It was late in the afternoon when I heard scratching at my front door. I live in a rural farm town, and was used to the sounds critters made. This was different – long drawn out scratches, sure to leave deep indents in my door.
I find Sally, the much loved German Shepard from the next property over , matted and shivering on my porch. I open the door wide and brace myself for her usual exuberant greeting, but she merely slinks inside the house, tail tucked between her legs.
I tried calling Brenda and Luke, but figured the phone lines must be down again. The signal coverage was sketchy at best around here, so instead of trying to get a cell phone call through, I decided to simply load Sally into my car and drive her back to their place.
Sally was wolfing down my cats dinner, having already drained her water bowl. She was usually so well behaved! I put a hand on her side to discourage her, and was astonished at how easily I could feel her ribs. I inspected Sally closer in the waning afternoon light- her usually silky coat was matted and stained, and she was just so lethargic.
Brenda and Luke were an older couple, and had been keeping to themselves lately- social distancing and all. I wasn’t too worried as I was surely going to see them next week for Brenda’s birthday- come to think of it, it was rather strange that I haven’t heard from them yet reguarding what dish I should bring…
With some coaxing, Sally got into my car and we started the short drive down the gravel road. I expected to find them drinking beer on the porch, watching the sunset and feeding the ducks, but the area is strangely silent. No magpies on the front lawn scavenging for bugs, no moths orbiting the porch lights. The cicadas weren’t even singing tonight.
Sally refuted all my efforts to get her out of the car. Even in her weakened condition, there was no way I could compel a dog that big to do anything she didn’t want to. I was sure shed come bounding out as soon as Brenda was in sight anyway.
The front door swung open, but instead of Brenda, out walked a child. She seemed to be around ten years old, maybe younger, with long blonde pig tails and a pale affect. She skipped towards me, her dress swaying as she did.
“Hello,” she greeted me, hands clasped behind her back. “I’m Pricilla. Do you wanna play?”
“No, sorry, not right now. I’ve just got Sally here, she wandered down the road to my place- Brenda must be worried sick- do you mind getting her for me?” I knew they had children that lived overseas, but they had never mentioned grandchildren before.
“Who’s Sally?” she asked in a sing-song tone.
I gestured back towards my car- Sally was poking her head between the two front seats, curling her lips.
“That’s Fluffy,” Pricillia said bluntly. “Fluffy lives in the barn.”
I didn’t have much experience with children and their penchant for exercising their imagination, so I just let it slide. I couldn’t imagine any scenario where Brenda would allow Sally to sleep in a barn.
“Please Pricilla, I need you to get Brenda or Luke for me.”
Pricilla stamped her foot. “But I’ve already played with them. I wanna play with you!”
I was exasperated. I saw movement in the window, the silhouette of someone large and bulky. I figured it must be Luke in a coat- he was tall but willowy.
I made my way towards the house, and Sally started barking furiously. Brenda still hadn’t appeared, despite the ruckus.
Pricilla tried to call me back towards her, pulling on my shirt and brandishing a skipping rope at me. I brushed her off, continuing into the house to find an adult.
Just off the entrance is the kitchen, and I head towards it, expecting to find Brenda cooking. Instead, my movement sets off a large wave of flies, and I’m hit by a pungent odour before I see her. Brenda was lying on the floor of the kitchen, surrounded by a pool of dried blood. Her body was bloated- she had been lying there for a while.
Mortified, I step backwards and bump into Pricilla. She responds to my obvious horror with a flat affect.
“Auntie didn’t want to play with us anymore…”
I see movement in the dark hallway and step towards Luke, furious confusion flooding my senses.
“Luke, what happened? How did-“ I taper off, frozen in cold horror.
As I spoke, the figure had stepped into to light. A large man, bearded and lumbering. He took another step towards me, deliberate in his actions.
I felt my adrenaline spike, and dashed towards the front door, limbs flailing, feet scrambling for purchase.
I knew they were close behind me – Sally was focused on them, barking and lunging in their direction. I threw myself into the car, struggling to get the keys in the ignition. Before I can turn it, I feel thick hands grip my wrist, pulling me towards the open window. A smaller hand reaches in and unlocks the passenger side door.
I screamed, a shrill, awful sound.
Sally lunged into action, teeth gnashing wildly against the hands restraining me. They pulled against me harder, trying to get me out of the car, despite Sally ripping at their flesh. Pricilla pulls the door open and I’m yanked into the passenger seat. Sally gets wilder, launching herself across my lap and latching onto the mans neck.
He stumbled backwards, and I climbed back into the drivers seat. The engine roared to life, and I started to pull out of the driveway.
I called loudly for Sally, and after a few violent shakes, she bounds towards my fleeing car and jumps in through the still open door. I sped all the way down the road back home.
They were gone by the time police arrived, nothing but a pool of blood on the lawn where Sally attacked him. They found Luke’s body in the same condition, beaten to death in much the same way Brenda was.
Sally has since become my dog, and settled in well. Despite once soon after the attack, where she started barking violently in the middle of the night. I stayed in my bedroom until morning, and when I tentatively opened my front door, I found a skipping rope strewn across my porch rail.
The police never made any headway in the case, and the town soon moved on. I still have dreams about poor Brenda, and I can only hope that with enough time, I can move on too.