Welcome to a Nightmare

Chapter 53: Out of the Woods

Far across town, David is jamming his keys into the door while balancing arms full of groceries. He'd finished his shift at the casino and was bringing home food to fix himself dinner. Kathryn was working the graveyard shift at the hospital again, meaning it was just going to be him and Wilby... like always it seemed.

Wilby was there at the door, ready to greet him with a howl and tried to jump up, but David talked him down.

"Not now Wil," he says, trying to get the groceries to the kitchen without dropping anything.

When he finally manages the task and puts them on the counter, he leans down to give his dog a proper greeting. He scratches the English Shepherd dog behind the ears and massages his face. The dog is panting in delight, his tail wagging a million miles a minute, and he licks his master's face as a thank you.

"Good old Wilby," David smiles to himself. "You never fail to put a smile on my face Buddy..."

This was true. This dog was loyal to him and Kathryn, despite her sometimes-harsh nature towards both males in the house. He loved both his masters and did whatever he could to make them smile. Nothing pleased David more than to come home and be jumped on by the pooch. Wilby would run in circles in excitement and follow David around the house as he made dinner, hoping for some scraps which his master would oblige the request without fail. Then they'd both go on a long walk after dinner. Sometimes Kathryn would join them, but usually, she'd be working. His female master would walk him during the day when she woke up and she enjoyed his company too. He would sometimes jump on the bed to wake her up and while she would be annoyed at first, she couldn't stay mad at his fluffy face for long. The pet was technically the couple's child and seemed to be the last surviving link keeping them together. Even when either of them came home after a hard day, he'd sit at their feet and keep them company until they felt better, or they gave him a treat.

The dog kisses him again before pawing his arm for more.

Eventually, David gets up and begins to make dinner. He opens a pack of hamburgers, one for him and one for Wilby. He places the raw meat in the dog's bowl, which he happily gobbled up, and then puts his own burger in the frying pan. As he's flipping the patty, he turns on the radio to hear if anything of interest was happening. The wanted woman known as "Jane Doe" was still at large and the coverage of the search was becoming a little tiresome already. David felt like this woman was very sick and needed help. Of course, it did not justify the murder of the orderly, but the woman needed help, perhaps alternative help to what she'd been receiving. The whole city was on edge and since the sighting earlier in the day, everyone was on eggshells. The strange thing was, Mr. Gold was nowhere to be found at the time, so he wasn't there to give directions on whether to close the casino or add in additional precautions. David, with his seniority in the facility, helped the manager in charge place security at the doors and check people's IDs when entering and leaving more closely than before. Obviously, they couldn't shut down, even if David wanted to do so, because having people in the hotel was the way they made money and he could not risk getting fired, lest he suffer Kathryn's wrath or even a divorce. It was a stressful rest of the day, which is why he was glad to be home. He wouldn't let Wilby go too far at least until this woman was caught.

He also sent a text to his wife telling her to be careful at work but received no reply... as usual.

He sat down to his burger and flipped through the newspaper to keep his mind occupied.

After dinner, David tried to clean a few dishes and lessen the chaos in the house, but soon enough, Wilby is scratching at the door, eager to go out.

"Okay buddy," he says. "But we're not going too far tonight."