Spooked

Spooked

                It was something quite ordinary that made Lin notice at first.

                That is a really nice jacket, she thought, staring across the road at the man wearing it. It was a very nice jacket - cut to fit the man perfectly to boot. Then she realised something: that man had just been next to her, on this side of the crossing. Or someone very much like him: same jacket, same hair, same pants and shoes.

                Lin looked to her right, where the man had been standing. Just a few people who looked nothing like the man across the road. She scrunched her face a little, wondering whether she'd just confused herself.

                The 'walk' noise from the pedestrian light pulled her back to the ordinary world. She crossed the road with a wary eye kept on the cars. You never really knew when someone would do something stupid like running the red.

                Once on the other side Lin glanced around for the man but couldn't see him. Strange, she thought, I'm pretty sure he was waiting to cross here. He wasn't ahead or to her left, either.

                She did have somewhere to be, but Lin was getting curious. Just as a little what-if, she glanced across to the other side of the road. The man couldn't be there - the light on this side had been red when she saw him, and right after hers had gone green.

                He was there. Just up the street a little, weaving through a bunch of people heading the other way. What on earth, thought Lin. She knew he'd been on this side of the road; surely there would have been honking cars and angry drivers if he tried to slip across?

                Sneaking glances at the man from time to time she walked almost parallel to him up the street. When he reached the next set of lights - red again - she stopped sneaking glances and instead stared right at him.

                For a while he seemed content to stand there amidst the small crowd and wait for the lights to change. Then Lin blinked - why had she blinked? - and he was gone. No, not quite gone. He was on the other side of the crossing. No-one else seemed to be watching him walk. No-one cared that he had just teleported.

                Except for Lin. Whatever the man was doing was interesting. More interesting than meeting the architect designing her home for another pointless meeting discussing minor, millimetre changes. It would make a great story to tell people. Or even better: a great video for her phone.

                Assuming people believe it, she thought. A teleporting man is incredible... But easy to fake.

                That wasn't much of a matter to her. Her curiosity was burning bright - Lin had to see what the man was up to. So instead of turning left after she crossed the road, she walked straight.

                Increasing her walking pace a bit kept her close enough to see where he was going and what he was doing. Much to her chagrin he turned right at the next intersection instead of waiting to cross; preventing a quick recording of his strange ability. She crossed over the road to keep behind him.

                Excitement and adrenaline were making Lin feel good. Somehow following this random man was fun. Would he do something else interesting? Maybe he'd do something right out of a book, like go to a bar for people like him. That would be pretty cool!

                Ahead of her the man was approaching another crossing. Lin slipped her hand into her pocket, ready to pull out her phone and record if the man even kind of looked like he was going to cross.

                A large woman crossed Lin's path, blocking her view of the man for a moment. When her view was cleared the man was on the other side of the road. He hadn't even reached the crossing before teleporting that time. And she'd completely missed it.

                Luckily the crossing went green a few moments later, just as Lin arrived. Her power walk let her keep up with the man despite his teleporting - no, not just that. He was actually walking slower than before. Perhaps he was near his destination? Come on, one more crossing, thought Lin. She really wanted to catch him on camera.

                The man turned his head to the left, looking across the road at the buildings there. Then he turned it to the right and a little backwards, glancing up the street. She was close enough to see him nod to himself slightly. As if he was satisfied with the buildings he saw.

                Quite suddenly he turned right down into alley between two buildings and disappeared from Lin's sight. It was almost enough to make her give up and head to the boring meeting. Following him down the alley might be a bit much.

                Despite being unsure about what she would do when she reached the alleyway she kept walking. There wasn't really anything special or different about this part of the central business district, but maybe that was the point. When she reached the alley herself she turned her head and looked down it.

                One of the many short, dead end alleys in the city greeted her. It was empty except for a car at the far end, about a hundred metres away. There was no sign of the man. There was also nowhere he could have gone - the alleyway didn't have any doors at all.

                Then Lin looked up. Nothing within the alleyway; just smooth concrete walls, the unloved parts of the buildings on either side. Unless the man was hiding behind the car he'd managed to get away. She wasn't surprised - the man could teleport. Maybe he'd gone through one of the walls? That was the kind of cool thing that she'd-

                The corner of her eye caught something. She turned her head and looked at the balconies of the building to her left. Standing on one of them was the man she'd been following. He was looking right at her. His gaze was angry, threatening and cold. He had allowed his coat to slip open so she could see his hand grasping the hilt of the knife hidden within.

                While her body made a startled gasp, Lin's mind considered her options. There was only one sensible one: run. She turned away from the man and bolted back up the street; clinging to the hope that she wasn't about to feel a knife slip into her back.

                When she reached the crossing it turned green so she kept running; ignoring the people who asked why she was running so fast. She didn't stop until she was two more blocks away, and only then because her streak of lucky timing had ended. For the first time she looked back to see if the man was coming after her.

                He was nowhere to be seen. Lin almost collapsed from the relief, but managed to keep herself moving. Not just across the next crossing, but to her meeting, back to her car, to her home, and to her bed. But through it all, and for a very long time after, she kept an eye out for the man she had followed. A man like that could kill her anytime he pleased.