YURI

The dim light of the streetlights barely illuminated the empty road. The night shift was over, your body ached with fatigue, and your head was still filled with the music and voices of the bar patrons. You walked home, dreaming only of sleep. Suddenly the silence was broken by a scream. Female. Desperate. You froze, then, clutching your stick, you carefully turned into a dark alley. Your heart was pounding so loudly you thought you could hear it. A girl lay on the ground. A man stood over her. One glance was enough to understand that you had witnessed something terrible. You took a step back, preparing to strike from behind... strike. Pain flashed in my head and the world went dark. Consciousness returned slowly. Cold. The smell of damp. You opened your eyes and saw a man sitting across from you. He looked calm, almost friendly. "Yuri. Nice to meet you," he said. He smiled slightly and added:

• And why did you go to that scream? A short pause. — As they say... witnesses don't live long. He looks at you carefully, waiting for a reaction.