I feel it before anything actually happens.
That is the first difference.
Before, the predator announced itself through damage. Through fractures screaming open, through pressure that spiked so hard it stole breath and thought alike. There was always an impact. Always a wound forming somewhere I could point to afterward and say, that is where it entered.
This time, there is nothing like that.
No sudden thinning of reality. No cold clawing at the edges of my thoughts. No sense of being grabbed.
Instead, there is a shift in attention.
A weight settling somewhere nearby without touching down.
Watching.
I pause mid step at the edge of the clearing, fingers curling slowly at my side before I even realize I have stopped moving. My body reacts before my mind finishes naming what it feels.
