I had just finished up a long day at work and was walking home in the dark. It was late and I was tired, but I didn’t want to spend any more money on a cab. I wrapped my coat tightly around me and pulled up my hood to shield my face from the rain.
As I walked, the streetlights flickered above me, casting eerie shadows on the sidewalk. I tried to shake off the feeling of being watched, but it only grew stronger. I turned around, but there was no one there. Just an empty street.
I took a deep breath and kept walking, trying to ignore the knot in my stomach. But then, I heard footsteps behind me. At first, I thought it was just my imagination playing tricks on me, but the sound grew louder with each passing moment.
I quickened my pace, but the footsteps only grew faster. I turned around again, but this time, I saw a figure in the distance. It was a woman, dressed all in black with a hood covering her face. She was walking towards me, but her steps were slow and deliberate.
I didn’t know what to do. Should I confront her? Run away? Call the police? But before I could make a decision, she was standing right in front of me.
“Don’t be afraid,” she said in a soft voice. “I just want to talk to you.”
Her voice was calm and soothing, but it only made me more afraid. I tried to back away, but she grabbed my arm and held me in place.
“I’ve been watching you,” she said, her voice growing more urgent. “I know everything about you. Your likes, your dislikes, your fears, your secrets. I’ve been following you on social media.”
I was terrified. How did she know all this about me? Had she been stalking me online too?
She continued to speak, her words like daggers. “You think you’re so smart, so successful. But you’re nothing. You’re just a pawn in my game.”
I tried to pull away, but she held me in a tight grip. I could feel her breath on my face, hot and fetid. She leaned in closer and whispered in my ear, “You’re mine now. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
With that, she let go of me and disappeared into the darkness. I was left standing there, alone and afraid. I could feel the panic rising in my chest as I realized that she was right. She knew everything about me. And there was no escaping her.
When I got home, my phone started buzzing. It was blowing up with notifications from social media. I opened my accounts to find hundreds of messages from an anonymous user. They were all taunting me, threatening me, and revealing my deepest secrets for the world to see.
I tried to block the user, but they kept creating new accounts and sending more messages. I felt like I was being suffocated by their relentless barrage of hate and fear.
Days turned into weeks, and the messages kept coming. I was too afraid to leave my house, too afraid to face the world. I had become a prisoner in my own home, with no way out.
I don’t know who that woman was, or what her motives were. But I know that she ruined my life. She took away my sense of security, my sense of self. And even now, years later, I still feel her presence in the dark corners of my mind.