BWD

BWD

Abigail went cold. She’d felt “it”. Again. Fear crept up her spine. She whirled around and froze.

”Bahahaha! You should see the look on your face, Abs! Hilarious!” Simon was bent over double, holding his stomach, laughing uproariously. “Oh, man, when I blew on your neck, I thought you were going to faint! I wish I had my camera out!”

Abigail stepped forward and punched her friend—now probably former friend— solidly on the shoulder “Not funny, Simon, not funny at all!” She turned around and stomped out of his house. Simon ran after her.

”Abs, I didn’t mean it! I’m sorry! I thought it would be funny! I didn’t mean to scare you!” He tried to grab her arm.

Abigail stopped and turned around so suddenly that Simon almost ran into her. “It wasn’t funny, Simon. I told you about it in confidence, because you’re my friend. Or I thought you were my friend! I trusted you. And you just screwed me. Thanks a lot.” She turned and stomped off in the direction of her own house.

“Abbie, wait!” He called. “Please!” He ran up beside her, grabbing at her arm again, in hopes of stopping her this time. She shook him off and continued to march towards home, saying nothing.

As Simon watched Abigail disappear from sight, he absently rubbed his shoulder where she’d punched him. She'd gotten him really good. It was going to leave a mark, for sure. He felt horrible. He knew he really shouldn’t have made fun of her fears, even if they were, well, you know, crazy.

”What a jerk,” Abigail mumbled, as she continued to angry-stomp her way home. She was really disappointed in Simon. He was probably going to tell everyone at school how unhinged she was. She groaned inwardly. That was all she needed with all the weird shit happening in her life right now—everyone thinking she was a weirdo. She felt the tears well up. She angrily rubbed them away.

He was supposed to be her friend—her best friend. She’d told him about the unsettling sensations she’d been having for the last couple of weeks—unexplained breezes on her face and neck, sensing someone in the room when she was alone, an involuntary shaking all over her body. She’d needed to tell someone, and Simon was her best friend. He hadn’t said anything, but he hadn’t laughed either. She thought he understood. But she’d been so wrong. Instead of understanding, he thought that it was funny as hell to scare her. What a jerk!

How could she have misjudged Simon’s reaction so completely? She’d told him how freaked out she was. She expected a bit of compassion or empathy. But no, Simon had taken the first opportunity to scare the crap out of her by blowing on her neck.

Stupid Jerk!

Simon and Abigail’s families lived a couple of blocks from one another. Abigail always took the shortcut through the school yard, then through the small strand of trees between the school and the back of her property. As she stomped home she was so intent on her anger towards Simon that she didn’t even notice until it was almost too late.

”Not you too!” she whispered, her face set in cautious resignation.

Sitting about ten feet away was a very large white dog—she’d named him BWD, short for Big White Dog. He was huge—about the size of a small horse. She’d seen him a number of times over the last couple of weeks, always at a distance, always calmly sitting, watching her. Never moving towards her or running away, just staring at her intently.

He seemed to be everywhere—at school, on the way home, at the library, on her front lawn, on the street outside her bedroom window. And now, in the forest.

The thing was, she wasn’t sure anyone else could see him.

Before she was worried about going crazy, Abigail had asked her mom if she’d seen BWD sitting in the backyard watching the house.

”I wonder if that Big White Dog is a stray,” Abigail had pondered, looking out the kitchen window at him watching her.

”What dog, Abby?” asked her mom.

Abigail turned to face her mom. “The Big White Dog in the backyard,” she said turning back to the window pointing where he’d been sitting.

But he was gone. Just like that. Poof! No more BWD.

Her mother had looked out the window, then back at her daughter, a small worry line forming between her eyes. “There’s no dog out there, sweetie.” She’d shaken her head.

That was Abigail’s first indication that, maybe, BWD was not your normal canine. Or maybe she was hallucinating. Or plain crazy.

“You must have seen him! He’s really huge, Mom! And super white. But he never barks or growls. He’s been hanging around for a couple of weeks.”

Her mother shook her head again. “Sorry Abigail, I haven’t seen any big white dog. Or any other dog, hanging around, for that matter” She went back to making dinner.

Abigail had asked the twins, Colton and Shawna.

Neither had seen the dog, but Shawna, who loved animals, wanted to know more.

”Is he nice?” she’d asked.

Abigail had nodded. “Yeah, as far as I know.”

”Does he have a home?”

”I have no idea,” said Abigail. “But he’s not all raggedy, so maybe? I don’t know.”

Shawna, who at ten was five years younger than Abigail said, “Maybe he needs a home! He could live here!”

Shawna had always wanted a pet—any pet. It didn’t matter. Bugs, birds, frogs, cats—anything. And every time she asked, her parents had shot her down. Shawna saw BWD as a strong contender for pet of the week. She could hardly contain herself.

“Maybe we could keep him! Mom and Dad can’t say no if he’s all alone!”

Abigail would have loved to have a pet, as well. She just wasn’t sure it should be BWD, the dog no one else could see.

Except her.

”I see you there, big guy,” she said, looking directly into his eyes, noticing for the first time he had one blue eye, one green eye. “Am I going crazy?” she asked, As she watched him, she could have sworn that he shook his head once before he rose to his feet and disappeared into the woods. Literally disappeared.

When she got home, she went straight up to her room. She was looking out her bedroom window trying to figure out what to do about the Simon problem, BWD, and how to tell if she was losing her mind, when she felt “it” again. The breeze on her neck. Only it was stronger, more forceful.

Simon! He’d followed her home!

”That’s not funny!” she yelled, turning away from the window, expecting to see Simon standing there, laughing.

But he wasn’t there. No one was. Abigail was completely alone.

”Who's there?” she whispered.

Silence. Only the sounds of her family downstairs getting ready for dinner.

She backed up pressing herself into the corner of her bedroom, scanning the room.

As she stood there, the sensation intensified, raising the goosebumps on her arms, and stealing her breath away, making it impossible to breathe, paralyzingly her whole body. Panic flooded her body, but there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. She couldn’t move.

Abigail didn’t know how long she stood there frozen in her fear, but Colton barged into her room yelling, shaking her out of her inaction, “Mom’s been calling you! Dinner!” He left as quickly as he had arrived.

Abigail looked around her bedroom again, her eyes darting into the dark corners. Was she alone? Or was there something else there, watching and waiting? She fled her room, running down the stairs as if she were being chased by the devil himself.

After dinner was done, and the dishes washed and put away, Abigail stayed downstairs with her family. Normally, she’d go upstairs into her room, do some homework, stream a couple of episodes of something on Netflix, text friends. But not tonight. She was too freaked out. She didn’t want to be alone. Usually she’d call Simon, but, well that boat had sailed.

Eventually she had to go upstairs to her bedroom. She got ready for bed, but she didn’t sleep. She couldn’t sleep. She’d just sat in the corner, with the lights on, waiting. When the sun finally rose after what seemed like days instead of hours, Abigail dressed quickly and left her room, shutting the door soundly behind her.

At school, she was exhausted and stressed, making it impossible to concentrate on any of her classes. At lunch, she sat alone in the cafeteria, not seeing or hearing the clamour around her.

”I’m sorry.”

Abigail looked up at Simon standing there, hands in his front pockets, actually looking contrite.

Abigail shrugged. “It’s fine.” It wasn’t fine, but she didn’t want to talk about it with him—especially him..

Simon looked at her—really looked at her. “You look like crap Abs” he said sitting down beside her. “What’s the matter?”

She wanted to tell him that “it” happened again, tell him about BWD, and how she thought she was losing her mind. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. She didn’t trust Simon not to mock her at school in front of all her friends. That would be disastrous.

”Nothing.” She looked down at her uneaten lunch. “I’m fine.”

Simon shook his head. “No you’re not fine! What’s going on?”

When she didn’t say anything, he leaned in and said in a quiet voice, “It happened again, didn’t it?”

Abigail said nothing, but her eyes welled up. God! All she was doing was crying! She snuffled up her tears and sat in silence until the bell rang for the next class.

As they were getting up to leave, the air around Abigail began to shimmer, and she felt “it” again. But it was more than a gentle breeze on her neck. It was as if something had invaded her body, churning her guts like a tornado.

Her eyes widened and she started to shake violently.

Simon’s face paled as he moved toward her. “Oh my God, Abbie! What’s wrong?”

She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move. She could only see his fear.

Simon wrapped his arms around her as she collapsed to the ground.

”I’ve got you!”

Abigail felt Simon’s arms around her. He held her tight. Then the horrible, terrifying feeling started to dissipate. Abigail could breathe again. She sucked in a ragged breath.

“What happened?” asked Simon, his face clouded with worry.

“Nothing. I was just a little dizzy. I’m fine.”

”Bull! Don’t lie to me! I know you! Your face was white as a sheet, you couldn’t breathe, and it was like you were paralyzed! That’s not ‘nothing’! What’s happening?”

Abigail realized that Simon was still holding her. She pulled herself out of his grasp, stood slowly, and headed out of the cafeteria on wobbly legs, Simon on her heels.

”Abs, what’s going on? Tell me!” He looked around making sure no one was listening, and lowered his voice. “Is it that thing we talked about? Is that what just happened?” She said nothing. “Abs, talk to me!”

Instead, she continued to walk towards the front doors of the school, saying nothing.

”Abs! What are you doing? We have class! You cant just leave!”

But she could. And she did.

Abigail walked home, thankful to be alone—no Simon, no BWD, no one. Just her and the confusion swirling in her brain. And her fear.

She was almost home, just turning into her driveway when “it” happened. Again. This time there was no Simon to catch her when she fell, so she face-planted on the driveway. Paralyzed, she couldn’t stop herself. The pain in her head was catastrophic. She tried to gasp, but her lungs were as paralyzed as the rest of her. Pain and fear infused her mind and body.

And something else. Something more terrifying than everything else that had happened to her. A voice. An evil, malevolent, panic-inducing voice inside her head, laughing, making Abigail’s skin crawl.

“You’re mine,” it said, the words reverberating inside the very marrow of her bones. Abigail’s heart jittered in her chest. Never had she experienced such horror.

And she was unable to make it stop. Pain, fear, desperation all flooded her body.

”Abbie! Abbie, honey! What happened?”

Suddenly the thing that had been inhabiting her body released its grip on her, allowing Abigail to take her first big breath in what felt like days.

”Abigail! Talk to me! It’s mom! “. She bent, cradling Abigail’s head in her lap. “Abby, honey, look at me!”

Blinking her eyes, her mother’s face came into focus.

”Mom …” she whispered.

Her mom helped Abigail into a sitting position. “Honey, what happened? Are you all right?”

She couldn’t tell her mother. She couldn’t tell anyone. Not after the way Simon had betrayed her. She didn’t think she could trust anyone with her horrible secret.

”I was feeling lousy at school, so I came home. I guess I passed out.”

Leaning in to examine Abigail’s face her mother gave a little gasp. Blood streamed from the cuts and scrapes.

”Let’s get you inside, so we can clean up those cuts,” she said helping Abigail to unsteady legs.

Abigail was still shaking, fear wracking her body. What is the universe trying to tell me? Am I crazy? And, WHAT WAS THAT THING IN MY BRAIN!

It turned out face-planting on an asphalt driveway will mess you up. A lot. Besides one black eye, Abigail’s mom was pretty sure that she’d fractured her cheek, which meant a trip to the hospital.

As it turned out, yes, there was a hairline fracture. And a mild concussion. Which meant an overnight stay in the hospital.

Abigail couldn’t stay in the hospital. There was no way. What if “it” happened while she was there, and the doctors or nurses saw? They’d lock her up forever, and throw away the key. She’d never get out.

“Please, Mom. I just want to go home,” she’d said.

”But, Abigail, the doctor said—“

”I don’t care about what the doctor said! I want to go home!”

”But they said they wanted to do more tests.”

”Please, Mom. I really, really want to go home and sleep in my own room,” she said. “Please! I promise if I feel weird, I’ll call you. Please!”

Her mom looked from Abigail to the doctor, who nodded slightly, adding. “As long as she comes back for more tests tomorrow.”

Abigail looked pleadingly at her mother. “Please,” she whispered.

Abigail’s mom relented, and she was allowed to go home. Abigail breathed a sigh of relief. She really didn’t want to spend any time in her room. No way—not after what had happened But, she didn’t want to be in the hospital more.

After all the excitement of the day, after everyone was in bed, Abigail was alone. Or so she hoped. She was exhausted. She just needed a little sleep.

As she drifted off, she heard it. A faint growl. Her eyes flew open. BWD was standing beside her bed, the fur on his hackles standing straight up, his teeth bared.

”What are you—“

Then she felt “it” happening again—but so much stronger than before. Every part of her being was gripped by the evil unseen force. And the hideous laughing! The utterly bone-chilling laughing filled her head completely, blotting out everything else.

Except BWD. She could see him, crouching, ready to pounce on her.

OH GOD! her mind screamed. He’s going to kill me!

He leapt, aiming straight for her face. All Abigail could do was watch helplessly and hope the end would come quickly.

Then he disappeared. Millimetres away from her face and he was gone. But Abigail could feel him—almost like a white light—attacking the evil within her, fighting for her.

Abigail felt the battle raging within, the two forces vying for her very soul. She could feel the white light surge, then the evil regain control. Back and forth, back and forth, the balance shifting between the two entities within.

Then it ended. BWD appeared beside her. She could tell he’d been in a terrible battle. His coat was matted and filthy, ulcerating wounds on his bare skin where the fur had been violently yanked out, gashes along his back staining his fur red, fetid, black lil liquid dripped from his jowls, his breathing as ragged as Abigail’s own. He swayed on his feet, but held his head high.

He’d won. Abigail was sure of it. She felt an inner peace envelop her mind and body. She felt a calm she hadn’t felt in weeks.

BWD’s gaze locked on Abigail’s, his bi-coloured eyes flashing.

”Thank you” she said.

BWD nodded once and disappeared. Like he’d never existed.