AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The perimeter alarm beeps, but I'm too cozy to get up and check the monitor. It's probably Foster and the boys returning.
Blizzard's ears perk up and he leaps off the couch to bark at the front door. Maybe a raccoon or a deer made the monitor beep.
"Shh. You'll wake Sutton." She sleeps deeply, but Blizzard's barking is loud and insistent.
"Blizzard, no. It's too dark and you've already gone out."
He looks back at me then proceeds to bark at the door.
"Blizzard! Come here!"
Hisbark becomes urgent and stings my ears. Maybe he has to pee.
"All right. I'll let you go out if you come right back. Okay?"
Blizzard barks and howls something that sounds a lot likewhy are you talking and not opening the door? He scratches at the floor so hard, he's going to leave marks.
"Go then." I open the door and peek out as he bursts through my legs, nearly knocking me over. The winter chill freezes my cheeks but I can't complain. It's nothing like New York, and I've become spoiled by the mild California weather.
After a few seconds, I can't hear him. "Blizzard! Come back!"
Nothing. Where is he?
It's scary how quiet it is. He's not rustling in the bushes. Nothing.
"Blizzard!"
He responds with a series of barks and a yelp. Oh shoot. Maybe he tracked down a skunk or a mountain lion? Foster insists there's no bears up here and we haven't seen one yet, but if I were a bear, I'd live here.
I grab my jacket, throw on some Birkenstocks, and head out into the cold with Blizzard's leash in tow.
It's a full moon so I can see shadows, but I don't see him.
Now I'mscared. I'm all alone walking in the dark forest chasing after a husky-wolf puppy who got himself into some trouble.
He's not in the front yard, so I trek around to the path down to the lake.
His painful yowl makes my hair stand up. What animal has him?
That's when I see him. There's a man at the end of the dock. He has Blizzard pinned by the neck. I run to save Blizzard. I don't even worry about my own safety. I have to get to my dog. My ankles wobble on the sticks and rocks.
The man has thick black hair and is wearing a long winter coat. Not the kind they wear in California. The kind they wear in New York. The black glove on his hand is squeezing Blizzard's neck. As I get closer, he looks up and my feet stumble, stopping me in my tracks at the entrance to the dock.
My dad.
He's here and he's strangling my dog. I'm never going to allow that. He's done hurting me and the people I love. "Let him go!"
"Hello, sweetheart." He smiles at me and it's so sick and twisted bile rises in my throat.
"Let go of my dog!"
"No hi, Dad? Nice to see you?"
I look back up the slope to see if there's any sign of Foster's truck.
Nothing. I'm alone with him.
"What do you want?"
