Four years ago, my girlfriend and I were studying in Canterbury, Kent. One evening, around half past ten, we went out to meet a friend for dinner. Her house was just a short walk from my girlfriend’s flat, so we decided to go on foot. Everything seemed normal as we strolled along, chatting casually. To get there, we had to turn left at the corner.
We were nearly there when, mid-conversation, my girlfriend whispered, asking what was coming toward us in the distance. I glanced sideways and saw a figure about two streets away, moving in our direction. It was tall, bulky, and walked almost sideways, hunched over. Though the street was dark, it was clear it was moving quickly—almost as if it was trying to catch up.
It struck us as odd, but we assumed it might just be a local, perhaps a homeless person. We kept walking and turned the corner. Just a couple of houses away, my girlfriend suddenly gripped my hand tightly. She asked in a terrified whisper if I’d seen what was behind us. I turned immediately, and there, right at the corner we’d just passed, was the same figure.
There was no way it could have reached us so fast. We’d seen it much farther away mere seconds ago. Fear took hold, especially when it started moving again—quick, almost straining, but closing the gap between us.
We ran without thinking and reached our friend’s house. We pounded on the door desperately, and she opened it at once. We rushed inside without a word. She took one look at us and knew something was wrong—we were pale and out of breath. Her little dog began barking fiercely toward the street, as if something—or someone—was still out there.
Seeing how shaken we were, our friend assumed we’d been mugged. When we finally calmed down enough to explain, she and her parents went outside to check, but there was no one. The street was completely empty.
That night, we couldn’t bring ourselves to go back to the flat. We stayed over, the fear still pounding in our chests. To this day, we don’t know what was following us, but we both agree on one thing: Whatever it was, it didn’t seem human.
Sometimes, the eerie and unexplainable lingers just beyond the edge of sight—a reminder that not everything in this world is as it appears.
