PRESENCE



The streetlamp stood like a lonely sentinel in a sea of mist. White wispy tendrils gathered around the rays like a halo providing a haven, a circle of light within the darkness creating a boundary of sinister loneliness and bleakness that Lilly knew all too well. She crossed the pavement in order to be comforted by the remaining light that was 50 yards beyond. It served as a beacon of console. The roads were quiet, far too quiet for this early in the evening. The last car had driven by about twenty minutes ago. She felt isolated. Yet she always had. She should be used to it.


She was returning from her auntie's 60th birthday party, and as she sadly had not maintained the driving lessons that she had started, she had to walk the half a mile home to the bungalow that she shared. Molly was away again on one of her assignments but luckily she had let Lilly stay with her for limited rent, as they had been close friends since high school. Molly was an achiever, Lilly was a survivor.


Crossing the road the mist around the light served as a nimbus of comfort, but her anxiety grew. The mist and haze yonder grew denser. She knew that beyond the street-light her remaining journey was going to be in darkness. She reached out for her mobile phone. It was buried in her pocket of her dark military jacket that she had saved up for so long that adorned a top shop dummy in the high street window. Due to her hard work at St Stephen's prep school working as a learning assistant, she had the funds to treat herself once in a while, shame she didn't prioritize her funds for her driving lessons.


Light rain caressed her face. Strands of hair now plastering against her pale face. She blinked away drips of light rain, as her eyes becoming moist with the precipitation. She turned to her phone and clicked a digit in order for a faint light to glow. This was better than nothing she thought. As she did so, she shone the phone just above her head so she could faintly search through the pathetic stream of light as she turned left after the final street lamp finally disappearing behind her.



She walked towards the darkness. Lilly managed, through the shadows, to see a distance of about 50 inches ahead of her. She tugged her coat closer to her body, feeling the icy chill that filled the air. Suddenly she heard a noise that was difficult to identify. It was a dull padding that resounded around her. She turned. Her hair now moist, was flat above her eyes due to the light rain that was continuing to descend upon her.


She was now sure the sounds were footsteps, but the mist behind her had become so thick with murkiness she could see very little and the dense vapour muffled and distorted all sounds. Lilly subtly put her thumb over the 9 on her phone, just in case. She knew she may be over reacting, she always had, and everyone had teased her for being so paranoid all the time. But Lilly knew. That was the problem. She felt. She felt too much. She sensed approaching happiness, pain, horror and joy. She felt she was cursed in a perverse kind of way. But lately she had been using this to her advantage. She actually could feel how others, usually strangers felt about her, and if she felt they like her, fantastic, she would happily befriend them. Occasionally though, she would feel the hostility, the annoyance of some people, so she kept well clear, or saw behind their fake exteriors and mould them into liking her. She was able to say the right thing if necessary. Manipulate them mentally.


As the sound behind grew nearer, she started to feel a strange aura. A feeling of alarm washed over her. She last had this awareness only about two months ago when her Grandmother became rapidly ill. She didn't suffer long.

Now, her skin started to heat up. The warmth rose up from her chest, flooding her neck and face with a flushed prickly glow. However, the surface of her skin was covered in goose flesh. This was not due t