Ella passed under a streetlamp and was temporarily enveloped with yellow light. She walked with a steady pace, her footsteps hitting the pavement becoming the only sound in the night apart from the soft rustling of the leaves from the tree branches overhead. After a while, she saw the walking green man of the pedestrian traffic light ahead and walked briskly, hoping to cross the street before the light changed. She was a few steps away when she heard a click and the pedestrian light changed to red. The stationary red man replaced his dynamic predecessor, instructing similar bipeds on the sidewalk to remain still. Luminous numbers on the LED display underneath turned red as well and started counting down the seconds remaining before pedestrians were allowed to cross the street.Slightly disappointed, Ella slowed down before completely halting her steps. She had hardly stopped before the curb when a car came hurtling past, its horn blaring and its headlights full. It disappeared

The strong headlights of the black car illuminated the dark alley where Ella found herself trapped. She had not gone to that part of the city before and in her haste to get away from her pursuers, made the wrong decision to enter the narrow alley, only to find herself cornered. She raised her hand over her face to lessen the glare of the headlights as she stood helplessly at the end of the alley.In a moment, she heard the door of the black car open and a man got out. Ella could not see well because of the powerful beams of the car, but she could discern from the man’s movements that he adjusted his coat before slamming the door shut. He then walked in front of the car as he approached her.Ella got hold of her pepper spray and readied to defend herself. As the man walked closer, she tried to see his face but the light coming from behind him meant that his face was darkened.“Stay away from me!” shouted Ella. “What do you want?”The