Chapter 5: It Wasn't a Dog
3551 Words
Jessica and Olivia had been friends for most of their lives. They had met on the first day of kindergarten and had gone to school together since then. They had even attended the same college to get their teaching degrees. Now, they worked together at the same school.
The two women had a tradition of taking one night a month to have a girls’ night. Tonight, they had been that night. They had eaten dinner, gone to a movie, and then stopped for ice cream before returning to Olivia’s house.
“Okay, I can’t stand it any longer,” Olivia blurted out as they sat on her sofa. “What’s wrong? You have been quiet since we left the theater.”
Jessica looked confused as she answered, “Nothing’s wrong. I think the movie just set me on edge a little. You know how I feel about scary movies.”
“Is that really it, Jess? How are things with you and Jason?”
“I promise,” Jessica laughed. “That is all it is. And for your information, Jason and I are fine.”
“No complaints about me stealing his new wife for the night?” Olivia joked.
Jessica giggled, “Of course not. Jason said something about wanting to game with some of his friends tonight, so he was happy I had something to do that did not involve him.”
“The two of you are perfect together. You really are,” Olivia said as she opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass. “You want a glass before you go?”
“Thanks, but no. You know wine always makes me sleepy, and with the weather outside, that is the last thing I need as I drive home.”
“I have a couch if you need it,” Olivia said.
“I know, but I want to get home,” Jessica said as she looked at her phone to check the time. “Oh! I should probably go. I didn’t know it was this late.”
“Fine! Abandon me,” Olivia said, pretending to pout as she hugged Jessica. “Call me when you get home.”
“Of course,” Jessica replied as she picked up her things.
They walked to the door, and when Olivia opened it, they were struck by how quickly a thick fog had formed. There was a fine mist falling, making everything wet. Jessica involuntarily shuddered as she stepped onto the porch.
“Are you sure you don’t want to spend the night?” Olivia asked. “I’m sure Jason would understand and not want you to drive on those roads in weather like this.”
“You’re right. Jason would understand,” Jessica answered. “But if I do that, I will have to wait to show him the nighty I got in the mail today, and I don’t want that.”
Olivia laughed as she hugged Jessica again, “Okay, I will give you that one. That’s a good reason. Just be careful and go slow.”
“I will,” Jessica called out as she bounced down the steps to her car. “And I’ll call you as soon as I get home.”
Olivia shivered and rubbed her arms as she watched Jessica back out of her driveway. She didn’t like her best friend driving home in that weather. She also knew that Jessica was an excellent driver and used to driving on nights like this. Olivia’s biggest worry was a deer on the road that Jessica would not see. She watched from the porch until she could no longer see the taillights of Jessica’s car before she turned and went back inside.
-
Jessica was less than a mile from Olivia’s house when she began to regret the decision to drive home. The fog was thick and swirling in the slight breeze. A misty rain was falling, adding to the poor visibility. Jessica strained to see ten feet in front of her car.
Jessica crept along as she went down a steep hill. When she reached the bottom, the fog was hovering above her car, and she could see the road clearly in front of her. She gasped as she slammed on the brakes.
In the middle of her lane was a large black mass. It moved, turning to look at her, causing her blood to run cold. It was a massive black dog, and yet it looked odd. The way it stood was wrong. It continued to turn, and she saw why.
The animal was immense, far larger than any dog Jessica had ever seen. It was hunched over, eating something on the road. The animal began to straighten as it balanced on its hind legs, holding what it was devouring in its front paws. Its eyes glowed red in her headlights as it let out a low, deep growl she could feel in her chest as it locked eyes with her.
Jessica sat in her car, frozen in fear by what she was seeing. Her mind could not process it. What she was looking at did not exist. It couldn’t exist. People would have seen it before.
The creature dropped the animal it was holding, never breaking eye contact with Jessica. It began to move toward her in an awkward, lumbering gate. Her breath caught in her throat as it laid a paw on the hood of her car. It dug its claws into the paint, leaving deep gouges as it continued toward the driver’s door.
Jessica stifled a scream as it pressed its face against her window. The creature's hot breath steamed the window, preventing her from seeing what it was doing. She resisted turning her head to watch it as it moved down the side of her car, dragging its claws along the side of the vehicle as it did.
Jessica was able to see it move toward the back of her car in the rearview and side mirrors. It put both paws on the trunk of the vehicle, and Jessica felt the car shift from its weight. The monster let out a scream that was a mix of a growl and roar. That caused Jessica to flinch and stomp on the accelerator.
The tires spun on the wet pavement before they caught traction. Jessica sped up the hill away from the monster as quickly as possible. She watched it chasing her car in the rearview mirror as she hit the fog bank at the top of the hill, forcing her to slow down again.
No, no, no!” Jessica sobbed as she drove. “Please, no! What is that?”
She looked in the mirror to see movement directly behind her car. She heard a thump on the trunk as she hit the gas again before reaching a curve in the road. She had to slam on the brakes to make the turn and was sure she heard the scrape of claws on the back of her car.
“Why?!” she shrieked. “Why are you doing this?”
Jessica felt another impact on her car and heard the sound of claws on metal. She accelerated out of the turn in the blinding fog, hoping she knew the road well enough to make it home.
“Stop it!” she screamed. “Leave me alone! I just want to go home!”
Jessica again accelerated as she drove out of the curve. She was driving blind and knew she should not be driving that fast. Tears were streaming down her face as Jessica struggled to stay calm enough to focus on the road when her phone rang. She reached over and hit it in its holder on the dash of her car.
“Hey, sweetheart,” her husband Jason said. “Are you alright? Where are you?”
“It’s chasing me!” Jessica yelled.
“What? What’s chasing you? What’s going on?” Jason questioned, concerned for his wife.
“I don’t know what it is! It isn’t a dog. I thought it was, but it’s not,” Jessica cried.
“Where are you?”
“I’m about three miles from the house. I can’t drive fast because of the fog, and this thing keeps chasing me,” Jessica told him through tears.
“Okay,” Jason said as he tried to think of a way to help her. “I will be waiting at the door for you. Just pull in and run for the house. Get here, and I will make sure you get inside safe and sound.”
“Okay.”
“I’m going to hang up so you can focus on driving. Be safe. I love you.”
Jessica sobbed as she answered, “I love you too.”
Jessica heard the phone beep as she glanced in the rearview mirror. She let out a deep breath of relief from not seeing the creature behind her. Her relief was short-lived when she hit her brakes to go around a corner and saw the red reflection of its eye still following her.
“Stop it! Go away!” she screamed at it.
Her panic began to increase as she thought of how she would make it from her car into her house if this thing continued to follow her. The speed it ran meant it could easily catch her before she made it to the door. It could get to her husband as soon as he opened the door. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she thought of the possibilities.
As she neared her house, the fog began to lessen. Jessica was able to speed up and finally lost sight of the abomination that had been chasing her car. When she was a quarter of a mile from her house, she dropped her phone in her purse and pulled it in her lap so she could get inside as quickly as possible.
Jessica looked in all the mirrors one last time and saw nothing behind her. She even tapped the brakes to see if the monster’s eye would reflect. She sighed when she didn’t see the glowing red dots of its eyes.
Her heart leaped when her driveway came into view. She slammed on her brakes when she reached it, barely slowing enough to make the sharp turn. She drove up the driveway and onto the grass, only feet away from her front door. She hardly took time to shut off the car engine or shut the door as she jumped out and ran for the door. Her husband opened it as her foot hit the first step of the porch, slamming it shut behind her as she crossed the threshold.
Jessica whirled around and wrapped her arms around her husband as she began to sob. Her legs gave out from the adrenaline in her body. Jason caught her and lowered her to the floor, holding her as she cried.
“Jess, what did you see?” Jason asked with marked concern in his voice.
“I don’t know,” Jessica answered as she raised her head and looked at him. “I have no idea what it was. It wasn’t a dog. That’s all I know. It wasn’t a dog.”
“Okay, so it wasn’t a dog. Tell me what it looked like and what happened.”
Jason handed her a box of tissues. Jessica wiped her eyes and blew her nose. She took a few deep breaths to help her calm down before she began to explain what had happened.
“I was driving home from Olivia’s, and there was this thing on the road, in my lane, that I thought was a gigantic dog. Then it turned toward me, and I saw it wasn’t. It was holding this roadkill in its hands. I don’t know; maybe they were paws, sort of like a raccoon has. It walked on its hind legs. It chased my car for miles. I’m sure there are scratches in the paint from it hitting and clawing my car,” Jessica paused. She could see the confusion and concern in her husband’s face as she told him what happened. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
“I didn’t say that,” Jason softly reassured her. “It's just hard to process. How could there be something like that around here, and no one knows anything about it?”
“I don’t know, but I know what I saw,” Jessica told him as tears began to roll down her cheeks again. “Jason, I majored in biology and zoology. That’s what I teach, and I have no idea what this thing was. It shouldn’t exist. It just shouldn’t.”
“I believe you, but you are having a hard time processing it, and you saw it. Think of how I feel when I didn’t see and only have you telling me about it. I believe you did see it. It’s just hard for me to grasp what you saw, but I believe you. I do,” Jason explained.
Jessica quietly asked, “You don’t think I’m crazy?”
“No,” Jason said as he pushed a strand of her hair from her face. “I don’t think you are crazy. I think you saw something you can’t explain. Come on, let’s get off the floor. I will get you tucked in on the couch and make you a cup of tea. Sound good?”
Jessica’s phone began to ring in her purse as the pair stood. She quickly started fishing for it as she walked to the couch.
Jason laughed, “That will be Olivia calling to make sure you got home because you haven’t called her yet.”
“Yup. It’s Olivia,” she answered as she pulled her phone out and looked at it.
Jason smiled and shook his head as he walked to the kitchen.
Jessica answered the phone, “Hello.”
“Are you home?” Oliva half asked half demanded.
“I’m home. I just got here a few minutes ago. The fog was horrible. I had to drive at a crawl nearly all the way home.”
“Thank goodness!” Olivia exclaimed. “I had all of these mental pictures of you wrecked somewhere.”
“Nope. I’m fine,” Jessica lied.
“Are you? You don’t sound like you are.”
“I am. I promise. I almost hit an animal. I guess I’m still a little shaken. I will call you tomorrow and explain everything.”
“If that’s all, you don’t need to explain.”
“No. I do need to explain it to you,” Jessica insisted. “Please do me a favor. Do not go outside. I don’t care what you hear, what you see, or what you think you need that is not already in your house, do not go outside.”
“Uh…okay,” Olivia answered. “What exactly did you see?”
“I’m not entirely sure. That’s why I want to explain it to you tomorrow. It’s going to take a while, and I am getting a pounding headache. I think it’s from the tension of driving in that fog.”
“Okay, sure. I hope your headache gets better. Do you need anything?” Olivia asked.
“Thanks. I’m good,” Jessica answered. “Go to bed, and we will talk tomorrow. Goodnight.”
“Okay. Goodnight.”
Jessica put her phone on the table by the couch. She leaned her head back and let out a sigh. Her heart was no longer pounding and was returning to a normal rate. Her head was aching from the stress and the adrenaline from what she had experienced. She sat quietly and focused on her breathing. She was startled when Jason came back into the room, causing her to jump.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Jason told her as he handed her a cup of tea and kissed her on the head. “It’s chamomile. I hope it helps you calm down so you can sleep tonight.”
“Thank you,” Jessica said as she took a sip.
“Why don’t we go to bed? You can change clothes for bed so you are nice and comfy and drink your tea all snuggled in.”
“That sounds good. Maybe watch something on TV to get my mind off things?” Jessica asked.
“Of course,” Jason said as he took her cup and offered her a hand.
Jessica settled into bed beside her husband. As she sipped her tea, she began to feel how exhausted she was. The drive home had drained her physically and mentally. She still couldn’t process what had happened, but that didn’t matter. Her mind was no longer thinking about it. It only wanted to shut down and sleep. She sat her tea on the nightstand, cuddled up to her husband, and fell asleep almost instantly.
-
The following day, Jason awoke before Jessica. He decided to let her sleep in and surprise her with breakfast. Jason was in the kitchen, starting the coffee, when his cell phone rang. He picked it up off the counter to see it was Olivia. He was surprised she was calling him and not Jessica.
“Hello?” Jason answered.
“Hey Jason, sorry to bother you so early, but is Jess okay?” Olivia asked.
Jason sighed and answered, “I think so. I will know more when she wakes up.”
“What happened last night on the drive home? She did not sound like herself when I called.”
“That is a good question. I don’t know if I can explain it. I don’t even know if Jess can explain it.”
“Try,” Olivia insisted.
“Fine. Jess said that she almost hit a monster with her car.”
“Monster?”
“Well, yeah. The way she described the thing, it would be.”
Olivia asked, “What did she describe?”
“This is going to sound as crazy as it did last night. Jess said it was like a giant dog that had either hands or paws like a raccoon and walked on two legs.”
“Wait, like a werewolf?” Olivia asked, then began to laugh. “You are telling me that Jessica almost hit a werewolf with her car?”
“No,” Jason asserted. “I am just telling you what she told me. To tell you the truth, the more I think about it, the less I’m sure I believe her.”
“You need to stop right there because Jess would not lie to you. We both know that,” Olivia told him.
“Hold on, before you get mad at me, I will go out and look at her car. She told me that the thing scratched it. That will end any questions. If there are scratches, it happened the way she said. If there are no scratches, than she is mistaken about what she saw.”
“Fine,” Olivia said in an exasperated tone. “But don’t you dare hang up on me while you do it!”
“I won’t. I promise,” Jason said as he stifled a laugh. “She parked right at the door, so this won’t take long.
Jason walked to the front door and stepped out onto the porch. As soon as he did, his heart dropped. The car had clear, deep gouges in the hood. He stepped off the porch and walked down the driver’s side. There were lines dug into the paint along the side that looked like claw marks. He placed his hand on them, trying to align his fingers with the marks. They were so wide he could not do it. He let out a low, quivering moan as he began to comprehend what he was seeing.
“Jason? What’s wrong?” Olivia asked.
“Liv, something clawed up her car,” he stammered as he walked to the trunk and saw even more gouges in the paint and metal. “Something attacked her car last night.”
“Oh, wow,” Olivia breathed.
“Yeah, that’s how I feel too. I’ll have Jess call you when she wakes up.”
“Uh, okay. Bye,” Olivia replied.
“Bye,” Jason said and hung up.
Jason continued to circle Jessica’s car. He examined every scratch and dent that had been left on it the night before. Whatever had left them had gone through the paint and into the metal. He could see a faint print on the trunk that looked like a hand but much larger.
“I told you I wasn’t lying,” Jessica said from the porch, causing Jason to jump.
“I know you weren’t lying. I just didn’t know it would be all this,” Jason stammered.
Jessica stared at the car and said, “I didn’t know it did all that either. What I do know is that I will never drive on that road again. It won’t let me get away a second time. I can feel it.”
- Writer
