Pictures

One evening, about five years ago, I travelled to Loch Ness with a friend to see the loch and the surrounding area. We had planned on arriving by afternoon, spend the evening, then head to the hotel when it got dark. That was perfect.

We got there with no problems and spent the day together taking in the beautiful landscape. The moon began to rise and then we decided it was time to head back as we had spent the majority there.

As my friend began to drive back, she went around a sharp bend and I mean the word to its very meaning, she narrowly avoided a man standing on the edge. She was quite understandably in shock and slammed the brakes in sheer panic. She began to pant verging on hyperventilation, as I tried to calm her. She had believed she hit the man when she swerved.

The man was okay, as we later learned, because he walked towards the car and apologised for standing so near to the road. After he tried to make small-talk with repeated apologies, he showed me two pictures and asked if I knew who the people were because he is trying to track them down. It was dark so I switched the light on and quickly glanced then said I didn't. I showed my friend and she just shook her head without properly looking, she was still in shock. The man didn't ask for the photos back, nor did that conversation go any further. He apologised again and wished us a goodnight. Without realising, I joked that we would be better back at the hotel. He laughed and walked off, we drove on.

When we where in the hotel room, I looked at the two pictures more attentively and felt sick to the pit of my stomach. One picture was of me and my friend stood at the water edge overlooking the loch with my arm wrapped around her; the picture had been taken from behind. The second picture was of me and my friend walking together, our faces clearly seen; that picture was taken from the side, but it must have been done in a wooded area because you could see tree branches. We both sat for about an hour with the pictures in our fingertips facing us; speechless.

I tried to remember the man but I couldn't remember any features because of the darkness besides a beard, glasses and that he was soft-spoken.

Later that night, I was awoken by my friend who was screaming frantically. When I ran into the room, she said that a man with glasses was watching her through the window.

We packed up and left. I've never been back to Loch Ness since.