Sean Monaghan is a New Zealand writer. His stories have appeared in Aurealis, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, and Takahe among others. You can find him at seanmonaghan.com
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A Murder in Cyrene
by Alex Doiron; published August 30, 2013
Ragged steps rang out on a moonlit street in the city of Cyrene. Short brick buildings stood mute testimony as a woman stumbled through the near darkness. Her sandaled feet pounded along the packed dirt as she staggered out of an alleyway. She was injured, afraid — blood dripped down her leg from a knife wound in her thigh.
She fell to the ground, scuffing her knees on the hard packed dirt. With shaking limbs she struggled to get back on her feet, staggering into a wall in the process. Gritting her teeth she started running again but maintaining balance proved harder with each faltering step. She stumbled and weaved down the uneven street until she finally fell face first on the ground. With shaking arms she tried to push herself up and failed.
The sound of her breathing echoed off of the buildings around her, harsh and shallow. Not the heavy breathing of someone who had been running, but the desperate breathing of someone who couldn’t get enough air. In the feeble light of the moon the woman’s lips began taking on a bluish tinge.
A shape stepped out of the darkness, walking the same path that the woman had stumbled down moments before. A man, wrapped in a cloak, a knife in his hand, the blade wet with blood. He walked slowly. The woman flopped on the ground, struggling to breathe. He didn’t need to hurry.