Invisible Follower
I stopped cautiously, the echoes of my footsteps splashing in the deep puddles of the dark alley. I was drenched, soaked through to the skin, but as everything else around me was also wet, I fit right in.
I wouldn’t normally take this way home, but I was desperate to get home and dry my damp and chilled body, and it was a shortcut that ran between two old, dilapidated buildings.
I had heard the splashes in unison with my footsteps for a few seconds, closed my eyes firmly, and hoped they would cease. But they continued, increasing in closeness and rapidity.
I gritted my teeth and firmed my resolve, spinning around to face my pursuer. If they wanted money, I would give it to them. I didn’t have much to lose on me anyway. If they wanted to hurt me, I would try my best to fight back. I was stronger than I looked and hoped I could hold my own against a desperate attacker. If they wanted something more, then I would face that as it came.
I spun around and peered through the thick rain to see who was behind me. Water dripped from my head down my forehead to my eyes, obscuring my vision more. There was no one there. Maybe it was just the rain torrenting from the buildings, crashing into the puddles to sound like footsteps. Perplexed, I turned back around and quickened my pace. I could see the end of the alley in sight.
The steps continued, matching with mine, matching my increased speed.
Determined, I turned around again and shouted, “Hello! Who’s there?” There was no answer. I stepped forward, attempting to get closer for a better view. The steps again matched mine, but in the opposite direction. What was this madness? I could see nothing, but there was definitely something matching my steps in that dark, damp alley.
I stepped backwards towards the end of the alley, and the footsteps followed me. I leapt forward, and they kept pace with me. I stepped sideways. Again, they mirrored me.
I whirled and ran for a home down the alley, hearing the frantic splashing behind me, pursuing me until I finally emerged back into a familiar street full of noise and light. I peered back down the alley and could still see no one. I took one cautious step back into the alley and once again heard a splash before me. I felt something, a presence that I could not see. “Hello?” I called again, more questioning than in confrontation, and the alley was silent, save for the pouring rain clattering from the roofs onto the damp cobblestones.
Clearly, whatever was there was more afraid of me than I was of it, so I waved goodbye in its direction, turned, and re-entered the busy street. The rain was finally slowing, and I recalled a particularly cosy bar up ahead that was long overdue a revisit.
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