February 29

Chapter 9

It was way too quiet upstairs. As I walked up the step, my footsteps causing eternal echoes along the walls, I couldn't help but notice how silent the place was. Even as I got higher, leaving more and more ground below me, I noticed how the atmosphere above was darker than below. It was like the light was sucked from the place. I watched my back the whole time.

I surfaced to the top and rushed to Dean's room. I swept the place with my gaze and cautiously stepped inside. My eyes laid their sights on a two backpacks, one with the familiar red, yellow and blue diamonds, and one regularly blue. I hurriedly picked them up and then stepped over to his closet, grabbing three blankets in my hands and stuffing them messily into the backpacks. I strapped one to my shoulder and turned to the door.

All I saw was a black blur, and then I was knocked on my back, completely winded. I felt claws digging themselves into my calves and forearms and stared into the blazing white eyes of another dog. It secreted a low, mute growl from its throat and bared hits teeth at me, its nose pressed against my face. I was frozen, unable to react, to move, to fight back. The dog opened its maw, letting out an earsplitting roar before leaning over and grasping the collar of my shirt. It commenced to dragging me out the door, its claws digging inch deep grooves into the wooden floor.

Panicking, I wormed my way to my back, trying to crawl other way. It wasn't working. The dog was much stronger than I was, and able to drag me with mocking ease.

"Dean!" I yelled out as loud as I could, hoping to God that he could hear me. "Help! HELP! Oh God!" The dog snarled at me, snapping its jaws, and lunged unto my wounded leg.

Dean's head erupted from the stairs just as it bit me, in the exact same spot where the other one did. The agony was too great to bear. I felt my eyes roll to the back of my head as I screamed out. I couldn't even hear myself. I couldn't hear anything. All I could feel was the dog's daggers for teeth burying into my leg cavity, creating a whole new row of teeth wounds. Setting wicked, evil flame to my nerve endings, scorching my pain receptors.

End.

The word resonates in my mind, and suddenly the pain was gone. The dog's weight that rooted me to the ground disappeared, and not a trace of it was left. The light wasn't even on.

I was confused for a moment. Had that just been a hallucination? A dream? Had it really happened? I hoisted myself up on my elbows and looked around. It had to have happened. Not only did it feel too real, but traces of the colossal dog were still left. Vases knocked over, my ripped pant leg, paw prints from its huge feet. It was there, but it felt like it wasn't. I glanced at my leg and saw that the new row of teeth, the one that I could have sworn should have been there, was gone. Just the old one.

Dean stared at me open-mouthed. He backed a step, gripping the railing for support.

"Am I seeing things?" I asked, breaking the silence. "That dog did just disappear, right?"

"Yes," he whispered, barely able to speak. "It did."

This time, my mouth fell open, in shock. It just vanished, and at the exact moment the word "end" had resonated in my min. I shook my head vigorously. It wasn't me. I couldn't have made it go. It was trying to kill me. I couldn't've.

I stumbled to my feet, getting the backpacks and zipping them up. I ran down the stairs, past Dean, and headed for the door.

"Let's get out of here, please," I said, my voice feeling too loud for even me. "I can't stay here anymore."

"Okay," he breathed, running into the kitchen and picking up the trash bag. He quickly unzipped one of the backpacks and stuff it in there, along with two spoons, two forks, and two cups. "There might be more here anyway. I think we should just leave."

"Wait," I said, getting an idea. I went around the area, turning on all the lights. I flipped the switch in both the living rooms. I went to the bathroom and clicked the light on. I even went into a small storage room and pulled the small wire that turned the light on. "Just in case we have to come back. They won't have touch it."

Dean nodded and nervously placed his hand on the front door's knob. "Before we go, I just need you to tell me something."

"What?" I asked, eager to leave the place. It gave me the creeps.

"This isn't normal you know," he said, shifting his eyes.

"Yeah, I think I found that out two minutes ago," I snapped.

Dean glared at me. He pursed his lips, closed her eyes, and exhaled deeply. "Okay. As of now, I have no idea where my parents are. I don't know where my younger brothers are, and I don't know what's going on. As of now, you're the only friend who's here, physically. We have a mission: two families, and one girl to find, and then we have to get the hell out of here, somewhere safe. Everyone I know is either dead or missing, and I don't know where. Basically, as of now, you are the only person I have left, and this is going to sound pretty weird, but if I lose you, I'll be lost. You understand? To sum it all up, I need to promise me that if anything fishy goes on, maybe a bad dream or another crazy fit of seeing things, you'll tell me. That's all I want." Dean sighed again. "Do you promise?"

I stared at him. "Yeah. I promise," I said firmly.

"Good," Dean said. And then he turned the knob, opened the door, and rushed out into the brisk cold night.