I woke up feeling well rested. It was weird. I can't remember the last time that happened. On top of that I had slept through the night. It was awesome. I felt invincible, like I could take on a great white and win. I just have a good feeling today. It was going to be a great one, and I could already feel my creative juices starting to flow.

I looked at my cell phone to check the time. 1:28; I had slept a long time. I shook my arms out to get them working a little quicker and set to work. You guessed it: I was painting again. And yes, it was a picture of the man. What else would it be? I was beginning to feel like a one-trick-pony. And if I was a pony I was definitely a Shetland. They're spunky.

Somewhere along this train of thought, my mind wandered back to thoughts of that man. Don't they always. But I suddenly had an idea and the perfect excuse to meet the guy. Why not give the painting to the man? It would be the perfect way to thank him for all he has done for me. It might be a little creepy, I mean, he's never met me and I'd be handing him a picture of himself, but it'd probably be worth it in the long run. As long as he was flattered rather than weirded out I'd be fine. I decided this picture would be the one to give him. Now all I had to do was finish it.

A couple hours later found me putting the finishing touches on the painting. Next step: finding the man. And then getting him to take it. Maybe I'd throw in trying to convince him I'm not a stalker.

I don't think this is going to be as easy as it sounds in my head. I don't really think it sounds easy in my head…

I picked up my paints and washed my brushes in the sink. Leaving them sitting on the side to dry, I grabbed my painting with barely contained excitement and bounces out of my door heading for the park. I wanted to start somewhere where the man might be at this hour. I had never seen him in the alley this early, so I'd save that for last on my little excursion through the town. Meandering my way through the park turned out to be a little bit of a letdown. I was hopeful when seeing little signs of movement but it never turned out to be him. I saw an extreme Frisbee game. Plenty of people were reading under the street lamps. There was even a couple out for what appeared to be a romantic night under the stars. But the person I was looking for was nowhere to be found. So much for this being easy… I checked a few other places around town before exhausting all of my options. Might as well check the alley now.

On my way to the small side road I looked down every street, and small pass for a sign of the man in hopes that he'd be down one. My heart was beating fast with anticipation. I was rarely ever this bold about anything. Giving this painting was almost like screaming my attraction to this guy. In a totally artistic kind of way. You know he had a good face for modeling and had that whole mysterious vibe going on.

On this seemingly impossible mission I got bored of walking in silence and began to hum a song to myself. And to be honest I was feeling a little uncomfortable. You know that eerie feeling you get. That one like you're being watched. Yeah? I had that now. I wonder if the man felt this way when I watched him and that's why he had started visiting the alley less. I heard a noise and snapped my head toward the sound.

Go figure… It just so happened to be coming from a dark alley. Not the one I was used to seeing the man in, but one really close to it. So what did I do… yup went down the alley looking for the source of the sound. That's obviously the smartest decision when by yourself late at night. Putting my unease behind me I pressed forward into the alley in search of my man…eh. The man.

"Should have brought a flashlight," I muttered as I descended deeper and deeper into the alley. It was dark and I'm a wuss. Light always made me feel braver.

I heard something right in front of me. There was a pitter-patter of feet. A loud clang made me jump. The sound reverberated off the walls on either side of me, looking for a way out of this place. Maybe I should too… Whatever it was rolled a few seconds until it came to rest directly in front of my feet. It was a trashcan. Rustling was coming from inside toe metal bin. And then all at once the rustling stopped. The thing making the noise had sprung out of the trash and head butted my leg. Then it continued to weave in and out of my legs rub against them. It was small, furry and adorable. I'm so glad I came into this alley. I set my picture on the ground gently and crouched down to pet the animal that had caused all of that noise.

"Hey kitty cat, what are you doing here?" I smiled at the tiny gray fluff ball. It was beyond cute. After a few minutes of loving the cat had enough and scampered away. Just like that it was time to resume my search. I picked up my picture and headed toward the first place I had seen the man.

I was one short block away from my destination. My heart was fluttering in my chest and my palms were sweaty. It was like I was going to give a speech. Never thought I'd get so nervous about meeting someone. I guess I just really want him to like me. I turned the corner into the alley.

It was empty.

Oh great. I deflated. My whole body felt heavy. I had wanted to meet him, thank him so bad and he wasn't here. I suppose I could just come back another night with the painting, but I really wanted to give it to him tonight. Don't ask me why it matters so much. I don't know.

I sat down on the fire escape steps and held the painting in front of me like a lifeline. Maybe he'd come through later? Yeah… I'd wait here for a while and he'd show up. I looked at my cell phone for the time. 12:22. Wow lots of twos… Maybe an hour. If he wasn't here in an hour I'd leave.

I sat there staring out at the road forever. Wouldn't it be funny if he came in from the other side? He'd probably give me a heart attack.

But he never came.

I was just about to get up and head home when I heard a commotion coming from behind me. Going with the theme of the night, I'd like to say it was another animal. This noise really didn't sound like a harmless kitty cat. Maybe it was a dog. Yeah, that had to be it. And in the next alley I'd see a goat… or something. I heard a noise almost like sucking, slurping. Okay if it was a dog it was sick. I knew if I didn't go see what was wrong with it I wouldn't be able to sleep. I left my painting sitting on the fire escape steps and went to investigate a dark alley for the second time this evening.

I blushed.

It was a couple. In the middle of a heated make out session. I had just witnessed something way too private for my liking. They were really going at it. I averted my eyes not wanting to watch them but too afraid to move. Didn't want them to notice me standing there and as of yet they hadn't. I heard that slurping noise again. It was so loud it actually made me jump. My gaze shot back to the couple. I know there was some spit involved in making out but it just sounded way too gross.

Oh… God. Holy poop on a popsicle. They weren't making out. The man was… Jesus. The man was tearing the woman's neck apart. Blood was gushing from the wound. Each time the man bit down he dug deeper into her bloodied neck. There was a squishing sound. I felt sick. That hadn't been spit swapping I'd heard but her blood oozing out from between his teeth. I gagged.

The man looked up from his meal's neck and smiled, a revolting grin filled with meat and blood. Human meat and blood. I puked. I couldn't help it. He was still looking at me as I watched the woman shuddering in his arms. She was still alive. And the way the man was looking at me, I'd be the next course. I tried to move, but was literally frozen in terror. I had always laughed at movies where the heroine would freeze up in life or death situations like this. It was stupid. But now I felt every bit the scared little girl they were. Maybe movies knew what they were talking about…sometimes.

I couldn't tear my eyes away, couldn't even blink. The man realized by now that I wasn't going anywhere. His grin widened. A piece of flesh fell from his abnormally sharp teeth. Oh, God…

It was one of the creepy guys. The predators, definitely predators, from in front of Tim's. The woman in his arms went limp in his arms. He gave a guttural chuckle and muttered, "Pathetic."

I watched horrified as the man dropped the body. Apparently I was more interesting than the bloodied woman. I was in trouble. He started slinking toward me taking slow calculating steps. Come on legs, now's as good a time as any. Work!

"Oh, is little Allen afraid?" the man jeered.

Afraid? No. I can honestly say I'm not afraid. I passed that a long time ago. I'm absolutely petrified.

Wait... He knew my name. Oh, yeah Tim. Thanks...

Good news though. At the sound of his voice my legs decided it was a good time to work. I slowly began to back away from him. He increased his pace.

I spun around and started running for my life. If I could just get to the fire escape… I smashed into something hard. Another guy. The other in this set of two. He wrapped his arms around me holding me in a vice grip. I'm totally and completely screwed.