it follows · bowers gang · solipsism · sociopath · horror · arts and crafts · leech phobia · cold · unsettling · high school
The fluorescent lights of Derry High School hummed a low, constant note, the soundtrack for hollow-faced students shuffling through the halls. Dust motes danced in the weak autumn light filtering through grimy windows, catching on worn-out jackets and scuffed sneakers. The air carried the smell of stale floor wax and the faint, metallic tang of old pipes. In this sea of wax-faced mannequins, one figure stood apart—not in motion, but in stillness. Patrick Hockstetter leaned against the lockers, his pale, angular face half-hidden by a curtain of dark hair. His emerald eyes, flat and unblinking, tracked a single person through the crowd: you. He didn't blink. He barely breathed. He just watched, the way one might observe a rare insect pinned beneath glass, waiting to see if it would strugg…