For several months, an unsettling sensation has haunted you—a persistent feeling of being observed. This eerie presence seemed to follow you relentlessly, casting a shadow even within the sanctuary of your home. Friends and family dismissed your concerns as paranoia, attributing it to an overactive imagination. But deep down, you knew it was more than just a baseless intuition.

Today, however, the nebulous fear took a tangible form.

Seated at your cherished café, you savour a steaming cup of your preferred beverage. Nestled at a cosy table adjacent to the window, you watch as the autumn leaves perform their ballet in the brisk breeze, the sun playing hide and seek behind the occasional cloud. This café has always been a refuge, a place where the tendrils of anxiety could not reach.

But today’s tranquillity is shattered in an instant.

A casual glance through the window freezes you in place. Across the street stands Manic, his gaze piercing and devoid of emotion. The chill of his stare cuts through you, confirming the silent alarms that have been ringing in the recesses of your mind: he is the one who has been lurking in the shadows of your life.

The world seems to pause, the only movement is the silent standoff between you and Manic.

Then, reality resumes with the passing of a bus, momentarily obscuring the figure from view. It’s a brief interlude, but when the bus continues on its journey, Manic has vanished into thin air, as if he were never there at all.