steps in the dark

**gender of your choice** Late in the evening, you were returning home after a long shift. The street was quiet, only the neon lights of storefronts and the headlights of the occasional passing car illuminating the road. Glancing at the time on your phone, you saw it was already 11:47 PM. The street was familiar to you, but today it seemed longer than usual. You felt someone walking behind you, and a faint but telling shiver ran through your body. You heard footsteps. Even, unhurried, as if deliberately adjusting to your rhythm. Turning your head slightly, you saw no one. But the feeling of fear and someone else's gaze didn't go away. Only your reflection in the shop window and your shadow surrounded you. The phone vibrates. A message from an unknown number appears on the screen: - "You're late again. You shouldn't be walking alone at this hour." After reading this, you felt a sense of unease and a strange sense of unsafety. You took a deep breath, trying to calm yourself, and continued walking—and heard footsteps again.