"Home" - Chapter XI

XI.

I didn't sleep that night. I just stared into the empty, dirty warehouse and waited for morning.
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Eventually, the dog woke up and looked at me. I stood up and walked over to him.


We left the warehouse and started walking through the still-sleeping city. We went past the tavern, and then we were getting close to my neighborhood. I started to feel excited. Maybe I was going to get to see Micah and Adam! At that thought, I felt the pressure again in my mind. The thought disappeared as quickly as it had come.


We turned down a side alley and went one street over. I realized we were heading toward Eli's house, and I recoiled. I stopped walking. Then I felt a stabbing pain in my head, and I stumbled forward to catch up to the dog.


When we reached the house, we went around to the back and I lifted the heavy metal door that opened onto steep stairs leading to the basement.


We walked down into the dank stench, and I started to feel an overwhelming nauseated panic. I looked down at my arm. The bruise from where the dog bit me was getting darker and it was very sore.


I walked across the basement and sat down in a corner on the moist concrete floor.
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The light in the dank basement began to fade to late afternoon, and then evening.


Some time after the room had gone completely black, but for a sliver of light on the floor from the moon coming in a window; I heard the sound of the heavy metal door opening. I then heard multiple pairs of feet coming down the stairs.


The dog got up from the corner where he was sleeping and sat in the middle of the room, looking toward the stairs.


I pressed myself into the corner, hoping that whomever it was that was coming into the room wouldn't see me. The edges of the room were black, and even with the small amount of light coming through the windows, I could see next to nothing.

Then there were green eyes shining out at me from the bottom of the stairs. Then there was another pair. All together, I counted five pairs as they descended. I could also see the shapes of what must have been humans, following each of the dogs.


One of the dogs seemed wary of the crowd gathered in the basement. I could see it turn its head and its green eyes scanned the room. It stood several feet away from the rest of the dogs.


The humans moved to the edges of the room, and I could hear them slide into sitting positions. None of them spoke.


I strained my eyes to see what was happening around me.


The pack moved into a circle around the dog that was standing alone. He showed his teeth and snarled. Suddenly one of the dogs lunged at his neck, and everything became a blur of bodies and a cacophony of growls and gnashing teeth. It seemed that he was holding his own for a while, but then he was taken down.

Just as the dog fell to the pack, one of the humans lunged away from the wall and ran toward the stairs. One of the dogs broke away from the melee and sprung at the human before they made it more than a few feet.

I shut my eyes and covered my ears so that I wouldn't have to see or listen to what followed.