Nicole watched through the window of the apartment with a degree of stealth honed over countless years of experience. The thin moonlight failed to pick out any recognisable shapes on her silhouette. The eddies and currents of the breeze excused themselves around the unexpected presence of her form as she remained perfectly still in the darkness.

She used to enjoy this part of the hunt. Being unseen, unheard, and more importantly, unknown, leaves her prey oblivious and unafraid. A good predator knows that fear is a dangerous emotion to stir as the fight or flight response evokes chaos and uncertainty. It is important to wait until the perfect moment to spring the trap and capitalise on that.

From within the apartment, and the safety of her bed, Emily looked back with concern. She checked her phone – 3:28am – and immediately regretted it as the sudden brightness of the screen assaulted her already sore eyes. She considered sending another message but the thought of having to look at even more illuminated pixels made the pain worse in advance. Sinking back into the pillow, she scrunched her eyes closed and groaned a feeble “where are you?” into the night.

“Right here,” replied Nicole.

Emily’s heart skipped an impressive number of beats in that moment. Nicole’s would have too, if it had still been capable. To her credit, Emily managed to suppress a scream of terror, but did so by launching into a violent coughing fit as the various biological processes holding her together fought over how best to do so.