HIS BROAD SHOULDERS

Bang!

The reverberating sound of a gunshot disrupted the peace of the gloaming night.

Halle Maria Dean stopped in her tracks, frozen with apprehension at the actuality that the sound came from the alley she had just walked into. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip and her fingers clutched her sides.

"I warned you," Came a deep voice from the dark alleyway, his tone dark and somehow managed to be almost as black as the night.

His broad shoulders were the first thing that came to her view when she walked into the alley, the sight of him and the aura his sheer presence carried pulled her in like a moth to a flame, she pulled the lapels of her jacket closer to her chest as she took another curious step forward.

It was a lightless night, the wind was frigid on her skin but yet she could feel the moisture slowly gathering in her palms and back. She shivered, was it from the cold or the fear of the sight before her?

Halle gasped in horror, her hands shakily coming up to her face and her palms over her lips to keep any sound from escaping.

Lights in the empty streets flickered off and on, looking like they would come to life once and for all and in turn, making her presence known to the man who had his back turned to her.

He stood over something, a wriggling figure, no-a person, and by the looks of things, it was another man as well.

The man with broad shoulders seemed unbothered by the other's unrest.

Halle could see the figure on the ground moving, she could hear his heavy breaths in the silent night heaving like he was out of breath.

The sight of those broad shoulders had her rooted to the spot, they were wide and strong and though she could only see his back, he was just as intimidating to her as anyone else with his sort of build. In his lowered right hand was a black object that almost blended in with the night if not for the faint white smoke that left it, evidence of what had just gone down and what Halle had just witnessed.

"Please…stone…" it was a weak plea from an even weaker voice, the wiggling body on the floor…Halle could tell that the voice was from him.

She had to move away, she had to run but yet she couldn't bring her legs to move nor her lungs to work properly.

The broad-shouldered man raised his right hand again and once again aimed it at the body on the floor.

"I warned you that this would happen," His head tilted slightly, "you should've listened."

Then the second shot for the night rang out. Hale flinched and took a shaky step back. The wriggling body no longer moved, it just lay there, lifeless and Halle knew that the body would be cold to the touch as well.

A man had just been shot right in front of her. Her ears rung from the sound of the gunshot and the reality of her current situation sinking in.

She had just witnessed a murder and if care wasn't taken, she would be next!

Halle took a step back in an attempt to escape the alleyway, she watched the man's back as she moved, keeping her eyes on his movements while trying to breathe as quietly as possible which somehow equated to not breathing at all.

The gun was still in his grasp, his hand now lowered and his heavy breathing seemed to calm. Halle took another step backward, feeling a drop of sweat slide down her back and soak through her camisole even in the coldness of the night.

Another step.

Her sweaty palms coming down from her face and holding her purse across her chest with a death grip.

Pushing down what her mother would label as 'the coward in her', she took one last step back.

BANG!

Her entire body stiffened as she felt the cold metal of the trash can press through her camisole, the sound of the noisy lid hitting the ground due to her movements still echoed, not in the alley but in her head because she knew at that moment that she was in deep shit.

Her widened eyes immediately landed on the man who stood over the dead body, he had already lifted his head and squared his shoulders. Slowly, he turned around.

"shit!" Halle cursed as she turned around as well, not daring to set eyes on the man's face as her legs immediately moved and she went into a sprint.

Halle never looked back as she already had a destination in mind, her apartment building, she would get in and lock the door behind her then she would call the cops…her phone was on her bed.

Halle ran through the empty streets of Moon Town knowing fully well that even though she screamed her lungs out for help, everyone would still stay in their homes and mind their businesses. She was out way past the town's official curfew, which made anything that happened to her by this time automatically her fault.

Halle didn't stop running, even though she heard no heavy or hurried footsteps behind her.

She reached the apartment building in less than five minutes, opened the main doors in a haste, and practically ran into the first available elevator, silently thanking the heavens for the new improvement made by the landlord only a few weeks ago.

She punched the buttons furiously, her eyes on the main door as the elevator closed slower than she would've wanted it to. Just as it finally had a small gap left, Halle saw the main doors slide open. The only thing she saw were eyes as dark as midnight staring back at her. Then the doors closed and in ten seconds, the doors opened to her floor.

With shaky hands and hyperventilating from the lack of air in her lungs, she reached into her purse and tried to fish out her keys. She found them but then there was a ding from the elevator.

Haale's hands shook even more as she tried to push the damn key into the keyhole but yet it was in no way cooperating.

"shit! Shit!" She cursed, sweat was already beaded on her forehead and sliding past her lashes and into her eyes once the key was finally in, she twisted in and the door opened with a click.

Just as she pushed the door open, she felt something cold press against her racing pulse and the hardness of a body behind her.

"Stay quiet," She heard that chilling deep voice in her ear, her knees weakened and buckled, and a strong arm was around her waist in the next second, pulling her closer and smashing her back against his solid chest.

"Open the door," He said, "Or the next bullet goes in your head, "