This is the most terrifying thing that's happened to me, and I still don't fully understand it.

About a year ago, I was at my favorite local mall. It was in the evening, so there weren't nearly as many people around as there would be during the day. I was walking through the corridor that connected the food court to the department store section of the mall. I wasn't carrying anything and I had my headphones in, listening to music.<br><br>I walked a bit faster when I heard footsteps behind me. I thought it was a store employee, but they were walking exactly at my pace. The mall was quiet, and it had been so long since I'd heard footsteps behind me walking at my pace that it sent chills down my spine. I walked even faster.<br><br>Then, whatever was behind me started running towards me. I suddenly stopped, turned around, and started to run towards the food court. Whatever was behind me was gaining on me, so I ducked into the first store I saw and frantically looked for someone to help me.<br><br>I saw an elderly woman behind the register, and I told her that someone was chasing me. She stared at me like I was a nut, and then looked out the large window of her store into the corridor. The first thing she said was, "Well, they aren't chasing anymore." The first thing I thought was, "Oh shit. I'm actually being chased by someone, and this lady just validated my paranoia!"<br><br>I asked her to call the police. She said that she didn't have a phone on the sales floor, so I asked her to call from the back. I gave her my phone, and she called 911. While she waited for the police to arrive, she asked me to try to see the person that was chasing me from the window.<br><br>The elderly woman behind the register handed me her binoculars. I used them to look out the window from behind the thick glass, and saw a young man wearing a red hoodie and jeans running away down the corridor. He looked like he had just gotten in trouble with the law and was running from the cops. He didn't look like he was trying to hurt me. At least, I didn't think he was. It's possible he was, and I was just trying to justify what happened next by convincing myself that he wasn't.<br><br>I watched him through the binoculars until he turned a corner at the end of the corridor and disappeared from my view. I was still shaking and confused. The elderly lady that helped me asked me if I was okay, and I told her that I wasn't sure. She then asked me why I thought someone was chasing me. I told her that the reason I thought someone was chasing me in the first place was because I was listening to music on my headphones, and I hadn't heard that person behind me until they started running. She told me that the reason she hadn't heard that person was because he was wearing a red hoodie. <br><br>I asked her why it was significant that he was wearing a red hoodie, and she told me that because she had just looked out the window to see if he was still running away down the corridor, and he stopped about 20 feet away from her store, looked up at the ceiling, and took off his red hoodie. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him, then tossed the red hoodie over his shoulder and kept running.<br><br>I was confused by what the lady told me. Why would someone do something like that? If someone was really chasing me, and they saw me duck into the first store I saw for cover, would they not stop and check the store to see if whoever they were chasing was inside? If the person that was chasing me saw me go into the store and didn't check to see if I was inside, then I wasn't being chased by someone. The lady told me that the police were on their way, and to be patient. I was still shaking and confused, so I sat down in a chair near where we called the police.<br><br>The elderly lady kept asking me if I was okay, and I told her that I wasn't. She offered to get me a drink, but I declined. She then told me that she used to work at the department store located on the other side of the corridor that I was walking down when this happened. She said she worked there from the early 80s to the mid 90s, so she knew that corridor very well. She told me that if the police said there wasn't anyone around when this happened, then I wasn't being chased. She told me that if the police said there was someone around when this happened, then I wasn't being chased either. She said that if the police didn't show up at all, then I wasn't being chased. She then told me not to worry about it, and to be patient. <br><br>I sat there shaking and looking out the window at the corridor, waiting for the police to show up. I waited and waited. After a while, I started to feel silly. I thought about what the lady had told me, and I realized that she was right. Either way, I wasn't being chased. If I really was being chased by someone, then I wouldn't have heard them behind me if they were wearing a red hoodie. If I really wasn't being chased, then the lady was right again. The police wouldn't show up, because nothing was wrong.<br><br>I looked at the lady and asked her if I had been in the store the whole time. She said that I had. I told her that I liked her, and I thanked her for helping me. She told me that I was welcome. She then told me that she was old, so she might not be around much longer. She said that she wanted to see me again sometime, but that she couldn't guarantee that she would be around. I told her that I understood, and I asked her if she could show me where the red hoodie was. She told me that she threw it in the trash.<br><br>I picked myself up from the chair and asked her where the red hoodie was in the trash. She pointed out the large trash can near the register that the red hoodie was in. I picked it up and looked at it, and saw that there were bloody scratches and stains all over it.<br><br>I kept the red hoodie and left the store. I never told anyone about this, including my parents, because I didn't want to look crazy. It's the most terrifying thing that has happened to me, and I'm still not sure why the man was wearing the red hoodie or why he stopped running when he did. I still keep the red hoodie to this day, but I don't go out very often.