Town of the doomed souls

Chapter 1

He tried to make out a collar in the long and glossy fur, but it definitely wasn't' there.

'I'm afraid I have nothing to give you. Besides I can be late in my first day and that is very undesirable,' he looked at his watch and stepped back to the car. In the rearview window, he saw the animal as motionless following him with its eyes, until he disappeared from view round the bend.

In two days, it all happened again. A silent and motionless guard met him on the same spot by the gate. This time he grabbed a slice of yesterdays smoked sausage from the refrigerator for her but the animal just smelled at his fingers and licked the back of his hand.

'Don't you eat from hands?' murmured Andrew and put the treat on the grass in front of her. But again she just watched him with her clever eyes without any glance at food. When he started the car, she was already out of sight.

The next day she met him at the gates of the police station so motionless as if waiting for someone. He looked around to ask for the owner, but there was no one nearby, even the sergeant was nowhere to be seen.

Days went by and Andrew met the enigmatical dog more often. In the morning she welcomed him at work and in the evening waited by the gates of his house as a sentry on guard. He started to leave her food. She never ate at his presence, but the treat always disappeared by the time he came back. Whether she ate it or some other stray animal of this little town, he did not know.

It was strange that no one seemed to have seen this dog except for himself. Andrew never believed in the supernatural stuff, as a police officer he used to rely on hard facts and tangible evidence and ever since he transferred here, he had no time for a personal investigation.

Now this mysterious dog was standing in the drizzling rain on the road ahead fixed her gimlet eyes on him. Andrew got out of the car and she waged her already wet tail greeting him.

'What are you doing here, girl?'

The animal trampled on the spot impatiently and when having caught his attention ran in the opposite direction at a trot. Andrew stopped, the dog copied him but returning a few steps backwards, she barked and set off onward again.

'I see. You want me to follow... I guess...' murmured the young man doubtfully and stepped forward.

Making sure the man took her invitation the white ghost of a dog ran along the country road that disappeared behind the hilltop and into the forest. In ten minutes of this escort, he scolded himself for such stupidity. How can he even imagine that the animal can actually lead him somewhere on purpose? Now when his jacket was soaked through the idea was ridiculously absurd. He regretted not guessing to go at least by car. He stopped to go back, but heard her resonant bark again. The dog watched his hesitation trotting impatiently on the spot and by witnessing his one more step forward again, she flew the track and headed straight to the forest through the soggy grass.

'Oh, no! That wasn't a deal. I'm not going into the woods in those.' He grumbled looking at his jogging shoes. Scrutinizing thoroughly through the illusion of rain he saw the dog. She was sitting under the old oak tree at the forest's edge and next to her rising over the wet grass for almost a meter was a granite memorial.

Moving dried flowers of a funeral wreath aside, he read barely visible wan inscription under the image of a winged angel "To immortal daughter" with once golden letters. There was nothing else, no date, no picture.

'Why have you brought me here, girl? What exactly should I understand?' Andrew patted the dog but she kept watching him head inclined to the side. 'Come on, we'd better go back to the car, its damn cold here.'