I felt grungy as I woke up the next day. My hair was messy and my makeup was smudged all over my face. It wasn't surprising since I immediately jumped into my bed last night, falling asleep the minute my face hit the pillow. I sloppily brushed my dark hair into a high ponytail, washing my sleepy face and the rest of the mascara off.

My parents were already up, but in the same dreadful-looking state as I was. There was no luxury of sleeping in, considering we had to open the store and clean the disarray from yesterday. The sole though of the mess that awaited us, made me groan loudly.

"Good morning dear," my father said, watching me sympathetically as I mumbled something incomprehensible in return.

"Korina, me and your mother will take over the first shift. Can you manage the late one by yourself?" He said pleadingly.

"Of course. But I wanted to help with the cleaning." I said, confusion coloring my voice.

"There will be plenty left, believe me. Your mother got a few orders for jewelry, so she wanted to put some work in it after the shift."

Dad, you know I can manage both shifts, you and mom can take a little breather if you want," I said, smiling encouragingly.

"Absolutely not. You will be working late hours as it is, besides we had Mark volunteering to help us."

I had to stifle a laugh at the thought of Mark “Are you sure he’s in a condition to wake up so early? I mean after last night... He might not remember offering you help.”

He grimaced. “He’d better. Man’s word in written in stone.”

I followed him around the house “Are you sure? I mean I don’t mind-”

He cut me off immediately, putting his hands around me. "-I am very sure. Daughter, you did a great job yesterday. I am very proud of you, me and you mother both are."

"I promised I would, didn't I?"

"You did," his eyes hardened again as he positioned himself in front of the mirror. I watched him tug at the collar of his shirt, trying to adjust it. He sighed in surrender as it didn't go as planned, baffled expression painting his face. "This is impossible, this damned collar."

"Right. Dad you are battling this shirt over a decade now," I patted him on the shoulder, rolling my eyes. "I will see you after lunch. There will be leftovers waiting for you in the fridge!" I called out to him, going straight back to bed.

*

I was woken from my sleep, when I heard loud barking somewhere in the house. Wincing as my bare feet touched the cold ground, I slowly stood up to follow the sound of the aggravated dog. "Barica? Where are you boy?" I strained my ears to listen, but it seemed like the elusive animal was running around the house aimlessly.

I called him a few more times, but he was totally oblivious to me. At last I found him standing next to the front door, intently looking at them.

"What are you barking at?" I peeked through the glass, seeing no one. "Barica?" I said with confusion when I heard him growling.

His whole body vibrated with a deep sound while he bared his canines. The dog’s body posture was stiff and hunched forward, like he was readying himself to pounce. His ears were pinned back, nervously twitching at the sounds indistinguishable to my own ears. Barica’s aggressive behavior made no sense at all. It was correct that he was a massive-sized dog, but he had a kind, mellow character. There wasn’t a man or animal he didn’t welcome with an utmost gentleness.

"What the hell? What is it?"I felt goosebumps spreading across my skin, like a flaming wildfire. Our lazy, even-tempered dog never growled at anyone or anything. Looking at him right now, he looked downright terrifying, however his wide, glossy eyes didn’t indicate any malicious intent, but pure raw fear.

Leaving the dog at the door I slowly crept toward the kitchen, peeping through the window that offered a better view of our front porch. I strained my eyes, nonetheless I saw nothing unusual or out of place.

I shook my head at how ludicrous this situation was. I was tip-toeing around the house like a criminal, when there was probably just some kind of critter nesting within our walls.

But then I heard it, the unmistakable sound of tapping, soft resonating of feet hitting the concrete ground. I stood there paralyzed as footsteps continued forward, threading through the tall, heat-burnt grass. It was abundantly clear that someone was sneaking behind the house. Barica went wild as he ran to the back, pressing his paws against the door, facing the garden. His teeth were bared, drops of saliva flying out of his mouth each time he ushered a warning. I was staring at him, dread freezing my limbs like an icy-cold winter sea.

Barcia's unpredictable behavior pumped adrenaline through my veins. One second his heavy weight pressed against the door with such force, I was afraid he would smash them, but the other he was once again backing up, retreating from the stranger on the other side of the door.

I forced myself out of the stupor and pumped my legs toward my room, searching for my phone in a sheer panic. Never hesitating I flung brushes and painting in every direction until I spotted a small rectangular object buried underneath it. I clutched the thing with both hands, pressing it against my breasts, my brain screaming at me to call the police.

This had to be a prank, somebody surely wanted to scare me. But the anxious feeling in my gut grew, considering my dog wouldn't behave so wildly if it was only a benevolent person.

Pressing my back against the wall right next to the window, I leaned forward, letting my eyes dart behind the heavy curtain. At that instant I saw a shadow standing in close proximity. The tall, somewhat grotesque figure stood perfectly still, yet slightly hunched over. It appeared as it was frozen in time, carefully assessing the sounds around it. Stranger’s body was fully covered in black attire, but it was apparent the muscular figure belonged to a male. He was unrecognizable, since his whole head was disguised with the hood of his sweatshirt.

It felt as my heart stop beating as I noticed he was aware of me staring at him. Painfully slowly he started to move forward, his steps resembling a hypnotic, smooth combination of movements. And the moment he took a step forward it seemed to me like everything died down – the wild barking, the sounds of wind rustling the leaves, my breathing. The sense of time was long forgotten, leaving me helpless and glued to the ground.

My breath hitched when he lifted his right gloved hand to touch the glass on the window. As he did, his sleeve slightly rolled down, revealing a black tattoo. It was a complicated creation, lines intertwined in a shape of a breathtaking medieval sword, with a rosary wound around the weapon. It was designed in such a manner that the sword was piercing the cross hanging on the necklace.

He had to be unaware that I saw it, or he simply didn’t trouble himself with the danger to be identified.

His fingertips hidden underneath the thick leather material swept over the smooth, glassy surface the inaudible sound of it sending shivers down my spine. And than, just in a blink of an eye, the man was gone. His sudden disappearance forced me out of daze, waking me up from a slow-motion state of mind. Time rushed forward once again, and with it the icy, overwhelming coldness in my chest.

I felt myself grabbing at the collar of my shirt, desperately trying to clear my lungs as it was impossible to breath. An unexpected surge of nausea spread inside my stomach, making my head spin. An all too familiar feeling hit me as I started to lose the footing, my knees painfully colliding with the wooden flooring. My phone flew to the ground, smashing to pieces as my whole body convulsed, forcing me to let out an agonizing screech. It was an excruciating sense of presence deep inside me, trying to tear its way out.

It felt like an eternity, when something wet and warm touched me as my body relaxed to slight tremors. When I lifted my hand, I felt a furry, albeit calming presence lying at my side. I clutched Barcia's hair, blindly pulling myself closer to him. Leaning my head on his stomach, I could finally take deep gulps of breath, filling my starving lungs with air.

However the stranger’s presence left me scarred and terrified, with questions I didn’t necessarily want to find the answers to. I was confused at who would want to stalk our humble family and what was their intention.

“I’ll see you soon Korina”, his voice resonated with a deep rumble inside my mind, the threat it held increasing the never-ending dread I felt.

I don't know how much time has passed by, maybe an hour, maybe more. I couldn't even describe how horribly empty I felt. It was too hard to move, so I just lied there, clutching the dog like it was my lifeline. Even the slightest change of the position hurt and I felt heavy, like my bones were made of concrete.

When time forced me to stand up, I dragged my feet behind me, my mind just a soggy mush. The way I walked resembled a strange sequence of robotic moves, like there were invisible strings controlling my brain. Emptiness settled deep inside me, sucking the spirit out of my battered body.

The question was what Daniel Ryce and his companion wanted from me?

Hiding was easy, fighting back against the unknown enemy was much harder.

*

I felt a little better in the afternoon although the thoughts of the strange man never left me as I was driving to the store. Was the man hidden behind the hood Daniel Ryce, or was it someone else entirely? I knew I should call the police in case he returned or even worse, decided to hurt my parents. Despite all of it, there was an elephant in the room – a horrifying fact that burned inside of my mind. The man had disappeared, vanished right in front of my eyes. I had never in my life seen someone move so incredibly fast. He left without a trace, no fingerprints left behind, nothing was damaged and more importantly, there were no traces in the garden. Grass grew tall as if it wasn’t stomped at all. It made no sense.

If I had called the police like I intended to, how would I have explained what had happened to me? Would they think I was insane? Would the fact that I blacked out yet again left them thinking I was somehow imagining it? The only witness was my dog and neighboring houses, their inhabitants long gone for work. The fact that mysterious stranger vanished into the thin air, was the last straw to make this story completely unbelievable. Additionally, if indeed I could trust my eyes the man – the thing that this man was, could be more dangerous than I could imagine. Would involving police make matters worse, would it aggravate the man? What would that mean for my friends and family?

The inexplicable encounter left me drained and in a desperate need of energy recharge. It was like I ran a marathon as adrenaline boiled in my veins, sucking me dry when the dread subsided. I was too exhausted, my mind robbed of sound thinking and logic or maybe even of healthy amount of self-preservation. However, that feeling subsided when I was forced to busy myself with never-ending stream of customers. Thankfully and to my relief the evening was otherwise uneventful, meaning nothing suspicious caught my eye. Every hour or so I called the house in panic, to check if everyone was all right. There were a lot of buyers through the day, not necessarily interested in paintings but mostly in jewelry or smaller ornaments. Although the exhibition went well, there was purchased only one painting so far. Walking around the store with my gaze fixated on the freshly painted art, I was comforted by the fact that it was only the first day. I really did invest a lot in this collection, therefore I also had high expectations. More so, I needed them to sell well.

"Hey!" The ceramic bell rang above the entrance as somebody came in. I abruptly looked away from the display, seeing Mark walking in with two takeaway coffee cups.

"Hi! What brings you here?" My lips stretched into a smile, my heart thundering with relief.

"Your parents said you’ll be working alone tonight, so I just came by and wanted to see if you needed any help," he followed me to the counter, putting down the cups. “One latte for you and one for me”.

“Thank you,” he must have noticed how my hands shook when I hurriedly picked up the cup, nervously hanging my head. "Don’t you think you’ve helped enough already? I appreciate it, but I’m finishing up for today, anyway." Smiling at him I leaned on the counter, suddenly feeling tired again.

His all too wise eyes were scrutinizing when he spoke. " Is everything all right Korina?"

"Yes, I’m just a little tired that’s all. A little more sleep is much needed." I rubbed my bloodshot eyes.

"Excuse my language, but you look like crap. You aren't feeling sick again are you?"

I opened my mouth to answer only to close them back again, helplessly shaking my head.

I felt him step closer, his soothing voice bringing tears to my eyes “Korina? You know you can trust me, right?”

The heavy load was pressing against my chest, and I felt an unstoppable wish to release it. Before I knew it, I dumped the onslaught of words and with it all my frustration onto him. "Just...I don’t know what’s going on anymore. Either it’s me, I mean either I’m losing it or it’s somebody else. I don’t know what to do!" I said, feeling goosebumps rising on my arms.

He calmingly placed his hands on my shoulders. “Easy there. Just tell me what’s bothering you.”

“I saw someone behind my house today,” I stated blankly.