Bite Marks

Scars

I woke up thinking about the mysterious man I had seen in my building. Laying in bed, mesmerized by the morning sun glinting off the dust flying around my room, I thought about what he had been saying. Something about 'taking care of someone'. For some reason I didn't think that someone had been a sick grandmother. For the first time I put two and two together.

The very next day Aidan had called to tell me they had found my attackers body.

I sat up, uneasy at the thought that I had possibly heard a premeditated murder, but it just didn't make sense. Why would anyone be after that guy. As far as I knew he was just a random man, evil yes, important no.

I wanted to call Aidan but wasn't sure it was the best idea. First, I never actually saw the man. The only thing I could tell Aidan was that I had eavesdropped on a suspicious conversation.

Second, I didn't want Aidan to wonder why I hadn't told him before. Mostly though I just didn't think it would be helpful. I couldn't actually tell them a single thing about the man except that he was dark headed, like the other thousand men who lived in this town. I decided not to worry about it.

The police have been getting along fine without my help this whole time. I was being paranoid anyways.

I stretched, rolling out of bed with a yawn. I felt surprisingly rested. Talking to Aidan had been therapeutic. It was nice to feel like someone was on my side. He had pushed me to file a police report at first, but I knew I couldn't do that. It was hard to convince him that Jason had cop friends, but eventually he dropped it.

I remember the first time I had gotten up the courage to stop by the police station while Jason was at work. I couldn't call them, because Jason monitored all my phone calls. Jason was a few years older than me, we went to the same high school, but he graduated my eighth grade year.

Little did I know the police chief was one of his buddies. When I told him my story he laughed in my face.

I can't ever remember feeling so shocked in my life. He very kindly told me that Jason was a friend of his and it was such a shame that his poor delusional wife had come in here dragging his name through the dirt. He didn't care about my black eye or bruised ribs, he was scum just like Jason.

I shook off my dark thoughts and decided to go for a run. Jason had actually approved of that particular activity because it kept me in shape, and I had always enjoyed the freedom it offered.

I pulled on some jogging shorts and a hoodie, Montana was pretty chilly in the mornings. I wish I had thought to bring my ipod with me when I left. I would have to put it on my list of items to replace.

The sun had just risen as I walked down my steps. Jason had always been an early riser, so I was an early riser, I didn't really mind though. I liked how the world looked before everyone else was awake. It was peaceful.

There was a jogging path around the park a few blocks away, and I warmed up on the sidewalk, stretched and headed toward it. The path was normally pretty empty, occasionally you would come across another early morning jogger but it was rare. When I got to the start of the path I set a slow pace. The trail wound through the park and into the woods. It quickly came back out and went around the other side of the park completing the loop.

I had done one full lap and just entered the woods again when I heard a bark behind me. I figured someone else was out here with their dog. It made me miss the mutt Jason and I had gotten when we first got married.

The first time he jumped between Jason's fist and me was the last. I was just thankful Jason hadn't done anything more drastic than take him back to the pound the next day. The lady at the counter was so sad to hear that he didn't get along well with our children. Jason was surprisingly manipulative for a construction worker.

I had been lost in thought and the rhythm of my feet pounding on the concrete when something hit me in the back. I went sprawling, barely keeping my head from smacking the unforgiving concrete. I wasn't sure what had hit me, but then I felt dog breath huff in my ear. Someone couldn't control their pet. I was just beginning to try and push myself up and away when it bit down.

It sunk its teeth down deep into my collar bone. A fiery agony soon spread down my arm and across my chest. Its teeth tore into me scraping against bone. I opened my mouth to scream, but choked on my blood. I could feel him shaking his head back and forth, sinking his teeth in further.

I was going to die this time. Miracles didn't happen often, especially to people like me. I tried to lift myself up, but my arms refused to work. I was trying to move through molasses. It pulled away and I tried to scream again as my flesh tore from its teeth but the only sound I could make was a wet gurgle.

"Kane hurry up, I can hear someone farther down the trail,"

"What are you doing!? Kane you can't bite her! She'll never survive it. She's going to die either way! At least this way it will be over quickly!"

"Kane! Fuck. We have to get rid of this mess..."

I woke to a buzzing in my head. Groggily I struggled to open my eyes. I blinked through what felt like days worth of eye gunk and looked around. Another day, another hospital. I remembered being bitten this time. Aidan really needed to work with animal control to get rid of these things. Speaking of Aidan he was going to flip out. I wondered if it was the same dog that had belonged to my attacker come back to finish the job.

I was thirsty and saw there was some water beside me. The cool liquid felt like heaven on my abused throat. I swallowed slowly and painfully, but it seemed I would live another day. What I wouldn't survive was another minute without a bathroom.

Getting up was a lot easier than I expected, I wasn't connected to any tubes, which was strange, because I also wasn't in very much pain, all things considered. The weirdest part, I belatedly realized was that I was not wearing a hospital gown at all, but what looked like a man's over sized tee-shirt.

Looking around again I saw that while the room was hospital like, it was in fact, not a hospital. The walls and floor were dark wood paneling, and the bathroom looked like it had previously been an en suite. There were two more hospital type beds in here and plenty of monitors, but I no longer felt safe.

There was a mirror in the bathroom, and I cringed when I got a good look at myself. I looked like shit. The circles under my eyes were brutal, and I was paler than normal from blood loss. It didn't look like I had slept in days, and I noticed there was dried blood in my hair. I gagged but since I hadn't eaten in a while nothing came up.

I decided to check out how bad my neck and shoulder looked. I slowly peeled the white bandage off and sucked in a breath. The bite was pink and swollen, but there weren't any stitches. I must have been unconscious here for quite some time. When the bite finished healing it was going to leave a mark. This was the last straw, I was getting the hell out of Montana before I got anymore fucking scars.

I walked out of the bathroom to find a man perched on my bed. A man I didn't personally know, but one I knew of. Ho'nene, Kelsey had said his name was. If I had been kidnapped by this guy I was going to be so fucking pissed.

Tell me what you think guys! I would love comments. See anything I should change or fix? Let me know! Also how to you like Cassie so far??