Thump. Thump.
Like a wolf scenting blood, her head snapped up and she paused on her tracks, her whole body suddenly alert and tensed. She strained her ear to listen but not another sound was heard. She resumed her leisurely gait, the tension from her shoulders slowly flowing down all the way to her toes.
Thump. Thump.
This time she ignored the sound, attributed it to an overactive imagination. But then she felt a cold hand of wind on her shoulders, and the hairs behind her neck stood, a ripple of shiver running down her body. She hugged herself tightly and lengthened her strides, her leg muscles protesting against the sudden strain.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
Her breath hitching, she started to run, as fast as her limbs could carry her, adrenaline pumping the beat of her heart. It seemed that the sound was just behind her, so close she could almost feel it. She heard almost a faint sobbing, not realizing that it was her own. She dare not look around, she was more than terrified of what could be behind her.
She saw light nearby, a spot of pavement illuminated by a post lamp, the only one in that dark alley. Gasping, cold painful breaths struggling to come out of her tight throat, she stopped and put her hands on her knees. After a few seconds of utter silence, her body still taut as a wire, she began to straighten up and threw head. And laughed. And laughed. And laughed until tears washed her eyes. So foolish, so foolish of her to think someone or something is following her. There is none, of course. This time, with a confidence she hadn't felt in what seemed like an eternity, she glanced behind her shoulders.
And her scream pierced the dark, cold night.
