✓ ❘ 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 ─ 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐘

Diego.

*WINNING STORY*

"Come on, buddy," I sighed exasperatedly as I
sat crossed-legged on the wooden floor across from my pet Border Collie, trying – unsuccessfully – to get him to stick his snout into his food bowl and chew on the pellets and gravy inside of it, "You haven't eaten in days. You're making me worry."

Offering nothing more than a glance in my direction before turning and languidly trotting into the adjoining lounge area, my dog delivered a non-verbal response of Screw you.

Blowing a raspberry, I let my head fall back and rubbed my hands over my face before uncrossing my legs and standing up, gathering the pillow I'd been sitting on and tossing it back into the breakfast nook.

Walking over to the kitchen island, I began clearing up the mess and empty packaging from Diego's uneaten lunch, while I let my thoughts drift. There was a strange uneasiness – heaviness – in the air over the past few days, and I had to admit that it had me feeling more unsettled than I had ever been.

Anyone else would've probably chalked it up to it being Halloween season, saying that uneasiness was part of the mood. But I'd lived through almost two decades worth of Halloweens already, and none of them had me feeling quite like this.

As I picked up the empty tin cans, I pondered over the possibility of all the strangeness having something to do with my dog. He'd been lost for over a year before turning up on my front porch a week ago and things had been weird ever since.

Firstly, there was the petrifying group of bats that had seemingly escorted him to the house, hanging upside down on the branches of the tree in the front yard and staring as I embraced my dog and welcomed him back inside. I'd never seen bats in the area before that night.

Then there was the glowing red eyes I'd seen looking back at me when I'd caught sight of Diego's reflection in the window. Unexplainable.

But most unsettling of all was Diego's behaviour. He'd always been a lively, hyperactive dog but ever since his return, he'd been the exact opposite – moody, solitary and refusing to eat. It was almost as if he was a completely different dog, and now I couldn't help but think that there's more to his disappearance that I'd initially thought.

"Ow!" A stabbing pain shot through my finger and I cursed as I looked down and saw that in my distracted state, I'd managed to cut my finger on the edge of the tin.

I took a step back to inspect the wound – it was deep and the blood was spilling from it in copious amounts. The smell of iron hit my nose and I grimaced. Then, a low growl caught my attention.

Slowly, I turned around and I was met with the sight of Diego – eyes glowing a bright red, saliva dripping from his jaw, and unmistakeably hunger written on his face.