The crackly autumn leaves pricked at his bare feet and the icy wind whispered lost secrets which he couldn't quite hear no matter how hard he strained his ears. Cat eyes stared at him from trees, desolate driveways and underneath cars. Toby shuddered at the omnipresent feeling of being watched. It wasn't just the feeling of being watched by the neighbourhood's entire cat population but there was something more. He was being watched by someone...by something.
He shook off the feeling with a scoff. He naïvely didn't believe in intuition. If it couldn't be proven by scientific facts then it didn't exist was the basis of Toby's logic. His logic had worked well for him in the past but at that moment Toby needed to trust his intuition. But alas, he did not. In doing so, one of the sisters of Fate pricked her finger on the needle used to weave destiny and vexed by his descision, she set off a series of events that would ultimately lead to Toby's rules and restrictions that he set for himself being broken, shattered and altogether disregarded.
Toby had walked to the park which marked the centre of his neighbourhood. He stood on the outskirts not daring to walk on the grass he knew would be wet as the result of condensation. The grass held bugs and thorns and trees which murderers could hide behind.
However, the voluptuous red moon looked so gorgeous behind trees he had to get a better look. He decided against his better judgement and walked into the darkness, lead by the seductive moon.
A naughty wind danced between his bare legs and ruffled his hair but he continued into the darkness. A howl erupted from somewhere far away. Toby found himself climbing the ladder toward the top of a children's slide. The damp wood felt cold and clammy on his bare hands and feet. Upon reaching the top he sat down and gazed at the moon. A crackling sound disturbed his serenity. He turned to see a black silhouette gazing at him eerily.
Toby's heart began to hammer in his chest. His eyes began to sting with tears. His hands gripped the support bars alongside the slide with all his might. He stared daggers at the figure. Toby's thick black eyebrows were cemented in a deep "V".
The figure took a step closer.
Toby's heart began to beat faster. He gripped the bars tighter. His every muscle was taught. He tried to make out the person's features but the trees cast an inconvenient shadow across its face.
The figure lunged towards the slide and Toby ran down the slide, something his mother had reprimanded him harshly for as a child. He ran into the darkness. Leaves maliciously scratched his arms while stones stabbed his feet. He dared a look back.
The figure was gone.
A low chuckle rose from nowhere and everywhere at once. Toby spun around quickly. His heart was beating so fast he thought it would burst from his chest. He couldn't locate the sound. His mind spun. His eyes darted around wildly. Everything that had once looked so serene now looked evil. The blood red moon which had once looked so beautiful was now saturated with evil.
The naughty wind which had once played between Toby's legs now bit maliciously and spitefully at his skin and sent shivers down his spine.
Toby could feel the entity nearing him. He could hear its heartbeat. He could hear every begraggled breath. He believed it would consume him. Toby began to sob. It was a desperate sob. He cried out for help. But the night is deaf to suffering. He collapsed to the ground and laid in the wet grass. The deep chuckling encompassed him. The night became blacker and Toby found himself slipping away into the infinite darkness. The dark swallowed him.
Toby awoke with a start.