3:13 p.m.

Laurie placed several books back in the school library's 500 section from the cart in front of her. She was almost done for the day by now, with only five more books left to put away. She'd become a library aide in her sophomore year, and had always gone about it with a sense of enthusiasm, much to the delight of the librarian, who was normally understaffed.

For some reason she didn't understand, the homeless man she'd noticed at lunch had been nagging at her all day. Even though he'd disappeared after she'd first noticed him and hadn't come back, there had been something unnerving about him that she couldn't quite figure out.

Placing the last books on the shelf at the very end of the row, she wheeled the cart back to the front desk. "All done, Mrs. Talbot," she announced to the librarian, an elderly woman with graying hair.

"Thank you Laurie," the librarian smiled approvingly, "We should have several new titles in after Halloween for you to catalogue. You know, it's going to be so hard next year without you around to help out."

"Well, I know you'll manage somehow," Laurie gathered up her school supplies and jacket, "Have a good afternoon, Mrs. Talbot."

As school had ended a half hour ago, the hallways of Haddonfield High were mostly deserted as she left the library and bustled down the hall towards the front door. There were a few sounds from several classrooms along the hall-the sounds of teachers grading papers, or several school groups holding formal meetings-but otherwise the building was rather quiet. Outside, it seemed warmer than ever; at least the upper sixties, Laurie figured, throwing her jacket over her shoulder. Already, though, she could make out some darker clouds streaming in over the western horizon, likely heralding the storm they'd been calling for the last few days for that evening.

These, however, weren't the only thing she saw at the moment. Standing right across the street, staring at her, was the homeless man-or so Laurie thought, for she blinked for the briefest of moments and he was gone. She frowned; had her mind played a trick on her just now? She glanced up the street in both directions, but there was no sign of him-or any other pedestrians for that matter. Shrugging, she started walking off towards home.

There came the honking of a horn by the curb nearby. Laurie looked up, but they weren't honking at her. It was Janet, and she was parked in front of Ben Tramer's house. Laurie's heart almost skipped a beat when he came out the front door, and was compelled to scramble out of sight behind a hedge. If only she could just get up the nerve to talk to him, she rued, she would feel infinitely better about her life. At the moment, however, she didn't have the courage, and could only watch with more than a slight feeling of jealousy as he climbed in with Janet and the two of them drove off together. She shook her head softly. Someday, maybe someday...

Then she saw the homeless man again. This time he was leaning out of an alley directly ahead of her, looking right in her direction. He immediately slid back out of sight once it was clear she was staring right back at him. On a whim, Laurie ran towards the alley-only to find it completely deserted when she arrived. And furthermore, she could see no way he could have gotten out of it that quickly. She was now quite confused-and worried.

She started walking more quickly up the street. The wind was now starting to pick up, and that only added to the strange sense of foreboding Laurie was feeling. Every block, she stopped and looked back to make sure the homeless man wasn't following her. There was no sign of him behind her, but somehow she felt he was still there...

It wasn't until she reached the safety of her house that she breathed a sigh of relief. Double-locking the door behind her-something she ordinarily didn't do-she barely had time to collect herself before the phone rang. "Yes?" she asked after picking it up.

"Laurie, it's Mrs. Doyle," came the familiar voice, "Would you be open for tomorrow night till about midnight?"

"Um, I think I can," Laurie told her. She had taken to babysitting for extra money, and as it was, the Doyles' son Tommy was one of her favorite "customers." "What time would you need me for?"

"Seven, if you can make it."

"Seven would be fine, Mrs. Doyle. I'll see you then," she nodded as she hung up. Every little bit helped towards college, she figured. She turned away from the phone...

...and let out a loud shriek. For the homeless man was right outside the window, practically right against the glass, staring right at her. Almost instinctually, Laurie dashed to the fireplace and grabbed a poker; if he meant to come in, she was going to go down fighting. When she turned back, however, he was gone again. Very hesitantly, she approached the window and glanced around outside. No sign of him at all. A quick check of the other windows confirmed he had completely vanished without a trace-if, of course, he'd really been there at all in the first place. She put both hands to her face. Was she starting to hallucinate? If so, what was the significance of the homeless man...?

She was so much on edge that she cried out yet again when the phone unexpectedly rang a second time. She almost dropped the receiver to the floor in her anxiety. "What!?" she half-shouted once she'd gotten a better grip on it.

"So what's the matter with you?" it was Annie.

"Oh, uh, nothing, it's...nothing really," Laurie said, relieved, "You, uh, just caught me by surprise there."

"Well once you get back to normal, or what passes for normal for you, how would you feel about coming over for the evening?" Annie inquired, "I could really use some help on that literature paper for tomorrow."

Laurie weighed her options. Her gut told her she'd appreciate company at the moment. "Uh, sure, sure, I'd love to," she agreed, picking up the entire phone and carrying it over to the window for another look outside. Again, no one was visible...now. "Say, uh, Annie, are you there now?"

"No, I'm calling from the phone booth at the corner of Birch and Locust; my mom made me go pay the electric bill for her, even though I don't see how she couldn't have found the time herself. Why?"

"Oh...nothing," Laurie said softly, "Um, if you are out and about, how you drop by here when we're done, and we'll walk over together, then?"

"Are you all right, Laurie? You sound like you've seen a ghost or something."

"No. No, I...it's just, I thought I saw someone following me on the way home, and I'd just feel a little better if we went together, if that's OK."

"So you've finally got a secret admirer, huh, Laurie?" Annie kidded her.

"I'm serious, Annie, I got a bad vibe off this man...!"

"OK, OK, just relax. Sure, I'll come on by if you'd feel more comfortable with a chaperone. I'll go by Lynda's when I'm done here and get her now too if she'd make you feel safer too."

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that; safety in numbers," Laurie nodded softly, "I'll be ready when you get here."

"I'll be there in ten minutes, so hold it together till then," Annie informed her as she hung up. Laurie bustled to the door, unlocked it, and cautiously stuck her head out. Still no sign of the homeless man. And yet, she could feel his presence somehow. She hoped he wouldn't try following her again-if he was real...

Michael, however, had no further intention of pursuing her at the moment. He'd verified her base location, and that was all he needed right now. As he lumbered down the street away from the Strode house, his thoughts were on getting transportation to Dr. Clugg's performance that evening. He'd seen from several promotional flyers attached to telephone poles around Haddonfield that it started at seven at the Ambridge Town Hall, meaning he still had several hours. Michael, however, knew he had to find just the right vehicle, one that could carry everything he needed and not look out of place doing it, and thus far such a vehicle had been hard to find.

He was so lost in thought that he jumped in surprise when a bizarre-looking man in a loud plaid tuxedo leaped out in front of him. "Hiya pal!" he proclaimed, giving Michael's hand a vigorous pumping, "Chet Vett's the name, and I've got the deal of a lifetime for you, my friend. Follow me, and I'll show you how my new improved Stain-Off products can get the toughest messes clean, something somebody like you who lives among dirt can appreciate. Come on, don't be shy now."

He dragged Michael towards his van parked nearby, which had his name and the byline PROFESSIONAL SALESMAN AT LARGE written on the side in large balloon letters. "Now you're probably asking yourself, will this be a waste of my time?" Vett droned on, not even giving Michael the benefit of a glance as he pulled him into the back of the van, "Well my friend, let me give you a demonstration here to show you that Stain-Off really works. Let's take that cap of yours for example," he snatched it off Michael's head, "Suppose something like this was to happen," he dumped several bottles of ink and spaghetti sauce all over it. "Ouch, that's not pretty! But watch how new improved Stain-Off can tackle even a tough job like this. We'll just throw it in this jar of water, throw in a little Stain-Off, and watch what happens when we mix it up real good."

Michael wasn't watching. He was examining the interior of the van itself. It was more than large enough to transport the items he needed. True, it wasn't exactly what he wanted to be caught driving around in, but it would have to do. His gaze fell on a length of cord lying on the floor...

"Voila! Good as new!" Vett held up the cap, which was far from clean, "Or close enough. Now I can tell you don't have that much money on you, stranger, but I can offer you a gallon of Stain-Off for the low, low price of a hundred and fifty dollars. Whatdya say?"

Michael answered by shoving the van's door shut and wrapping the cord around Vett's neck. "Help! Police!" Vett gasped, thrashing about like a fish that had been caught. He kicked over his jars of Stain-Off in a panic before finally collapsing dead to the floor. Michael stared down at the salesman's body. For once, it appeared he'd done the world a favor by killing someone.

He rifled through Vett's pocket for his keys and climbed into the van's driver's seat. A low rumble of thunder echoed in the distance as he pulled out into traffic, his next destination Ambridge and Dr. Clugg...