Followed

When I step into the entrance hall, the same silence from earlier greets me, interrupted only by the steady tap of drizzle on the glass dome in the ceiling.

I'm standing in darkness. All the lights have gone out. I try one of the switches on the wall. Nothing happens.

Odd.

For a second or two, I think I hear footsteps on one of the balconies. Light rapid ones.

'Hello?' I call up in the darkness.

Silence.

I step outside and make my way across the car park. The evening has turned chilly with the scent of damp fields and manure lingering in the air. I cross the long grass plain.

Stop.

Footsteps behind me.

I swing round. 'Hello?'

No one there. Just grass and railings and single storey buildings that no longer serve a purpose.

I continue.

Turn the corner.

Stop again.

Look round.

An empty lane.

I resume my walk.

Stop.

Glance back.

Just the cooling towers.

I didn't hear anything.

Did I?

I check a fourth time, to make sure.

Nil. Lousy weather, that's all.