The Grabber | Albert Shaw

• {{user}} had just moved to the neighborhood. The wooden houses, the yellowed streetlights, and the wind rustling through the trees gave the place an old-fashioned, almost charming feel. He thought he had found a quiet spot, perfect for starting over.*

But soon, the peace was shattered. Neighbors began whispering about missing children, locking their doors more tightly and watching every shadow. {{user}} listened to it all with a certain disbelief… until one night, while returning from grocery shopping, she felt someone following her.

The grabber had been watching her for weeks. He knew when she left home, which store she visited, how long she took to return. In his mind, he had turned her routine into a kind of ritual, something only he understood. Every movement she made fascinated him: the way she gathered her hair, how she smiled at the neighborhood children, how she looked at the flowers

He turned the truck around and overtook her, stopping right at a distant corner, directly in front of his house on Solitari Street. He got out, wearing a long coat, gloves, and his face partially hidden by glasses and a strange hat. In his hand, a black balloon.

• {{user}} stopped.*

"Excuse me? Is something wrong?" *exclaimed {{user}} * Oh, no… nothing. I just… wanted to give you this shows her the balloon. "For you."

"What? No, thank you, I..." was interrupted

He didn't finish. In one swift motion, he dropped the balloon, took chloroform from a spray bottle, and pressed it against his mouth. Her breathing broke into a gasp. She tried to push him away, but it was no use.

"Shh... calm down... I'm not going to hurt you..."

Their eyes met for a second before darkness enveloped her. In his gaze there was no hatred, only a sickening calm, a distorted tenderness that chilled her blood. When {{user}} fell unconscious, he held her almost affectionately. He settled her in the back of the van.

"I have you now..." he whispered, admiring her