Leaving the sliding glass door ajar, I leaned over the lumber porch, stained Kona and chipping slightly, it was facing towards the forest adjacent to the picnic table and flower bed on the left. My elbows hung slightly off the railing as I interlocked my fingers loosely and crossed my legs. Jovi, whose small legs did him wonders, was already scanning the grassy backyard for a place to relieve himself. I glanced away to give him his privacy, hickory trees illuminated by the soft glow of fairy lights kept an eye on him on my behalf. 

It was a brilliantly starry night, as usual, the absence of city lights made sure of it. I got a slight chill as an evanescent gale enveloped my bare legs causing me to shiver and search for my brindle Frenchie in hopes to retreat inside soon. “Jovi!” I called out as he was lingering close to the tree line, I couldn't help but notice just how similar his coat was to the shadows casted on the already dingy wood. I brushed it off, it wasn’t unusual for Jovi to go further out like that nor was it an issue because I knew it would just save me time cleaning after him later on. Tonight wasn’t a good night to dither in terms of hurrying though. Jovi’s ears perked and he stood curiously, something had caught his attention. I rolled my eyes and threw my head back, closing my eyes and sighing, wishing he’d just come up the step treads. 

My neck snaps backward at the door, it slammed shut with a resounding crash. I jerked a bit from the shock, I hadn’t realized I latched on to the railing and dug my palms into splintered wood. Taking a shaky breath I focused on my now distressed skin, a painful pressure slowly emerged. With the goal of easing the tension I chuckled and made a mockery of my frightened state, it was a good enough temporary fix. Turning back it seemed I lost my dog to the distraction. 

“Jov-” my question cut off abruptly by the sound of erratic barking from the woods, the howling belonged to Jovi. My socks slid against the floor as I hastily made my way down the stairs knowing he had acres of serried scenery to sprint through. When my Klein’s hit the grass I resented the leather soles just a few meters away in the mud room but, hopefully, moving fast enough I could detach myself from the prickling sensation below my blushed knees. 

My outstretched leg hit the treeline, the sound of crunched amber leaves, and the movement of disheveled sticks was in sync with Jovi’s rachet. However, advancing deeper under the starlit foilage, my senses felt strange… like they'd been disconnected from my nerves as crafted new response signals of their own, deviating from their intended use. The howling was suffocating but what consumed me was that I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. I covered my ears and said a silent prayer to whoever would listen, I didn’t want to be alone with my own thoughts, not here, not now. My dog's disturbing cries were still mine to deal with so I had no choice but to move forward even if the coward in me clutched my spine and begged me to turn back. “Jovi!” I exclaimed. “C’mere boy!” left my tense lips with a loud whistle. 

I paused to catch my breath and clenched my eyes. I had been running towards something for what felt like an eternity; Time became a burden and left me dizzy. I try to reassure myself it was my dog that was the quarry to offset the unsettling feeling I wasn't exactly the one doing the hunting. I didn’t think before I put my hands on my knees, yanking them back to my chest, the discomfort demanded to be witnessed. Surveying my palms I saw the formation of small droplets of blood, I shook them off and rolled my shoulders. I turned back to continue but everything fell silent, my brows furrowed as my head tilted and I listened intently. And yet all was quiet, not even the rushing waters of the creek were discernable like something had scared it into submission. The ominous idleness of the woods forced me into solitude with just the sound of my heart. I could hear the blood rushing through my veins and drowning my heart in a series of beats. It was like the Underwater Box Act. My heart was pounding in my chest, crying to be let out of the confines of my ribs, confessing to its mortality. It was so…visceral. 

How far was I from home? I looked through the dense trees but I could just barely make out the silhouette of the cabin. I began to tremble as I tried to work out how I made it so far without realizing it, I suppose I had been flooded with a dizzying sense of urgency but even still. I considered walking back since Jovi was most likely on his way there already. I turned my attention to my abode once more and paused as it was veiled in somber darkness. My chest refused to rise it was as if an entity of sorts gripped my nerves till its knuckles turned ghostly white. Every surface of my skin prickled with sweat, sliding down my pale skin which I no longer could be convinced was mine. My apprehensive eyes darted around but my body was nothing less than paralyzed. I testified that the woods were not deserted but drained as if dread had convinced all life to lay down and suffer. 

Then I heard it, a voice filled with malevolence, a tongue of needles and saliva laced with sedatives, it stripped me of my bones and exposed my pure conscious ¨Jovi" the haunting travesty of a voice hissed, in an all-too-familiar tone.

Alexzandra H