For the next five years Sarah would have many close encounters with the creature so many children feared those years ago. He would always lurk out of sight from anyone but her, his body slightly hidden by the tree or pole he stood behind. That same, expressionless face would stare at her for what felt like hours. And so long as she did not move toward him, he would stay. He would continue to watch her. And yet, even as she came to notice that he would not run should she not chase...each time she met his gaze she would race after him, always just out of reach of his sleeve before he simply vanished. Each time she would find the same strange symbol, carved into a tree or scrawled onto the ground. That same circle with a sloppily placed X through it.<br/><br/>Ten years old, she would still eagerly watch for him whenever her parents were busy fighting. Today was no different. He stood silently as he always seemed to do, by the same tree marked long ago. It seemed wherever he would leave a mark would be his vantage points to watch over her, his invisible eyes staring from the wooded hill behind her home. And as always the screeches would echo into her ears, like incoherent messages just for her.