The Interview

Things went back to normal, at least for a few days. Sure, kids were curious about my hospital stay, but it wasn’t long before I was old news. 

I don’t remember exactly when it started but I began to notice funny things. I was able to hear things I normally couldn’t. My mom talking on the phone downstairs, dad walking around the den, the dogs playing in the backyard. Not just my hearing, it was all my senses. I was smelling the pizza guy before he even left his car, I could sense when someone was coming up behind me. I’ll tell you what, it was really freaking me out. I think I knew what it was in the back of my mind. I just didn’t want to admit it because it sounded so far fetched.

I can see the same look in your eyes too. 

Those weren’t the only strange things. I nearly gave my parents a heart attack one night when I took a bite out of my Dad’s steak. See, I’m a hardcore vegan. I had made up my mind when I was a little kid that if I wanted to help animals that meant I shouldn’t be eating them. My parents knew how much I stuck to that. Looking back on it I can’t really tell you why I did it. There was just this powerful urge. Like, I needed that steak more than anything else. I remember spitting it out and feeling kinda sick to my stomach. I told my mom that I must not have been paying too much attention and I think she kinda bought it. I dunno, she was probably wondering if I wanted to start eating meat again but was too embarrassed to say anything. 

The one that hurt me the most though was how our pets reacted to me. Remember how I mentioned we had some dogs and cats? They avoided me like I was the plague. The dogs would bark and snarl at me and one of my cats even scratched at me. I didn’t get it, some of these guys I had raised since they were pups or kittens. Bo...poor Bo. He was the sweetest old hound dog you would ever find but he looked at me like I was an stranger. 

Then he came.

I didn’t know how I knew it was a male, I just did. 

The first night he arrived I heard the dogs barking. Never before had me or my neighbors heard such a din. I mean, you’d think a hundred men had just stormed our front yard. They were snapping and snarling so fiercely that I was terrified someone was trying to hurt them. I ran out of bed, popped open the window and looked into the back yard. I didn’t get a good look at him. All I saw was this black, furry mass leaping up and out of our yard with our dogs fast on his heels. I guess he wasn’t expecting them to be so aggressive. 

After what had happened in the woods before I was scared. No, more like terrified. I could still see Jason being ripped apart in my mind and I was glad the dogs had scared him off. I didn’t know why he had come into our yard but I didn’t want him to come back.

I didn’t sleep too well that night. Every little movement was the wolf coming for me, to drag me back into the woods and do I don’t know what. 

Two nights later he came back. Dogs scared him away but this time it took longer. This time I saw him try to push our dogs back. I’m real proud of Bo. That old dog bit the wolf like a true warrior. It was like he was a puppy again, full of life and vigor. Once again the wolf ran off and I again I didn’t get any sleep. 

My parents were of course getting worried since they had no idea what was freaking out the dogs so much. Why didn’t I tell them? Tell me something, would you have believed me? 

That’s what I thought. 

So a few more nights pass and then I hear it again. The growling, snapping, howling, but this time there was a difference in the tone. This time there was a fight. You could hear the yelps of pain. Looking out my window I saw what was for certain was a deathmatch. There was blood all over the yard as Jimbo, that was our other dog, danged from the wolf's jaws. He was dead, that was certain. Bo was next. He was a brave boy but that will only get you so far. The wolf was easily twice as large as Bo and no longer afraid of him. At least Bo’s life ended quickly. The wolf just ripped his head off. After that he stopped and looked at me.

Looked me dead in the eyes and by God I couldn’t look away. 

It was like he was proud. He stood there as though to say how strong he was, how nothing could get in his way. 

I was so scared that he was going to run into the house and kill my parents. He ran off though. I guess he had made his point and I sure as hell got the message. 

That wolf was going to come to visit me no matter what.

I-I’m sorry. I...fuck...I really miss my dogs. Can you give me a second?

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Thanks. This is kinda embarrassing, I’m not used to crying around people. Oh, tissues. Yeah that’d be nice.

Okay, so where was I. After the dogs was...oh yeah. After he killed my dogs he started to bring me gifts. I woke up one morning to hear my mom screaming. I was so scared that she was being attacked by the wolf that I shot right to that door. She wasn’t being attacked though, oh no. She had found this big, dead deer right on our porch. It was in decent shape save for the fact that it’s throat had been torn out. I didn’t think much of it at the time of course, but the wolf was sending me a gift. A nice, fat buck on which to feast on. 

Dad called animal control right away and they took the deer. Now there was a hunt for a mad wolf. Turns out he had been killing other folk’s pets so they just figured we were another set of unfortunate victims. I still wonder if he’d been eating them because he was hungry or if, maybe, he didn’t want it to look like he was only there for me. To throw them off his tracks.

Yeah, I guess that is pretty silly.

So what happened next?

Dreams. The dreams began.