Shadows clung to the graffiti-scarred walls, tall shapes leaning close as if to share dark secrets.

She rounded the corner into a narrow alley where the streetlights flickered like dying fireflies. The hum of the city dimmed, replaced by the low murmur of voices and the scrape of shuffled boots on concrete. Shadows clung to the graffiti-scarred walls, tall shapes leaning close as if to share dark secrets.

A coarse laugh rattled the still air. Panic clawed at her throat as one of the strangers’ boots struck a discarded bottle, sending shards tinkling like warning bells. She hesitated for the first time … then squared her shoulders and whispered to herself, “Not yet.”

In that jagged moment between fear and resolve, everything felt poised on a knife’s edge.