She made her way swiftly down the now empty streets. As she did so, the street lights flickered for a moment. 'That's odd' she thought. She paused and looked up curiously, to the nearest one trying to see what could have caused it. Seeing nothing unusual she thought she was being paranoid again. She seemed to have taken a liking to it, well she'd rather say that it just came naturally. Continuing where she left off, she tried to reassure herself that it was probably those insects flying around, attracted by the light. Then again all of the lights on that deserted street had flickered. That couldn't have been mere coincidence right?

“Okay...you're not going to start with that Hayley...not tonight, especially right now..no you won-” She whipped around instantaneously. “What was that?” She froze in place and looked behind her. There was nothing there except the deserted, lifeless streets she had come from, save from the trees swinging softly in the cool breeze. She looked around and saw there was actually nothing nor anyone out there. She could feel her heart thumping furiously inside her. If indeed something or someone was out there right now, she'd bet it could hear her heart's loud beating. What the hell was she even doing out there so late at night? Don't you remember? You went to a school event and you stayed a few hours later cleaning up and getting things straightened out for tomorrow...if there even was a tomorrow.

No stop! Stop it Hayley! Argh! She groaned. That didn't explain why she was walking home. Well...your car wouldn't star and you tried calling your husband but oh surprise...he didn't pick up! Then you tried catching a ride with one of your colleagues but since they knew you brought your car, they left quickly. Oh yes, and you didn't have any money for a cab so you decided to walk home and eventually freak out. That about explains it? She really hated when she got nervous, angered or frustrated because the little voice would be speak and sound all smart, but she had to admit that it was right.

She took a deep breath and started for home again. She looked up to the night's sky. It was really dark considering it was night. She had come out to the porch of her house on various occasions and she didn't remember the sky ever being this dark. “That's weird,” she thought. On the contrary the moon was the only thing that shone, big and bright. She loved full moons. It somehow always brought her a sense of peace and soothing. She looked to her watch on her left hand. It read, 11:47. Had she really taken that long? She really wanted to get home already, her feet had begun to hurt although she hadn't walked far yet. It seemed luck was not on her side that night. Just then a cool breeze blew through chilling her. She shivered and brought her above knee length coat closer together. It was fall and it was already cooler than expected and she was wearing a white blouse, black pants and boots along with her coat of course. Well the pants would definitely let her run faster but the boots? You're starting that again Hayley quit! Think about something pleasant like...being home with your family. Apparently this worked as she started to relax as she thought of the things she would do once she got home. Well it was working until...

She heard a 'psst' sound. She whipped around and inspected the area but saw no one...again. She ignored it and continued walking faster. She just had to turn the corner here to the right and then pass five more blocks until she turned the corner again and walk past four houses and she'd be home. She rounded the corner and..darn it! She calm to a halt. She'd forgotten about those woods. She stood there looking down the darkened street. The woods wasn't a very large area, just about twice the size of the campus she taught at except they were much creepy looking and desolate. She stood there a minute or so contemplating whether she should continue or not. She wasn't going to walk through them, she would just have to walk beside them. She had to, otherwise how was she supposed to go home? Waking the neighbor up and making him walk her to her house? Hey that sounds like a good idea. No stop. She had to do it. She had to walk by them. What was she going to do standing there anyway? Wait for Santa Claus to come pick her up in his sleigh and drop her off at her fireplace? No she could remain there alive. No, stop it Hayley. You are going to walk by those woods and get it over with and after you do that you're going to seek professional help.

She started making her way through the very edge of the sidewalk, as far as possible she could from the area. It just wasn't that they were creepy looking, especially at night, but because what they supposedly found there. A girl had gone missing a few weeks ago, her parents apparently not knowing anything about it. According to them, she had either crept off at night or left very early morning as her room showed no signs of having been meddled with. Only but a few days ago was her body discovered, mutilated in the deepest part of those same woods she now walked aside from. Her family had been left a disaster. As she thought on this, she pictured her own mutilated body in the grassy area of the woods, and forced the thought away which brought her goosebumps. She glanced over to said woods and thought she saw a shadow move among the trees. She quickly looked away, pulse quickening. Surely she had imagined it. There was no one out there at that time but her. Heart rapidly beating she glanced back again and saw nothing nor anyone.

She continued on her way hurrying her pace, heart threatening to beat right out of her. She tried to distraught herself of haunting thoughts when she heard it.

“Hayley”

She stopped abruptly. She needed not to turn around. She knew where it had come from. She began to walk again, pretending to not having heard.

“Hayyyyley” her name was heard in a hoarse and haunting voice. She whimpered softly. There was no doubt that someone was out there and whoever it was, was trying to frighten her. It was a man, unless it could be a woman with such a deep and hoarse voice. She paused and didn't want to look that way and yet she did. She looked to the woods and saw no one but she knew he was lurking among the shadows.

Almost to the point of having a heart attack, she reached into her purse, hands shaking, to pull out her phone when he spoke.

“Tsk, tsk... I wouldn't do that if I was you. You know he won't answer and your son is too busy with his girlfriend to even bother to realize what happens around him.” he said in a matter-of-fact voice.

At this, she let out a faint, shrill cry and covered her mouth from shock. He had been observing them. Whoever this person was, it was clear that he had observing them. Just then a terrifying thought raced across her mind. What if...what if he had...no..but what if he had gone to her house and killed them?

Just as she thought this, she she looked back into the woods only to find a figure standing in among them, partially covered by the shadows looking at her direction. With this, she let out a high pitched scream and ran. The individual who had been standing in the shadows followed after her. She looked back but could not distinguish who it was seeing how he wore black robes and hid his face with a ski mask. She couldn't quite tell although she was least concern about that right now. She continued to scream, shouting for help. How could no one not hear the screaming? Surely someone should come out to see.

Seeing she was on her own, she ran the rest of the gloomy, empty street, determined to make it to her house and not bothering to look back. If she could only get home, she could call the police, and lock herself inside while she waited for everything to be okay again.

She kept on running passing one block, two, three...almost there. She smiled inwardly knowing that she was almost there. She was just reaching the fourth block and was going so fast that she couldn't make the turn well and skidded with her boots, falling on her side. She made a move to get up when she found she couldn't. She was being held back. He'd caught up with her! He was pulling her back! Panic swept over her as she turned to face her captor only to realize it wasn't him who was holding her back but her coat that had been caught in a branch from a tree that was lying on the ground to be picked up by the recycle. She tried to disentangle as she turned to see him and saw he was getting closer, running furiously. Knowing that trying to disentangle it would delay her, she took of her coat as fast as she could while getting up and dropping her purse. She was already up and running when she noticed and would have gone back for it, had she not seen him now a few steps behind her.

She ran and ran, breathing hard, just like her life depended on it. First house, second house, third, house and fourth...Her house! It was open! Her front door was open! There were no cars! No one was home! She turned back to look at him still running after her, much too her horror. She ran the rest of the few feet left and finally reached her house closing and locking the door behind her, all in one breath. She then ran to the back door and locked it as well. She quickly proceeded to close and lock all the windows. After that was done, she went to grab the phone, still shaking. She headed to the living room and saw it was not on it's usual spot, on the small table by the sofa. She then thought of her cell and...darn! She had it on her purse!

She pressed the button on the machine to search for the phone. She followed the beeping noise until she was led upstairs, down the corridor and into her room. Heart thumping furiously, she stepped in slowly checking first before entering, of course that it was indeed empty. Although she knew he was out there still...waiting. Just the thought of it gave her goosebumps. She grabbed the phone and proceeded to call her husband. She dialed only to hear his cell ring downstairs. Surprised at this, she made her way down. He never left his cell behind. He never forgot it nor would leave it there intentionally.

She finally made her way down and phoned him again. Immediately the cell began to ring. There was no mistake, that was his husband's cell. She followed the ringing to the living room, slowly making her way to the sound. She finally heard it coming from the dining room. She stood behind wall before entering, frightened. She called again and the voice mail answered. She heard it ring, one time...two times...three times...deep breath...fifth time...pulse quickening, she stepped inside. She saw the phone vibrating on the wooden table. She grabbed it and checked the missed calls. She had certainly called just once, not including the recent calls trying to locate the cell.

She decided to try her son and put the phone down. It was more likely that he would answer from his father's cell than the house phone. He knew that when the house phone appeared on his caller id it was because of no good, then again perhaps it was better to call from the house. Suddenly, she heard a noise outside on the front and she froze. She didn't know whether to go check or not. What if it was him? What if he was trying to get in? Wait...what if it was Dan, her husband? Arming herself with courage, she decided to go check. She made her way through the living room until arriving at the front door. She took a deep, breath and exhaled. Her heart was beating very loudly. She didn't know how it had managed to keep pumping after all the scares she had received. She needed to know who it was. If it was Dan, or her son, she was condemning them to their death by leaving them outside with the deranged killer out there.

She was about to open the door but stopped herself, instead, she called out in a shaky voice, “Who is it?” Way to go she thought. If it was the lunatic he'd try to pretend he was Dan or her son. No one answered. With much courage that she didn't know she still had, she looked out trough the small window at the door's sides. Empty, that was what her front porch showed.

Sensing it was no one and she was just imagining things because of what she had just gone trough, she decided she'd call her son first and then the police. Will couldn't be that far. He never would be that far off from home unless it was the weekend and it was barely Tuesday or maybe Wednesday in the early morning. She went to go get the phone. She was starting to worry about Dan and Will. What was going on? Why weren't they there? She didn't know what to do. She was really scared and she felt like she was losing her mind. She went into the dining room and looked to the table. 'That's strange' she thought. I'm sure I left it on the table. Maybe I left it upstairs or at the front door? She started tracing her steps. That's weird. You got to concentrate Hayley. You see? You're even forgetting where you put things now. She was just about to round the corner when she saw him. He was standing right in between the front door which was open and the staircase. She screamed. No wait it wasn't him! 'Oh God' she thought.

“Oh God, you scared me half to death.” she said in a trembling and nervous voice.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a bitter tone.

“I thought you were someone else, I'm sorry. Please lock the door though, I got to tell you that someone was chasing me all the way to the house. I'm scared.” she said, hurriedly and nervously, taking a few steps towards him.

She looked up to him. In a moment of confusion she had mistaken him for the crazed lunatic that had chased her. She must be really spooked to have thought that because he was anything but demented or evil.

“Well you shouldn't have been out so late at night...what were you doing out there at this time?” he asked questioningly and accusingly almost.

“Err...I was..just..sorry it's the whole chase thing that has me like this. I was at the school, don't you remember? I went to that event.” she said uncertainly. He was starting to spook her somehow, until she noticed something that she should have noticed at the beginning.

“And you?” She asked him nervously, dreading the answer.

He ignored her question.“Were you looking for this?” he asked dully. He held up the phone in one hand as he got something from his pocket with the other hand. “Or this?” he asked with a smirk on. In his other hand were the keys, as he smiled smugly.

Just then she lost it. She felt panic overflow her and angered at having played this cat and mouse game for far too long. The one place she felt safe, the one place she thought she could go to, and the person she believed she could trust...

“What do you want from me? Speak! Tell me what you want and I'll make sure it happens! Do you want money? Huh? Is that what you want? I'll give you whatever you want just leave me alone!” she screamed, frantically. Tears swelled up in her eyes as she shouted all this. It was the middle of the night and still the neighbors would not so much as look out the window to check what all the screaming was about.

“Oh be assured that it will happen. You and me will work together to make it happen.” he said, softly yet his voice thunderous in the silent night.

She was startled from her thoughts by this and she couldn't handle it no more. She began to cry. She began to repeatedly try to convince herself that it was all a nightmare. She told herself that she was safely back in her warm, cozy bed safe and sound, having a terrifying nightmare. She closed her eyes and hoped to awake. She opened them doubting her hoping would do her any good. She was still standing there, looking at the man who had droved her insane. She stood there as everything became to spin and then slowly fade away into darkness, her world becoming nothingness as everything turned to dark...