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The man had a slight waddle in his gait as he traversed the park lawn. His polished black wing tips squashed pleasantly against the moist sod and his breath came out in unsteady gasps. He held a small brown briefcase in his right hand and the bulge of his light blue business shirt exposed his mild obesity. It seemed strange that he would chose such a route given the numerous gravel footpaths that webbed through the park into the world beyond. What an interesting character. Sarah Gallagher shifted position for a better view and swung her legs over a branch of the oak tree she was sitting in. People watching. Sarah was a regular visitor of this park on her off-hours from the mechanics shop down the street. She enjoyed the entertainment that came from relishing in other peoples' activities, and the fact that she was never required to spend anything more than her time. Over the years, she had witnessed countless meetings and family get-togethers from the several vantage points around the park. Dogs chased geese around the small, shallow pond, company barbecues were held, and area children staged dramatic wars with brightly colored water pistols. She never tired of watching other people live their lives in this town. It was too intriguing. At the present time, she found herself fixated on this overweight businessman; the modern cliche of corporate America. About 50 yards away, he approached a bench on which sat a middle aged woman dressed in office attire. She rose to meet him, said something, and they briefly shook hands. Sarah had witnessed several meetings like this before, but something about this one struck her. Like looking through a piece of warped crystal, there was something unsettling about their encounter. Something almost imperceivable. Something wrong. The man fumbled through his briefcase for a moment, pulled out a green file folder, and handed it to his contact who reviewed its contents for a couple of minutes before stuffing it into her own briefcase. The two exchanged words for a short time and the man pulled a card out of his shirt pocket and began writing down what she was saying. Something wrong. What was she saying? Sarah was suddenly overcome by a frantic need to understand the situation, which was out of character for her. People watching was a passive hobby. It seldom ever required action on her part, but this seemed like a special case for some reason. Was he writing down a dictated memo? Deadlines? A phone number? Sarah's eyes glazed over as thoughts spun wildly through her head. She had to know. Needed to know. Needed. * ** *** ** * He looked up from his note card and was met by a puzzled stare from his boss. She winced slightly and appeared to be lost in deep thought, though it seemed strange that she would have to think this hard to remember her own street address. He waited a moment and was about to ask if something was wrong when her face relaxed and she blinked furiously as if fighting off unconsciousness. At that same instant he felt a chill wash over his body and was overcome by the premonition that he was being observed. His eyes darted around the park, searching for the onlooker, but nobody was acting suspiciously. A couple was walking a dog down the footpath on the other side of the pond, a young man was reading a novel on a shaded bench, and a woman was taking a nap in an oak tree. He raised his gaze to the buildings across the street. * ** *** ** * Sarah searched the woman quickly, intent on finding the reason for her own anxiety. She glided through the woman's brain, scanning her thoughts and gathering information on the situation below. The woman held some kind of executive position and the man she was talking to worked for her as a courier. Delivering packages? Perhaps not as innocent as it seemed. Another sensation entered Sarah’s mind, though. It was a sort of lightness. An intangible quality that shone bright in contrast to the dark weight that had pulled her deep into the situation. No, the woman was not what had aroused her curiosity. She turned to the courier. The man’s mind, by comparison to his superior, was a chaotic tangle of fast moving emotions and confusion. Sarah tried desperately to sort through the mess but found herself hopelessly unequal to the task. She had been too careless with the woman, she thought. Her search had involuntary stimulated the target’s body and had awaken the man’s apprehension. Sarah was about to give up when she sensed a sudden pulse in the man's thought pattern. Fear. Relinquishing a little bit concentration, she opened her eyes and noticed the man cautiously scrutinizing the windows on a building across the street. He knew he was being watched. Sarah snapped her eyes shut again and dug deeper into his thoughts with a renewed urgency. * ** *** ** * No curious faces looked back at him through the windows of surrounding buildings. He returned his attention to his boss who was now regarding him with curiosity. She asked him if he was feeling all right, but the question flowed through him. He had the feeling that he wasn't all there, like part of his consciousness was elsewhere. But where else could it... He found himself staring at a blank wall. His thought had simply broken off midstream and had vanished. What had he been thinking about? He couldn't remember anymore. All that was left was the awareness that he was being watched. From where, though? His boss eyed him with concern and he realized he had begun to say something and had trailed off. What had he been saying? He hadn't even been aware that he had been talking to begin with. The feeling again. Something was watching — no, not watching — probing. Something that he couldn't see was breathing down his neck. The presence was so thick that he almost bite into it. An experience of this sort would have normally sent him into a state of alertness, but the aphasia that had now washed over him prevented any physical response. Instead, anger took its place. His mind welled with undirected rage. * ** *** ** * Sarah had found the source of her uneasiness. It moved rapidly amongst the confusion, veiled in secrecy and continuously disappearing. The difficulty she faced in following this thought was comparable to tracing the path of a grain of sand in a great whirlwind. For several moments, it looked as if the maelstrom would be too difficult to navigate, when everything she saw suddenly slowed to a stop. Sarah had little time to interpret the meaning of this when the man's entire brain seem to rupture into a froth of crimson and gnashing black fangs. The horror of these new sensations sent a violent shock coursing through Sarah's body that knocked her, flailing from the tree. She gathered herself quickly and focused the last of her mental energies on the man's rage. Sarah saw nothing definite in the turmoil of his thoughts for several moments. Then gradually, she began to notice the distorted grimaces of human faces. They emerged from the foam with tormented screams frozen to their faces and were quickly overcome by others more horrible and more contorted. She saw the faces of men and women of every age, unrecognizable in their pain, calling out wordless pleas for mercy. Then a new face emerged. Briefly, as in the flicker of an instant, it turned its gaze to Sarah in bewilderment before it was swallowed whole by the other specters. Sarah recognized it immediately and let out a gasp of fear. It was the face of the man’s boss. The woman who stood only a short distance from her down the footpath. Only too clearly did she understand this image. Sarah tried to rise to her feet but a sharp pain in her thigh prevented flight. Her mind had become fused to the man's and was presently bombarded by thoughts of greed and ruthless wantonness. She tried desperately to detach herself but found that it was now him that was holding onto her. Claws of malice ripped at her mind. * ** *** ** * He turned his head quickly and glared with tiny, pig-like eyes to the ground where Sarah lay. He felt an undeniable desire to crush her skull between his fists and turned, momentarily from his boss, to the detestable creature sprawled on the grass. He took a step toward her and found himself frozen once again. No strength of his own will would uproot his feet. It was HER! She looked up at him with shock and scrambled about for a moment before falling flat. Yes. She was weaker than she could have known. There was no possible way to... He stopped. She was looking at him again, but through her fright, he perceived a threatening knowledge. Icy sweat stung his eyes and chilled him to the core. His very thoughts betrayed him. She knew what he was. * ** *** ** * For endless seconds, Sarah struggled under the enemy's grip. He was more than she had ever experienced in her quiet past. She strained her head to look into her attacker's eyes and realized with full terror that she was staring into the dead eyes of a damned soul. A seasoned murderer. Even as she thought this, the color drained from his face and an animal whine wheezed from his throat. Without looking back to his supervisor, he turned and sprinted from the park, dropping his brown briefcase in the gravel. The woman was left staring quizzically at the man as he disappeared into the busy streets. Quietly, Sarah used her good leg to stand and noticed that the woman was still looking out into the city streets. Sarah fought the urge to approach her and explain herself. She knew that she had uncovered important secrets in the past minutes but was loath to involve herself further. Her head throbbed mercilessly. What business was it of hers, after all, to meddle in other's personal lives. The wind picked up and prickled the skin on Sarah’s bare arms as she brushed wet blades of grass from her fleece vest. The woman had not shifted her gaze and Sarah felt a pang of guilt for not telling her about the man. But how could she? A saddening realization came to her: no one she would ever watched was as innocent as she might try to believe, herself included. Tears slid down her mud stained cheeks as she gagged down her resolution. Nothing she could do. Sarah turned away from the woman and walked back down the footpath. Unintrusive. She was a nothing more than a people watcher. Just an observer. Nothing more.