The Shedding Skin

Chapter Ten

In the locker room, Morticia was fixing her hair in front of the bathroom mirror. She had spent most of her gym class thinking about Raven and the 'little girl'. It was horrifying to find out that she knew where she lived. As she pulled her hair into twin braids, she gave a sigh. This was the most anxiety inducing time she'd had at school. Singing for the talent show was less nerve wracking than this.

Going to her locker, she noticed someone else was next to it. The girl from the other day who had a picture of the well. She looked like she was just getting ready to go. Her locker was wide open and she was reaching for something. But she wasn't looking into it. Instead her face was turned to her right, fixated on one spot. Following her gaze out of pure curiosity, Morticia felt her blood run cold. There was a medium sized brown and white dog in front of them. Its face was covered in saliva, blood, and something she couldn't recognize. The dog's bloodshot eyes darted between both girls for a moment. As if not knowing who to go after first.

Shutting her locker carefully, the other girl started slowly backing up. Only taking her eyes off the dog briefly to look at Morticia. Whom she motioned to back up into the shower room. Both kept their eyes trained on the dog for a moment longer. Then they both turned and ran as quickly as they could. Their hearts pounding in their chests as they heard the dog's paws clicking against the tiles. It barked and growled at them as it ran. Neither girl dared to look back as they made their way to the gym teacher's office. 

When they got inside, Morticia quickly locked the door. The other girl looked for anything they could block the door with. Anything that would be sturdy enough to keep a rabid animal out of the room. As she searched, she questioned,"Where in the Hell is Ms Wildwood?"

Before they could question this deeper, the dog's barking grew louder. Each girl screamed in terror as it slammed its body against the door. Morticia kept her body against it while the redheaded girl dialed the police. She told them there was a rabid animal in the girl's locker room and that they were inside their teacher's office. After telling them what High School it was happening in, they told her to hang tight. They'd send someone as soon as humanly possible. Also to try to keep an eye on the dog. If they hear it move away to not leave the room no matter what they think. She thanked them and hung up. Then she said,"They're sending someone. I don't know how long it'll take but it might be a while."

The dog kept slamming its weight against the door. Claws scratching deep into it as it barked at the door. Morticia asked,"Did you not tell them that this thing is rabid?!"

"Yes. They told me that it'll still take a damn while, okay?!",she snapped back. The other girl toyed with her long red hair as she stared at the door. She hoped that the teacher wouldn't come back for a while. And she questioned,"Do you think Ms Wildwood is okay?"

"Yeah...she's probably just doing stuff in the office.",she assured the other girl. Morticia wasn't too sure if she believed that. But it was the only thing that made sense to her. As she pressed her weight against the door, the sounds stopped. Both girls doubted the dog left but they were curious on what it was doing. They glanced through the window to see the dog sitting in front of the door. Its eyes looking at each of their faces in a strange manner. Like it was planning on what to do next. 

The girls stood utterly still as they tried to think of what to do next. It wasn't like anyone warned them what to do in case of a rabid animal. Aside from what they were doing at the moment. Looking at each other, Morticia said,"All we have to do is stay here and be very quiet. It obviously can't get to us in here."

Suddenly the bell rang and both girls stared at the door. The dog started throwing its weight against the door again. Barking and growling louder than it had before. Both girls screamed as they saw the wood of the door crack. Morticia glanced around for anything to defend themselves with. There was a baseball bat and one hockey stick. Pointing to them, she shouted,"What's your name go grab that stuff. If that thing breaks the door down we'll need them to defend ourselves."

The other girl glared at her before she hurried over to them. Handing the bat to her, she said,"My name is Rebecca."

"Cool. I'm Morticia. Now let's keep crazy dog out of the room.",she said. Both girls watched the door as the dog kept slamming its weight against it. Holding their make-shift weapons in front of them as they hear it growl. And just as quickly as it had started, the dog stopped. Morticia peeked through the window to see what was going on. The dog was just sitting in front of the door. It stared at her while she said,"Okay...so its stopped now. I don't know how long that damn dog is just going to sit there."

"Do you think it could've broken the door down?",Rebecca asked in a shaky voice. Her hands toyed with the hockey stick as she watched the window. She bit her lip as she glanced back at her. Morticia shrugged her shoulders but said nothing. They stood there as they watched the animal. Waiting in the office like this was starting to wear on their nerves. After a while of waiting, they heard footsteps. The door of the locker room opened with a squeak. And their teacher's voice calling out,"Rebecca? Morticia? Are you girls still in here?"

In absolute panic, they screamed for her to run. Both girls tried to warn her that a rabid dog was in there.  And they watched as the dog ran towards the sound of their teacher's voice. Morticia quickly unlocked the door as she ran to the locker room. Rebecca following after her as they heard Ms Wildwood screaming in agony and surprise. Soon as they got to the locker room, they saw the dog pinning their teacher. Its muzzle clamping down on her arm. For a moment, they were too scared to move. But broke out of it as their teacher shouted for them to run.  Before the girls could do anything, someone came into the locker room. A short fat man wearing a uniform like a cop's. The dog let go of Ms Wildwood's arm and turned to him. Growling as it advanced on him. Without saying a word, the man pulled out his gun. He took careful aim and shot the dog in the head.