The backstreet was gloomy and ripe with shadows.
Claudette tried to soften her footfalls without sacrificing her speed, all while looking frantically for somewhere to hide. She spun into a shadowed alley just as she heard the clamor of the men emerging onto the open street. She slunk deeper into the gloom - for once more afraid of what was lurking outside the shadows. Her heart sunk as she took in her hideout.
It is a dead end. She had trapped herself.
"Where did that girl go?"
"How would I know? I lost her on that turn back there."
Claudette listened to the gruff voices of her pursuers. She clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her breath as her lungs heaved for air.
"You go left and I'll go right?"
There wasn't a response, so the other man must have agreed to the suggestion.
