Missing Zodiac

Chapter 3

It was around ten thirty when those creatures attacked the apartment. Victor was still sitting in the living room, staring at his laptop, gently tapping the keys as he tried to think of how to start his paper. The faint buzzing in his ears was still there, persistent but manageable, almost like background static. He couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was off, but he pushed it aside, trying to focus on the paper in front of him.

He had barely typed out a few sentences when heard the sounds of crashing coming from the hallway. It didn't phase him at first, after all, this is Boston and it is game day. Maybe one of his college-aged neighbors was stumbling home again.

He shrugged, ignoring the sound. He went back to tapping out another few words, but the noise continued, growing louder. The unmistakable sound of something large and heavy being knocked over echoed down the hallway, followed by the unmistakable scratch-scratch of claws against the floor.

Victor's fingers froze mid-type. That wasn't right.

He stood up slowly, heart beginning to thud in his chest. The buzzing in his ears intensified. His hand instinctively reached for his phone, but there was no signal. The power had flickered earlier, but it hadn't gone out. The apartment was dark now, though, with only the dim glow from his laptop casting any light.

Another crash, louder this time. The sound was unmistakably close.

Victor's breath caught. This was no drunken college student.

He moved cautiously toward the hallway, his feet light on the floor, the softest of creaks echoing in the silence as he neared the source of the noise. The shadows seemed darker than they should be, the corners of the apartment stretching unnaturally.

Then, a hiss. A low, guttural sound that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Victor's heart pounded in his chest. He wasn't imagining this. Someone—something—was out there. He reached the hallway and peered around the corner, his pulse quickening as he took in the sight before him.

Right in front of him were two dogs that were the size of a garbage truck. They looked like they were made out of polished ice and shimmered in the dim light. Their bodies were massive, one of which broke the doors off its hinges. The ice-like sheen of their fur sparkled, catching the faint glow from Victor's laptop, reflecting cold blue light across the hallway.

Their eyes, glowing like molten embers, locked onto him. There was no warmth in their gaze, no sign of recognition—just a cold, hungry emptiness.

Victor froze, his breath hitching in his chest. His mind was scrambling to make sense of what he was seeing, but nothing about this made sense. Dogs? These weren't any dogs he knew. They were massive, unnatural creatures he'd never seen before.

One of the dogs took a slow step forward, its massive paws making no sound on the floor. The other stayed back, its eyes fixed on Victor as if assessing him, calculating. The first one, however, made a low rumble—more like a growl, but deep, reverberating, shaking the apartment. He knows for sure, that his downstairs neighbors aren't going to be too happy about the noise.

Victor's hand instinctively went to his pocket, searching for his phone, but the buzzing in his ears was growing louder again, more insistent, filling his head like static.

One of the dogs began to get into a position. He knew this position, he'd seen dogs fight in the alley behind the school. The ice-covered dog tensed, its claws scraping against the floor, muscles rippling beneath the shimmering surface of its body. It was preparing to strike. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, his instincts screaming at him to move, to run, but he couldn't. He felt rooted to the spot like his body was betraying him, frozen in place by the sheer terror coursing through him.