Don't Call Me Dead

1. The Boy

One moment, I'm alone.

The next, I'm not.

An ominous low growl draws my attention. I turn around and see a boy in ripped jeans and a grey tee shirt, holding a large dog on a leash. The dog is growling at me, showing its impressive yellow teeth.

"Enough, Brownie," says the boy. The dog goes quiet, but it watches me attentively, its ears flattened against its head.

I and the boy examine each other in silence disturbed only by the wind in the trees.

"Hi," he says. "What're you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

He shrugs. "We got kind of lost. Went a little too far on that country road and then Brownie went into the woods chasing after some rabbit, and I followed." He shrugs again. "Kind of lost the direction. Do you know by any chance which way the road is?"

"That way." I point, and the dog jumps and barks at my gesture.

"Hush!" The boy pulls at the leash and looks at me apologetically. "Sorry. He's normally quite friendly."

"That's okay," I say. "You better go. It's getting dark."

"Sure." He starts walking, then stops and turns to me again. "And you will just... stay here?"

"I..." Truth be told, I'm not sure.

"I mean, it's kind of dangerous for a girl to wander in the woods all alone."

"I'm not a girl," I say. "I'm already..." I want to tell him my age but realize with bewilderment that I don't remember it. "I'm older than you are," I finish.

"That's for sure." He grins. "I'm thirteen, and you are—what, at least twenty, right?"

"I guess."

"You guess?" He looks at me with his eyebrows raised. "Anyway, you shouldn't be here alone. There're creepy stories about people going missing in the swamps, you know. Want us to walk you to the road?"

I hesitate, looking around. The wind rocks the tops of the trees, and the evening sky is dark blue mixed with dirty grey. Not much light gets down here, and it will soon be completely dark. He's right. It's no place to be. I shouldn't have come here. In fact, I don't even remember how I got here in the first place.

The boy shifts uncomfortably.

"What's your name?" he says.

"I don't know," I say. "But I will come with you."

I make a step in his direction, and the dog reacts immediately. It springs at me so suddenly that the boy lets go of the leash. In a split second, the dog pushes me to the ground, and its teeth close on my throat, ripping through the skin and the muscles.

"Brownie!" shrieks the boy. He drags the dog off me, while it snarls and barks and then whines. "Brownie! Oh shit! What have you done?"

I sit up on the ground, pressing my hands to my throat. Strangely, there's no pain. My skin feels as smooth as ever. I check my palm, expecting to see blood. There's none.

The boy comes closer, still holding the struggling dog, and squints at me. Then he checks Brownie's muzzle. There's no signs of blood on the dog, either.

"But..." He pauses, swallows hard. "But I saw it...he went straight for your throat. Didn't he?"

"I think he did," I say, still examining my palm.

"He did bite you, didn't he? But there's not a scratch." He gapes at me. "Who the fuck are you?" He backs away, dragging the dog by the collar. "You stay away from us. Whatever you are, stay away from us!"

"I'm just a..." I search my mind for the required information, but once again, there's none to be found. "But you said you will walk me to the road."

"No!" He keeps backing away, his huge eyes fixed on me. "You... don't you dare to follow us!"

"But I want to go with you." Suddenly, I'm very sad. I don't want to be here. I get to my feet and make a step, and the dog goes wild, barking and snarling.

"Shit!" cries the boy. He lets go of the dog, turns around and runs. The dog first jumps in my direction, then, realizing its master is escaping, turns around and follows him. In a matter of seconds, they disappear in the gloom behind the tree trunks, and soon the sounds of their noisy retreat subside as well.

I remain standing on the carpet of moss, listening to the first calls of some night bird above me.

Then, the darkness swallows me again.

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