This one night, in particular, the air was crisp and cold because it was early spring. The work shift was fairly uneventful. I only had one unnerving customer. The man was gaunt and just as silent as I am. The unnerving part was not the silence but rather that he stared without blinking. I would shift my eyes away and back only to find him still staring. I'm not even sure what he purchased because I was so uncomfortable that I tried to think about anything but him.
After all our late night liquor sales were done we closed up our store. Then we did our cleaning and resetting for the morning shift. We rushed through the routine so that we could all go home early. 2:40 am I happily stood outside the store in the dark as the neon lights lazily blinked on and off. My sleepy coworkers brushed past me yawning their goodbyes and soon I was alone. I rang my then boyfriend on a flip-style cell phone.
"I'll be right there" he mumbled.
I knew he was not going to be right there. I knew he rolled over and went back to bed. I made a note of the time and resolved to call him back in just a few moments. Casually, I strolled out of the parking lot and down the street. I was going to my favorite after work spot that was a brightly lit bus bench surrounded by a clear shelter. I loved to read novels in the wee hours of the morning while waiting for my rides. The atmosphere tonight was perfect with a crisp fresh night air and a find cold mist. I rustled through my purse to get my fingerless gloves and my book.
I saw right away that a man was sitting in my place at the bus stop. Which was unusual considering there were no pickups anytime soon. I only glanced at him and he had his head down peering into a cellphone. The hairs on my arms and neck stood up. I felt my heart beat a little faster with fear but I did not know exactly why. I thought maybe it was my social anxiety.
I pushed myself to get closer to the booth. This was my spot after all and I didn't think I had to be afraid. I had nowhere else to go anyway. I hovered near the entrance of the clear shelter a moment but the man did not stir. Tentatively and quietly I sat down inside the little shelter. I pushed my hair back and tried to relax. I got my phone out to call my boyfriend but before I could, a new text came in with a very soft beep.
The man jumped and startled at the noise. Which in turn startled me and I accidentally turned to look at him.
It was the gaunt silent man from earlier in the evening.
I felt my hands run cold and my skin prickle. I flashed him a weary smile but he did not return the gesture. Instead, he stared at me with dull blue eyes. I broke eye contact and hurriedly checked the text message that had caused this moment.
My fingers were so cold that it was hard to operate the phone. Clumsily I punched at the buttons until the message opened.
"I'm on my way..."
It was from my sleepy boyfriend. Thankfully, I did not have to call him to wake him again but I was not sure what to do now. So, I made a show of putting my book away in my purse while I snuck peeks at the man in the reflection of the clear acrylic shelter we were in. I did my best to not seem uncomfortable but I was scared. The man had not stopped staring and now was so focused on me I could almost feel his eyes burning into my skin.
I observed that he had no jacket, no items minus the phone and whatever he had purchased earlier was gone. The man was in his late twenties, looked strong with tussled blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and very toned arms.
I saw him lean forward and stare even more before he spoke.
"Merry? His voice was soft but had undertones of raspiness like he smoked occasionally.
In the quiet of the night, it was very loud and I suddenly had a knot in my throat. I looked at him again but I did not respond. "How did he know my name?" I thought to myself. Almost, like he could hear my thoughts his eyes darted to my name tag. It was still pinned to my shoulder from work.
"What kind of name is that?" he continued with his soft voice.
I unclipped the name badge and slipped it into my bag without answering him. I tried to give a smile and shrug that seemed casual. Then I snagged my phone and pretended to be enthralled with something important on the screen.
"Why is your name spelled like Merry Christmas?" He rasped.
I continued to ignore him but after a moment he spoke again.
"Are you afraid?" This time his voice sounded like he was a cat that caught a mouse.
I stood up and left the booth as calmly as I could.
I held up my phone and stalled at the next street lamp. It looked like I was pushing buttons but in fact, I was looking at the screen reflection to see behind me. That man had stood up and he was watching me now with his arms crossed over his chest. It was so unnerving. Then I actually dialed my boyfriend and was relieved when he picked up.
"Hi I'm almost there!" his cheerful manly voice boomed through the phone.
I could hear his v8 in the background of the call and it was the most comforting sound in the world. I didn't say anything at first I was trying to think about how I wanted to handle my situation.
"Hello?" My boyfriend said.
I was about ready to start nervously gushing about the man and tell him everything but I checked the reflection on my phone again quickly. I felt like vomiting. The man was now walking towards me and I knew he was close enough to hear my voice.
"Hello!" I said loudly and unnaturally cheerful. "Oh, yes. I'm on the usual walking route"
"Walking?" My boyfriend said... "What's wr-o...." The phone cut out.
The panic was creeping into every fiber of my being now that I lost contact with my comforting boyfriend. I checked the phone reflection one more time. A terrified choked yell escaped me involuntarily because this time the man was running at me in a full-on dead sprint.
I took off down the street like a frightened deer and even though I was fast at first I slowed quickly. I was wearing chunky work high heels and a khaki skirt that rode up hindering a good side. My purse and items in it clacked as I ran and weighed me down.
Looking back at the man chasing me my heel caught a tiny people and I stumbled. Gaunt man was still staring straight into my eyes and now he was close enough that I could see the details of his face and his labored breaths. He was faster than I and gaining on me quickly.
Ahead of me, the road forked and each choice looked equally bad. One way was dimly light and it led into a nearly empty downtown. The other was an abandoned residential that was pitch black. My heart was slamming in my chest because my intuition kicked in and told me that if I went down the dark residential... I'd never come back out. I felt it in my bones that the man was trying to hurt me down that road.
Around the bend from the dim downtown road, a police car came speeding down. Without a second thought, I jumped onto the road while waving my arms. My legs started shaking with relief when I thought I was saved but that melted away into terror as the police officer made eye contact with me and drove around me slowly. It was only a split second but I felt like he knew what was going on and he didn't care.
I felt like I had been hunted and ran to exhaustion. I was quivering with fear and I felt the man was ready to pounce me. So, I kept standing in the middle of the road because I refused to go down either road. I felt like if I kept going I was going to be ambushed. I dug around in my purse for my only weapon. A tiny swiss army pocket knife that I used to open boxes at work. I clenched it in my left hand and tried to dial 911 but... I had no service.
I thought maybe if I made a stand the man would stop. Jaw clenched I turned around slowly to face the Gaunt man. The man was not far from me now and even though I was ready to fight and made that clear he did not stop. Instead, he lowered his head and charged faster like an angry bull.
I was vaguely aware of headlights and a bright spotlight behind me but my adrenaline was spiked so things were starting to get fuzzy. The Gaunt man was lit up light a devil in a staged play but as soon as he was engulfed in the light he ground to a thudding halt. He jerked his whole body away from me and shoved his hands in his pockets. Slumping away down the darkened road I was afraid to go down.
The spotlight? My boyfriends cherry picker light on his cop car. I saw him lean out the window.
"Merry? What are you- will you get in the car? Why are you walking! I'm sorry I'm late."
I happily got into the car. We went home but I could never explain the fear I felt that night. In fact, my boyfriend thought I was mad at him for sleeping in so he drove home in silence. He didn't ask me about that man but when I finally got the courage to talk about it I could never explain the sheer terror of the night. It never comes out the right way.
I was so worried that the man was going to back to my store that I actually resigned from my job. I have never seen that man again but I still get chills if we drive near my old store.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed the story (I hope you do) Please know that this actually happened to me! Also, if you did like the story please check out the editor here Bojan Peic Gavran
