodded.
"Please."
For a long moment, neither of them moved.
Then the driver killed the engine, grabbed an umbrella and stepped out.
Together...
They disappeared into the rain.
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