A/N: Story is partially based on my dream.

Supernatural. An area that many are unable to comprehend, especially in our century of science and technology. People might think that they know everything, that all can be explained scientifically, but it is one big delusion. There are still many mysteries that science is unable to explain. Many of us think: if something is not visible to the eyes, then it doesn't exist. Right?

Wrong.

Humans are not the only beings that inhabit this world. Moreover, there are other dimensions beside the one humans live in. And sometimes a few of them are lucky or unlucky enough to encounter visitors from these dimensions, entities that own the ability to cross the border between their and our worlds, and if you find some being appearing to you more than once or following you constantly, it's a sign that it is interested in you for some reason or wants something from you.

This is the story of Lena Firth, one of the rare humans beings that encountered a malevolent visitor from another dimension.

Lena's life has been rather usual, nothing out of ordinary. She finished studies, both bachelor and then master program, and now worked as a manager of a grocery store. Everyone in her area knew her as a very practical and hard working person, and, at the same time, an interesting conversation partner. People thought her to be one of those so-called realists who would dismiss such things as ghosts, spirits, etc., as a fairytale or a fruit of someone's sick imagination. But oh, they were so wrong... Lena might pretend to be like that, but deep inside she believed in all this otherworldly stuff and was sure that people are not alone in this world. But she was ashamed to speak about it, as she didn't want to be known as a psychopath or anything of that kind.

And so her life continued until recent days. While going to work and back, the young woman had a strange feeling... like of being watched. It's like someone or something was following her all the time, but she could not see it. Lena thought she might be paranoid, but feelings of that kind never appear from thin air. If you suddenly feel nervous, there is always a reason for this. But even more strange is that she began feeling like that after she found out that some time ago in her neighborhood a whole family of four members were literally hanged by their necks on a branch of a tree in the backyard of their house. And the fifth member, ten-year old Stephanie, has mysteriously vanished without a trace, and nobody has still found her, just like no one has found the murderer yet. It made Lena remember a few more cases she had heard about murdered families. Some were burnt alive in a garage, some were drowned in a swimming pool, some had their throats slit. And each of the cases involved a missing child of every family. But there was one more case, more recent one, with the Oswalt family, and that was terrifying. One day, when Lena went back home, she saw a bunch of police cars surrounding a house and a crowd of onlookers. Curiosity got the best of her and she dared to approach one of the officers and ask what happened. It happened to be a deputy that knew the writer, Ellison Oswalt, personally and tried to help him to solve the cases of murders and missing children. He told Lena that Oswalt was a true crime writer and planned to write a book about the Stevenson family that was hanged on a tree and whose daughter, Stephanie, went missing. As the deputy and Ellison Oswalt maintained kind of a friendly relationship, he was saddened by the death of a writer and his family. Oswalt himself, then his wife, Tracy, and their son, Trevor, who was twelve years old at the moment, were brutally murdered, dismembered with an axe. Their seven-year old daughter, Ashley, vanished, just like the kids of all previous deceased families.

All of this sounded frightening, but Lena couldn't resist the temptation to find out more. It was like something was urging her to dig deeper and find out what it was all about. It seemed that this deputy had information and she managed to convince him to tell more. When he asked her why she needed all of it, Lena confessed that she couldn't find peace because of being sure that somebody was stalking her. So they arranged a meeting at Lena's place to talk things over without any other person listening. When he arrived, the woman invited him to the dining room for a cup of tea. He gladly accepted the offer and sat at the table, holding a folder in his hands.

"So, Ms. Firth, let's get to business. You said someone is stalking you. Who is it? Have you seen the person?"

"I don't know who it is, and that's the main problem," Lena said. "I couldn't see him well, I just noticed from the far distance that the guy was dressed in black and had dark hair, approximately till the shoulders. But that's it, I can tell no more. He was very far away from me, and I've spotted him a few times, the last time was today on my way to work. I have told about it to my colleagues and asked whether they had ever noticed this strange guy, but no, neither of them had. So is it only me that is seeing him? I might sound crazy, but I know one thing for sure – I'm scared, deputy. I'm very scared. I can't sleep peacefully at night because of fear. I literally feel the presence of something, and it is following my steps, although keeping distance, for now."

"All right. But why are you interested in these murder cases for the first part? Do you think there is a connection between them and this stalker of yours?"

Lena cleared her throat and answered:

"I'm kinda sure about it, deputy. Let me explain. I think this because the stalking began right after I found out about the Stevensons and the murder cases before them. If it started before I got this knowledge, I wouldn't be that much worried, and I doubt that someone would need to stalk me at all. It might be a coincidence, but I doubt it. Something tells me there is a connection, and I want to make things clear."

Deputy scratched his head and told:

"That sounds scary. When I spoke to Mr. Oswalt, he also complained that there was something in his house, he also felt the ominous presence. And he didn't believe in anything paranormal."

"But do you believe in it?" Lena asked quickly.

"Of course, I do," deputy replied. "I told him that if I were him, I wouldn't stay even for one night in a house where the whole family was hanged by their necks in the backyard, and their daughter is God knows where." Then he opened the folder and pulled out a few photographs with a strange symbol in them.

"What is this?" Lena asked, studying the pictures.

"You see, Mr. Oswalt moved to that house intentionally, without telling anything to his wife," deputy explained. "He wanted to write his next book about this case. And then he found a box with a projector and several reel of Super 8 mm footage. These films were actually murder footage of several families. And these pictures of a symbol that I'm showing you right now, were spotted in the films by Mr. Oswalt. He managed to scan them and printed them out."

"So is it some Satanic stuff actually?" the woman asked, her curiosity growing stronger with each second.

"I don't know what it is, but it's definitely something of the occult," deputy replied. "I advised Mr. Oswalt to call the University and contact professor Jonas, the occult crime expert. He could give more information about this symbol, if he had ever stumbled on it."

"And? Did you speak to Mr. Oswalt about it afterwards?"

"Yes," he nodded and pulled out a few more pictures, this time containing the images of a strange, creepy figure. "This is another thing that Oswalt spotted in the films."

"Who is this?" Lena stared to the images in fear, feeling hot sweat covering her face. This figure was eerily similar to the guy that was stalking her.

"Well, Mr. Oswalt didn't tell me all the details of his talk with the professor, but one we understood for sure – this guy is behind all those murders. When we began our first talk, Mr. Oswalt asked me to help him to find out the exact addresses of all the deceased families, and I found the connection between each case. If you put them in chronological order, you can draw a line from murder to murder. I found out that each family lived in a house where the previous crime happened. For example, the Millers, who got their throats slit, have previously lived in Sacramento, where the Martinez family was burnt in a garage. And the Martinez family, before moving to the place where Millers died, previously lived in the place where a family was drowned in a swimming pool. And now, the Oswalt family lived in the house where the Stevensons were hanged, then they moved to the place where they were dismembered. I realized that if the family moved to another place, they sped up that guy's timeline and put themselves into it. I don't know who this strange guy is, but I have a feeling that he killed the families and kidnapped one of each family's children. We're investigating, but it will take hell of a time to find him and the missing kids." Noticing that Lena's face was already covered in sweat, he stopped talking, concentrating his sight on her fully. "Are you alright? Ms. Firth, if there is something you want to tell me, do it. You can speak frankly with me about this theme, considering how much I have already told you."

Lena took a paper towel and wiped the sweat from her face. Her heart was pounding like crazy. Now she was absolutely sure that it is definitely this guy following her. But why? – she thought to herself. - What does he want from me? Does he know that I've found out about his crimes? If so, then how could he know that? Millions of questions raced through her mind, but she could find no answers to any of them. It was pure panic inside of her, although she did her best to hide it.

"Deputy..." she began through heavy panting, lifting one of the images of a spooky guy. "I'm now sure that it is him that stalks me. This figure in the photos shares too many similarities with my stalker – black clothes, dark hair and pale face. So much I could notice. I think he somehow found out that I know about his crimes and now he definitely wants to get rid of the witness."

Deputy took another sip of tea and tried to calm the woman down.

"Don't worry, Ms. Firth, we will do our best to prevent another murder, if that is his intention. I sure would also like to know who this creepy bastard is, and if he is interested in you, he will definitely show up again. I will contact the police station so they can arrange the patrol of your area and your house specifically. The suspect is keeping distance, at least for now, which is good, so we will keep a constant eye on you and try to catch him. I can only hope that we succeed."

"Thank you very much, I'd be very grateful for that," Lena sighed. "I'm very afraid, really."

"Try to stay calm and don't panic," said the deputy, packing the images back into the folder. "I'm glad you told me about it. I will also speak with the sheriff and offer an idea of demolishing that house where the Oswalt family was killed, so no unfortunate potential victims could suffer their fate. There have been too many tragedies, and we're not going to allow another one to happen."

Finishing his tea, deputy stood up and spoke:

"Well, thank you very much for the tea. It's time for me to go now. As I promised, I'll arrange the police patrol to keep you safe. You have my phone number and my e-mail, so feel free to contact me anytime."

"Thanks, deputy," Lena said with a kind smile, shaking hands with him. "I want you to know that I truly appreciate your kindness. I count on you."

"Of course, it's my pleasure," he smiled back. "I tried to help Mr. Oswalt as much as I could, but... you see the result. He and his family were already doomed when they moved into the crime place, so I'm afraid there was not much I could do. When I met him, he was already too far with his investigation. So... if you see that guy again, let me know at once, alright?"

"Sure, I will," Lena replied while he stepped out of the house. "Thank you once again and good night."

"You're welcome," deputy smiled. "Good night and stay safe."

After he left Lena's place, she sighed in relief. She was happy to stumble on this kind man that was more than willing to help. She had much information to think about and truly hoped that they will manage to get their hands on that creepy asshole. She was still nervous, but at least now she could count on help. With this thought, Lena went to bed, hoping for a peaceful sleep.