I sigh in frustration as I hear my phone ringing in the living room, and almost trip over my shoe laces as I make my way there. I knew I wouldn't be able to leave the apartment in peace; with the kind of friends I have, of course I wouldn't.

"Hello?" I sigh again as I answer the phone, and as expected, hear loud music in the background.

"Niall," My best friend Seth slurs into the speaker, and I immediately nod to myself; he's drunk out of his mind. What was I expecting though, him to be sober at midnight during a party? Funny. "You coming?"

"Nah, I'll pass tonight." I nod again as I remember the party last weekend. As tempting as going back to the frat house sounded, I really don't need headaches all weekend and aspirins throughout the whole week.

"Oh, come on," He shouts, "Everyone's here! Even Leanne's friends dragged her here because of you, you don't want to waste her time!"

I look up at my ceiling, genuinely considering his offer, purely because of Leanne, the girl I've been hanging out with for a couple of months. But as I remember waking up on the bathroom floor last Saturday, I start shaking my head. "Nope, I'm telling you, I'll pass. Tell Leanne I'm sorry."

"But it's Friday night," He says after a few seconds of silence, "Friday night! What are you even gonna do tonight?"

"I know it's a bit irrational, but I think I'm gonna sleep til morning."

"Yeah, right." I hate how he can see through me; even over the phone while he's wasted. "You're probably gonna buy pizza and watch reruns of fucking Friends."

Nailed it. "No," I say, blinking a couple times as I think of an answer. "I'm gonna watch Dawson's Creek."

"I don't understand." I can almost see him shaking his head. "How did you even get in the fraternity? I swear we tortured you more than the other geeks."

I smile to myself, "Reverse psychology, my friend. See you tomorrow." I really was planning to go back to the frat house for the weekend. Staying alone in my flat didn't sound as appealing as laughing at my hungover friends when they need 15 minutes to pull their pants on properly.

I look around my apartment as I end the call, before walking out rather excitedly. Seth wasn't entirely wrong when he guessed what I'd be doing tonight. One of the things I love most about Chicago, is that nearly every pizza place is open 24/7. I swear I had tears in my eyes when I first found out about it.

The thing I like least though, is that I probably live in the creepiest part of the city. Even on a Friday night, I see no one as I walk out of my building. I grip my jacket closer to my face and look around - something I do every time I go out at this hour - and start walking at a fast pace. Pizza is the only thing I'd ever leave my flat for at half past twelve in the morning.

Oh, and not to mention the blasted alleyway I have to go through so I'd get to the nearest pizza place quicker. The thought of it alone makes me shiver, but I don't have a choice if I want to be back home in less than an hour.

I dig through my pockets and try untangling my headphones faster, I can already see the dumpster which is just next to the entrance of the alleyway, meaning I'm about a minute away from it. If any of my friends saw me like this, they wouldn't forget about it until the day that I die, but I can't really care less. My heart would probably burst out of my chest if I walked through the small street without having anything to concentrate on except for the sounds coming from around me. I always feel like I'm in a horror movie.

As I place the tiny earbuds in my ears, I immediately put all of the songs on shuffle. The first one I hear is unfamiliar at first, but I don't remember having a song that starts with a scream..? Hm, must be one of those Seth had asked me to download for him. The only thing I don't like about the guy is his taste in music. Seriously, what kind of a-

I mentally apologize to Seth as I turn around the corner to walk into the alley, feeling my heart stop for a second; usually I would only see a pack of dogs barking, or cats trying to strangle each other. Sometimes I'd get something thrown on me from the buildings. Other times I'd see people, most likely a couple. A horny couple. That explains pretty much everything.

This time wasn't much different; well, not that different at least. A guy and a girl, but when I pause my music, I realize what makes them as different as they are; the supposed guy is a man. A very creepy looking one, at that. He's wearing all black, and his bald head made me feel like I was in the presence of a member of a mafia.

I try walking past, or at least toward the uncommon couple, but something stops me yet again. When I take a few steps forward, I hear a muffled scream; the same one from that song that was pla-

I gulp with difficulty, feeling all of the blood drain from my face as it came to me; that scream I heard before wasn't from the song. It's from the girl he was making out with, or something. I contemplate whether or not I should take the longer way to my destination, it would take me about half an hour longer to get there but it's better than walking past… this. Jesus, what are they even doing? I can't see the girl's body properly, but she obviously looks, and sounds like she's really uncomfortable and-

My phone falls from my hand with a thud, and my mouth goes dry. This shock is even worse than my previous one. This isn't a couple. This… this man, he's trying… yeah, he's definitely trying to assault her.

I swallow hard again, and look around myself; there are always women smoking on the balconies when I'm walking here, or men drinking scotch and looking at who to spit next, but this time I see no one. I can yell for no one's help. The sight about 10 meters away from me is as disturbing as one could be; but I can't do anything. I am just a small-town guy from Ireland, I never signed up for something like this.

My only solution is to call the police so I slowly bend down, with shaky hands pick up my phone. Not only my hands; but my entire body is shaking. I'm already a few good meters into the alley, if the man even glanced in my direction he would immediately see me, and then I'm doomed. He might have a weapon, I could be dead a minute from now. I could actually be lying on the spot where I am standing right now, gripping my chest and trying to breathe. Or maybe he would aim for my head and I'd immedi-

I shake my head quickly, collecting myself before I actually pissed myself. I don't have enough fingers to count all of the times my mum told me something like this would happen; she's been against me living in Chicago and going to school here since I suggested it. Of course, she couldn't have known something like this would actually happen to me, but it's a good thing she made me think about it. It's pretty much the only reason I haven't passed out. Yet.

If only my hands were a bit more under control, the police would already be on their way. But hearing that girl's muffled screams, the man slamming her against the tin surface, yelling at her – I almost want to yell at him too and stop him myself, but I know better than that. Luckily, only about 10 seconds pass until I have the three digits typed in correctly, but as I aim to press the call button my phone falls from my hands again, and I look in front of myself.

To say that I'm shocked yet again by the view in front of me, would be an understatement; the man is now on the middle of the street, did he back away or something? Definitely not, as he lunges toward the girl as soon as the thought crosses my mind. For a second I want to run forward again, stop him somehow, but I am once again left flabbergasted as the girl seems to have that covered.

She lifts her leg up, bending her knee and uses what seems all of her energy to push him away. Or kick him away, whatever. My eyes widen when she actually succeeds; he is again in the middle of the street, stumbling back and bumps into a dumpster. He's drunk, for sure. Still, that is in no way an excuse for what I've just witnessed.

Before he can react, the girl is in front of him, her leg in the air as she kicks him once again; this time in the head. I cringe at the sound of her heel against the man's skull; like the sound it made, the impact is just as strong and loud. Within a second he's lying on the ground sideways, and I watch the girl wipe her lips with the back of her hand, as she kept staring at him. For a minute she's calm, and I want to applaud her for what she just did, but her actions make me cringe once again.

I thought she would look around and run away, whether or not she sees me. That's what I would've done in her place. But she lets out a loud growl, and starts kicking the man as hard as she can; he makes some sort of a noise the first few times, but after that he is quiet, as she intensifies her kicks.

I'm completely breathless as I watch her; a small part of me cannot actually believe everything that I've witnessed in just three minutes. I snap out of it when I hear a bone cracking – I can only hope it's her heel or something – and clumsily pick up my phone again, feeling my heart fly up to my throat as I start walking toward her. This isn't self defense anymore; she is quite literally trying to kill him.

Her actions make me start jogging forward; he is more than obviously unconscious on the ground – I can also only hope he is just unconscious – but she doesn't stop, at all. I can't reach her quickly enough; it really looks like she has made it her life goal to end the guy's life.

I'm a little hesitant about stopping her, the image of that being me on the ground suddenly invading my mind, but I decide to do it anyway. I wouldn't want to watch someone die, nor would I want to see her in court.

My arms firmly wrap around her body as soon as I reach her, and I close my eyes because I am sure she's going to fight me too. Surprisingly she only tries get out of my hold, but doesn't do anything to hurt me. I'm sure she can; without a doubt, but I'm glad she doesn't.

"Stop. Stop, please," I beg quietly as I pull her away from the man, the dumpster, the little pool of blood on the asphalt that's making me want to vomit. I only stop walking backwards when she stops trying to jerk out of my arms, and to be honest, I don't remember having to put so much energy into something since I moved here. We're both breathless, I still have my arms tightly around her as we watch what once used to be a human body.

Her hands finally fall next to her body, and I hear her sigh. Now that she isn't fighting me, I realize how awkward holding her feels and I almost want to let go of her, but I'm afraid that's exactly what she wants me to do; so I slowly pull her to the left, forcing her toward the exit of the alleyway. I pull my hands from around her but keep my hands on her arms, just in case. I still can't believe what I'd seen; this girl almost got attacked but managed to get the creep off of her, then almost beat him to death but I stopped her and now, I'm thinking of how to get answers from her instead of calling the police.

I think I refuse to believe, any of that.

"Um…" I start, unsure of what the hell to say. I mean, what do you tell someone after… after that? "Are you okay?" As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret it. Of course she isn't okay, she almost got-

"Yes." I'm surprised when she responds, and even more surprised when she turns around, the street light letting me properly see her face. "I am."

I let my hands fall to my sides as I watch her run a hand through her long hair, and then straighten her leather jacket. At first I think she's only saying she's okay because she doesn't want me to worry, but as she looks at me, she really does seem okay. She seems… calm. Like she deals with that kind of stuff every day. Wow, what a way to live.

"Are you… sure?" To be honest, the reason I want to keep asking questions is so I'd have a reason to keep looking at her. For someone that is 'okay' after nearly being assaulted and committing homicide, she looks decent. Did I say decent? I probably meant ridiculously pretty.

"Yes," She repeats, looking at me again. Her eyes are blue, just like mine, but compared to me hers seem cold. Icy in fact, considering what's just happened. "Aren't you going to call the police?"

"What?" I exclaim, furrowing my eyes in a frown. That is probably the weirdest thing she could have told me right now. "Of course not, are you crazy?"

She just stares at me for a few seconds, taking a deep breath and finally nodding. "Okay."

I blink a couple times as I watch her, watching me. First she asks me to do something, then she's perfectly fine when I refuse to do it. "I mean..." I continue talking, mostly because I don't want the conversation to end. Even though it's consisted of me asking her questions and her replying with one word.

"You might have some of his blood on you, his fingertips, they're gonna-"

"Hey!" She shouts and I look up at her as I stop talking, and for a second glance at her shoes. I'm kind of relieved that she's wearing high heels; if she stepped out of them I'd probably be taller than her by two or three centimeters.

Wow. After what happened two minutes ago, I'm thinking about how she's currently taller than me... wow.

"I said okay," She says in her normal tone, interrupting my irrelevant thoughts, and after a few moments I nod curtly. She leans back and looks around, and so do I; there are no more than five people in the entire street. Mainly shop workers standing outside, having a cigarette. Nothing unusual.

"I'm going now. Thank you." She straightens her jacket again, before turning around on her heel and starting to swiftly walk away. I have to blink a few times at how quickly she just turned around and went to leave. Before I can control my actions, I find myself walking behind her.

"Hey," I call, but she doesn't stop. It's silly, but as I watch her walk, the whole thing starts to look like a movie scene to me. "Stop."

"I need to go," Is all she says, and I notice her quicken her pace. I subconsciously start jogging toward her and eventually catch up, but refuse to do anything to actually stop her. I'm more than aware that she can have me lying on the asphalt within a few seconds.

"You can't just walk away," I say loudly. "Not after that."

"I really-"

"Just stop, will you?"

To my surprise, she starts slowing down, and eventually stops walking with a heavy sigh. I stop as well, keeping myself a good foot away from her, and observe her carefully. She definitely doesn't look like she's capable of doing what I've seen her do.

The girl turns around, her hands on her hips and her face finally not as emotionless as it's been the entire time. She looks angry now, but even that doesn't last long; soon her expression softens and she licks her lips before making a couple steps toward me. Even though my heart starts beating faster in fear of her trying to hit me, I stand still and continue looking at her. Her calmness and composure astonish me.

I want to be like her when I grow up.

"What..." She begins, yanking me out of my thoughts and surprising me, again. "What is it that you want?"

"Um..." The way she changes her mind, as well as her tone in the speed of light, is another thing that shocks me. "That. What just happened. I don't want to talk about it on a street."

She rocks herself back and forth, not looking away from me at all. "This is your only choice."

"No," I immediately shake my head, "I was, um... I was going to buy myself pizza, so..."

As I trail off she nods, understanding what I wanted to say but found too awkward and embarrassing. She glances at her watch, and I just remember how late it actually is, and that she probably wants to go home. "You have one hour."

I'm taken aback by her words, "What? Really?" I'm surprised that she would want to go anywhere with a stranger, especially after what one almost did to her. But then again, if I did something and she wanted to kill me, there's not doubt in my mind that she could.

"Sure," She shrugs. Just like that.

"Alright, well," I clear my throat, "The pizza place is a block awa-"

"Let's go then."

Before I can react she's already turned around and started walking down the street again, and I have to jog for two or three seconds again so I'd catch up to her and start walking next to her. "Sorry," I begin, "What's your name?"

"Angel," She responds, her voice flat.

I nod, and there's silence again, before she speaks - surprising me at that. "How far is the pizza place exactly?"

"Just down the street." Two things I learned; her name is Angel, which is probably the most ironic thing about her, and that she's not the most sociable person in the world. Did I say not sociable? I probably meant very fucking difficult to talk to, which I also just learned is not the same thing whatsoever.

"Do you think you could tell me about… it?" I lick my lips as I stare at the side of her head. I'm not used to being this serious, of course I can be when I need to be, but that always has an expiration date. Now I feel like it'd be difficult to have a light conversation with her. Or any kind of conversation, to be honest.

"There's nothing to talk about." Just my point.

"What were you doing there?" I ask nonetheless, "How did he find you?"

Angel closes her eyes and presses her lips together in a tight line; I was expecting a punch too but luckily, her hands stay in her pockets. "I was taking a shortcut from work."

I nod slowly, taking a glance at what she's wearing; by the looks of it, she probably works at a club of some sort. "What do you do for a living?"

She looks up at the sky for a second, before diverting her gaze to her right. "We're here, aren't we?" She mumbles and pushes the door of my favorite pizza place open, completely ignoring my question as she walks in.

I feel like I should get ready for an hour worth of that.

*******

(It will get more exciting. Promise)

Also, I will be dedicating chapters to people who post the funniest / most accurate / etc comments, so comment away and tell me what you think so far! :)