The Watching Man
He stood in the corner of the street, watching. Always watching. The man with the skull, the man with the empty, bottomless eyes, the man with no soul. The locals always knew he was there, even when they couldn’t see him. The man drifted in and out of view, not always visible and not always discernible. But always there.
However, it was only if he spoke to you that you knew you were in trouble. Then the visions start. Horrendous, gruesome visions. Then come excruciating migraines and hacking coughs. Then you disappear.
The locals were used to his soulless eyes by now, and rattling bones. There were only 2 rules if you lived in this village; one: never make eye contact and two: never break rule number 1. Breaking the rules caused pain, and often death. And none of the villagers wanted anymore death.
He came to only one person a year, one lucky person who spent a mere 3 days in pain and the vanishes. The townspeople spend the first couple of months with baited breath until he’s taken someone, then gets on with there lives as usual. The first few months when he first came were spent puzzling about who he was and where he came from. But all that stopped when Charlie was taken.
Poor Charlie. He was only 9, and no one believed him when he started seeing things. They thought he was crazy, or just a funny child making up things. But then he vanished, and the conspiracy’s started. Maybe he’s been taken, the villagers pondered. Maybe he’s just lost his mind, or imagining things. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s the man in the corner- the sielent, ever watching man.
But no one knew the truth, not for another year or so. It happened again, the next year, at exactly midnight at Halloween. The nightmare would start roughly 3 to 4 days before that dreadful night, and the chosen person would get help; would be surrounded and protected by the whole town. But there was no cure. Nothing could stop the watching man.
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This isn’t the best story but oh well haha x