Chapter 2

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I put my other foot down in front of me. Immediately, the black mass shifts, and its head, or what I think is its head, lifts up. It falls back onto the ground and whines again. As I creep closer, I realize how frigid it is. Ooh, I shoulda put on a jacket. After a few more cautious steps, I've reached whatever the hell this thing is.

I can see its body moving up and down slowly. It sounds like its having a hard time breathing, so it's probably injured. I reach my hand out, and I feel the heat coming from this thing.

If I don't get eaten right now, I'm turning this thing into my personal heater.

Before I even make contact with it, its head snaps back to look at me, and it let's out a deep, scary growl. "Oh, okay, okay, n-no touching!" I say, putting my hands up. "Sorry!" Its eyes shift to the bat, and I quickly drop it. "There, no weapons! Will you stop growling now?" I ask. It stops and lays its head down.

I have no idea what this thing is, but it's way too big to be just some dog. I walk around it, looking at its belly.

Immediately, I spot giant gashes stretching from its ribcage to its stomach. "Oh shit..!" I whisper so that I don't scare it. It let's out a small whine, and I touch its body. It's super warm, and the fur is extra soft! "Don't worry. I'll help you out." I say. I'm no vet, but my mom is, and I've had my fair share of pets. I'm confident I can do this.

"These cuts are really deep... you should probably be dead..." I say to it. It let's out a small whine, and I rub it. "Okay, I'll see if I can fix you up. Just hang in there for a minute, okay?" I ask it. It doesn't respond at all, so I just go back into the house.

Once I'm inside, I put the bat back and go upstairs, grabbing our first aid kit from the laundry room. I go into my room and grab a jacket, seeing a missed text from my dad. He'll be home late, so I'll be in the clear for a while.

I return to the backyard and start by cleaning the wounds. It whines and growls as I do, so I try my best to be gentle with the injuries. "I have to put in some stitches, so I'm sorry if this hurts." I say to it. It grunts, but doesn't try to stop me. I put the needle and thread to the wound and realize that they're too small for the cuts.

"Ah, I won't be able to close these..." I tell it. It whines, then growls. "Hey! Don't be mad at me!" I say. It continues growling, so I back away. It stops when I do, which probably means it doesn't want me here anymore. "Please let me help." I say. It growls again. "Ugh. Do you wanna die?" I ask it. It stops. I grab the roll of bandages and start covering one of the gashes.

The blood starts coming through the bandages, so I go over them. After maybe 40 or 50 minutes of wrapping the dog thing, the roll is finally out of bandage, and I'm just barely finished. I pull out another roll and finish the wraps. "Are you feeling better?" I ask it. It huffs, which I think means it's okay now. "Good." I say.

I go over to its head and hold my hand out near its nose. It takes a couple sniffs and moves its head down, showing its forehead. I pet it, and it growls. Or maybe its purring? Either way, its cute. Its tail starts to weakly wag, barely coming off the ground. "Don't worry, buddy. Just take it easy, you'll be okay soon." I say. "Hmm, what should I call you..?" I ask it. It nuzzles my hand.

"How about Rufus?" I ask. Its head cocks back and it looks at me like its disgusted. "Ha! Rufus it is!" I say to it. Suddenly, it stands up, and I see just how big it is compared to me. It's big enough to swallow me whole!!

"Oh..." I say, looking at it. "Oh, shit."

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