It all started when I took the dog out to pee. She’s just a little thing but she was scratching the door down like a mad woman.
“Hold on, I’m coming!” I yelled as I slipped on my shoes.
It may have been trick or treat night but there were no kids ringing the doorbell out here. The house was set far off the road and it was a five minute walk between houses. Not much fun for a kid if you ask me.
I grabbed my phone and flipped the porch light on for good measure. It hardly made a dent in the moonless night sky. It illuminated the doorway but not much else. I turned on my phone’s flashlight.
My little dog ran straight through the backyard and immediately into the tree line. That wasn’t like her at all. Usually the little shit likes to use the gravel in the fire pit. She’s mostly black, so as you can imagine she was out of sight pretty fast. I yelled for her to come back to me but she was on a mission. I could still hear little footsteps crunching through leaves just out of sight. It was cold but there was no wind, not sounds at all really.
I shined my flashlight around but it didn’t go out far enough to find her. I looked back at the house, contemplating getting a bigger light. I have to admit I get a little spooked taking the dog out alone at night so I left the back door wide open. Through the doorway I could see into the laundry room, bright as day. A stark contrast to the dark I was standing in.
That’s when I saw it, a dark shadow ran around the corner of the house and went right through the open door.
Panic set in. My stomach dropped into my knees.
As I watched the windows I saw the outline move through the house. My dog ran into my arms as I hunkered down at the base of a tree. If horror movies taught me anything I knew I wasn’t going into that house. I did what any adult would do on trick or treat night. I called the cops.
“Are there any teenagers nearby that would want to pull a prank on you? Did you maybe piss one of them off” The cop asked.
“What do I look like to you? Do I look like an old man who has a love affair with his lawnmower, confiscating out of bound balls that come into my yard?” I asked the Cop who was gripping a coffee cup for dear life.
He wasn’t amused. His radio alerted to another incident. Something about a group of highschoolers all dressed as Spiderman trying to climb the WW2 monuments at the Courthouse. He rolled his tired eyes and put the bridge of his nose between his fingers.
“So you say a black shadowy figure ran into your open back door while you were in the woods behind your house?” he asked again.
“Yes, I told you already. I was letting my dog out, and yes it looked like he was wearing a Harry Potter cloak, and no nothing is missing from the house, and yes I’m sober as a judge.” I said irritated.
The Cop eyeballed the blunt wraps on the kitchen counter.
“It’s medical!” I groaned.
“Well he’s gone now, I’ve searched the entire house. Just keep the doors locked and let us know if you see anything else, okay? It sounds like I gotta get going.”
My dog was asleep curled up on the couch. She looked up at the Cop as he walked out the door. He patted her on the head.
I headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth, I figured the best thing I could do was just go to bed at this point. I opened the medicine cabinet and inside there was a piece of paper sandwiched between the shelves and the door. The note gently fell onto the counter top. I picked it up.
The note read “You have been visited. If you do not wish to be visited again leave a treat for us on the back porch step.”