The obsession

It's a short story from the point of view of both the woman being stalked and the man who is stalking. This man has an obsession and in the story he is giving in to the obsession.

The night was cold and dark. Autumn was drawing to a close and the first signs of winter were becoming evident now. The sky was a coat of thick black clouds and not a drop of light could make its way through to the ground below.  It was a miserable night, the kind of night anyone would want to be tucked up under their duvet with a cup of hot chocolate and a book. But not Jonathon Greigson, this was exactly the kind of night he wanted to be out. This was the right time for him to do what he did best, what he tried to fight against in the past. He had exhausted himself trying to fight against his urges and soon found it thrilling, liberating and rewarding to give in to his obsession. Tonight Jonathon was on a mission, something he had been planning and obsessing over for months. Tonight Jonathon would feed his urge.

            Amanda was cold and nervous. The weather was punishing but she decided to brave the night to visit her sick grandmother and spend a couple of hours trying to cheer her up. Something in the air didn’t feel quite right and for this reason she felt nervous. It felt almost like there was someone following her. She tried to shake off the nerves and put her paranoid thoughts to the back of her mind but found herself picking up the pace and walking faster all the same. As she got further she heard something that made her suspect she wasn’t just being paranoid. She heard solid footsteps that came to an abrupt halt when she stopped to listen. She felt panic building up inside her chest making it feel tighter and she began to think about whether she should start running or not. The footsteps could still have been a coincidence and she didn’t want to get herself into a panic. She stopped and turned around, trying to see into the darkness but she couldn’t see a thing only the black outlines of buildings. She took small comfort in the fact she seen no movement and turned once again to carry on her way.

            Jonathon smiled to himself as he watched Amanda. He had been following her for weeks now, learning her routine and learning as much as he could about her and the kind of person she was. He found it, therefore, incredibly easy to remain unseen when she let her instincts take over and turned around to have a look. He quickened his pace to match hers and soon he wasn’t too far behind her. He noticed she kept throwing quick glances back into the darkness but she would not see him, he was too good at this, he was a skilled hunter. He could feel her nerves, smell her fear and he began to feel powerful. He had complete control over this situation. He was enjoying every second of this. He decided now was the time to make his presence known, he wanted her to know. He didn’t want it to be too easy, he liked a challenge, so he started running towards her making heavy footsteps so she couldn’t mistake the fact she was being followed. He watched her as she physically tensed up and glanced behind quickly before she broke into a run. He laughed, now was the thrilling part, she had run straight into a deserted alley, obviously to full of fear to make logical judgements. She was like a trapped rat now and he felt slightly disappointed it would be a little easier than he expected. He turned the corner into the alley and stood there at the top, she was nowhere to be seen. He laughed again as he began to walk slowly down the alley.

            Amanda crouched behind a couple of bins bunched together in the alley. She was silently kicking herself for running this direction. She literally had nowhere else to go now and she prayed that if she stayed here long enough he wouldn’t be able to find her and he’d give up. She desperately tried to catch her breath while trying to remain as silent as possible. Her whole body was shaking and the cold breeze was stinging her cheeks. She felt tears start to spill over her eyelids, blurring her vision and she wiped them away frantically. She could hear him now walking slowly towards her. He was laughing to himself and this turned her stomach. He was clearly enjoying this and she found it harder to control her tears. She scolded herself for showing her emotions like this. There was only two ways this could end and if she didn’t prepare herself to fight she might as well prepare herself to die. She felt around the ground and grabbed the first thing she could find. When she picked it up to examine it she seen it was only an old piece of stick. It would have to do. Then she waited. He was getting closer and closer and then she heard him stop at the other side of the bins she was hiding behind. Her breath was so shaky now there was no way he couldn’t hear her. She waited, heard the bins being pulled out of the way slowly and purposefully. Still she waited and then he was there. She had half a second to look at him, he was tall, about 6 feet 4 inches, he was dressed all in black but she couldn’t make out his face, it was too dark. She raised her stick and jumped at him. She hit him as hard as she could in the centre of his body and he doubled over for a second. She took this opportunity to run faster than she ever had before but she could hear him running right after her. She felt large, strong arms wrap around her and throw her backwards into the alley again. She had lost her stick and she wept now as she realised he was too strong and she was facing her death tonight. She tried to scramble backwards but found herself against a wall. She bowed her head and pleaded with him, unable to remain dignified, she was too terrified for that. As he walked towards her she could make out the twisted smirk on his face. He had won.

            Jonathon was pleased, she had fought him and he hadn’t been expecting that. Though she had given up pretty easily and he wished she could have played along a little longer. She was tiny though, a petit girl with a small frame and there was no way she could have ever gotten away from him no matter how hard she fought. He smirked as she began to plead with him, he found her pathetic now and felt no guilt for what he was about to do. He pulled a long, sharpened knife from inside his long black coat and held it up so she could see it. She screamed then so loud and so piercingly he felt a slight panic that someone might hear and come to investigate so he decided it was the right time to end this all. He picked her up and ran the blade across her body so she could feel exactly what he was holding and she knew exactly what was going to happen. She sobbed now, terrified and defeated. He pulled back his blade and stuck it straight into her chest. Again she screamed and he held his hand over her mouth to silence her. He stuck the knife in to her chest twice more, just to make sure and he dropped her. She was silent now and her blood was beginning to pool around her. He felt satisfied now that he had gotten what he wanted. He had gotten what he had waited so long for and now it was over. This would keep him happy for a while, until the next time he felt the need to feed the urge again. He bent down and stroked her head before he turned to walk away. He turned the corner out of the alley and saw a large space of empty ground where he decided to bury his knife, right at the back as deep as possible; nobody would go digging around there. He took one last look down the alley and walked away smiling to himself.

Author's Note

This is the first piece if writing I've ever shared with anyone apart from my close family so I'm looking for honest opinions and constructive feed back. I've happy to hear constructive criticism..anything to help me improve.