The Night Stalker

"Fucking bullshit second shift job"

You angrily grouse to yourself as you round the corner of your patrol route, pulling your thin coat tight in vain against the late Autumn chill. A cold wind had been blowing over you for the last few hours, ever since the sun had set.

 "Who the fucks going to break into a construction site in the middle of the fucking boondocks"

But the pay was good. Way too good for how little work you pulled honestly, but you weren't about to ask too many questions, you really fucking needed the cash. No idea why they paid you so much. When you got hired on you were told that they'd had a problem with break-ins. Something about property damage and having small animal carcases showing up in the morning, not that you'd had anything like that during your time here so far. Still though, this job gave you the creeps. You were the only person in at least a few miles, you knew that. But it sometimes felt like you were being watched. It started out with small things a week or so ago. Slowly the noises of nature around the site would die down, and in the blackness outside your flashlight you could just feel something out there.

Watching.
Waiting.

Eventually you'd hear a rustle in the trees off in the distance and sounds of life would drift back to you, like the world had stopped holding it's breath. But it wasn't just that. Sometimes your shit would be gone when you got back to your post after a tour, and you know goddammed well that no racoon opened the door to that dicky shack, ate your burger and then closed it back up.  That wasn't the worst though. Nothing was as bad as the eyes. You never saw them, not exactly. But you could sense them on you, sometimes for hours at a time.

It was getting worse. When you showed up today at dusk it was already silent. Your shitty fast-food dinner had vanished from your desk during the first hour when you went to take a piss. And the eyes. They'd been digging into your back since you got there you just KNEW it.

And so here you were, angrily walking around an abandoned construction site at 2 in the fucking morning because if you were honest with yourself you were to afraid to stand still anymore. Not that this was much better, but anything was an improvement over sitting in that guard shack and waiting for whatever the fuck was tormenting you to show up and corner you. Whatever. All you had to do now was kill a few more hours and then you could leave this creepy ass place and get some sleep.

Another hour of walking around the half finished skeletons of buildings over and done with, you head back to your shack and firmly resolve that no, in fact you did not keep seeing something at the corner of your vision that always just managed to stay outside of your flashlight beam. You were just being paranoid. That was all.

See? There was your tiny little guard shack, the light still on and everything. You don't remember closing the door though. Must have just slipped your mind, of course. You go to open it, but the knob won't turn. Ok, you definitely don't remember locking it, but you must have out of paranoia. No worries though, you'll just unlock it and...

Where are your keys

You keep your keyring on your hip. You know you had it, you have to have had it, oh God it has your car keys on it. You can't have just dropped it, you keep it looped on your belt how in the...

Off in the distance, in the tree line you hear it. Just once, softly, tauntingly. A metallic jingle. No. No no noooo this isn't happening. This can't be real!

Jingle.

Softer this time, a little further away. Oh no, you need those keys if you want to get out of here. No way in hell are you walking 30 miles to the nearest town or staying here over the whole weekend until the work crew come in Monday morning. Oh God you really don't have a choice.

"Hello?"

You call out as you start to hesitantly walk towards the trees, keeping your flashlight low and ready. No answer.

"Look, this really isn't funny, whoever you are. I need those keys, so how about we stop playing games? Just...toss em over to me and we can go back to you stalking me or whatever you've been doing these past few weeks alright?"

Silence greets you as you stand at the edge of the forest. You wait for a solid 30 seconds, dreading going in but far more afraid of getting an answer.

Jingle jingle

Well shit. You honestly don't know what you expected. Honestly that last one sounded less ominous and more... playful? Is that possible? Whatever, you were going in no matter what. Maybe you'll just be traumatized and not axe-murdered. Yeah, look on the bright side.

You're about to walk into a pitch black forest at like 3am on the vain hope that whatever somehow stole your keys off your hip no less than 30 minutes ago and is now effectively holding you hostage here is just screwing with you and not actually trying to kill you. Man that's the bright side? Your life really sucks right now.

Whatever, you can deal with that unfortunate thought later if you live. You flick on your flashlight and keep it's beam pointed low at the ground to watch your footing as you slowly enter the woods. It's silent as the grave in here, and the air hangs heavy and still. It's silent again, that absolute dead silence like everything out here is too afraid to make a sound. You do your best to head towards where the clinking last was, but it's hard to keep your direction out here. Right when you feel like turning back you hear it again, just a little off to the left.

Without thinking you raise your flashlight's beam towards the sound and it's immediately stops. For a split second you think you see a large shape duck behind a tree before you lose it. Instantly you hear a low buzzing, rumbling growl from all around you, an ancient, primal hatred and hostility directed right at you. It's absolutely terrifying and in a panic you shut the flashlight off. Hoping to placate whatever the fuck is out there you blurt out an apology

"S-sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that I swear! Look, no more light alright?"

You hold up the now dark flashlight in front of you and unscrew the top, removing the batteries and pocketing them and the flashlight.

"See? Nice and dark, no light here! Is that better?"

The growling and the aura of raw menace fade away and for a second you can faintly hear what you hope is a pleased rumbling from up ahead. Then once again the jingling of your stolen keys.

"This is absolutely insane"

You mumble as you slowly stumble through the dark woods. You've spent what feels like half an hour out here chasing God alone knows what deeper and deeper into the forest after your keys. You admit to yourself that you are completely lost now, and even if you found your keys you'd probably have to wait for sunrise to know how to get back to your car. Starting to finally have enough, you stop. Just as you are about to call out into the dark and tell... whatever is out there that you're done playing it's games you hear it again.

Jingle.

Right behind you. Five, maybe six feet away at most. You stand totally still, staring straight ahead. Year heart is hammering in your chest and you've broken into a cold sweat. For the first time you can hear something breathing deeply,it's lungs inflating like bellows before letting it all out in a rumbling chuckle that you can feel in your bones. It's takes one step towards you and the heat bleeding off of it's body is palpable, like it's a few scant inches away from touching your back.

The dim outline of your keyring slowly lowers itself into your vision, and it's being delicately dangled by a claw on a massive hand. It's skin looked smooth and dark, but before you could get a good look you nearly jump out of your skin as another arm wraps itself around your waist and something very large and hot and heavy settles on your shoulder. You think you actually did jump but this thing held you still one handed, like controlling a twitchy child.

It's skin feels like slightly damp leather, but almost burning hot to the touch, and the smell of Autumn rolls off of it, old leaves and cold winds and the promise of coming winter and death.

Oh, oh no. This is actually pretty hot. You should try and say something, right? Before you can force your paralyzed lips to work, the weight on your shoulder nestles slightly into your neck, and your knees go weak as you can feel many many teeth gently rub against your naked skin, stopping just short of nibbling the nape of your neck. Then a hot gust of breath blasts out across the back of your ear and neck. Dammit boner not now, please not now you're probably about to DIE!

You were absolutely unprepared for it to speak, whispering it's words slowly and sensually into your ear in deep breathy rumble that you felt in your bones. Especially the one between your legs.

"Poor lost little thing. Tell me, are you... looking for something? Because something has been looking for you."