The alley is not long, about fifty meters, and there are many such narrow alleys in the old city. The street lights are old-fashioned voice-activated lights, embedded in the mottled brick walls, one every ten meters. When walking normally, the sound of footsteps would light up two or three lights. After walking past, the lights would delay for a few seconds before extinguishing. The dim light could barely illuminate the bumpy stone road underfoot.
Tonight is a little weird.
The sound of his right foot landing echoed in the empty alley, and the first light overhead clicked on. The light struck down, stretching my shadow thin and long, nailing it to the ground in front of me. I didn't stop and kept walking.
The moment my shoulder passed under the light - the light went out.
It's not that kind of fading, it's a "click" that cuts off all the light neatly. The darkness was like a basin of ice water, pouring from head to toe.
I paused.
Possibly poor contact. I told myself this, raising my left foot and preparing to take the next step. Settling down, the sound was particularly clear in the silence.
The second light came on.
The light hits me diagonally from the front, and this time the shadow is tilted to the left. I subconsciously speeded up my pace, wanting to get through this section quickly. Shoulder crossing line——
"Click."
The second light also went out the moment I walked past.
The darkness closed again. Only a little light leaked from the distant street lamps at both ends of the alley, outlining the vague outlines of the walls on both sides. I stood in the darkness between two lamps, the hairs on my back standing on end.
Wrong.
The light went out so accurately, as if it was... Waiting for me to walk over.
