The first thing I remember after waking up that December night was there was blood, so much blood. The color red blurred my vision and blood seemed to be all I could taste. My first instinct was to choke, but this overwhelming new sense of euphoria allowed me to swallow it all down. I quickly sat up from the rough pavement below me to find the source of all this blood. I eyed my body, feeling around to check for any injuries, but to my surprise I was perfectly fine. As a matter of fact I had never felt so good.

I did my best to get myself together and then slowly rose to my feet. The full moon was shining brightly, leaving just enough light for me to realize I was in the middle of an alley way and completely surrounded by buildings. I stumbled backward, tripping on something solid, sending me back to the ground. I backed up until I was hidden in the shadows of the nearest building. I was beginning to shiver unbelievably hard, so I gripped onto my body and began to rock back and forth. I might have not had any recollection of who I was or where I came from at this point, but one thing I did know for a fact is that I had never been so scared or felt so incredibly alone.

“HELLPPPP!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, but it only came out as a coarse muffle. “HELLLPP ME!” This time I was choking on my tears at the thought of dying in this dark, damp alley.

Fear paralyzed me from moving, so I continued to rock back and forth. And that’s when I heard something. Not too far from my feet I heard a quiet moaning. It sounded like someone was in pain. I looked up to find a man lying in the center of the ally. From what I could tell he didn’t look so well.

“HEY!” I yelled to the man, but I got no response. “Are you ok?” I asked as I began crawling on my hands and knees, bringing me closer to him.

He continued to lie still as I closed in on him, but I made sure to keep my distance. I was hoping that this man would be able to explain what happened to me, so I was motivated enough to overcome my fear and get closer. I reached the man and it seemed to me that he was unconscious.