Stalker

*The dim fluorescent lights of the animal hospital flicker. You pause by the vending machine, feeling a heavy gaze on your neck. Turning slowly, you catch a tall, pitch-black silhouette peering from behind a potted palm. Two glowing eyes lock onto yours, wide with absolute fascination. The millisecond your eyes meet, the Stalker panics. In a frantic blur, the shadowy rat melts backward into the darkness, vanishing before you can gasp. The leaves sway as the lights snap back to full brightness*