Watched (October Flash Fiction #1)

Suddenly, the dark night air had gone still. Very, very still.

Caroline’s fingers gripped the flashlight handle. The sound of her own breathing was all she could hear. She froze in her tracks and felt as if a host of unseen creatures surrounded her. Watching.

She shook her head as she mentally refuted her own paranoia, mustered her bravery and took another step. The crunch of her tennis shoes on the gravel path seemed as loud as gun shots. Caroline forced herself to ignore the throb of her own pulse in her ears and trudged forward.

She loved this cemetery. For three years, it had been her place of solace, away from the chaos that was her life. She would come here and spend hours reading headstones, tracing her fingers along the worn letters that summarized with brief names and dates the expanse of a person’s life. It was as if the stones spoke to her, telling her stories of the occupants. How they lived their lives. The people they loved. Whether they were rich or poor. How they died. Her mind would flood with answers to these questions even if the name on the grave was completely foreign to her. It was as if she knew these people, as if an unseen connection tethered their souls in a way she couldn’t understand.

When she came here, she forgot the abuse. She forgot the angry shouts, the screamed threats, the black eyes and wounded hearts. There were no enemies here. Only friends.

But she had only ever been here in daylight.

She couldn’t help but notice that in the darkness, this ancient cemetery took on an entirely different feel. It no longer felt….friendly.

Suddenly, she realized she wasn’t alone. But it wasn’t a ghostly specter.

He had followed her here.