>Its the end of a long week at work and you feel the crushing weight of life
>Only the Worms collab has buoyed you through all the crap, the allure of kino content your guiding light in these dark times
>The matches are unpredictable and your bros bring the S tier commentary, giving you a cramp as your sides shake from all the laughter
>Your woes momentarily forgotten, you think that life may not be so bad when there are moments like these to look forward to
>Feeling energized and inspired by your boys, you decide to do something constructive for once and go take a walk
>Its past midnight so you should have no trouble avoiding any contact with other humans, who would surely ruin your current bliss
>You set out at a brisk pace into cold dark night, with only the chirping of crickets to keep you company
>Things are going well, as you replay the events of the past couple of hours to help forget the week you've been through
>As you reach the edge of the neighborhood however, you notice that the crickets have gotten quieter. In their place you faintly hear something else...rustling? Murmuring?
>You scan your surroundings quickly, uneasy about the change in atmosphere. Where the stillness and quiet of night once offered you a measure of peace, they feel suddenly oppressive, leaving you keenly aware of how isolated you are
>A knot begins to form in your stomach, gnawing away at your nerves. Fleeting dreams of self-improvement have disappeared, replaced by an overwhelming desire to return to the safety of your room
>You turn back to retrace your steps, but as you begin to make your way back you suddenly hear the crunch of fallen leaves having pressured applied to them. You whip around towards the direction of the noise, but see nothing...no, worse then nothing. Its as if the outside world was painted in pitch black, a yawning void that threatened to swallow you whole
>A feeling that can only be described as pure fear shoots up your spine and jolts your limbs into action. Turning away from the suffocating darkness, you break into a sprint . The comforting experience of the past few hours melts away as your thoughts all focus on one objective now - retreat
>Feet pound the pavement, each step sounding like a gunshot in the night as you notice that all crickets have stopped chirping. Before you can fully comprehend this extra ordinary behavior, you begin to notice another sound joining the firing gallery of your movement
>You strain your hearing to try to determine the nature of this noise, even as you race back down the street. Its too faint to make out at first, but it gradually begins to get louder - footsteps that turn your frantic solo into a perfectly matching duet
>Your back prickles as you realize your are being chased, prey that dared to foolishly enter the predator's domain. As fear turns to terror, you strain your legs and push yourself to go faster
>The dark void you had experienced earlier beings to encroach on the edges of your vision, narrowing your focus on the path ahead of you and the quickly fading promise of safety. The steps behind you get louder, and you can almost feel tangible dread clawing at your back
> Five streets away from home. Four. Three. At this point the sound behind you feels like it is right on top of you, and shivers run down your back as you can swear you feel your pursuer breathing down your neck
>Two streets away. You're almost there. A seed of hope begins to sprout in your mind - if you can only make it to your door, you can put a barrier between you and your unknown foe. This should buy you enough time to get to your gun cabinet and arm yourself for confrontation. But will it be enough to combat the overwhelming presence you feel pushing against the back of your mind?
>One street away. Your lungs are screaming for air, you legs feel like leaden weights. But you're almost there. Just a little bit farther. You put all your remaining energy into a final spurt for these last few hundreds of feet. As you push yourself to your absolute limit, the sounds behind you start to grow fainter. Could this be it?
>You reach your block, the sound of your heart pounding rivaling the rhythm of your steps at this point. A sound, you realize, that is now the only one accompanying you towards your home at the end of the block. For a fleeting moment, the thought of looking behind you enters your mind, but your overwhelming desire to reach safety squashes that desire. But that fleeting moment of hesitation is enough to distract you from the path before you - your foot catches on the slightly extended lip of a concrete block and you are sent tumbling to the ground
(contd)
