My dog, Lilly, is a 7-year-old chihuahua mix and I’ve had her since she was a puppy. She’s always been a sweet girl, through and through. She loved cuddling up next to me at night. She couldn’t hurt a fly and has always been perfectly healthy when the vet checked her out.
Two weeks ago, I took Lilly on an evening walk around my apartment complex. Something caught her attention- I’m not sure what, but she took off running towards it, barking like crazy. I know what you’re thinking, she should’ve been on a leash, but she was a good girl, she had never run away before, so I simply didn’t have the forethought that she would this time. I immediately ran after her, but she was nowhere to be found. I posted on local Facebook groups and put up posters all over town, but after nearly two weeks, I was certain my Lilly would never come back.
Then, two weeks later, when I stepped out of my apartment complex, there she was! She looked about the same as the day she’d run away, and I immediately went to scoop her into my arms. She began snarling and barking, which shocked me, but I just thought she had to have been through some trauma while she was gone. Maybe she was hurt? I ended up taking her to the vet, who she attempted to bite until he had to put a muzzle on her. He admitted her behavior was different than any other visit he’d had with her, but she wasn’t physically hurt in any way, so he sent us home and advised me to just allow her to adjust for a while before bringing her back.
This made sense to me at the time, but her behavior just continued to worsen. She would bark at all hours of the night, snarling and biting at anyone who dared to stop her. She refused to sleep anywhere near me, in fact, I could rarely find her sleeping anywhere in my apartment. I would search and search, and eventually she would turn up once she was awake. And this is a one bedroom apartment, I mean, where could she even hide? She refused to eat anything. She refused to go outside for walks. She stopped needing to use the bathroom…
After a couple of weeks, she stopped the barking, but I began waking up feeling like someone was watching me. Each time, Lilly was staring at me with a snarl on her face. At first, I just stared back, unsure how to react. Her eyes were almost human, and I could see that she was angry. I tried to pet her, but she just bit me, and I went back to sleep. When it started happening every night, I tried shutting her out, but she would always find a way back in. Don’t ask me how this dog got past my locked bedroom door, but it fucking happened.
Then, a couple of nights ago: I woke up to the same thing. Lilly staring at me, with her strange, angry, humanoid eyes. I was done. I screamed at the top of my lungs at her, begging her to stop tormenting me like this, telling her I would give her away in the morning. It was an empty threat, and I still loved her, even through all of this. She looked at me for a moment, and then pounced.
I don’t even know how I called 911. The doctors who saved my life told me I was lucky to be alive, and that they had never seen such an injury from a dog, especially not from a chihuahua of Lilly’s size. My entire face was torn to shreds.
And now they’re releasing me from the hospital tomorrow, and I have no idea what to do. She’s still there, my Lilly, my baby… and I just know I can’t get her out. Animal control went over and said that they failed to capture her, that they couldn’t find her. And I know when I get home, she’ll be waiting for me.
Staring at me, with those terrifying fucking eyes.