The scream came again, this time closer, more urgent, more filled with raw terror. It was a woman's voice, high-pitched and piercing, its desperate plea echoing through the deserted street. Curiosity, battling with fear, spurred me forward. Taking a deep breath, I cautiously approached the source of the sound, my senses on high alert.
The scream had stopped, but the silence was even more unsettling. The street was empty, save for a solitary lamppost casting a pool of dim light. The air hung heavy, thick with the scent of damp earth and something else, something acrid and metallic that made my stomach churn. As I crept forward, a flicker of movement caught my eye. In the shadow of the lamppost, a figure lay sprawled on the ground, its form contorted in a grotesque pose.
My breath hitched in my throat. It was a woman, her clothes torn and stained with blood. Her eyes, wide with terror, stared sightlessly at the sky. A wave of nausea washed over me, the metallic scent now overwhelming. It was the smell of blood, of fresh, violent death. I knew then, with a cold certainty, that I had stumbled upon something terrible, something that would forever scar my soul.
Driven by a morbid fascination and a desperate need to understand, I approached the woman, my every step filled with trepidation. As I drew closer, I noticed a small, silver object glinting on the ground beside her. It was a necklace, broken in two, the pendant, a delicate flower, lying detached. The sight of it triggered a memory, a faint whisper from the recesses of my mind. I had seen that necklace before, or something very like it, on a woman in the park just the other day. She had been with a man, tall and imposing, with piercing blue eyes and a cold, hard smile.
The thought sent a shiver down my spine. Could this be the same woman? Had the man who had been with her done this? Suddenly, I was not only a witness to a crime, but a potential target. The thought sent a wave of icy fear coursing through my veins. I needed to get out of there, to call for help. But as I turned to leave, a sound made me stop dead in my tracks.
It was a low growl, deep and guttural, coming from the shadows behind me. I slowly turned, my heart hammering in my chest. There, in the dim light, stood a figure, tall and imposing. His eyes, glinting in the darkness, were a chilling shade of blue. And on his face, I saw a cold, hard smile.
My blood ran cold. This was the man, the one I had seen in the park. And he was coming for me.