For a little context, I live in a high-rise in the middle of the city, my apartment is on the third floor and it overlooks the city park.
I first noticed her one night as I stayed up late reading a new novel I had picked up on my way home from the office. She was just standing there, looking in the opposite direction but close enough to the edge of the park that had she turned her head she would surely see me looking confused out my window.
Granted it was Friday night, but majority of the human population would typically be sleeping as it was just turning 3 in the morning at that point.
Something about her was off, I couldn’t quite figure out what beyond the obvious of her just standing on the walking trail, just outside of the shade of trees near the edge of the pathway.
That in itself was odd, what on earth could anyone possibly be doing at the park, at 3 am, alone, on a Friday, and just seemingly staring into space.
It was then I started to scrutinize her appearance a bit, just in the event I was going to need to call for help or anything, maybe she was waiting for a friend after a night out, who knew, the only thing I did know was that this was something I should keep an eye on, in the small chance she was in trouble.
You know what they say, us women need to stick together, and what kind of person would I be if I just turned my head and something happened to the poor girl?
So I grabbed a small notepad and pen and wrote down the time, and her description in the event I needed to relay any information at a later time.
Look, it seemed like the most logical thing to do at the time, ok?
Anyway, She was a rather petite woman, probably less than my own 5’2” frame and looked to weigh maybe 115 pounds on a good day.
She had waist length dark hair that shone with blue almost purple hues in the moonlight, she appeared to have a rather light complexion, and as she was facing away from me I couldn’t tell you what she looked like in reality beyond the basics.
After a while I started to feel tired, my eyes drooping as I went back and forth between looking outside and seeing that woman in the exact same spot, doing the exact same thing.
To trying, and completely failing to focus on my new book. Eventually I just gave up and decided to head to bed, I stood and turned off the light, but as I did I noticed the woman was suddenly gone, I had legitimately been looking at her less than 20 seconds beforehand.
Well, hopefully she’s safe.
Saturday and Sunday were pretty uneventful, I spent the better part of the weekend catching up on all my errands and household chores, relaxing in a bath before bed, and then reading in my bed until I fell asleep, book still in hand.
Monday was a rough day, my company had a couple huge clients back out at the last moment which left all of us running around trying to secure loose ends and reframe our bottom line.
This left me working late into the night, around 8pm I realized I should probably head home and get some rest before doing all of this again tomorrow, but as I walked through the parking structure I kept feeling something was just outside of my vision, close enough to be disconcerting but far enough away that I just couldn’t quite percieve it.
I made it to my car without incident, and started forgetting about how uneasy I’d felt until I pulled into the parking spot in the parking garage of the complex.
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I was walking towards the elevator, and as I stood there the feeling of being watched was getting stronger and stronger.
Slowly, I turned and saw her just outside of the door partially hidden in shadow.
Her eyes were dark, impossibly so, and her mouth twisted into a smile. The harder my heart raced the bigger the smile grew until there were too many teeth.
Suddenly I felt hot and then like I was doused in ice water. The next thing I remember was the ground rising to meet me, and darkness overtaking all of my senses.
It’s been 2 months, they won’t let me leave this room, they say I never worked for my company, I never lived on Martinsville blvd.
They tried saying they don’t even have a record of my name anywhere in any database, that my social security number belongs to an Elizabeth Dunly who matches the description of that….thing that was following me. Well, their description, obviously it doesn’t include the chesire smile or pitch black eyes.
They’re saying I don’t exist, but that I must know what happened to Elizabeth, or I did something to her.
The problem is, in this room, all alone, I can hear her breathing, rasping, and the sound of something being dragged as though we’re back in those woods…how did she find me?