Nathan wakes softly to the pale light of fall’s morning sun. Around him, the old house creaks and groans as if in greeting and a warm weight on his chest tells him that his on and off roommate is paying him a visit. After a good ten seconds savoring the feeling of the mattress’ warm embrace, Nathan stands up and curses and blames past Nathan for agreeing to go for a run with Ambrose.

The old house is not completely his. A two storied affair sitting in the middle of the woods half an hour from central Hallows (such as it were), it had been in the family for a century and currently belongs to him at least on paper. He lives there rent free but for taxes, utility and having to protect the clearing and garden from the ever encroaching forest, with the implicit obligation that large family gathering would take place here. It feels like home. When someone drives into the clearing for the first time they can see it standing in the middle like an old lady taking the sun. A front deck with a multitude of chairs speaks of summer grills with the family, and the wooden façade tells of age. The guest would then enter the house on the first floor and find stairs leading up up and down, a recently renovated kitchen and a huge living room with an old oak table that could seat fifteen people. The second floor is home to three bedrooms and two bathrooms and the basement and attic are mostly for storage. The furniture looks like they have been accumulated over a century, which they have, with only the strongest chairs surviving through a process of large ass resistance based natural selection. The general feeling is one of a family house well lived in but without more people it feels a bit cold.

Looking out the kitchen window to the front deck and his car, Nathan thinks about what had happened yesterday. He wants to believe that fear played a major role in turning an addict into a monster it was not. Yes, it was probably that, just an addict in the middle of a dangerous high.

Probably.

A mewl makes him look down. Bismarck the stray bumps his head against Nathan’s leg in a show of affection coupled with a wrestling move. Bismarck is absolutely enormous and Nathan will never forget the first time he had fed him fish only to find a dead rat the size of small dog on his mat the next morning. A favor for a favor. Bismarck purrs in appreciation of an ear scratch before exposing his belly in the traditional cat hand-slicer move.

“No thanks” Nathan wisely comments before retreating to prepare for the run.

Forty minutes later and ten kilometers away, Ambrose runs up to Nathan as he finishes his stretching. He is twenty minutes late, as usual. He looks red in the face and decently embarrassed.

“I’m so sorry man, I had a call from my boss and I really could not tell him off, I’ll make it up to you I swear.”

Nathan feigns a scowl before granting Ambrose forgiveness. Ambrose is often late because of his duties and Nathan just decided to work around his schedule and besides it would feel really low to scream at a guy who labors during the weekend for free and for the government, no less.

“Next beer is on you” says Nathan before starting.

The two walk away from Hallows Memorial Entrance. A long walkway circles Hallows only park, with around half dedicated to the history of the region. Patches of local flora with notes explaining their properties alternate with historical buildings dating back to the region’s earliest colonization or weaving industry period. The place itself is just nice and makes the run just a bit less awful. The added bonus is the other runners.

Nathan notices that Ambrose is already starting to stare at spandex clad posteriors and decides to direct the conversation before Ambrose starts grading them. As usual, Ambrose is dressed to kill and probably wears five hundred bucks in elegant sportswear. Nathan does not even bother because he knows that within an hour he will be sweaty, red in the face and breathing like an anvil. Ambrose is not only six feet tall, he is also a very serious runner and Nathan will attempt to match his speed then fail.

Momentarily distracted, Ambrose starts a slow jog and details with a knowing smile how he managed to bullshit his way through having his love interest be assigned to the project he is currently managing. As Ambrose explains each step of his machination, Nathan wonders wether he should kill him now to save the US from a future evil president or just plan his own escape to Nicaragua. After a while though, Ambrose stops talking. As this is the signal that shit just got real, Nathan focuses on long strides, breathing and keeping pace.

The both of them fall into a routine and soon they reach the furthest corner of the walk. That is when Nathan stumbles as his new sense screams at him.

Expecting certain death, Nathan sees his life flash before his eyes and regrets not calling his mom more often and that he forgot to return that library book back in seventh grade. He quickly regains control of himself and scans the surroundings. Between him and the wall surrounding the park there are but a few trees with bare branches. The undergrowth is reduced to a minimum with the season. In the distance, he can catch a glimpse of a mill replica. Besides him and Ambrose who now wears a worried expression, there is just a depressed looking couple and an obese man trotting with a grim expression. Everything is quiet. There is no place to hide. So why?

“Are you alright there man?”

“Yeah yeah just a weird feeling in my leg, you go on ahead”

Ambrose goes on with a last look and Nathan does his best to bring his heartbeat down and stop panicking. Deep breathes.

As fear recedes and his heartbeat slows, his consciousness expands like a screen come to life. Colors, in bright hues ranging from peaceful green to the fiery red of dying leaves appear left and right in all shapes. Carried by the wind, wet earth and tree smells caress his nose. Looking at tree branches show them to be asleep, yet expectant. Roots reach below his feet from everywhere and here and there, there are creatures walking, flying and jumping. Behind this display there is an overarching feeling of life, expectation and … just a touch of anger.

Perception pops like a bubble and the distant sounds of city life rush back. This isn’t it. This isn’t it at all. The Stalker was a thing of cold, rot and death, a predator whose malice was so strong it was clear falling in its claw would be a fate worse than death. This is wild life, nature. He will not die today. Well at least not within the next five minutes.

The stunning realization of what just happened hits Nathan like a wall. He is experiencing a new sense for the second time in two days, and that leads to the most logical conclusion.

Nathan is insane

Although, come to think of it, Nathan remembers the face of the woman who had totaled the stalker, he also remembers what he had seen while walking back to Sara’s home: claw marks on the wall.

Nathan approaches a tree where he felt something move. On the lower branch, a small brown bird stares at him, unmoving.

Maybe, just maybe he is not crazy.

That leaves option two, as mad as it sounds: monsters exist. And there is probably one around.

By corollary: he can feel monsters and… Whatever it is he is currently feeling.

And lastly, if monsters exist then what else does?

Nathan knows he should feel fear or certainly be confused, however what he feels now is a strange mix of elation and disbelief, like a kid who thinks he discovered a hidden chest but not quite sure yet if it is real.

The potential implications are numerous but there is one overarching priority: Nathan needs to protect himself because the stalker had seen him, and for that, he needs to know more. Besides, if he is in fact insane, a possibility he has not completely discarded yet, better to know sooner rather that later. If he plans well he could possibly choose the wallpaper on his padded room.

In any case, the summer feel comes from beyond the wall of the park and that means the Salt Spring shopping area. This is where he will start to investigate.

Might as well finish that run.