Vile | H.S |

Chapter 7.

The night fell over Norwich, Pennsylvania while the rain tapped against the road while cars drove at forty five miles per hour in the residential area in which Harry had lived for all his adult years. He was out for a walk by himself as Carter caught up on some rest. The fresh air was often needed for him, especially when he lived in a one bedroom apartment with very few windows. Although Carter's company helped, he needed to get out and smell the midnight air once in a while. He held his umbrella over his head to avoid getting his body soaked from the rain droplets. It had been the same umbrella Harry used when he had took Carter home the first night they met. It was an umbrella that held many memories, even though it was made from thin black material and cheap metal. The small hook shaped piece of wood stuck at the bottom of the umbrella, in which Harry's ringed fingers wrapped around tightly to keep himself dry.

There was a gentle rumble up in the clear night sky which caused Harry to look up viewing the shining stars. A light from one of the stars glistened in the reflection of his emerald orbs, causing Harry to cock a gentle smile. Not an innocent smile, but the kind in which you force when you know you're about to do something you know you'll later regret. The kind you give to your mother when you lie to her after doing something bad, that you know you'll be punished for. Or even the kind of smile when you've eaten the last of the fruit that your brother was saving for a snack. The kind you force when you tell a lie.

Harry had been walking past the bar where he first met Carter and peered his head through the dark window, seeing that the bar was closed for the night. The lights were all out and nothing could be seen through the glass windows, it was as if they were tinted from the outside. Just the feeling that place gave Harry was enough to make him feel calm. Some rush of relaxation came to ease his mind whenever he set foot into the bar or, simply, when he walked past it. Even if somebody was talking about it, he'd feel less tension on his mind and a lighter weight against his shoulders.

The moon fluoresced so brightly that it casted a shadow upon the concrete in which he stood on. The shadow was painted black and looked almost haunting. It seemed like the shadow that a child would fear in their worst nightmare. The shadow that even some adults would see and jump out of their skin. Harry examined his shadow with his darkening eyes. Everybody has a dark half; Harry's was his shadow. His shadow had its own personality. It was the shadow that drove him to do the most vile things that Harry would never truly wish upon his worst enemy.

It was as if the shadow had started to move in a direction past the bar where Harry was standing outside of. He followed the shadow and turned right at the corner of the street, almost like he was following the sidewalk, but he wasn't. He followed his shadow. It was as if the shadow had some of its own plans for the stroll in which Harry would take.

Just as Harry made the turn around the corner of the empty street, a young woman stood with her thumb sticking out at the very few cars that drove by. She was wearing a dark hoodie with a jean skirt on and some funky colored high heeled boots. She didn't look like the type of woman to just hitch hike a ride back home, although she also seemed like just that type of girl.

Harry stopped in his tracks and watched the rough looking woman ten, fifteen, maybe twenty feet away from him. He let the raindrops run down his umbrella and onto the concrete below him, creating a pool circling around his feet. He stepped a few feet towards the woman who was waiting for a car to take her in to a place she needed to go. Harry's shadow disappeared as if its work had been finished. "Do you need some help?" Harry called out to the girl who looked slightly frightened at the presence of another.

"No, I'm fine thanks," She declined his offer and started to walk away into the darkness of the night. This just intrigued Harry more. He waited till the girl was a few blocks away from him before continuing to follow her. She didn't seem to notice Harry's dark figure behind her which he took to his advantage. The conniving man, inside Harry, enjoyed the slight chase it took to get to the very cautious young lady.