Trouble in Tiltown

Missing Bo

Laurence's POV
I huffed as I slammed books down onto his desk. His eyes innocently looked up into mine as he sat comfortably in his chair.
"Yeees?" He spoke with amusement.
Fixing my hair and sweeping it out of my face before I stated, "You told me to pick up these books. We had a deal."
His eyes stared at the books, "Those aren't good enough." He scrunched his nose at them, judging them. My hand found it's way through my hair as I gently pulled at them, annoyed.
"You're a damn liar." I spat. He hadn't seemed phased by my accusation and instead, his mouth slightly turned up at the corners as his eyebrows raised. Was he impressed?
"Unfortunately, I'm not. How long have you lived here?" He inquired. Taken aback from his sudden question, I hesitated with my answer.
"I've uh, lived her since I was basically a baby." I answered.
He laughed a laugh that stuck in his throat, "Okay so you know nothing. If you had came to this town at a young age, you would be able to notice the things I notice."
My arms crossed at him, "I noticed a shadow out in the woods the other night." I smiled proudly of myself but I soon stopped smiling when I saw the fearful expression on his face.
"You saw it?" He asked as his eyes widened. Suddenly he ran over to his bookshelves that appeared they would fall apart any day now and began looking for a specific book. Instead, he pulled out a journal and shoved it into my arms.
"What's this?" I asked him.
He rolled his eyes at me, "Just read it." I sighed and began flipping through pages while my eyes went back and forth, up and down.
"I'm writing to you now at November 5th, 1996. I'm sorry I left you, I didn't want to. But I had to leave my past. I'm afraid they are coming for me. Help." It cut off the rest by a huge rip. I'm afraid of what it had said after.
"Is this-
"My wife. That was the only time she wrote to me." He explains with redness in his eyes.
"What's this supposed to mean?" I asked.
"This town is cursed if you haven't already figured that out." He scoffed at my idiocy. He walks over to his chair and sits as his small dog goes over to him, falling asleep rapidly.
"I mean, I guess." I shrugged.
He licked his teeth with a closed mouth.
"When you see the creature of this town lurking, it's a sign." He explains as his voice becomes lower than before.
"A sign of what?"
"A sign that they know, we know. The night my son went missing, a few nights prior to the incident, I saw a shadow in the woods." He admitted to me, looking at anything but my eyes.
"West," I paused, "What exactly did you see in those woods in 1992?"
"I saw the creature."
"Does the creature take people?" I inquired.
He glared at me, "Not the creature. The creature only lurks when it's time for them to choose and take people." I leaned down and got real close to his face.
"Who's them?" My jaw tightened as he laughed.
"You naive kid. Nobody really gets to know who they are. What you should be worried about is if you'll be next." He smirks slightly.
"Why would I be next?" I asked.
"Because you ask and wonder. They know you do." He tells me, raising a finger upwards. My feet backed up into the ladder.
"You're nuts." I rushed up the ladder.
"Don't ask, don't wonder!" He hollered after me as his voice boomed throughout the shed. I ran home, never looking back. My feet slammed against the pavement causing a slap each time my flimsy tennis shoes came back down.

I ran into my room and closed my blinds before snatching my dark curtains together causing extra privacy for myself. My hands met with my doorknob and locked it tight. As I searched through my computer desk, I pulled out binoculars and watched through the curtains and stared out into the woods. I stayed in that position for the next few hours, keeping a close eye on the darkened trees. My body flinched as the first rumble of thunder roared throughout the neighborhood.

                                 West's POV
I walked outside with my dog as he emptied his bladder multiple times around the shed. My eyes wandered over to the dark sky and noticed a strike of lightening shooting through the sky.
"Come on, hurry up." I spoke softly to my dog, Bo. He wandered off over to the trees and I watched the sky as he did his business. I had expected him to come running back to me, but he hadn't yet which was unusual for him. My feet took me over to where he had been but I still couldn't find him. I couldn't lose him too. My heart began speeding up as I searched frantically for Bo throughout the woods. Behind every tree. Every hole small enough for him to snug into. Nearby houses. A creek. Everywhere. As the thunder roared, rain beat down onto me.

I laid in my bed, not being able to shake off the worry of my dog being lost right now. However, the exhaustion in me got the best of me.

Amber smiled down at a tan and black dog that only was as tall as someone's shin. Her cheeks grew pink the more she smiled at the dog.
"Oh this one is just precious."  She giggled as it licked her cheek through the kennel door. I sat on the concrete flooring as I helped her do the same as her bump made it difficult for her to do so.
"We could have a dog like this for little Scott." She says as she pouted her lips at it. My eyes watched her eyes sparkle with happiness.
"Sure. He looks nice." My eyes trailed to the dog again. The card on the kennel read, Bo.

I awoke suddenly by a loud rumble. Before falling back to sleep, I took notice of the pillowcase that I slept on had a wet puddle over it.