The Night Stalker

Gasping for breath, he ran through the dark campus, looking back over his shoulder to see if it was there or not. The full moon shone its eerie beams upon the ground, illuminating the scene. Dripping with fear induced sweat, he stood, seemingly alone, on the school campus in front of the portable classrooms. Constantly looking around him, unable to stay still, he shook with anxiety and fear. Every breath he exhaled became a small cloud, evaporating into the chilly night air. A dark shadow suddenly passed over him and disappeared out of sight; he let out a gasp and then ran for his life.

Dashing toward the campus entrance he slammed into the doors, fumbling fervently for the handles. His fingers finally closed around them; however he found them to be firmly chained. He was locked in. Swearing profusely, he headed left toward the auditorium. The doors mysteriously opened at the sound of his footsteps, but he didn't stop to ponder the reason for it. He entered, desperately searching for a place to hide. He decided on the stage, and began running toward it, but a huge gust of wind blew through and almost knocked him off his feet. The wind stirred the folded chairs and the stage curtains in a howling chaos. Yelling as he struggled, he made his way to the side doors, the source of the wind, and bolted them.

He next had to go through a calm, empty patio. Half of the moon was covered by a cloud now, casting the whole area in an eerie semi-darkness. Wildly looking around him, he slowly backed into some blue tables, trying to look into every dark place at once. Suddenly, the bushes and plants near the patio began to rustle, breaking the dead silence in the windless night. He felt a shriek rising in his throat, and made to run for it once again, heading towards the gym.

He fumbled clumsily with the door, before he remembered that they had no knobs. Scrabbling in his pockets, he brought out a paper clip and stuck it in the lock, jiggling it wildly. The chain cages around the tennis courts rattled loudly as he worked, tearing themselves from the hinges. Finally, he heard a click, and he gave the door a hard pull. It only opened a crack, but he managed to slip through. Once inside, he reached back and shook the clip free from the lock, before slamming the door firmly closed.

The smell of paint greeted him as he ran into the gym, slipping a few times from the mud on his shoes. He blindly dashed up the staircase, as the moon could not extend its beams through solid walls. Every door in the gym suddenly burst open with a gust of howling wind, piercing the darkness with the slanted beams of moonlight. Screaming in defiance, he braced himself against the tempest.

Something grazed his back, making him turn wildly. He backed into the bleachers, crazed with panic. A deep, malicious voice thundered through the large gym.

"Think you could run away from me?" It laughed coldly, and seconds later a dark shadow enveloped around him, drowning out his ear-splitting screams.

Blood dripped slowly from the detached head, impaled onto the ceiling through the forehead. The corpse swayed slightly, the body moving in a rhythmic pattern reminiscent of a pendulum in a grandfather clock. Its blank stare showed a sign of surprised as it leaked blood throughout the rest of the night amidst the sadistic laughter echoing endlessly in the night. A message written in his blood was etched on the ceiling behind the corpse slowly; as the last letter of blood formed, the crimson writing glistened in the moonlight creeping in from the open door. "Always chasing, never ceasing, suffer the wrath of...the Night Stalker."