The eerie back alley.

A place darker and more foul-smelling than even the most chaotic and bizarre night markets, alien even among those horrors.

And under the flickering gas lamps, strange beings stared at me as I stood at the entrance.

Eyes sunken, uniformed figures.

-This is not the kind of place one would tread lightly in polished shoes.

But I had to move forward.

And no one could know that I had frozen momentarily in fear at the sight of this grim scene.

Squelch.

I took my first step into the alley.

My companions followed closely behind.

Squelch, squelch.