Ghost of Newsangtown

Dark Neighbourhood

"Sounds like you changed your mind eh?"

Josh called over his shoulder, "Doubt it. Don't think I was even capable of getting up to anything..." Then he broke into a fast jog.

He set a good pace, but had not been going long before he thought he heard something behind him. He looked over his shoulder, but the glare of the lights in the sports grounds dominated the sky. Everything else was black. He soon rounded a corner then jogged on for another few minutes before hearing a noise again.

This time when he turned he saw another jogger. He looked forward to check his path before looking back again. In that glimpse, it looked like the jogger was missing part of his arm from the elbow down. His silhouette showed it pressed firmly against his side. Then he glanced up at the jogger's head. He could see the lump of a sweatband around his forehead as the jogger nodded at him. Josh faced back forward, easing his pace to a walk and moving to the grass away from the road to let him pass.

The jogger sped up as he approached. Behind his back, his right arm was supporting a pair of heavy, business directories, still wrapped in their plastic. Moments before he passed Josh, he reached across his body with his left hand and spun away at the same time. It was a really quick movement, and as he came out of the turn he was swinging the business directories around fast in both hands. With perfect timing the books smashed into the back of Josh's head.

Josh never even knew what hit him. The impact launched him forward onto the grass, tumbling as he fell. Immediately the jogger put the books down next to his head and pulled a dark-blue handkerchief from a plastic bag in the pocket of his gym shorts. Josh's vacant eyes pointed up at the night sky. There was no life in them. The jogger put the handkerchief over Josh's nose and mouth. With one hand he pinched the nostrils together while with the other, he nudged the jaw open and folded the tongue back towards the throat. Josh's right leg started to twitch and shake rapidly. Then, as soon as his chest convulsed the jogger withdrew his finger from the folds of the cloth. Josh's chest heaved and spasmed while making a dreadful sucking, choking noise. The jogger kept the jaw closed and nose pinched until there had been no movement for a few minutes. When he removed the handkerchief from Josh's face, his eyes stared up into the darkness, dead.

The jogger stood, stuffed the handkerchief back into its plastic bag and picked up the books. He looked over at Josh's small sports bag that had fallen a couple of metres in front of him. First, with his shoe, he gently smoothed the grass where his toes had rested. He then put his weight on that spot and hopped forward to the bag. Then without turning his feet sideways he got the handkerchief back out and squatted down next to the bag. Using the handkerchief like a glove, he opened the bag. He carefully withdrew a mobile phone then flicked through the menu for a moment. Pausing, with barely his lips moving in the faint glow from the screen, he memorised something. He then exited from the menus. His hand let the phone slip from the dark-blue cloth, back into the bag. He closed the bag and returned the handkerchief back into its bag in his pocket. Straightening, without even a backward glance at the body sprawled on the ground, he picked up the business directories then continued jogging forward.

Less than a minute later, he crossed the narrow road and jogged back in the opposite direction along the bitumen. When he passed where the body lay on the other side of the road, his eyes remained straight ahead. A little further on still, he nipped into a yard with the bin near the front. He used the corner of the business pages books to open the bin. Then, while only touching the plastic wrap, released the books from the wrap to let them fall into the bin. With his hand on the outside of the wrap, he used the inside of the wrap to quietly close the bin lid. Back onto the road again, he disappeared into the night.

* * *

Louise pulled out her phone from her pocket again. She stared at the time until it changed to the next minute then stood up. She rubbed one bum cheek, kneading life back into the muscle then swapped the phone to her other hand and rubbed the other side. After stretching her back a little, she walked slowly past the bus shelter in the direction Josh should have come from. She stared into the blackness until the empty street took form. She could only see as far as the next streetlight, much further down the road. Beyond that, all was dark again. She turned, walked past the bus shelter and kept going. Scrolling down the menu on her phone, she selected Josh's number then pressed the phone to her ear. Her pace slowly picked up as she got further from the shelter. She looked at the phone once it had rung out. Re-selected the number but didn't dial. She cancelled and put the phone back into her pocket.

The crack of a stick behind her was the only warning she got. She hadn't even turned her head, when the barking dog was back at her. The same two dogs, but this time it was the second dog that had the opportunity to terrify her. The other was quick to join in, and their barking followed her for some time down the street.

This chapter is split between two scenes with quite different moods. I'd like to know what the mood seemed like for Louise. I'm also curious to read what you think of the realism in the training scene.