“I saw a piece of head and a shoulder at the edge of the wall and kept walking, I don’t know why. At two meters, it jumped.”
It is said that the Children are not always visible pursuers, and that sometimes one splits from the pack, gets ahead of your route by a side path and waits. The archive has gathered the accounts, but none has been repeatable.
The three phases according to the accounts
| Phase | What happens |
|---|---|
| Going | a child moves away along a side route toward a point ahead of you, without entering your field of view |
| Waiting | still at its post, facing your route, and may lean out |
| Jump | when you pass within two meters, it lunges |
The spot is always one hidden from you but visible from the path and two meters from it, such as a corner, a recess in the wall or the edge of a column. The rule of the gaze still holds, and if you see it, it stays still. Even so, at two meters or less it jumps even if you are looking, with a single scream.
When
The accounts agree that it happens now and then and not always. Those who have suffered it speak of stretches six to fourteen meters ahead, of waits of up to twenty seconds or so, and of a child that, if you don’t pass, gives up and returns to the pack. The jump is slower than its sprint, at about three and a half meters per second, and ends in a grab and a push, without damage.
The peek
While waiting, the child sometimes leans out toward the side you are coming from, so that a piece of head and a shoulder show at the edge of the wall. It does this once or twice, for a couple of seconds, when you are between three and ten meters away.
The torso tilts about twenty-five degrees and the head somewhat less. It is the clearest sign there is and also the easiest to mistake for a shadow.
How to survive
- Before rounding a corner, open the angle, hugging the opposite wall and leaning out with your eyes before your body.
- If you see a piece of head or shoulder, don’t come within three meters. Back away and find another route.
- Warn your group in a low voice, never by shouting.
What people say
Some say the ambush fits with the pack’s stalking phase (stalking along routes) and others that it is a separate behavior.
See also
The Pulse, Grille, which punishes the same lapse.