The past week had felt surreal. Not because of anything happening but because of the lack of anything happening. My injuries were healing up nicely and my routine was uninterrupted: wake up, go to work, come back, have some free time, and go to sleep. Everything was normal.

"But that's all I wanted wasn't it? For things to be normal- I don't trust this." I waved in farewell to my coworkers and stifled a yawn as I walked out to my car. "I still can't get enough sleep with all the nightmares... Something bad is going to happen. It has to. This is all just building up to something."

I sat in my car for a moment before turning it on and pulling out of the parking lot. Rather than going home though, I began driving to the park where I'd ended up getting hit. "If I go there maybe I'll get whatever they're planning over with... I can't just sit around waiting and imagining what could happen!"

Once there I parked and stared out at the large playground crawling with disgusting beings called children. Even from a distance I could tell they were drenched in sweat and my face contorted into one of disgust- I'd never understand why anyone would want them. But I wasn't here to pay attention to them, I was here for the walking paths in the forest beyond the playground. There was no guarantee I'd find anything or that anything was going to happen but maybe I'd get some answers, and if not I would at least get a nice walk out of it.

The paths went deep into the forest, though the map clearly depicted a lot more trees beyond where the trails began turning back. "I was probably back in there... Should I try going that far? No, no- don't want to get lost back there if it starts getting dark."

I picked a medium length path and began my walk into the trees. The leaves provided a nice screen between me and the sun, though the light still managed to dapple the ground and keep it brightly lit. I wasn't much of a nature person despite enjoying how walking could clear my head, but even I had to admit it was relaxing to hear the rustle of leaves above along with birds chirping on the occasion.

About half way done with the trail the peaceful feeling broke. Loud snapping sounds from branches being broken underfoot made me tense up alertly as I looked around for any sign of who was in the area. Red flannel caught my eye and I stared, a sinking feeling going through me, as I saw the man walking back to the path a short ways in front of me.

"Surely it can't be that same guy. I mean... he looks like- oh what did he say his name was? Tim? ...Yeah, I think so..." I debated whether or not to wait until he reached the path or risk continuing on walking by so my back was to him. "Was this a set up? Maybe- maybe the idea to come here wasn't mine... It felt like mine. I couldn't hear the noise- the grating whispering. Is this... just a coincidence? Can't be- nothing is when it comes to whatever those things are."

The man was on the edge of the path now, pausing as if to get his bearings before noticing me. For a moment we just stared at each other before I awkwardly looked away and began walking forward again, trying to stay on the opposite side of the path. Now that I was this close there was little doubt in my mind it was Tim- I didn't know many people who had sideburns like that.

I heard his footsteps follow after me before hearing him speak up, his voice hesitant and uncertain. "Hey, uh, sorry... Have we met?"

"Dammit... it has to be him then. How did he even recognize me?" I looked back at him curiously, as if just paying attention to him. "Uh... I think so? Your um, Tim? Right?"

"Yeah." He caught up as I came to a stop and I could tell he was shaken up over something.

A bad feeling crept over me but I pushed it to the side; it was only my anxiety acting up again. Everything was fine. He wasn't a complete stranger- just mostly one. "Ashley, I- I'm the idiot who ran in front of your car."

I looked away, embarrassed to recall that night given how pathetic I'd probably seemed. His tone brightened to a more lighthearted one. "Good to see you're doing well."

I shrugged and began walking again, this time with him joining me. "I've recovered from worse."

"Great... now he'll think I'm an idiot and accident prone." I still didn't look over at him as I hastily tried to move on from talking about it. "So, uh, what brings you here?"

There was silence for a moment. "I come here sometimes- today seemed like a good day."

"Funny, that's why I'm here... this can't be right." I once more surveyed the area around us, trying to appear nonchalant about it. "Same, nice bright day like this, I couldn't resist- no more late night walks after last time, heh..."

We fell into silence and I began to relax once more, though I couldn't help but worry what he could be thinking about this situation. "Does he find it odd too? I should've just said I didn't know him..."

I continued battling against my worries and tried to focus instead on the simpler things like the light dimming as clouds passed over it, the breeze, how the jacket I wore was starting to feel too hot despite knowing I wasn't about to take it off. It helped a little bit but even without looking at him I could still hear and feel his presence. Just me and him, a stranger, walking together on a path... I glanced over at him again to see he wasn't paying me any attention. That alone eased the tension I felt, at least he wasn't one of those overly social telling me his life story kind of people.

The sky was overcast by the time we got out of the trees and I looked up to see greying clouds up ahead- I hadn't even checked to see if it was going to rain today. "Good thing we finished before the rain got here."

The comment slipped out despite me mostly talking to myself. Tim looked over at me, as if pulled out of his thoughts. "Oh, yeah."

I began making my way back to my car, unsure if I should've said goodbye to him or not as I left him to slowly make his own way to the parking lot. Oddly, he was still wandering down the edge of the parking lot- still looking like he was lost- by the time I was about to leave. I wanted to ignore it and just leave but a figure in the distance caught my attention.

"What's it doing here? Why show itself now?" I stared at the suit wearing creature before coughing and shaking my head, feeling dizzy despite the distance between me and The Operator. "Is it because of him... or because of me?"

With an uneasy last glance in its direction, I decided to risk pulling over next to the sidewalk where Tim was still walking back and forth. I rolled down my window and looked out at him. "Hey, need help finding your car?"

The sick feeling in my stomach worsened in fear of him thinking I was acting weird. We'd barely met and here I was basically offering to help him after a chance run-in, which now didn't seem too much like chance.

"I was just waiting- a friend dropped me off here- they'll be here in a while..."

I looked past him for a moment to see it was closer now. My head was starting to feel the effects of its presence and whitenoise faintly played in my ears... I had to keep him focused on me and get him away. "I can't let him see it... I can't just leave him here... his life would become a living hell."

"I can give you a ride if you need- don't really have anything else going on today." I hoped I didn't sound creepy about the offer. "Just act normal... don't stare at it and maybe he won't notice."

"Uh, thanks?" He walked over to the passenger's side and got it.

"Least I can do." I began driving out of the parking lot, not wanting to chance anything now. "You offered to help me, I'm returning the favor."

"Plus getting soaked isn't typically on someone's list of things they like- and neither is getting stalked by faceless beings." I kept that last part to myself and turned on the radio, leaving it quietly playing in the background. "Just let me know where to go."

***

It was still raining by the time I pulled in front of the hotel he'd been staying in, which was surprisingly the same town I lived in- I knew this couldn't be coincidence by now. The street lights made the place look eerie and the flickering of the closest light was already starting to bother me.

"I uh, didn't realize you were staying in town." I looked over at his silhouetted figure. "Could've recommended some better places than this place."

"Not really... how could I have? I can't contact him- we aren't even friends so why would I have?" I realized the mistake after hearing myself out loud.

"You live here?" He seemed shocked, probably thinking I lived back in that other town.

"I went to college here... well, before stuff came up- ended up dropping out..." I turned to look down at my steering wheel. "It doesn't matter really. But yeah, I just ended up staying here- didn't have anything to really go back to where I lived before."

"I feel like I'm saying too much about myself... Am I being the tell your life story person?" I flickered my gaze over to him for a second to see he didn't seem annoyed by it or anything. "Um, anyway, hope you have a good night..."

He opened the door and looked back at me while I sat there anxiously trying to decide if what I was saying seemed strange or not. "You too, and uh, thanks for the ride."

A buzzing began ringing in my ear and my brain started to feel like sludge. "...N-no problem..."

I shifted my gaze towards the mirrors but saw nothing in them. I could feel the blood pulsing through my veins as my heart rate picked up. "He's around here somewhere... of course it followed us."

As soon as Tim was inside I left back towards my apartment. I didn't see Slenderman or The Operator despite the earlier warning signs one of them was around... Perhaps they were only observing, planning for the next move in this game of theirs.