Free Enchanter by Kristy Centeno

what it was until I glanced up and saw this incredibly
thin man standing right in front of me.
    This bastard was waiting for me to run before coming out
of his hiding place. He’s actually playing a game of cat and mouse with me!
    This man looked like something straight from some sci-fi
movie. He was tall, with long, white hair, unnaturally pale skin, and eyes that
seemed to have no irises at all. The fact that he appeared to be emaciated
scared me perhaps more than it should have. Like Brandon, this man wore dark
clothing, and like Brandon, the clothing seemed to make this creature very
menacing.
    This man certainly did not look like he was a healthy
individual, and I was very aware of the fact that I was completely alone with
him.
    What does this psycho want?
    To make matters worse, the man never moved. He just stood
there as still as a statue, his dark orbs never leaving my face. And they
appeared hungry – starving – as they observed me.
    “Are you drunk?” I asked as I got on my knees and pushed
myself into a standing position.
    As soon as I was facing him I noticed he was not very tall,
perhaps four or five inches taller than me. Even though he resembled a decrepit
corpse, I had the feeling that he was the one responsible for attacking me. And
if that was the case, I was in serious trouble. Because if he could toss me a
good four or five feet from the entrance of the alleyway in a matter of seconds,
what else could he do?
    Whether he understood my question or simply decided to
ignore it, I will never know. His only response was to hiss, and hiss unlike
anything I had ever heard before. It was some strange mixture between the
hissing of a snake and a growl from a cat. The strangeness of the sound caused
a yelp of surprise to escape my lips and I reacted by lifting the can of pepper
spray, squeezing the trigger, and releasing a shower of foul-smelling liquid
into his dark eyes.
    The man shrieked in agony and backed off, rotating in
circles while bringing both hands up to his face. His movements seemed to take
place at a speed far beyond a human’s capabilities.
    Are those claws protruding from his fingers?
    He swayed sideways and bumped into a small trash can,
forcing it to topple over. The loud clanking noise startled him enough that he
actually took off running deeper into the alleyway and then disappeared within
seconds. Having seen enough myself, I took off toward the sidewalk and ran all
the way home.
    Such was my hurry to arrive and feel secure again that I took
no consideration to whomever I happened to bump against while I fled the scene
of my attack. Never in my life had I given much thought to how fast I could run,
but I was scared enough by the absurdity of what I had just witnessed that I could
safely say it took less than two minutes for me to run the two blocks that took
me directly home.
    When I got to the apartment building, I did not even bother
with the elevator because it was usually full and I wanted to avoid any contact
with people I did not know. I ran all the way up the stairs to the third floor
and continued on until the door of the two-bedroom apartment I shared with Matt
came into view.
    In less than three seconds flat, I had the door unlocked and
was rushing in, nearly bumping into Matt as I bolted inside.
    “Geez, Leah, what’s wrong?”
    I slammed the door shut and locked it.
    “Leah!”
    “Someone attacked me.”
    His eyes widened. “What?”
    “Yes… I… he… I’m okay.”
     Matt reached out for me and pulled me toward the living
room. It was then I saw Xavier, Matt’s boyfriend of eighteen months, sitting on
the couch. By the looks of them, it was obvious they had been ready to go out
somewhere.
    “Leah,” Xavier’s eyes were as wide as Matt’s were, “you
don’t look like you’re okay.”
    “I wasn’t hurt, just scared.” Although, by the way my body
shook, it was no wonder they were worried.
    “Sit,” Matt ordered.
    “I’ll get her some water.” Xavier