To blink was to miss the chance to spot the ‘watching man’. Her eyes were dry from being open so wide; searching the darkness for a misplaced shadow, an imperceptible movement or change of texture. This new permanent state of intense concentration had cramped up her shoulders, knotted her neck and forced her jaw tight shut. He tongue glued to the top of her mouth.

Her breath stayed shallow and silent, her ribs shaking. Blood pulsated through her head, and every tiny sound escalated in her mind to be the source of her last moment alive.

She wanted to run, turn, scream. Every hard pump of her heart begged her to unfreeze. But yet she just knew that the moment she did, he would stop watching. And start feeding.