I pulled the hoodie over my head, as a cold wind amassed around me. Despite the events of last night, winter was still ravaging like a ferocious beast.

The accident had caused a sprain in my left leg ankle, nothing serious, but I was slightly limping as I walked towards my home.

The road was empty as usual. The only streetlight in the far end of the road was flickering like it always did with a grim grainy buzz. Moon was shining bright in the night sky, but a shadow of darkness loomed all over the valley because of the enormous cloud of fog.

The sound of the night was familiar to me. The constant whistling of the wind as it blew through trees, branches, and bushes; occasional howling and hooting of nocturnal animals and birds; squawks and buzzes of insects; it was all music to my ears. The snow under my boot crackled with a satisfying crunch as I walked. It was as if nature was orchestrating a beautiful symphony for me...

until I heard something else.

I heard another set of footsteps walking, right behind me. It was quite unusual as my house was the only one at the end of the road. I stopped and turned back to see who it was. But there was nobody. The road was empty.

Weird, I thought as I started walking. And then I heard it again, quite clearly this time. Someone was walking behind me, slowly, the sound of the snow crunching under footsteps, I could hear it quite clearly. I turned around in a panic to find nobody. I listened for footsteps but the only sound I could hear was the grainy buzz of the light bulb as it flickered.

By then fear had started to get it's hold on me. I turned around and paced with my sprained leg, and so did the footsteps behind me. I ran as fast as I could without looking back, and it too was behind me, running. I heard the sound of a hard-paced breathing following me and I was terrified beyond words. It sounded like that of an animal's, but the footsteps, that was human. I didn't know what in the hell was running behind me. But i was too scared to look back.

I pulled the key out of my pockets and turned it inside the keyhole as fast as I could. I leaped into the house like a prey trying to escape its predator. I shut the door, bolted it and pushed it as hard as I could with my hands. I was expecting someone/something to crash onto the door but nothing happened. A minute passed and I heard nothing. I raised the window curtain and looked outside. Nothing was out of ordinary.

I was shivering. I turned on the room heater and changed into something comfortable. I was afraid to turn off the lights. I sat on the couch, turned on the TV and pulled a blanket over me.

The night was still young.