It was a cold Halloween night when I saw the hooded man. He seemed like he didn’t fit in somehow, and I’m not sure why exactly. He looked like any regular Joe on the streets, but for the fact that his over coat was black, and the clearly seen reddish brown stains along the bottom made him seem different. He was a tall man, about 6’ 7”, long black hair that traveled down the length of his back flowing with the wind like a sail. I couldn’t see his face, only the gleam of his eyes, light blue.

All the kids had gone home for trick-or-treating, it was about 9:00 and a school night, so I understood why parents would want their children home. I myself don’t have a parent to tell me what to do. I live with a few friends of mine and their parents, and they really don’t care when I come home, as long as I’m quiet when I do finally come home. So I was walking around, picking up stray pieces of candy that children dropped out of ignorance and excitement. Then, I saw him…

I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, and I have no idea why… He was, well, different and I don’t know why. But, he was walking on the same side of the street as me and as he was approaching, all I did was stare.
As soon as this man got past me, I fell. I was still conscious, but I couldn’t feel anything. I had all my senses but touch, it was strange. For a minute he loomed over me. Not a single soul, but us two. No one else roaming the streets. I started to get a little paranoid. What was he going to do to me? Was he going to drag me away? Rape me? Or worse… Kill me?

I soon passed out, the last thing that I remember was him pulling the collar down away from his mouth, and I started to cry. The mere sight of his face would make grown men scream in fear. All I could do was cry, and nothing else.

I woke up the next day at the police station, and my back was in a lot of pain. Burning, flesh searing pain. The police officers told me that I was found in a ditch, and they couldn’t get me to wake up so they took me into the station and put me in an empty holding cell until I woke up.

They let me out after I explained what had happened, but they didn’t believe me. I can’t really blame them, who’s going to believe a seemingly farfetched story told by a 17 year old girl? I know I wouldn’t.

I got home and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower, I felt grimy, dirty, and nasty. As I took off my shirt to get into the warm running water, something caught my eye in the mirror. On my back was a large black mark, a strange symbol. As I saw this, my blonde hair started to stain itself black, and my dark brown eyes were turning a bright, bright blue…