The Watcher

Him

I wandered the barren streets, carefully examining each house in it's serene peace, almost daring something to go wrong. The silence was nonetheless haunting, as if something were waiting, wanting, watching.
At the end of Lincoln Street I spied a stranger. He was undeniably tall, inhumanly tall, with spindly legs and the air of someone who had nothing to lose. He took notice of me after a short while, and he called out to me.
"Good evening, Watcher!" Although his voice was loud and echoing, his tone was completely flat, as if he were feeling suddenly uncomfortable at meeting my gaze.
However, I was still taken aback at his knowledge of my name, for I was at a loss as to when I had encountered him before.
"With whom am I conversing, Sir?"
I inquired, my voice quivering more than I would've liked.
The figure laughed and grew much closer, so close that I might've felt his breath escaping his seemingly invisible mouth. The strange thing was, he seemed incapable of breath.
"You know me. You are one with the wisdom of an elder, but plagued with the fear of a child."
I begun to tremble violently, and I attempted once more to take a step back, to no prevail.
"I am there when you close your eyes, and I haunt your mind at night. I posses your shallow, flawed soul."
At this, I grew slightly braver. "You must be mistaken. You see, I fear no man." The man became angry at this.
"YOU ARE LYING, WATCHER! I sense your fear now, with every word you speak, and with every syllable you don't. I dwell inside you always, and you know that. You always try to silence me, but eventually, my child, I will hold the triumph."
Tears came to my eyes, and I sat down on the crumbling curb. "This cannot be. I'm the Watcher, I fear no one. No one holds the power to make me feel this way!"
The tall man said nothing, but sat beside me. For the first time, I heard a raspy breath expelling from the figure. This comforted me, for at least I knew he was alive.
"Do you have a name, Dark one?" I asked him, feeling slightly safer than I had before.
The man sighed softly, and he sat up a little straighter. "How can you yearn to know my name when you can hardly raise your eyes to mine?"
I exhaled sharply and cupped my face in my hands. "If you do not have a name, I shall give you one, for I cannot come to know one who is anonymous."
"I do have a name. I just fear that if I let you have ahold of my name, there will be nothing stopping you from taking all of me, and eventually destroying me."
"Why do you fear me?!" I asked incredulously, finally raising my eyes to the Dark one. "You are the unexplored, the unacceptable. You are the unknown. You are what we all fear the most."
"No. You are a danger to me. In my eyes, you are willing to exterminate me at any given time, because you are afraid to accept me.
Don't you see? You are the feared one. Because of you, I am trapped here. In this place. You don't belong here, either. There's so much more for you beyond this street. But yet you choose to dwell here."
I sighed, feeling weaker and weaker by the minute. "I choose to stay because this is where I am accepted."
"Then there is nothing more I can do for you. I refuse to be wasted because you chose to waste yourself."
"Wait!" I said urgently, and I turned to face the empty street surrounding me. The man was gone.
The street lights all flickered out in perfect sequence, except for the one that enveloped me. I was left alone in the spotlight. I sat there till dawn.
I sat there for weeks, months, even years. When the light of day would draw others out of there houses, they streamed by me, not even taking the slightest notice. I remained sitting there until the sun ignited its last day, always pondering what could've been.