The park's lone visitor is a shabbily dressed man with scraggly and unkempt hair. He's wearing dirty blue jeans and a worn navy polo. Watching him loitering on the lake's grassy bank, something more sinister than his unkempt appearance unnerves me.
I try to catch a glimpse of his face, but his features remain hidden under the shadowy trees. As he scans bronze nameplates embedded in the turf, I hurry past him. Glancing back, I involuntarily gasp when his cold pale eyes lock with mine. A psychic blast of menacing energy envelopes me. I feel like I've been physically hit. I've never felt anything so evil. As if a clairvoyant switch's been turned on, images of my strangled, naked body, hidden in the shrubs, fill my mind. Without warning, the stranger lunges towards me. Terrified, I break into a swift run. Sprinting across the narrow bridge, I tackle the steep incline on the other side of the lake.
Cresting the hilltop, I bend and start wheezing, my body trembling with fatigue. My calf muscles are burning as I feel blood rushing to my face. After a few minutes, I'm able to stand upright. My breathing slows.
I'm safe, now. He won't wander far from his car.
Glancing down the hill, I catch my breath. The predator's on the same side of the lake as I am, staring up at me. Fear causes me to breathe in short painful gasps. From this height, I usually enjoy the panoramic view of the cemetery, but today I'm only focused on the menacing figure below me.
Out of nowhere, a dry, hot wind picks up, buffeting against my body. Invisible hands shove into the small of my back, urging me away from the dark-haired stranger. Something that sounds like a high frequency mosquito starts buzzing in my ear—a woman's frantic voice. "Don't go back down there—he's waiting for you!" Leaning into the wind, I try to ignore the disembodied voice, but the wind abruptly picks up to gale levels. The distressed, eerie voice rises in intensity. My hair, crackling with electricity, lifts up in the warm gusts and whips around my face.
Looking down, I hesitate, unsure of what I should do. The wind intensifies and buffeting against me while an icy pit forms in my stomach. The skin at the back of my neck starts crawling. Something's squeezing my heart. After a moment I realize it's fear. "You have to leave, now!"
Usually, I would retrace my steps back across the bridge and then cut through the broken section of fencing. That's the shortest route home, but I can't choose that direction. The dark haired stranger's blocking my path. Looking around, I begin to panic. I'm alone in a remote cemetery park the size of three football fields. Even if I call for help, no one in the traffic racing by on the other side of the unscalable fence, will hear me.
"Run!" The disembodied voice screams in my ear.
Without thinking, I race towards the highway. A minute later, I hear the Volkswagon's engine start up in the distance. Gasping for breath, I don't dare to stop or look back. The lake and the high pike fence have trapped me into one path of escape-exiting the cemetery through the main gate. I run down the hill, parallel to the water. Fear nips at my heels, propelling me forward. Please, don't be locked! I sprint towards the heavy wrought iron gate. I'm so frightened I don't care who sees me anymore. I want to be around people and out of this creepy park! Suddenly, someone grabs at me from behind. I fall to the ground screaming.