Winter Rose

XXI. Love is Blind

"They say love is blind but it knows right where to hit you." — Unknown

The Scrabble box dropped from her hand, little wooden pieces scattering everywhere. I turned to look at her face, it was white with terror. Her eyes bugged out as she stared at me, her lip trembling as she backed away.

Shit. Now she was terrified of me! My eyes pleaded with hers as I followed her steps across the room.Come on Winter! I'm not the one to be scared of! Did you even read it?

She inched backwards until she hit the dresser. "No, no, no!" she said in a breathless voice, putting her hands up. "Don't come any closer."

I felt like kicking myself. What an idiot I was! I should have seen this coming. No one in their right mind was going to watch their family pet spell out something in front of them and not freak out.

"Who—what are you?" She spoke in a small voice, barely above a whisper.

For a second I considered spelling that out too, but the explanation was sure to send her through the roof. On top of that, there probably weren't enough letters in the game of Scrabble to tell that tale. Right then, I was sure she thought I was demon possessed, like something out of Stephen King's Pet Cemetery, calculating the right moment to pounce and rip open her jugular. 

Instead, I set to work on the letters again, lining them up carefully, pushing them straight with my snout. She stood frozen—barely breathing.

IM HERE TO SAVE YOU

I stepped back, looking from her to the letters lined up on the floor.

"How–how are you doing this?" She shook her head, blinking her eyes. "This isn't real."

She stumbled backwards over to her bed and sat down, her eyes glued to me the whole way. I stepped towards her, my tail wagging, tongue out; trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible. Slowly, I sat and pressed my paw firmly on her knee as I stared into her eyes—willing her to understand. She cringed at first, pulling away. When I didn't move, she met my gaze again, her brow furrowed. We stared at each other for a long time until her breathing evened.

"You're here to save me from who? Sheldon?" The last word was no more than a whisper.

I nodded my head, still holding her eyes with mine.

Her eyes flooded, her chin lifting slightly. "Sheldon's not going to hurt me." She shook her head, biting her lip. "It was Jose who killed Barnabas, Pickle. He nearly killed Sheldon last night. He set the refuge on fire—. "

As if suddenly realizing she was reasoning with a dog, she brought her hand to her forehead and groaned. "Oh my god! I'm going crazy! This is not real!"

Time was running out. I needed to deliver the message while I had her alone. Once again I trotted around the room, gathering up all the right letters in my mouth. I dropped them into a somewhat slimy pile and started to arrange them in front of her.

JOSE IS

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. My ears shot forward, listening intently.

He was coming.

With a rush of adrenaline, I rounded the room, scattering the words I'd made with my paws. Winter watched me from the bed. Bewildered, she didn't make an attempt move.

A hard knock sounded on the door, sending a jolt through both of us. We both sat, looking at the wooden letters, neither one of us moving for several seconds. The knock sounded again, this time with a hint of impatience.