The Stalked

Larry had to stop to take a breath.

He knew that every second he was not running meant that his pursuers were gaining ground on him, but he simply could not continue.

Not without getting some oxygen into his lungs, which were burning from exertion.

He was a big man.  Tall and lanky, but not at all athletic.  Running was not his thing.

Now his life depended on his ability to run.  They were closing in on him.  He wasn’t sure how many were back there, but he had heard several different voices calling out to him, taunting him, telling him that there was no chance of escape.

“Screw them!” Larry thought to himself and took off running again with a burst of speed that he had no idea he had in him.

Maybe he’d found his second wind.  More than likely, the adrenaline was taking over.  His body knew that death was imminent if he didn’t get the hell out of this situation, and pure fear was pushing him to do things he didn’t know possible.

He heard them calling again.  They were angry now.  Pissed off that Larry wouldn’t just surrender and let them have their way with him.  Annoyed that he was putting up a fight and making them work for it.

Larry had always hated Halloween.  As a child, he had refused to put on a costume and go begging for candy from strangers.     Something about it just didn’t seem right.

Oh, how the other kids had made his life miserable because of that.

Every Halloween, they’d sought him out and made his life a living hell.

And now it was happening all over again.

He was a grown man, and his childhood nightmare was his reality.  Now he was being chased by other adults, and Larry didn’t think his pursuers simply wanted to pelt him with eggs and call him names.

No, Larry was running for his life.

And it was all his fault.

He had decided to do something about his paralyzing fear of Halloween.

He had put on a mask and gone out in search of adventure.  He had planned to take back the holiday.  To no longer allow it to be the one day on the calendar that turned him into a sniveling, crippled, frightened little boy who hid in his closet and cried.

Larry had tried to face his fears, but instead, they were stalking him just like they always had.  If he hadn’t been desperately trying to outrun those so intent on doing him harm, he would be beating himself up for his stupidity.

Where the hell was he?

Some abandoned building on the outskirts of town.  He could see the spire of the University’s Administration Building illuminated far off in the distance.

“Is this where I die?” Larry asked himself as he rushed into an empty room and struggled for breath.

He could hear their footsteps and voices behind him.  They were so close now.  Somehow, they had managed to never slow down.

It was like they were inhuman.

Some sort of demons not from this world.

“He’s in here!” a disembodied voice shouted.

Larry searched for a way out of the room, but there was none.  All the windows had been boarded up, and the only way to escape was through the doorway that was now darkened by a half dozen silhouettes.

“There’s nowhere else to go!” another voice pierced the dark.

Sweat poured off Larry’s brow as he crouched in the dark.  His stomach was in knots.  His head pounded with pain.  His body ached from all the running.

Larry made a choice.  He wasn’t going to run anymore.  It was time to finally make a stand.

To take back Halloween from the demons.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the blood covered butcher’s knife.

He smiled at the thought of all the women who had felt the wrath of his blade tonight.

They had screamed just like he had on every Halloween of his youth.

Larry raised the knife, let out a horrific howl, and ran out of the shadows.

His pursuers opened fired in unison, and put Larry down before he could get halfway across the room.

The first detective to reach Larry’s body kicked away the bloody knife, and then bent down to check for a pulse.

He shook his head to the other police officers who now filled the room.  “This freak won’t be killing any more sorority girls…”