It was half past six in the evening and pouring mercilessly on the scariest night of the year. Krissy needed to get home soon if she would make time for Michi’s annual costume party. The workday had been stressful to say the least in the bakery, but the holiday rush only added onto the load. Closing up shop took a little longer as she had released the rest of the crew for the celebratory night, leaving only herself to finish up.

‘It’s a straight shot down the next ten blocks to my apartment’ she thought jamming the key into the front door lock, ‘and then four more to Michi’s place’.

‘Please stop raining’ she thought to herself as she ran down the sidewalk away from the little bakery, splashing through puddles. Dark clouds swirled in the sky, water beat down on her face as the wind picked up, pushing fiercely against her. Her vision began to blur with the downpour as she ran faster, she hadn’t even noticed a figure emerge from an alley corner.

She braced herself as she collided into the figure, knocking them to the ground. She wiped away the excess water from her vision as she searched around for the other being. There braced against the nearby brick building sat a small frail man. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry sir, may I help you up??” Krissy exclaimed.

She went to lift the old man when she noticed something odd about him, about his hands, about his face. His hands and face were…bone.. She tensed looking up into his eyes to see glazed silver orbs. His skeletal face, despite the lack of expression, looked up at her as if it’d been almost as stunned as she. Krissy screamed in shock, throwing herself back in fright. She scrambled through the water trying to rise, slipping while gaining her balance. Before the being could say anything, she darts off towards her destination again at a full sprint, not looking back.

As she slowly disappears into the rain, the old man rises still looking on, breathing slow and raspy. “She..saw me..touched me…she could see me..” With a glazed expression, fixed on the direction she went, he began to make a steady stride down the sidewalk. “..must find her..must perform…act..” he murmurs to himself as he wades further into the brewing storm.