Incandescence

The Obsession

Walking down the stairway, I felt his eyes on me, urging me to turn back and take a look. His body resting against the wall, a half-lit cigarette, and sleeves of his black hood pulled up to show a dragon tattoo covering his entire arm. His eyes met mine before he looked away and walked in the opposite direction.

Something about him was peculiar. Always had been. But as much I would want to, I couldn't put a finger on it. Just a series of eerie encounters, as if he wanted to tell me something and yet he couldn't. Or just me, reading too much into his nonchalant ways. Yet, when I look back, I couldn't help but wonder.

A full week has passed since that episode, but I never saw him again. And no it's not unusual for guys like him, but something in me realized I should've followed him.

Days passed and I was convinced I won't see him again, until one day I found him staring at me from a distance. The same dark eyes, lurking in the shadows, urging me to follow. Before I could even move, I saw him walking away.

"No! Stop!" I shouted, picking up my bag; yet he didn't so I ran faster. "Wait!" I shouted again, catching up to him. I put a hand on his shoulder, asking him to stop.

"Why are you running after me?" he asked, with a questioning look. "I..," I stuttered, caught off-guard. "I don't know," I admitted, feeling stupid. "What are you? An i***t?" he mocked. "I... Where were you all this time?" I demanded.

"Why does it matter to you?" he scoffed.

"Why do you keep staring at me?"

"Why would I stare at you?"

"I don't know. You tell me," I snapped back.

"Listen," he said after taking a deep breath. "I'm saying this again, stay away from me."

"Come on, I have no interest in you, anyway," I snapped back before heading back to the college.

And I guess I would've stayed away if it hadn't been for that night when I saw him sneaking in my neighbourhood. Back in the alley, where only criminals are found, I saw his figure looming over a dead man. "Oh my God, did you kill him?" I asked, and when he looked at me, I barely recognised him anymore. His mouth filled with blood, his eyes were darker than it should be.

I screamed and ran, as fast as I could, until I found him in front of me.

"I told you to stay away," he shouted, his voice coarse. I fell back, moving away from him as he came closer, his teeth almost like a shark's. My hand got the hold of a gun lying on the floor and before he could hurt me I shot his arm. He cried in pain, as I managed to get up.

I heard sirens in the background, as I took a sigh of relief. The officer got out and looked at the scene in front of him. "What the hell has happened here?" he asked and I said he killed the man. "What man?" the police officer asked and I pointed but there was none.

"He was here... I..," I looked around frantically but there was no one to be found. "How can it be? There was a man... I saw him ripping him apart," I insisted.

"Ripping him apart? Are you a psycho?" he shouted. "You are so obsessed with me, stalking me everywhere and now you shot me with a bullet," he shouted, as another officer ran to help him. "But... gun… he had a gun," I pointed.

"My dad is an officer, he left his gun at home, I had to give to him," he answered. "I... But… that doesn't make sense," I cried as the officer cuffed me. "You're arrested," I heard as they pushed me into the car.

And though I swear I remember the smirk on his face as he watched me leave.

And it might be the truth but no one believes it.

I, can barely believe it anymore.