Alley of Shadows

by Steve Brezenoff

  Ben kept his eyes open for Kaya. He could barely stay in his seat. After a few mouthfulls of food, he got up and walked around the big dining hall in the basement, just hoping to spot the girl.

  “Benny!” called Forrest from the bench where he was still sitting with their father. “If you don’t finish your chicken, I’m going to!”

  Ben rolled his eyes. He went back to his seat and picked at his chicken.

  “Miss your girlfriend?” said Forrest with a laugh.

  Ben tried to ignore him. Instead he watched the other people at the lunch.

  Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and a lot of people were dropping donations into the wooden box by the door.

  One couple was sitting at the front table with the preacher. The man looked very upset, and the woman was crying.

  The preacher seemed to be trying to comfort them.

  “Who are they?” Ben asked, pointing.

  Forrest shrugged and stole a piece of Ben’s chicken.

  “A lot of people turn to their preacher for comfort, Benny,” his father reminded him. “Best to mind your own business, all right? Eat your lunch.”

  Ben nodded and ate a forkful of food.

  But as he stared at the couple, he couldn’t help feeling like he had seen them somewhere before.

  LAUGHTER

  After the big lunch at church, Ben and his brother and father went home.

  “You boys, get started on organizing your rooms,” Dad said. “We’ve still got tonnes of boxes to unpack!”

  Ben headed for his room. “One second, Benny,” Dad said, stopping him in his tracks. “First, would you grab those two bags of rubbish from the kitchen and bring them down to the alley, where the dustbins are?”

  “All right, Dad,” Ben replied. He grabbed the stuffed bags from the kitchen and started down the stairs.

  *

  The alley was even more disgusting during the day. Ben could clearly see all the litter and smell all the horrible rubbish.

  Lots of bags were just lying on the street in the alley, rather than being inside a dustbin like they should have been.

  Most of those bags were torn – probably by rats, Ben thought – and their stinky contents spilled out all over the pavement.

  Ben dropped the bags into a bin near the back of the alley, and then walked back towards the front of the building.

  He stopped for a moment in front of a door – the one he saw Kaya use the night before.

  He grabbed the door handle, trying to decide if he should open it.

  A chill ran up and down his back.

  It was a weird feeling. It was the same feeling he had once on Halloween back in Montville, when he had dared to trick-or-treat at the old Tyler Mansion, which everyone said was haunted.

  He had scared himself silly that night. He had been thinking and worrying so much about seeing a ghost that he actually saw one. Or thought that he did.

  “This is ridiculous,” Ben muttered to himself. “It’s just an old building!”

  The door handle felt cold. “Of course it’s cold,” thought Ben. “It’s metal.”

  Then the handle turned colder. As if it was turning into ice.

  Ben pulled his hand away.

  “Benny!” It was his dad’s voice. Ben looked up and saw his father leaning out the window. “Come on up and get to work on your room!” his dad called down.

  Ben stood for a moment in front of the door, trying to feel annoyed at his dad.

  But for some reason, he was almost relieved to go back upstairs.

  *

  Ben sighed when he stepped into his bedroom. Most of his bags and boxes were still packed up, and his walls were completely bare.

  “This will take all afternoon!” he thought.

  Ben emptied a suitcase onto his bed. All his clothes and the extra sheets and blankets for his bed came tumbling out.

  “Ugh,” he said, looking down at the pile he’d have to fold and put away.

  The big meal at church had made him tired. He flopped on to the bed.

  “Maybe I can just lie down for a little while,” he thought.

  A little while turned into several hours.

  When Ben next opened his eyes, the Sun was already going down. He stretched and yawned, then went into the living room.

  Dad was there, dozing on the couch. His brother’s door was closed, and Ben thought the lunch must have made all three of them very tired.

  “I guess everyone’s taking a nap,” he muttered to himself.

  Then he heard happy laughter coming from his room.

  Kaya?

  He ran into his room and looked out the open window. He was just in time to see the girl down below dart into the building next door.

  “Not this time,” he said. He slipped on his trainers, grabbed his torch, and ran out of the flat.

  THE ALLEY

  With the Sun so low, the alley was already growing dim.

  The light from the flickering streetlamp made everything look as if it were moving.

  Dustbins seemed to creep along the ground.

  A fire escape appeared to shudder and shiver against the brick wall.

  Ben jumped when a rat came running from behind a cardboard box.

  “What am I so scared of?” he asked himself, laughing. “It’s just the alley! I was here a few hours ago, and nothing happened.”

  Ben forced himself to laugh again. “There’s nothing scary about this place. Gross, yes. But, scary? No.”

  He quickly found the door he’d seen Kaya run into. This time, he didn’t wait.

  He just grabbed the door and yanked it open. It was very heavy, and it creaked a little, but it did open.

  Silently, Ben stuck his head into the doorway and looked inside.

  He clicked on his torch and shone it into a long corridor.

  His torch shed light on some rubbish on the floor, cracked tiles, and peeling paint on the ceiling and the walls. The plaster was mouldy and crumbling away in some places.

  “Forrest was right,” Ben whispered to himself. “This building is abandoned. No one could live here.”

  Suddenly Ben felt something scurry across his foot and he jumped.

  “It’s just a rat,” he said to himself, looking down. The dirty rodent squealed and darted through the open door and out into the alley.

  “Relax, Summers,” Ben told himself.

  Pulling the door open further, Ben stepped inside. “Hello?” he said.

  He heard laughter, but it wasn’t Kaya’s happy laughter.

  This laughter came from a man, and it wasn’t happy. It sounded to Ben like mocking and mean laughter. Chills ran up and down his back again.

  “This is a bad idea,” Ben thought.

  He thought of turning back, but then he stopped. What if Kaya was in trouble?

  He tiptoed through the dark corridor until he came to an open door. A light was shining inside.

  Ben peeked around the door and saw two older boys sitting on boxes.

  They had their backs to the door, and in front of them was a big metal bin with a fire burning in it.

  Ben thought the boys looked a little older than his brother.

  One had spiky red hair. The other had a smooth, shaved head.

  The boys were looking at a newspaper and laughing and talking loudly.

  The redheaded boy kept pointing at the newspaper and reading out loud.

  Then both boys would laugh and mutter things to each other.

  “I don’t like the look of this,” Ben thought.

  He wondered what Kaya was doing coming into a place like this.

  He decided to head home. Something about this place seriously creeped him out. And the boys there were clearly up to no good.

  Ben started to turn around, but as he did, he put his foot down on another scurrying rat.

  The creature squealed and jumped.

  “What was that?” asked the guy with the shaved head.

  Ben froze.

&nbs
p; The boy stood up from the box and turned to the door.

  “Uh-oh,” Ben thought. “I better get out of here!”

  “Hey!” called the spiky redhead. “Hey you!” Ben could hear anger in the boy’s voice.

  “Stop that kid!” one of them yelled.

  Both older boys started for the door – and for Ben.

  CHASE

  Ben ran as fast as he could back towards the door to the alley. He heard the older boys’ boots stomping on the tiled floor behind him.

  Ben’s heart pounded in his chest and his feet pounded down on the cracked tile floor. He ran so fast that he felt the blood beating in his throat. “Hey, you little brat!” one of the boys yelled.

  Ben nearly tripped when he turned the corner to head back towards the alley.

  His old trainers barely gripped the worn tile, and his right foot went out from under him. His shoulder banged into the crumbling plaster wall. Somehow he managed to stay on his feet, but the boys were getting closer.

  “Stop!” one of them yelled.

  Ben didn’t stop. He ran as hard as he could, right into the heavy door, and the door swung open.

  The smells of the night air and the stench of the building’s trash struck his nostrils just as he stumbled out into the alley.

  The boys were close behind him, so Ben pushed a dustbin over as he ran out of the alley. He heard it fall, and then heard the older boys banging into it.

  They yelled, and swore at him, but Ben had escaped.

  *

  “Where have you been?” Forrest said when Ben came into the apartment, panting and sweaty.

  “Um, nowhere,” Ben said. “I just went for a walk.”

  “Why are you so sweaty?” Forrest asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “Why are you up?” asked Ben, trying to change the subject.

  “I was hungry,” said Forrest, “and I heard some banging outside in the alley. So answer my question.”

  “Uh, I met some kids and played some basketball,” Ben said.

  Ben didn’t like to lie to Forrest. He knew his brother might be able to protect him from the two older boys, but he also knew that Forrest would make fun of him for going into the old building to look for his “new girlfriend.”

  Besides, what chance would Forrest and Ben have against those two boys?

  The boys looked like they’d been in a lot of fights before. They looked like they usually won those fights, too.

  *

  That evening, when he climbed into bed, Ben wasn’t tired at all.

  He tossed and turned for a while.

  His mind kept going back to Kaya, the old building next door, and those tough older boys.

  Finally, Ben threw off his blanket and went to the window.

  It was late, after eleven o’clock.

  Ben doubted Kaya would be down in the alley, but as he went to the window, he heard her cheery laughter.

  He heard the thumping of her feet as she skipped.

  The girl saw Ben right away, and she stopped smiling.

  She waved to him, and Ben thought she wanted him to come down and follow her into the old building.

  “Do you need help?” asked Ben. “Should I follow you?”

  Kaya nodded to him, then she turned and disappeared through the door.

  I have to follow her! Ben said to himself. I have to know what she’s doing in that old building. She can’t be friends with those guys. They must be trying to hurt her!

  Ben threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and started for his bedroom door, but as he opened it, he noticed the light was still on in the living room.

  “Dad is still awake,” he thought. “I can’t sneak out with him in the living room!”

  Then he heard voices. Who can be visiting at this hour? Ben wondered.

  Leaving his bedroom door open a crack, Ben took a few steps down the hall. He leaned forward, straining to hear what his father was saying.

  “It’s such a shame,” Dad said.

  “Indeed,” said the other man’s voice. “Without that money, we won’t be able to maintain the youth centre for much longer.”

  Ben realized it was the preacher from church.

  “And that poor girl!” Dad added.

  “Mrs Duran is very upset, of course,” the preacher replied. “The doctors think her daughter will be okay, but for now, she still won’t wake up.”

  “Well, we’ll be thinking of her and her family,” Dad said. “Maybe I’ll have Benny go over to the centre tomorrow. I’ll be at work, and I’d like my older boy to go out looking for some summer work.”

  “We’d enjoy having him,” the preacher replied. It sounded like he was heading out the door. “There are lots of great kids down there every day this summer.”

  Suddenly Ben felt a tickle in his nose.

  Oh, not now, he thought. He grabbed his nose and stopped the sneeze. But as he stepped backwards, the floor beneath him gave a loud squeak.

  “Benny? Forrest? Is that you?” his dad called from the door. “Darn,” Ben thought. He dived back into bed.”

  “Sorry, Kaya,” he whispered to himself. “I don’t think I can escape tonight.”

  THE YOUTH CENTRE

  “So you wait here until I come and pick you up, okay, Ben?” Forrest said when the two of them reached the front door to the youth centre the next morning.

  The River City Youth Centre was a big brick building attached to the back of the church.

  A few kids around Ben’s age were hanging around at the front.

  Ben could hear yelling and laughter coming from inside.

  “I’ll be fine,” Ben told his brother. “Good luck with the job search.”

  Forrest rolled his eyes. “Like I want a job,” he said as he walked off.

  Ben thought his brother looked miserable in his Sunday clothes on a hot Monday morning.

  “Hello, Ben,” said the preacher as Ben walked into the youth centre. “Your father said you’d be coming along today.”

  “Hi,” Ben replied, taking in the scene.

  There were three ping-pong tables at the back, and a small basketball court where a bunch of boys were playing.

  In the nearest corner, some younger kids were playing board games. A few even littler kids were running around, screaming and laughing.

  “Feel free to look around, or join in any of the games,” the preacher said. Then he walked away.

  Ben watched him walk through the door that connected the youth centre to the church. Ben wondered if there would be any adults at the centre at all. It seemed like the whole room was full of kids.

  Then he spotted a woman helping a small boy play with some blocks. She looked familiar. After he thought about it for a few seconds, he realized that she was the woman who the preacher had comforted during the church lunch.

  “Who are you?” said a voice next to Ben.

  Ben turned and saw a boy standing beside him holding a ping-pong paddle.

  “What?” Ben asked. He’d heard the boy’s question, but he felt confused.

  “I said, who are you?” the boy said. “I saw you at church yesterday. You were walking around like you’d lost something. Are you new here or something?”

  “Yeah,” Ben replied. “We just moved here a couple of days ago.”

  “A couple of days? Wow! You are new,” the boy said. “I’m Will.”

  “My name’s Ben,” Ben replied. “Hey, who is that woman over there?” He nodded towards the woman with the little boy.

  “That’s Mrs Duran,” Will explained. “She volunteers here sometimes. She’s really nice.”

  “I saw her at the church lunch,” Ben said. “Um, I think she was crying,” he added in a soft whisper.

  Will squinted in thought, and then nodded. “Oh, right. Her daughter is in the hospital,” he explained.

  “Really? What happened to her?” Ben asked.

  Will shrugged. “She was hurt by a couple of thugs. We call them the Preacher Bandits, because they stole the y
outh centre money from the preacher.”

  “They stole from the preacher?” asked Ben. “That’s pretty awful.”

  “He was walking Mrs Duran’s daughter home from the youth centre when they were attacked,” Will explained.

  “Wow,” Ben said. “Did the police catch the bandits?”

  “Nope,” Will replied. “The preacher blacked out, and when he woke up, the thugs were gone. And so was all the money that had been donated for the youth centre.”

  Will paused, looking around. Then he leaned in close to Ben.

  Will said, “The preacher says if we don’t get more money soon, he may have to shut down the youth centre for good.”

  “That’s awful!” Ben said.

  Will nodded. “Yup. And Mrs Duran’s daughter was unconscious.”

  He leaned closer to Ben and looked around, before adding in a whisper, “Some people are saying she’ll never wake up.”

  NOT DREAMING

  Ben stayed at the youth centre almost all day, playing ping-pong and basketball with Will and some other boys he met.

  Ben was beginning to think living in River City wouldn’t be too bad after all.

  When Forrest came to pick him up, Ben didn’t want to leave yet.

  “Come on, Mr Popular,” Forrest joked. “Dad’ll worry if we’re not home when he gets back.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Will told Ben.

  That night, Ben lay in bed, trying to come up with ways to save the youth centre.

  Maybe a car wash, or a bake sale, to make money, he thought, while he drifted off to sleep.

  As he was nodding off, he heard a small voice.

  Someone was calling his name.

  “That’s impossible,” Ben thought. He closed his eyes tight.

  “Ben …”

  It was a gentle voice. It seemed to float into his bedroom on the breeze that brushed his shoulder. Ben shivered.

  “Ben …,” the voice said again.

  “I know I’m not dreaming,” Ben said to himself.

  He got out of bed and opened his door.

  In the living room, Dad was sitting on the couch and watching TV.

  “Did you call me?” Ben asked.

  “No, I didn’t,” Dad replied. “You must have been dreaming.”

  “Oh,” Ben replied. “That makes sense.” But he knew he hadn’t been asleep.