Fangs

Chapter 6

Violet rubbed her face while sitting up in bed and looked at her mother who had rushed into her bedroom.

Her mom's face was bright red. "Why were you screaming?"

"I don't know, I must've had a dream," Violet said, still halfway believing that the murder she'd dreamed about had somehow really happened. "What time is it?"

"It's late. Get up," her mother said, softly, as though trying to calm herself down. "I want to take you to the doctor."

"What? No," Violet said, convinced that the cat was perfectly healthy, and she had just startled it. She couldn't explain the prairie dog. But Chip would call her if his dad said something was wrong with it.

"I'm taking you. What if you have rabies or the plague?"

Violet's voice rose. "I don't have the plague! Besides, even if I do, we can't afford a doctor right now."

As Violet expected, her mother winced and went silent. Violet hadn't really meant to hurt her feelings, but it was true. She'd been unemployed for months except for a few temporary jobs that hardly paid minimum wage. None of them offered insurance.

The truth was, they barely had enough money for rent or even food on any given day. They were maybe even one paycheck away from being out on the street.

"It doesn't matter. You are going, Violet," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Her resolve was etched in the stern lines on her forehead. "I'll find a way to pay for it. Or maybe you'll get a job and pay for it. Either way, we aren't going to chance this."

Violet groaned and threw back the covers. To her own surprise, she saw that she was completely naked, and her feet were covered in dirt. She pulled the covers back over herself before her mom noticed the dirt.

"Okay, I'll get up," Violet said.

"Good, I'll get breakfast started."

As soon as her mom left the room, Violet flung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched her feet, feeling soreness in her leg muscles. Violet wondered if the savage murder she saw had been real or if she was somehow out dreaming and sleepwalking. She had the strange sensation that it had been more than a dream. But she wondered how that could be. She didn't remember returning home. She didn't remember escaping the murderer who stood near her as a dark shadow.

She blocked the image from her mind and put her feet on the floor. At that moment, her mother's lap dog nosed his way through the door and made a run at her. He was black, and had short legs, a long body and floppy ears. He was harmless. But he barked at Violet and then bared his fangs. Violet jolted back on the bed away from him, startled but not completely surprised. He crouched down low, as though ready to jump on the bed to get to her, but Violet's mother ran into the room and grabbed him by the collar.

"Simon, what's wrong with you?" she asked through gritted teeth. "I swear."

The dog yelped and struggled to get free and run at Violet again, but Violet's mother walked him out of the room and shut the door.

"Get ready, while I take him outside," she called through the door and over the frantic barking. "He's usually such a good baby!"

Violet let out a long breath and listened to the dog's claw marks against the floor as he was taken outside. Violet hadn't liked dogs since a German Shepherd chased after her bike when she was a kid. It barked and bared its fangs as she peddled past one of the ratty houses with peeling paint on her street. That was the first time she ever really feared anything in her life. The German Shepherd was twice her size and she had thought it was going to knock her bike over and maul her. Ever since that time, she'd been afraid of being bitten, though she and Simon had always coexisted peacefully. His sudden attack didn't make sense.

The animals are turning savage, Violet thought, and looked down at her leg where the cat had bitten her and touching her side where she'd been bitten by the prairie dog. She removed the bandage, wincing only one from the tape pulling away from her skin. Underneath it was still red.

Violet went into the bathroom to take a shower. She let steam fill the bathroom and she washed her hair, and then put a fresh bandage back over the wounds after she dried off. She then got dressed and went into the kitchen, where her mother stood at the counter, and handed her a box of cereal. Violet took it and sat down at the table. She turned when she heard something scratching at the sliding glass door and saw Simon barking and baring his fangs at her.

"Go! Go!" Violet's mother yelled, banging the glass with her fist and scaring the dog off. She pulled the blinds closed so he wouldn't come back. "I don't know what's wrong with him."

Her mother shook her head and walked back to the kitchen cabinet and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"I've never had so many house pets wanting to kill me," Violet said, pouring the cereal into a bowl.

"Simon must've smelled that cat on you," her mother said, and took a deep swig of coffee. "Otherwise, he never would've done that."

Violet ate a bite of the cereal but knew she wouldn't be able to finish it. Her stomach felt full and bloated even though she hadn't eaten since lunch the previous day. She bit down on a second spoonful of the cereal and felt something come loose that had been jammed in between her teeth. She stuck her finger inside her mouth and felt the object. It was hard and sharp and ragged to the touch. Like a splinter.

Violet panicked and quickly wiggled it loose. She pulled it out and looked down at it. The object was small and white and hard. A little bit of her own blood was on it where it had cut her gums.

"What is that?" Violet's mom asked.

"I-I don't know."

Violet's mom grabbed the object from her and held it up.

"This is a bone fragment!" she yelled. Simon growled again outside.

Violet was in disbelief. "What?"

"Are you okay? Is this – "

"It's not my bone," Violet said and pushed the bowl of cereal away from her.

Violet's mom grabbed the box of cereal and poured it on the kitchen table. Then she started searching through the flakes. "That bone chip was in your cereal!"

"No, no I don't think..." Violet started to say. But then when her mom looked at her, waiting to hear where Violet thought it had come from, she said, "Yeah, I must've bitten into it from the spoonful of cereal."

"Are you okay? Do you need to go to the dentist, too?" Violet's mom asked, starting to breathe heavy.

Violet knew she was terrified of the bill that would bring.

Violet stood up and grabbed the bone fragment back. "No, my tooth is fine, it was just a weird accident. A freak accident!"

Violet's mom stood up, too, but so fast that she nearly knocked her chair over. "I'm going to call this cereal company right now."

"No, don't do that. I said I'm fine. I-I have to go get ready for school."

Violet turned and ran back to her room. Once she shut the door behind her, she laid the bone fragment on top of her dresser and backed away from it. She knew it hadn't come from the cereal box and she was absolutely terrified of where it had really come from.