Ghost Murder

The evening was so still you could hear the echo of footsteps ringing throughout the whole town. Downtown the footsteps went, through the marketplace, through the town square, up the long hill where the Marcedors lived, past the church and through the graveyard, to a headstone named after my mother. I sat quietly then, listening to the breeze. I wasn’t expecting to hear a cry, or a shout, calling out from pain. But when I did, I jumped to my feet and walked towards it. There was another shout, and I started walking faster. Then there was a scream, and I started running. I got to the source of the cry before they could hide it, or themselves. A long figure standing over a lifeless lump. They were wearing all black and a mask to cover their face from civilians like myself. They had long legs, and an even longer torso. A tall hat hid their hair. You could tell from the figure that it was a man. If someone were to ask me what they looked like, I would say I wasn’t sure, because that was the truth, I wasn’t quite sure what I saw that night. I stared in shock for a moment. It didn’t last long of course, soon enough he started walking towards me. Then he was walking faster, then I was running. I went back past the church, down the hill past the Marcedors house, past the town square, up past the market, and into my apartment building. I had been so caught up in running and getting out of that situation I didn’t even look back to see if he was on my trail. I looked back just as the door to the building closed to see a tall figure standing at the other side of the road. A blue old fashioned car came by, stopped, let him in, and drove away. 

I walked up to my apartment with a heavy fog resting over my mind. I tried to think of what had happened, to untangle the mess, but my brain couldn’t grasp it. I thought more about how he had chased me. Why hadn’t he come inside, why did the car stop for them. It wasn’t a taxi. Was it his getaway driver. I sat heavily on my bed, and only then did I realize how much I was shaking. I thought of the first step. Go to the police. I sat up but felt dizzy. I slowly went to the door grabbing my purse. My shaky hand barely grasped the door handle tight enough. As I turned it I leaned against it so as to not fall over. Suddenly the doorway was too small, or too large, I couldn’t fit through it. When I stumbled into the hallway the walls were no longer walls. They were nonexistent, invisible, see through. I fell into the elevator and pressed about a dozen buttons before I hit the one for the lobby. I walked out into the still night once more. Only then did I realize what I had done. I had shown him where I lived. I felt like crying at that moment. He had stood at the other side of the road, across from my home, across from the one place I felt safe. He had stood there because he knew. He was telling me that he could come back anytime. When I least expect it. I should have run to the police station first. How could I have been so stupid. He could be watching me right now. I slowly looked around. A drop of sweat slid down my face, and I took a deep breath. The air smelled hot and thick. I started walking, then I was walking faster, then I was running. I ran past my house to the police station around the corner. I sighed as it came into sight and slowed my run to a jog. I burst into the station out of breath. The officer at the front desk didn’t look up. I walked up to him quickly and in almost a whisper I said, “I think I just witnessed a murder, and I’m his next target.” The police officer looked up at these words and emeditaly called for his superior. The air inside the police station was no different than the air outside, accept this air was hotter. I took deep breaths as I waited for them to figure out the situation. They eventually led me into a room with a table and two chairs sitting opposite of eachother. The police officer explained that we were in there so I would felt more safe. I did not feel safe. I explained, in as much detail as I could, what had happened. The police officer took notes and occasionally asked questions about the man’s appearance. They told me they would be searching the streets, especially the street by my house, and keeping them safe. I heard one of the officers tell the other to head up to the graveyard and look for evidence. They made more phone calls before eventually driving me home and explaining what was going to happen. They told me they had called in more officers and were going to search the scene.

 I didn’t sleep that night, as you can imagine, I was scared to death but somehow at peace. It must have been the shock but my mind felt calm. I stared at the ceiling for hours. I could imagine the shadows slowly morphing into the scene that played over in my head so many times. At about midnight I saw the sun rising. The clock by my bed didn’t match the clock on the wall. And the light outside didn’t match either of them. I looked out the window towards the light when I saw a small blue, old fashioned car slowly making a U-turn. I saw in the driver's seat a young tall man wearing all black. He made direct eye contact with me before winking and driving towards the graveyard. I jumped to my feet, grabbing my jacket, and ran through the door. I quickly ran back to the police station and in a panting voice yelled that he was at my house. The police immediately put me back in the room where I had sat earlier and drove to the graveyard. They came back about an hour later with the news that no one was around and there was no sign that anything had happened there. They drove me back to my house once more and told me that they would keep the police waiting outside the whole night. I fell onto my bed but something hit my head. It was soft and scratchy and I felt an overwhelming smell hit me like a wall. I jumped up quickly to look at whatever was on my bed. An expression of pure terror crossed over my face as I realized it was the bouquet of flowers I had brought to my mother’s grave earlier that day. I picked it up in one big swooping motion and ran to my window. I opened it without looking down and dropped the bouquet over the edge. It fell slowly and landed on top of something black. Then it rolled off of him, and onto the street. I looked down in horror to see the thin man staring back up at me. I pulled back away from the window and shut it before I could think clearly of what else to do. He was outside my house. Where was the police car? Why was no one around? I double checked that my door was locked and grabbed a fire poker, waiting on my bed. I stayed like that until sunrise when a knock on my door eventually came. I sprang to my feet, ran to the door and looked through the peek whole to see an officer standing outside. He explained that they were having trouble finding evidence and wanted to further question me. I walked with him to the car and looked back a my apartment window from where the man had been standing the night before. When I looked up I let out a cry. The man was standing at my window, looking down at me through the glass. I stood in shock as he disappeared into my house away from the window. I ran as fast as I could back up to the apartment with the police officer on my tail. I burst into the door, which was locked when I had reached it, and searched every room. There was no sight of him. I told the officer what had happened and he suggested that I hadn’t gotten enough sleep, which was true.

 He took me to the graveyard and I showed them where I had been the night before. There was no body, no man, no blood, nothing to hint that there might have been a murder the night before. The police said that they had no missing person reports and weren’t sure if my eyes were working correctly. I began going through the events of the night before with them. They asked me where the man had gone when he disappeared into the car. I told them he went in the opposite direction of the graveyard. They concluded that nothing suspicious was going on and suggested that I see a therapist. I sat, dazed by what was happening, I wasn’t sure if I believed myself anymore. How could I be sure that I wasn’t going insane. They offered to drive me back to my house but I said I would rather walk. An officer approached me to tell me that they would keep an eye out for anything suspicious and would sweep the streets tonight. I thanked them and slowly walked home.

 My head was foggy again and I was as confused as ever. As I sat back on my bed I decided to take a shower. I walked into the bathroom and turned the water on. As I waited for the water to heat up I thought about everything that had happened. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe my mind wasn’t working. I went to the sink to wash my face. As I dried my cheeks and neck off I looked at myself in the mirror. I gasped and dropped the towel in the sink. Standing behind me in the reflection of the mirror was the tall thin man. He stared directly into my eyes. I jumped back and turned around all at the same time, but there was no one there. No evidence that anyone had ever been inside my house. I went to the windowsill to see if there were police, but the only thing in sight was the blue, old fashioned car, and a tall thin man in the driver's seat looking up at me.