It was a foggy day, and cold. I was hanging out with my friends, and we decided to go in a kind of drainage valley/field.
Water occasionally flowed into the downward sloping field, so we decided to go the concrete box on the other side of the field.
I was pretty careless, absentmindedly leaning across the railing preventing anyone from falling into the large box.
The box was probably 15 feet down, with a pipe emptying water into the field and a ladder allowing people in.
Across from the ladder, there was a small patch of grass before bushes and thorny flowers, so we were all able to stand and walk around.
We had been there for maybe 15 minutes when my friend’s voice cut through our mild chatting.
“Guys I think someone’s watching us.”
I turned to face the bushes and was only able to see for a second before being blinded by a flash of silver light.
He was tall, covered in gray and dirty rags. His face was shrouded in darkness, though lifeless eyes looked back at me through the darkness of his face.
There was a flash of light, blinding me, but I was already running. I slipped down the steep ground and ran across the field, water splashing and staining my clothes.
I was a coward. I didn’t look back, not until I made it up the slope on the other side of the field. My friends were still in the field, tripping in mud.
I looked at the concrete box, the man looking at me. He was brandishing a silvery object, patting it with his dirty, gray hands.
Everything else was a blur, but I was home, throwing my clothes in the washing machine before going to shower.
As the hot water showered me, It all came back. My friends and I were too shaken up by the experience and went home. I walked home by myself, those damn eyes wandering in the back of my mind.
I turned off the shower and stepped out, drying myself without thinking about anything. I dressed up and ate some toast despite the fact that it was 7:30 PM, but it tasted dry but wet.
I looked out the window and saw him. He was looking at me from outside the balcony, hand against the glass, hunched over.
I was too fucking scared to move so we stood there looking at each other for half an hour. The doorbell rung and I turned my head, then looked back to find that he was not there
The next day I walked to the bus stop, the morning even foggier. Behind a tree, in my peripheral vision, he was watching. I felt uneasy but calm. He was there to watch me.
Throughout the school-day he was there to watch me. After getting home I walked to the bathroom to stay there for a bit when I saw him in the mirror.
I looked in his eyes and he looked back, finally putting a hand on my shoulder.
“I will always be watching you.”
His voice was raspy but comforting. I’m still in the bathroom typing this, so I’ll post an update if anything else happens.