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It was a typical October evening in London. My wife and child were at the market getting a few needed grocery items, while I took a stroll along the main marketplace street. The cobblestone roads glistened sullenly under the grey-washed sky. Monotonous grey clouds hung in the sky casting a lucid light about the street.
The bustling streets were now filling with shoppers getting their fresh fruits and vegetables for their dinners. I scanned the crowds of people for a sign of my family. A group of people, about 10 feet away surrounded a fruit stand. My eyes darted across the group, but darted back again.
There, standing in the middle of the crowd was a single elderly lady. Her grey and white hair was neatly tied back at the base of her neck, a light colored wool shawl pulled tautly over her shoulders. It was not any of these that kept my attention, it was the terrifying depth of her hard brown eyes that stopped my heart and dried my palate. Though she never moved nor blinked, my adrenaline began to pump and I quickened my pace. Continuing to scan the crowd for my family, I began to notice others that had the same hard, unwavering stare... and they were always staring at me! A young boy, barely 10, stood holding a scarcely touched apple. My eyes met his and the terror in my head went down my spine and settled in the pit of my stomach. Something is not right here.... something is after me.
"Mia!? Mia? Where are you!?" I began to cry.
"Right here, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a spook." She said stepping away from a potato vendor.
"We have to go. Now." I grabbed her arm, and calmed just a little when I saw my child nestled in her arm and sleeping against her chest.
Taking her hand, we headed down the closest alley. I was not going to meet anymore disturbing stares in those crowds. Darkness has settled around the city and the mist had steadied into an unavoidable drizzle. Finally the warm glow from our street lamp came into view and the feeling of dread ebbed. Still, at the end of the alley I slowly peaked around the corner and then my heart stopped.
There, standing just a few paces from the walkway to the front door of our townhouse stood a man. He was tall and lanky with short salt and pepper hair and wrinkles across his forehead. He was staring directly into my eyes; emotionless and unblinking.
Enough! I thought. “Stay close, Mia,” I said breathlessly; all of the air had been forced from my lungs by the sheer blow of fear.
With her hand tightly grasped in mine, we moved around the corner to face the terrifying individual. We moved a few feet closer, always angled towards him but edging ever closer to our front door. His eyes stayed on my face as we moved, but he never blinked. He never moved his head.
When we reached the cement stairs of our townhouse I pulled Mia behind me and thrust her half way up the stairs “GO!” I screamed.
As Mia bolted for the front door, a tortured, angry expression distorted the man’s face. He threw his arms out to his sides and let out a piercing shriek. This was not a scream of terror or of anger… it was a scream of intense unimaginable pain. Dark, thick liquid began to seep from the corners of his eyes and mouth. Deep red and pulsing, the blood welled up under his finger tips and dripped to the ground. Blood was pouring from every opening on his body. His ears and nose were more like water pipes then human body parts. Tortured and furious, the man screamed relentlessly as he began to move one foot slowly in front of the other moving arms stretched towards me. His screams were soon drowned into a gurgle of unintelligible moaning, but the anger and intention never left his eyes. A chorus of screams began to fill the air around us. Dark, hard eyes were on me from every angle. The elderly woman from the marketplace was slowly walking up on the left. Though her eyes were still hard, unblinking brown, the cream shawl she was wearing earlier was now drenched in the deep rouge of her own blood, still streaming from her eyes and nose.
The screams and moans continued as I threw myself through the front door opening and watched as Mia bolted every lock. She turned her terrified wide eyes to me as tears streamed down her face.