Chapter 4 – The Feeling That Followed Her
753 Words
Brittany started noticing the gaps first.
Moments where time felt thinner. Sounds that arrived a second too early. Shadows that lingered longer than they should. It wasn’t dramatic enough to scare her—but it was constant enough to unsettle her.
She dropped her keys twice that morning.
Not because she was clumsy. Because her hands shook for reasons she didn’t understand.
“You’re tired,” she told her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Long red hair framed her face, green eyes sharper than usual, almost too bright beneath the light. She hadn’t slept much since meeting Matt. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt watched—not in a threatening way, but in a way that made her feel… known.
Like someone was standing between her and something worse.
She left the house just before dusk, the sky already bleeding into night. Winter settled early here. The streetlights flickered on one by one, casting long shadows across the sidewalk.
Halfway to her car, that familiar pressure returned.
Closer this time.
Brittany stopped.
“You can come out,” she said, forcing her voice steady.
Silence.
Then footsteps—slow, deliberate—approached from behind the hedges lining the street. A man stepped into view. Not Matt.
He was tall, but wrong somehow. His smile didn’t reach his eyes, and the way he looked at her made her skin crawl.
“Evening,” he said. “You live here?”
Her pulse spiked. “That any of your business?”
He chuckled softly. “Depends.”
Before she could respond, the air shifted.
The man stiffened.
His head snapped to the side, eyes widening slightly. “No,” he muttered under his breath. “Not yet.”
Brittany followed his gaze instinctively.
Matt stood across the street, half hidden by shadow, his presence unmistakable. He hadn’t moved. Hadn’t spoken. But something about him radiated warning.
The stranger swallowed hard.
“Wrong house,” he said quickly, stepping back. “My mistake.”
He disappeared down the street, his confident stride gone.
Brittany stared after him, breath shallow.
“What was that?” she whispered.
Matt crossed the street then—slowly, deliberately—stopping several feet away from her. Close enough to protect. Far enough to respect the boundary he’d set.
“You shouldn’t be alone after dark,” he said.
Her hands clenched. “You don’t get to scare people away from me.”
“I didn’t,” he replied calmly. “He scared himself.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It will,” Matt said. “Eventually.”
She searched his face, looking for answers. Found only restraint.
“You knew he was dangerous,” she said.
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t warn me.”
“I did,” he said quietly. “You didn’t listen.”
That stung more than it should have.
Brittany exhaled slowly. “Why me?”
Matt hesitated.
“For the same reason you don’t ask the questions you’re already afraid of,” he said.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. “You think I’m afraid?”
“I think you’re stronger than you realize,” Matt said. “And that makes you a target.”
Silence stretched between them, heavy with things unsaid.
“You keep showing up when something’s wrong,” she said finally. “But you never stay.”
“That’s intentional.”
“Why?”
“Because if I stay too long,” he said, voice low, “you’ll start trusting me.”
“And that would be bad?”
His jaw tightened. “It would be dangerous.”
She took a step closer without thinking.
Matt didn’t move—but every muscle in his body locked.
“Tell me the truth,” Brittany said softly. “Just one thing.”
He met her gaze, something raw flickering beneath the surface.
“You’re not human in the way you think you are,” he said.
Her breath caught. “Neither are you.”
A beat passed.
Then he nodded once. “No.”
Before she could ask anything else, he stepped back.
“Go inside,” Matt said. “Lock your doors.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I’ll still be there,” he replied. “You just won’t see me.”
He was gone before she could blink.
Brittany locked her door that night, heart racing.
She didn’t believe in monsters.
But she believed in Matt.
And that terrified her more than anything else.
- Writer
