Lights Out

Dawn Rising

I pick up my boyfriend every night from work. I'm unemployed due to health issues so we rely on his income and because of that, we only have the one car. I don't mind though since it gives us some alone time together every day and it gets me out of the house, even briefly. But tonight I was a little early so I stopped at a fast food joint and brought to his work, eating thoughtfully in the car in the parking lot.

I left the radio on and turned up the dial, a radio podcast crackling from my speakers. Something flickered by the garbage cans and I look over, expecting to see my boyfriend or his coworker taking out the trash. Instead, I see a dog rummaging around for something edible. I feel sorry for the creature so I unwrap what's left of my burger and get out of the car, whistling to get its attention.

But when it stared at me, it wasn't a dog looking back. It had an elongated nose and gnarly teeth hanging from its wet lips. It was blind, flat untouched fur where two sockets should be and wide tall ears that were angled my way. Its body was lean and skeletal with a tail longer than most animals. It let go of the garbage can but it didn't drop to all fours. It stood like a prehistoric human, curved claws twitching. I knew it was staring straight at me even if it couldn't see me. It knew where I was and how to get me without much effort.

The burger dropped from my fingers and the sound seemed to be a trigger for the dog thing. It shot forward so quick it took me a second to even think about stepping back and when I did it was almost on me. I fell back onto the seat and those curved claws sank into my thighs, ripping through jeans like it were butter. I screamed and the thing opened its mouth, long snake-like tongue licking its dripping chops. I elbow it, hard, in the side of the head. It yelps and lets me go so I pull my torn legs into the car, slamming the door.

But I forgot I put the windows down. It slipped its long snout into the opening and licked the air around my face, trying to find me. I shrunk down and then it did the unthinkable. It opened the door back up and those nasty teeth clamped onto my side, chewing as it ripped to get a nice sized chunk out of me. I watched my organs spill out of the opening, steaming on the seat.

The doors opened and my boyfriend came running out, a metal snow shovel in hand. He raised it above his head but he wasn't fast enough as the creature lunged for his abdomen, ripping him open like it was nothing until his screams were just bloody bubbles foaming at his mouth. His coworker had his phone to his ear, locking the front doors.

I was in so much pain. Waves of pain radiated through my body and I felt so nauseous I threw up on myself. It smelled of fast food and iron. I begged for sirens, gunshots, anything that meant someone was here that could kill it. I lifted myself up and found it sitting beside my boyfriend, looking like a real dog as it stared in my direction. I hadn't made any sound so it was waiting for me to tell it where I am. Clever, because if I hadn't looked up I would've attempted to get the door shut again.

I was in a stare down with something that shouldn't exist let alone be stalking me. Why did I feel the need to feed a stray? Why couldn't I have just minded my own business and stayed safe and warm in my car? Tears fell quietly for my life and for my boyfriend, who lay bleeding and dead beside that mongrel. I didn't know what it was but it sure as hell wasn't killing me.

I sat up and saw that bastard of a face leaning over my legs. It hadn't touched me, so maybe it didn't know I was underneath it. But then it lifted a bloody paw and stepped up, instantly squishing into my fragile organs. The sky was lightening around me and that made the creature seem more desperate, more evil and warped. It was the monster under the bed, the boogeyman in every closet. And the boogeyman's claws found my shoulders, holding me into the leather seats. It licked my face as if savoring me, the tongue slowly finding its way to the pool of congealed blood under me. It lapped it like honey, taking its time to enjoy its meal.

"Please...please just kill me if you're going to kill me. Stop the torture, just do it!" I screamed at it, putting every bit of strength and spirit in that I could muster. But it paid no attention. It was a twisted version but it was an animal ultimately, and predator has no concern for the prey.

It kept me alive as it slowly ate me, biting off small mouthfuls at a time. My consciousness lasted long enough to see the dawn light and as it hit the creature, it morphed back into a dog. A voracious dog that didn't let up. By the time it was able to find my liver and gnaw away at it, I was long gone into that sunrise. I wanted to live. But I saw the sunrise one last time and that was enough.