As promised, my sister let me stay with her. Even if I had to sleep on the couch, it was much better than staying at home with my dog, if I could even call it that anymore. My first night at my sister’s place was just fine. I didn’t feel like I was being watched or that something was wrong. My sister even cooked breakfast the next morning and made extra so that her husband and I could both eat.
Everything was perfect until around noon the day after I arrived. I was in the bathroom and was looking down to wash my hands. I briefly looked up and into the mirror above the sink to find the closet door ajar behind me. Since I was still in the middle of washing my hands, I didn’t think much of it right that second. But when I looked up again a moment later, I saw it.
Two glowing amber orbs lay at rest roughly four feet off the ground, Max’s exact height when standing on his hind legs. I immediately slam the faucet to turn the sink off and spun around to face the closet. But, like clockwork, the door slammed in my face right as my gaze hit it. Feeling the adrenaline rushing through me, I flung the door open and was met with nothing. A stack of cardboard boxes, some toilet paper, some of my sister’s makeup. But no dog. No eyes. Just a closet.
I tried to calm down after the bathroom incident. Maybe he wasn’t there at all, maybe I was just hallucinating. Maybe he really was just driving me mad. I mostly just sat around for the rest of the day, other than helping my sister run some errands. I figured it was the least I could do since she was letting me stay with her. Later on, I helped her cook dinner and ate with her and her husband. It had been a pretty good day overall, other than the bathroom. But that all went down the gutter after dinner.
I was sitting on the couch with my sister and brother-in-law. Something just told me to look out the window. I slowly turned my head and saw them: those eyes. Those fucking eyes again. I silently nudged my sister and pointed out the window at Max. My sister screamed and scrambled backward away from the window at the sight of the eyes.
“Jesus, what is that thing!?” She shrieked, looking away from the window to avoid its gaze.
“That’s Max,” I replied, my voice quivering, “see what I was talking about?”
My sister nodded frantically as her husband ran to the kitchen to grab a knife. Then it started: the tapping. Max lifted up one of his front paws and started tapping on the window with his nail, a devilish grin on his face the entire time. I knew what he wanted, he wanted to get to me. I couldn’t put my innocent sister and brother-in-law in danger just because of a dog.
“You two stay here,” I told my sister, “I’ll lead him away.”
“No, he’ll kill you!” My sister begged.
I choked back tears and stepped towards the door. “Goodbye,” I said to her, knowing they may be the last words she hears from me, “I love you.”
“Call me!” My sister managed to shout out before I got out the door.
I ran like hell to my car parked just outside. I fumbled with my keys and got in. Max had already appeared outside my drivers side door, but I didn’t care. I floored it and started speeding down the neighborhood streets. I made it onto a main road, on my way to the interstate. It was around 9 o’clock on a weeknight, so the streets were barren and empty. I blew through red lights, going nearly double the speed limit. I managed to get Max a fair distance behind me before getting on the interstate. I slammed the gas once more and rapidly accelerated, now going well over 100.
Apparently someone had caught onto my speeding and many other traffic violations, because there was now a highway patrol car behind me. I would have kept going, but I felt safer around an officer, so I pulled over. I kept my eyes behind the car as he spoke, watching Max as he grinned wickedly. Suddenly, Max started sprinting towards the car. I couldn’t hold back my fear any longer and slammed my gas pedal, going even faster than before. The one cop car turned into two, then three, then an entire group. They must’ve had an entire county’s police force just dedicated to chasing me.
It was almost 10 o’clock and the cops were starting to gain on me. Max was still chasing behind them, keeping up at an ungodly pace. I decided to veer off the road, slowing down just enough for me to get out and run. I kept running into the woods off the highway. I didn’t know where I was going or why. I just ran until my heart was violently beating in my chest and I was lightheaded. I ducked behind a tree in a desperate attempt to hide and catch my breath.
I’ve been behind the tree ever since, typing this out with shaky hands. I thought I was in the clear, but I now know that I couldn’t be more wrong. Because for the last five minutes or so, the cool nighttime breeze has been replaced by a hot, ragged breath on my neck and a dim amber light glowing from just behind my shoulder.