It was one in the morning and the perfect time for certain individuals to go about their business. This was zero hour, the time when a good proportion of people formed an exodus out of the night clubs. There were some that would try to hang on until morning but the majority, usually worse for wear started filtering through the streets. Rich city folks were easy pickings for the likes of Rick and his wing man Mike. Dressed in jeans they blended in with their surroundings and kept to the shadows. Like the large African cats they stalked their prey. One would stand watch whilst the other would make a run at a hapless victim. Rick was on lookout duty this time. Always made sense to keep an eye out for trouble that was wearing a uniform. Business was good tonight and if Mike pulled off the next strike then this would be the third hit in an hour. Rick like Mike preferred to target women. They usually put up less of a fight than intoxicated guys although they had made mistakes in the past. A flash of a knife though was all that was normally needed to get a gal to hand over her valuables and the job was done. It therefore came as no surprise to hear the shrill scream of a woman a few minutes later and then Mike came steaming around the corner grabbing items out of a handbag. By the time he reached Rick he had got the valuable stuff and tossed the unwanted leather bag on the sidewalk. Though Rick wanted to know how big the haul was it did not pay to hand around and stand talking, in case the victim had friends. Once clear though Mike examined everything he had got under a streetlamp. “Whadaya get?” asked Rick. “Found some rich bitch. She got a load of cash, probably from daddy and we can go spend on her gold card. I also got…” Mike’s voice sort of tailed off and he stared into the distance with his jaw hanging down. “Hello, anybody home?” enquired Rick. “Shaddup, we got company!” Rick spun around to see a figure at the other end of the street. It was male and wearing a sort of cloak or cape with a scarf around his neck which had been wrapped to form a bandanna around the lower half of his head. The upper half of the head was in shadow, eclipsed by a wide brimmed hat. “Hey what do you want?” demanded Rick. The man did not respond but did start to move towards them. “I said what do you want.” “I want you to learn what it’s like to be a victim.” Rick was growing tired of the stranger. “Yeah right!” If the man wanted a fight he could have one. The stranger advanced and Rick held his ground. He looked over to Mike who appeared a little less confident. The figure continued to close at walking pace. Rick was not intimidated. The stranger reached a lamp post blocking the direct path but instead of skirting around it the man simply walked through it, its body sort of breaking into a mist like form and then returning to solid. “What the hell is that?” asked Mike Rick was not a little less sure of what was happening. The stranger obviously picked up on their expressions and laughed. “Run!” it growled and for the first time Rick felt fear. A moment later he and Mike were running in the opposite direction away from the stranger. As they ran through the streets Rick kept looking back. The man seemed to keep chase and then one time Rick looked back and it was no longer pursuing. “I think we lost him” said Rick trying to catch his breathe. Mike looked relieved and then looked up and pointed. Rick followed the direction of the finger and saw the figure running along the fire escapes leaping from one to the other over seemingly impossible distances when it reached the end of one building and traversed to another. Mike did not wait for a response from his partner and simply began running again. Rick was mere seconds behind. For ten minutes they tried to shake off their tail and then the stranger was gone. Now exhausted the pair of criminals leant against a wall as they tried to recover. “What the hell was that thing?” asked Mike. “No idea.” “They call me the Sleep Walker”, said a voice and at that point a head and torso emerged out of the wall behind them. It then put and arm around Mike’s throat and retreated back through the wall. The arm seemed to remain solid was Mike began choking since he was now pinned against the masonry. Rick did everything he could to try and separate his friend from whatever it was but it was no use. He tried stabbing at the arm but every time he hit the flesh turned to smoke and the blade passed through. In a matter of moments Mike was out cold. Unconscious but at least alive at which point the arm retreated through the wall. Rick was hoping that the ‘Sleep Walker’ or whatever it called itself was gone but his luck was out for the stranger emerged out the wall. Before Rick had time to react he felt two hands grab his shirt and the entity raced up the side of the building taking him along for the ride. Having already seen the impossible Rick was not really surprised that the stranger appeared to run up the wall as easily as a normal person could run down the pavement. Finally, they got to the top of the building and the stranger returned to a normal standing position but with Rick held at arm’s length over the edge of the building. “Not quite so amusing to pick on the weak is it?” asked the stranger. “P-please don’t kill me,” gasped Rick. He then felt the rather nasty feeling of warm liquid travelling down his trouser leg. “No he’s waking up” muttered the stranger to himself. “Alright I guess I’ll give you and your friend this one chance. Return what you have stolen tonight and take up honest work because if I see you again then next time I will not be so nice.” The entity then pulled Rick over the edge of the building before dropping him onto the flat roof. As Rick lay there in shock he watched the stranger slowly start to fade to nothing. “Spread the word that there’s a new guardian in town”. With that said the stranger vanished altogether. Elsewhere in the city and man awoke in his bed. He looked at the clock and it was a little after two. He was finding sleeping difficult and more than a little disturbing lately because of all the strange dreams he’d been having. Most dreams faded to nothing very quickly but these had been quite vivid and in this last one he remembered dreaming that he had beaten up two hoodlums. This was quite laughable in many respects since he was not the heroic type but that did not matter…it was a dream after all.