SALEM

Chapter 4

Max

Coach's drills were not for the faint of heart and I found my self sweating as I made my way towards the locker room from an intense football practice. I could feel the frustration clawing at me as the water from the showers hit my face, two guys just joined the team and from the performance they put out, I think it won't be long before I have to relinquish my captain position to them. I mean they didn't even break a sweat as they tackled the ball from me.

It was getting dark already as put my gear in bag and headed towards the parking lot where I met up with girlfriend May.

"How was practice?" She asked cheerfully

"I think exhausting would be the right word to describe it" I narrated the way my day went and the new competition I had on the field.

"If they're as talented as you described, I think y'all have a shot at states this year" she noted.

Before May agreed to become my girlfriend we were already friends so it didn't take a lot convincing anyone we were dating since we were already close and she was the only one in the entire town that knew about my secret. She's like a sister to me, asides my actual sister Annie who is antisocial and refuse to interact with me.

Annie and I were never really close to begin with but she's my sister and I care about her and when I saw her with those new guys, I had this feeling to go pull her out from that table. That guy looked totally dangerous and bad for her.

"We're here" May announced as she parked at my street and waited for me to get out of the car.

"Can I ask for a favour?" I asked May as stared at Annie's window which was currently lit up.

"Yeah, anything" she replied

"Can you please keep an eye on Annie for me, I know you have a lot of classes with her and there's this new guy she's hanging around and I really think he's bad for her" I expressed my concerns to May.

"Yeah sure thing, no problems. Consider it done already." May chuckled

"Thanks May, it means a lot to me" I smiled at her and alighted the vehicle and headed to our front porch.

"Hey Max, how was practice?" my mom greeted as I entered the house.

"Great" I sighed as I dropped my duffle bag, filled with my football gear, I didn't feel like leaving my stuff in the locker room and besides I needed to wash them before tomorrow's game.

"I made some hot chocolate, a co-worker of mine gave me this recipe of a smoothie that allegedly-" my mom began her rant and I just sat down there and listened as she went on and on.

My mom was definitely a talkative but she was all I had, my Dad's death shook us and for months we were all quiet and didn't no how to confront his sudden death. I think my mom is still in shock about the whole thing but she puts up a great front by trying to be happy all the time while I took out my aggression and frustration on football and that has definitely shaped me and got me my captain position.

"Annie get down here!" My mom yelled for my sister to come down to the living room.

"Hey mom, what do you need?" Annie asked as she got down the stair and walked into the living room, she spared a quick glance at me and muttered something under her breath as my mom handed her a cup of hot chocolate.

"So I know things have been difficult this past year but we have to stand strong and united as a family despite everything that happened and after losing your dad-" she stopped taking her time to breathe in some air before continuing. "I just want us to share whatever is bothering us as a family and I don't want for us to hold back, I know his gone and will never come back but remember you have me" she concluded before blinking her eyes in a poor attempt to stop the tears from pouring out.

My Dad was the best, he knew everything about us and always tried to satisfy our every need. I miss him all the time but I'm so angry at him cause I sometimes blame him for leaving us. We had to come for this godforsaken town and abandon all our friends back in New York.

I made a beeline for my room and placed my head on my bed as I went through today's event before losing consciousness.

"I'm so scared Dad" I whispered as heard growls behind me, I felt trapped like in a suffocating box that kept sinking deeper and deeper.

"Listen to me son, there's danger coming" I could hear my dad voice but it sounded so far away like a dying whisper.

"Dad? Dad?" I continuously yelled but I got no reply and the growls only continued to get louder as I felt myself sinking further down. I saw red eyes like that of blood, they were so red and shiny I panicked and that's when I woke up from the most horrifying nightmare I have ever had.

I noticed I was covered in sweat, the clock in my room read 1:57. Still a long way to go before morning but I'm definitely not heading back to bed so instead I crawled out of window to get some fresh air from my rooftop. The streetlight produced little to no lighting since theirs lights appeared dim and made the streets to appear eerie but it was better than nothing. I sighed as I felt a drop of swear roll down my forehead and onto my nose.

I guess I'm a little nervous about tomorrow's game but me dreaming about my dad made no sense and did nothing to calm my nerves. I just pray we win tomorrow's game but before I head back into my rooms I noticed a blur across the street and later I heard howling that pierced through the night air. That was one large dog.