Its scraggly muzzle rose from the pile of garbage it had been eatingfrom. Roger froze in mid-step, his eyes fixed on the mangy animal. Hehad never held any great love for dogs, and this was the first timehe�d ever seen a stray. In his neighborhood filled with well-manicuredlawns and garages packed with minivans and SUVs, Roger never expectedto see a stray animal, especially not one as almost rabid looking asthe dog in front of him.
In all honesty, Roger thought that the stark contrast between the dogand the neighborhood was what attracted him to it the most. He hadnever had any interest in owning a dog, but as he stared at the dog�ssmall wagging tail, taking it home was the first idea that popped intohis head.
�Hello boy,� Roger said in a gentle voice as he walked closer to thedog. He stood right outside of a house that belonged to the Williamsfamily: a retired surgeon and his wife who both would�ve certainlywrinkled their noses and taken a broom to the dog to get it off theirproperty as soon as possible.
The dog approached Roger, tail still wagging cheerily. That�s why ahalf-hour later Roger found himself the owner of a dog. He didn�t knowenough about animals to determine the breed. The dog had brown, mud-colored fur and couldn�t have weighed more than fifteen pounds, if that itlooked so starved. He estimated that the dog was about three feet longand two feet tall. One thing he did know for certain was that the dogwas female.
He named her Herbert.
Because Roger lived alone he didn�t have to worry about someoneobjecting to his new companion. Had his now ex-fianc� gone throughwith the marriage and moved into the house Roger had bought for thetwo of them�a house, Roger might add, that she had picked out, in aneighborhood, Roger might also add, that he had no interest in livingin�then things might�ve been different and Roger would�ve simplypassed by the dog, offering it only a small, amused glance. Of course,had Roger not wanted to get a small bit of revenge on his newneighbors by walking his new dog for all to see, the mutt would�vebeen out of a home. At least someone benefited from the whole fiascowith his ex.
Roger supplied Herbert with some left over chicken, which she wolfeddown. He watched the news that night with Herbert by his side. Thecompany was nice, and when Roger turned off the lights, his new dog atthe foot of the bed, Roger felt good�really good�for the first time ina month.
Three hours later Roger awoke to the sound of a crash. His head shotup from the pillow and he looked groggily around the room.
�Where�s Herbert?� Roger said to himself, which prompted the thought,who�s Herbert, before his mind reminded him about the dog. As soon asHerbert was remembered most of the tension left Roger�s mind. Thesource of the crash was obvious. All he needed to know now was whathad crashed over.
It was really his own fault, Roger thought to himself as he walkeddown the stairs wearing boxers and a t-shirt. After all, did he reallyexpect a stray animal to behave during its first night spent in a newhome? Roger just hoped that the damage wasn�t too severe. He preparedhimself for the worst.
He didn�t prepare himself enough.
Roger froze right inside the kitchen door. He surveyed the damage witha look of disbelief. Most likely the crash he had heard was when therefrigerator had been knocked over. How Herbert had managed to pushover the fridge was a good question, but only one among many. Thekitchen table and chairs were overturned, cabinets above the sink openand ransacked, the empty boxes of food discarded on the floor. Herberthad cleared out all the food in the kitchen from what Roger couldtell.
Something rattled further in the kitchen. Roger heard paws shufflingacross the floor but didn�t see any movement. He stepped through thedestruction towards his pantry door. The door was open just a littlefrom when Herbert had walked through it. Roger didn�t bother to wonderhow Herbert had opened the pantry door that had been left firmlyclosed.
Roger paused in front of the door and listened to the wet slurping onthe other side. A shaky hand reached out and pushed the door inward.
When he first saw Herbert standing in the middle of the pantry, headlowered to the ground, a wave of relief ran through Roger. And thenHerbert turned her head to look at him. Herbert�s face drove away allthought and left Roger awestruck. Herbert quickly lost interest inRoger and returned to her meal.
The best description Roger could give is that the skin had peeled backfrom Herbert�s face. Skin and fur was replaced with slick, strongmuscles. The eyes had decreased into narrow strips, and Roger thoughtthat maybe there weren�t any eyes, the slits meant for something else.
It didn�t take Roger long to realize that the changes hadn�t ended.Herbert�s size was starting to increase, but the skin wasn�t. Thefurry flesh split away to reveal more slimy muscles. Two bony armsgrew from Herbert�s back. They almost looked like human arms, but atthe tip, rather than fingers, Roger saw three fleshy mounds. The newarms groped blindly for boxes on the upper shelves.
Roger had seen far more than enough, not that he knew what to do. Thefirst order of business was obvious: get away from Herbert, or whatwas left of Herbert. While the pantry didn�t have a lock, at the veryleast, Roger wanted to close the door. When he reached out and grabbedthe knob, Herbert growled.
The word growl was the best word Roger could come up with to describewhat he heard. By no means did it sound like a dog�s growl, far toohigh pitched. It almost sounded like a bark drawn out into a single,long rumble. Whatever it sounded like, it made Roger freeze, hisfingers gripping the knob so hard they had turned white.
Herbert turned her head to face Roger. Muscles around the mouth pulledback to reveal large, jagged teeth. Herbert�s size had almost triplednow, and if she stood on her hind legs she�d almost be as tall asRoger.
The pantry door slammed shut. Roger ran through his house. Behind himthe door burst open in a spray of splintered wood and cracked hardagainst the wall. Roger didn�t even consider running outside. If heran outside Herbert would be on him before he got halfway across thelawn. Roger knew where he was going.
Heavy feet thundered behind him. Roger leapt up the stairs two at atime. He didn�t dare waste the time needed to glance back at Herbert,but from the sound of it, Herbert was now running on two legs.
Roger�s bedroom door did have a lock, which he turned as soon as heslammed it shut. His lead was greater than he thought and Herbertdidn�t slam into the bedroom door until after Roger had the shoeboxopen and his gun in hand.
His ex had bought the gun, or more accurately, made Roger buy the gun.For the first time since the break-up Roger praised her name.
The door didn�t last long under the assault. After the third blow itbroke inward.
Herbert didn�t charge right in. She lingered in the hall for a fewseconds, her massive form taking up the doorframe. Roger thought thatshe knew he had a weapon. The pause gave him a chance to take in thenew changes.
Herbert did walk on two legs now. Her entire body was nothing butthick, gray muscles. Most of her canine features were gone; her snoutshrunken into her face; the arms that had been on her back nowmigrated to her sides, paws melded into her shoulders. The three lumpsof skin on the arms had grown into full fingers complete with claws onthe end of them.
The two of them stared each other down, Roger with the gun heldtightly in his hands, hair matted down with sweat.
Without apparent reason and without warning Herbert charged. In twoquick steps she closed the distance between them. As soon as she tookher first step Roger was pulling the trigger. He knew how to operatethe weapon, but this was the first time he had. Fear was a goodteacher.
All six bullets shot from the barrel and four of them buried intoHerbert. Three cut into her chest while the fourth got her in theshoulder. Unfortunately Herbert�s arm was already swinging before thebullets struck and her arm clawed Roger across the chest, leavingthree deep grooves where blood bubbled up.
Herbert fell with a yelp as Roger screamed in pain and toppled aswell. With his teeth gritted against the pain Roger began to load hisgun. Shaky hands managed to shove two more bullets into the barrelbefore Herbert began to stir. He snapped the chamber closed and aimedhis weapon, but it became obvious that Herbert had no interest infighting him.
She rose from the floor, panting heavily, some of the changes slowlybeginning to reverse. Her left arm hung limply at her side as shewalked out of the room. Blood streamed down her chest and dropped ontothe carpet. She lumbered out of the room without a glance back, andthe whole time Roger had his weapon ready.
He listened to her as she walked down the stairs, and then the housewas silent. His own warm blood oozed down his chest, which hurt like abitch, but he would live. After fifteen minutes he pulled himselfup and walked through his house. He kept the gun with him up until hestopped in front of the open backdoor. A thin line of blood traileddown his back porch and into the grass.
Roger set the gun down on his kitchen table. He picked up the phoneand paused for a minute before he finally dialed 911. He told them ananimal had attacked him and he needed some medical attention, and thenhung up and waited for them.
With one hand holding a washcloth to his wound, Roger picked up one ofhis kitchen chairs off the ground and sat in it.
In an odd little way Roger actually missed Herbert, or the Herbert hehad seen digging through the trash. They hadn�t known each other long,but still, Roger had enjoyed it while it lasted. Most likely he wouldnever see her again.
Maybe that was for the best.
