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At 7 a.m promptly, my small twin bell alarm clock went off and I groaned shuffling in my bed with my eyes closed and pulling my pillow over my head to stifle the sound.
After a few moments of muffled ringing, I quickly grew tired of it and smacked the alarm clock off of my nightstand. It clattered onto the floor and the batteries fell out, giving my ears some much needed quiet.
It wasn't long after the alarm cut off that I heard muffled barking outside. I sat up in bed, furrowing my brows in confusion at the plush pillows and floral blue sheets around me.
I didn't fall asleep in my bed last night. What happened?
"Orthus?" I called, swinging my legs over the bed and trudging through the hallway. I passed by the open door of the guest room and peered inside, narrowing my eyes at the freshly made bed inside.
Did Clara wake up and leave without telling me?
The barking outside continued, and I walked to the door to investivate. When I looked out of the peephole, Orthus stood outside barking. I quickly threw open the door and ushered him inside. Orty nudged my leg and that was when I saw the note in his collar.
Hey love,
Everything was fine last night. I took the liberty of fixing your window for you, and I left a bottle of vitamins and pain reliever for your sister. They were very costly, might I add.
Myrtle Avenue, Union Tpke, Park Ln S, 11421. Seuffert Bandshell Memorial.
Meet me at 10 if you're interested in paying me back.🖤
- Your Favorite
After reading the note, the events of last night came flooding back to me. The two bottles that he had left were sitting on the kitchen island, so I rushed back to my room. Sure enough, the hole in the window was gone.
A slow smile crept onto my face and I pulled the note close to my chest, sighing in relief. How did Leo manage to fix the window without waking me up? The smile on my face quickly faded as I looked at Orthus.
If he had come back, why did he leave Orty outside? Maybe he didn't see Orthus following him.
Behind me I heard a door open, and a soft voice called out to me as I turned around.
"Aggie?"
Oh God, not the nickname.
"Clara, you're awa--"
Clara's tall frame barreled into my small one, knocking me back a few feet. She buried her head in my shoulder and hugged me tightly.
I looked around the room and awkwardly patted her back.
"What's wrong?" I asked in confusion.
Since when was she a hugger?
I heard her voice crack as she spoke, "I thought you were dead."
I pushed away from her blinking. Just for research purposes, I reached up and checked my pulse with my right hand, nodding when I felt the steady throbbing of my artery.
"I'm completely fine. Look, " I grabbed her hand and pulled it up to my face, "I can breathe out of my nose and everything."
I blew the breath out of my nose hard enough so that she could feel it on her fingers, and Clara's eyes welled up with tears.
Shit, was that too much?
"Clara," I said in exasperation, "I'm fine, really. "
Clara shook her head as the tears rolled out of her eyes, " I saw it...., I saw you bleed out right in front of my eyes, Aggie, I swear it was real-It was..."
"Okay, Okay," I said, pulling her towards me and embracing her just to get her to be quiet.
What was going on with her? Maybe it was post-alcohol hysterics. If that was a thing.
"Let it out," Orthus walked from the living room into the hallway and gave me a puzzled look, I rolled my eyes, "You want some tea? I'll make you an extra special blend that someone gave to me."
I ushered Clara into the kitchen, completely oblivious to the broken mirror and blood covered sink in the bathroom.
~~~
Orthus and I arrived at Forest Park at 9:45.
With fifteen minutes to spare, I decided to take Orty on a short walk.
When I opened my car door, Orthus leaped over my seat and jumped out of the car. I quickly grabbed his leash before he could take off, closed and locked my car door, and headed towards the trail that was closest to us.
When I was sure nobody was watching us or passing by, I climbed over the high railing and motioned for Orthus to jump. He leaped over the rail and took off, running into the dense trees ahead.
"Orty!" I cried, "Damn he's fast." I slowed my run into a jog, looking around at the beautiful fall colors on the leaves and smiling.
I almost forgot how much I loved being outside. As I walked in the direction that my dog went, the leaves crunched loudly underneath my shoes. I continued on for about two minutes before I started to worry.
"Orty?!" I called out, cupping my hands around my mouth so that the sound would project.
"This dog..." I muttered to myself. I took one hundred steps to the left and called out his name once more.
"Orthus! Where are you?!"
I was met with nothing but the chirping of the birds and the whisper of the leaves blowing in the wind. I sighed deeply and turned back to where I was coming from. As I was walking, I heard a rustling sound to my right.
I stopped in my tracks, looking around to see if anyone was nearby.
"Hello? Orthus?"
There was no reply. I frowned, continuing to walk and glancing to my right to make sure I wasn't being followed.
Then suddenly, I heard a small, female voice.
"Hello?"
I paused, listening again, "Hello? Who is speaking?" I asked.
There was another short silence before the soft voice asked, "Hello? Are you Amara Galanis?"
I searched for the source of the voice, to no avail. "Who is asking?" I replied cautiously. My heart started beating rapidly, and I desperately tried to level my breathing.
Where the hell was Orthus when you needed him and who in the world would be asking for me by name in the middle of the woods?
"I'm up here, in the tree," the voice replied.
My head immediately shot up and sure enough-- a little girl was perched on a branch in the middle of the pine tree, right above me.
I took a few steps back to get a better view and furrowed my brows in confusion.
"What are you doing up there? How do know my name?" I asked. Without saying a word, the little girl's innocent face immediately twisted into a sneer.
"So you are Amara Galanis," she growled.
Oh shit. I messed up.
"Wait, wait..." I trailed off and watched in horror as she stood upon the branch and her arms and feet cracked and bent, forming elongated talons.
Feathers started protruding from her skin and covering her chest, arms and legs. The creature in the tree flexed its large brown-and-white wings.
"What the hell is going on right now!?" I exclaimed, quickly backing away from it. When the mutated girl flapped her wings, I took off sprinting, yelling, until my lungs burned.
"Oh my God...ORTHUS!!! "
I couldn't even remember which direction I had come from, so I just ran aimlessly through the forest. I heard a whoosh overhead and screamed in agony when I felt talons digging into my shoulder.
"Please!" I yelled, thrashing and crying as blood pooled out of the puncture wounds.
The monster flapped her wings and started lifting me off the ground. She let out an ear-splitting screech and started flying higher and higher into the air.
To my right I heard the loud cracks of branches breaking, and Orthus came into view, already halfway transformed.
His head was gruesomely split down the middle, and multiple rows of large, sharp teeth lined the inside of his skull. Orty had tripled in stature, he had grown past my head and his body was easily around the size of that of a rhinoceros.
Orthus leaped forward, grabbing me and the monster out of the air and slamming us into the ground.
I felt the skin in my shoulder blades and back tear as the bird was forced to release me from herr talons. I managed to painfully roll to the side and Orthus started ripping the creature apart, limb by limb.
I moaned in pain, trying desperately to push myself off the ground as my wounds started gushing blood. Just as I managed to sit up, I heard another screech that sounded just like the one the creature had emitted before.
And then another screech.
And another.
"She was calling for backup..." I whispered in dismay.
"Orty," Orthus looked up from tearing out the creature's entrails, and turned towards me, "we've got to go, buddy. Quickly."
Orthus bounded over to me and crouched low still, the top of his back was a good two feet above my waist.
I raised my arms and winced, grabbing ahold of his short fur, and hoisting myself up in agonizingly slow fashion.
I lifted my right leg up and over his large body, and once I was mounted on his back, I kicked Orthus in the side, motioning for him to move.
Orthus took off running and I struggled to keep my hold on his neck while my shoulders were in agony.
I didn't even think about telling him to slow down, knowing that the other monsters would catch up easily if we did. Instead, I egged him on.
I heard some rustling in the trees ahead and gasped as three more monsters emerged from the trees, attacking me and Orthus from the front and both sides.
Orthus reared, knocking me onto the floor, and he swatted the first monster with his paw, knocking it into a nearby tree.
I crawled towards a big fir tree, using the giant root to pull myself away from all of the action. My shirt was soaked in blood from my wounds and I rested my head back against the trunk of the tree, trying to catch my breath.
Two creatures were now attacking Orthus, and one raked a claw across his face, causing him to whine in pain.
"Orty!" I cried, watching as he went to cover his eye with his paw and the creatures started clawing at his back.
I was already injured, and just moving too roughly made my shoulders ache. Still, I had to help Orthus in some way.
I grabbed the nearest stick and threw it at one of the monsters. I missed wildly, but I still got it's attention, and as soon as it turned to me, I knew I was screwed.
"Shit, Fuck, Dammit, Ass, Titties..." I muttered, using the tree trunk to pull myself up off the ground. I didn't think that through.
The monster sneered, and dived in my direction. I ran the other way, weaving through trees and ducking under branches. My eyes missed a tree root and I tripped over it, stumbled forward, and then hit my head on a low branch.
The force of the impact knocked me onto the ground and I moaned, reaching to grab my head as a knot formed in the middle of my forehead.
I rolled onto my stomach, disoriented and struggled pushing myself up once again. My arms had completely given out, and the blood loss was finally getting to my head, making everything around me move.
In the distance I could make out the wings of one of the creatures that fought with Orthus. I braced myself as it flew towards me, talons bared.
Just before it could touch me, a long chain with a knife on the end flew through the air and struck the flying creature in the back of the head.
It let out a blood-curdling scream, and was dragged back with so much force that it's body flew into the trunk of a tree and broke it.
I stared in awe as a figure dressed in all black flicked the chain, and the weapon flew out of the monster's skull and back towards him.
The figure approached me, walking slowly at first, and then speeding up when they saw that I was immobile.
When they reached my side, the person knelt down, hands flicking over my body searching for the source of the blood. They held my head up, and I blinked, trying to focus my vision so I could make out who it was that had saved me.
It was a man.
He had sleek, wavy black hair and deep eyes that met mine with a hard glare. The rest of his face and body was covered, and my eyes fell to the blades that rested on the ground behind him.
My mind fell into a panic as he picked one of them up, and I tried to move crying as pain shot up my shoulder and neck.
"Please, no,no...my dog." I sobbed, too exhausted to try and escape.
"Hey, hey," the man said, "Stop that."
He dropped the knife and secured my body against his by using his right hand to pull me closer to him.
"Why are you always so convinced that I'm going to kill you?"
I flinched when his hand moved, and I watched warily as he pulled down his mask. My jaw dropped and I stared in shock at the the familiar face.
"You?" I spat out.
"Sorry I'm late, there was a bit of traffic on the way here."