Heart pounding, I dial the numbers. He watches me closely as I press the call button and bring the phone to my ear. “911, what’s your emergency?” I breathe in deep. “There’s a man that’s been stalking me. He broke into my house a week ago. And now he’s standing outside watching me.” “He’s standing outside right now?” the operator asks. I hear typing in the background, accompanied by the smack of her gum. “Yes,” I whisper. “Ma’am, is he doing anything? Does he have any weapons on him?” she asks. “Not that I know of. Can you send someone out?” More typing. “What’s your address, ma’am?” I recite the address to her. She asks a few more pointless questions and informs me a cruiser is about five minutes out. She asks me to stay on the phone, but I don’t. I click the phone off. My little shadow isn’t going to stick around long enough for the police to show up and catch him. He’ll disappear off into the woods he came out of, and never be found. I know this. I can’t see his eyes, but I meet his gaze anyway. With one last smile, he types out a quick message. My phone buzzes, but I don’t look right away. I’m too scared to. And without a concern in the fucking world, he slowly turns and walks away. The darkness reaches out and grabs ahold of him, swallowing him into its depths until he’s vanished completely. When the cruiser shows up, I already want him to leave. For reasons I can’t quite explain, I regret calling the police. I just... want him to leave. The cop is an overweight man with short blonde hair and a ruddy face. He looks like he wants to be anywhere but here. I feel the same exact way. “What’s going on here, ma’am?” he asks, huffing and puffing as he makes his way up the front porch. “A man was outside my window,” I say shortly. “O-okay,” he says, drawing out the O. “Has this happened before?” I tell him that ’ve made several police reports that came up missing, but that this man has been coming around and breaking into my house for the past couple of months. After telling him of the previous experiences, he pulls out his pad and starts writing out the report. “You said your name was Adeline Reilly, correct?” YES He pauses from writing and looks at me as if he’s seeing a different person.