It was any normal day, at 5:00 a.m. I was waiting for the bus to deliver me to such given location right when it showed up. Alas, I didn’t recognize the driver, for our normal driver was home sick. I proceed to board the bus. As I climb up the steps, a kid asks me to look at him. I ignore him, pulling my hoodie over my head proceeding to my seat. I fall hard, realizing he tripped me. I mutter ” You’ll regret that, ” then stand to walk towards my seat. As I sit, the kid asks ” What do you mean, i’ll regret it? ” I laugh then proceed to say ” You’ll see. ” ” Shut Up, freak. ” he replies. I ignore him and stare out the window as our bus begins to move. Not 20 feet later, there is a loud crashing noise and a piercing thrust. My head goes through the window, the glass through my eyes. I swiftly pull the shattered glass out of my eye sockets. Right then and there, I am staring at my eyes on a piece of glass. I couldn’t explain it. How could I? I turned to see the same kid that tripped me on my way to my seat. He screams in disgust at me. I get a weird feeling, one of which I can’t explain. A feeling.. where i just wanted to hurt. I knew it wouldn’t heal my pain but it just seemed the most rational solution. I threw the glass to his eye causing him to scream, louder than everyone on this bus. I take my backpack off and stand, but I feel a sharp pain in my lower back. My kidneys, this pain comes from my father, john. He smoked, cigarettes since he was 14 and I have dealt with second-hand smoke till last year. When he died. Apparently, he was killed in his sleep with a knife, and everyone said the cigs would kill him first. I felt anger and pain and I rushed the driver. Just then I feel my lower back in even MORE pain. i turn to see a fellow student has pulled a pocket knife on me. A collector's edition swiss gear.
Antique store owner Liz brings home a Victorian taxidermy hound from auction, unwittingly unleashing dark forces on her wife and son.
*****
Nat Loman has finally married the love of her life, Liz, and is getting used to her role as stepmother to Liz's 5-year-old son, Liam. The Loman family runs a bustling antique business so they attend a sale where a striking, black taxidermied hound is up for auction. Liz picks it up for the business, but it ends up being stored in their home, where Nat notices strange things occurring. She quickly discovers the past residents had died violently. Then she hears from a friend about the myth of "the devil's dog", a hound that perches in the shadows, tearing families apart from the inside. Soon, people around the Lomans are dying, and Liz is changing, darkening. It's up to Nat to save the woman she loves from the darkness closing in, and to save Liam from danger no matter what she has to sacrifice.
[[Winner of the 2018 Wattys "Hidden Gems" category]]
[[word count: 60,000-70,000 words]]