Nightmare

I was walking down the street, when I saw a child by the side of the road, crying. I stopped to question her and I got a surprising answer.

“M-my momma…I donno where she is,” she sniffed hard, her tears still overflowing as she tried to articulate through her sobs. “Sh-she was just here w-with m-me and the next thing I know, she di-dis-disappeared!” she broke into new fits of  sobs and tears, her pink shirt already stained.

One thing was for sure, I was hopeless when it came to kids; crying ones were a different matter. The girl was bordering on hysteria and I needed her to calm down before she hurt herself.

“What’s your name sweetie?” I asked gently.

She sniffed again and looked up at me with her tear-filled, doe-like eyes. “Jessica.”

“That’s a pretty name. And how old are you, Jessica?” I smiled at her gently, hoping that it would calm her obviously racing heart.

She answered meekly, “I’m six.”

I crouched down, still smiling, and held out my hand towards the fumbling girl. “There’s no need to cry. Come on, I’ll help you look for your mommy. You said you two were around this area. I’m sure she couldn’t have gone far.”

Her eyes were unsure as she stared at my hand. She must listen to her parents when they say “Never trust a stranger.” I tried to appear as calm and harmless as possible. I needed her to trust me.

“Come on, I promise we’ll find your mom.”

With a last minute hesitation she placed her palm in mine and stared at me with trust and eagerness. “O-okay….”

It was getting late, the sun was already setting and the calm that had overcome my being was slowly transcending to anxiousness. Even I was worried where her mother went. Who leaves their own kid, 6-years-old, in the middle of the street, God dammit!

I stopped suddenly, my heart pounding in my ears. I shouldn’t think it, but this town was a dangerous place, particularly for women. As if God had heard my thoughts, I noticed a dank alleyway a few steps ahead. I wasn’t sure if it was due to the long abyss-like shadows casted by the walls, but a sudden fear overtook every fibre, every nerve, of my body. Jessica looked up at me in question, after feeling my hand tighten around her's.

“What’s wrong?” She asked thickly. It was at that moment I realized something so irrelevant to the situation I was in presently. I hadn’t told her my name.

“It’s nothing,” I smiled reassuringly. It was apparent that she wasn’t the least bit convinced.

Taking a deep breath and shoving that sudden thought to the back of my mind, I trudged towards the alley, dragging the girl along with me.

It felt like eternity before we reached the darkness. My throat constricted, the bile already rising up while Jessica screamed in agony. She ran towards the bloody crumple of body lying in the corner of the alleyway next to a garbage can, Jessica’s mother.