She stopped for a moment and looked around, before breathing a sigh of relief, she was safe, for now at least. Everywhere she went, there he was, simply watching her, never taking his eyes off of her. She’d been to the police, they simply brushed her away, telling her they couldn’t do anything until she had proof that she really was being followed.

At first, she found it flattering, and endearing, the way this man would often show up wherever she was, but as time went on, and his appearances became more common, she began to fear the man. Why was he always there? How did he always know? And why did he never say a word? Eventually, she began to see him in her dreams, or to be more accurate, his eyes. While the rest of him would occasionally appear in her dreams, the common fixture was the eyes. No matter the subject of the dream, no matter how good or bad, how realistic or surreal, his eyes would remain fixed on her. 

After a month, she began to change her habits, which worked for a few days, but he caught on to her soon enough, continuing to observe her wherever she went. She met his gaze a few times, as her way of letting him know she saw him, but whenever she did, a warm, content smile would appear on his face, a smile devoid of any malice, yet all the more terrifying for it. What was he planning? Only he knew, and by the time she found out, she feared it would be too late for her.

Months passed before she finally snapped, moving out of her apartment and relocating to the other side of town, making sure to keep up appearances as her belongings were moved, while mixing up her daily routine in an attempt to confuse him. While this was no longer necessary, she hoped it would help shake him off as she relocated, stopping him from following her. 

Within a week, the move was finished, she’d been able to properly relocate without being seen, and for the first night in months felt relaxed. There were no eyes plaguing her dreams, no fear of being watched in the morning, and no fear of what her stalker would do to her. All through the night, she slept soundly until the beeping of her alarm clock woke her, telling her it was time to wake up and prepare for the day ahead. Sitting up in bed, she looked to her nightstand and reached for the alarm clock sitting upon it when a small, crumpled piece of paper caught her eye. Assuming it was some information about the building she had taken down and forgotten about, she opened up the piece of paper and gazed at it for a few moments, trying to make sense of the words on the paper: “You’re so beautiful when you sleep.”