He stared out at the crowd.  Occasionally someone would turn to look, seeing him slightly more well dressed than those around him.  So many unknowing bystanders. His gaze was hollow and empty, never meeting his companion’s, who stared directly at him.  No matter how hard they tried, they just couldn't seem to pull themself to look anywhere but at him.  The way he looked at the forming crowd; as if they were just waiting to be used, manipulated.. Destroyed.  That seemingly empty look that somehow, without a single trace of malice, sent a strike of a fear so unfamiliar down their spine.  An uneased churning in their gut, as every fiber of their being told them to flee, to get help, to run away from this unforeseen danger that this man has brought; not only to them, but everyone else as well.

When this man spoke, there wasn’t any violence, or a single trace of a threat to be found.  His entire being was void of any emotion.

“Strange, isn’t it.. The way they all flock to a leader, yet claim they rule themselves?  Very peculiar thing, ordinary people. You see-” he started, suddenly pulling his gaze from the bustle of the street to look at them.  “-The ordinary person is so small minded. They think they’re so clever, but in reality, they’re nothing more than an insignificant pawn.” he says this, and suddenly, his demeanor changes completely.  He is no longer void, but not it is almost playful; as if he’s toying with them.  That this is nothing more than a game to him.

Then it strikes them.  They freeze completely, unable to move no matter how hard they try.  They’re positive that they are just as they were only moments ago; yet under his sadistic, amused stare, they feel as if there is nothing in the world they could do against him.  They realise just what it is he could do to this world if he wanted to. He could have anything.. And there was no one that could stop him.

Upon seeing their petrified state, he chuckles.  When he speaks, his voice is light, mocking, carefree.  As if they were merely old friends. Yet there’s a hint of an undertone to it.  One that came from the deepest parts of the mind; every word dripping with venom.

“You see it now, don’t you?  You see that I can’t be stopped.”  He grins at them, sending a shiver through their entire body.  Even as he grins, smiles, laughs.. It doesn’t reach his eyes. They remain a cold, and soulless.  As if he is nothing more than a predator, staring down its prey.

“You feel so threatened, yet i have done nothing to harm you.  It’s sort of an effect I have” he says jokingly. “You see, I have big plans for you.  Big plans for this entire town, actually. But you play a big role in it. See, this story’s all about you.  And believe me.. This is just the beginning.”

He smiles at them, and begins to get up, before turning back.  He says one last thing, before he walks out into the large group in the streets.  It was always like this in this part of town. That’s probably why he chose to meet here.  It’s somewhere he couldn’t be followed.

Later that night, long after they had retired back to their dwelling, they couldn’t help but replay that scenario in their head.  The way he carried himself. His very being seemed like trouble. Then they couldn’t help but find themself thinking about the last thing he said , as if their life depended on it.

For the next few months things went by slowly.  Everyday they went into town, in hopes that the man would be there, but he never was.  They knew he wouldn’t be, but there was a part of them, a foolish hope that maybe he would be. That one day he would be there, sitting at that bench as he was before.  They didn’t even know why they wanted to see him. They were in no way prepared to face him. He was dangerous, and as he said, there was no one in the world who could stop him.  For all they knew, he would kill them. And yet they still hoped.

They still went back, unknowing to the eyes that always followed.  They hadn’t known that they were being watch. That the man that they felt so threatened by months beforehand, had secretly kept an eye on them.  After all, he did say he had big plans for them, and he couldn’t go letting anything get in the way.