A Pet's Leash

Vuk threaded his fingers through my hair after the last brush. I leaned into it—not a nuzzle, just enough that I hoped he would notice and linger. Wanting was allowed. Asking was not. He never did when he was about to hunt.

The O-ring collar came next. He drew it from his pocket and fastened it around my neck with practiced precision. His fingers were cold as they slipped beneath the leather, checking the fit. He always made sure I could breathe. I watched his face till his fingers slipped out.

Then he rose, leash in hand. “Come, Stefan.”

I stood with my hands at my sides and moved quickly to his heel. Before I reached him, a sharp tug snapped against my neck—quick, deliberate. Not a correction. Not a mistake.

At the French doors, he opened them to the night. Cool air washed over me. He stepped into the moonlight; I stayed where I was. I knew better than to move when he was scenting the air.

His inhale was long and deep. When he exhaled, his canines had lengthened, sharpening in the silver light. “You smell that?”

I couldn’t.

He turned just enough for one eye and one fang to catch the moon. “Our guest has found her way into the hedge maze.”

I took off down the curved stairs, the leash slackening behind me. My neck tensed, waiting for the inevitable pull. It never came. A glance back showed the leash trailing on the marble stone—Vuk had let go. He had never done that before. Not with me. I missed a step.

I quickened my pace toward the grounds and the maze beyond. Behind me, Vuk moved without sound, as if he barely touched the earth at all. Only the whisper of his cape brushing the stone told me he was there.

My legs protested at first, then eased as I adjusted to the run. Vuk had let one other run like this, once.

We did not use his name anymore.

Vuk saw to that.

When I first arrived, the night had been nothing but shape and absence. Now I could see the green of the leaves in the dull light, each hedge edge distinct against the dark.

Ducking into the maze, I continued. I had never been in the maze before; not that it mattered. It changed based on Vuk’s moods. I slowed and listened. Each step rolled through the edge of my foot to quiet my passing, a habit from the village that had never left me. Above the hedges, the moon hung clear. I kept it to my left and moved deeper.

That’s when I heard it: a rustle on the ground. Fabric scraping the grass as someone moved. Shifting low, I crept to the next turn, taking it wide to expose as little flesh as possible as I stared.

A woman walked, a satchel on her back and a hooded lantern in hand. Something brass glinted in the moonlight from her belt. She reached down and placed one of Vuk’s apples into her satchel. All of the apples were Vuk’s. I loved apples, but I wasn’t allowed to eat them now that I was here.

I took another step, my eyes fixed on the apples. A twig snapped under my boot, breaking the silence.

The woman spun. Our eyes locked, her right hand reaching behind her back.

“Irena?” I hadn’t said that name in years. The girl I knew had been replaced by a woman, changed in ways I no longer had words for.

She straightened as she stood. “Stefan? Is that you?”

I tried to brush the leash behind my back. The leather caught against my collarbone, pulling tight as I shifted. Her eyes never left the ring at my throat. “Don’t say my name.” I tried to look at her eyes but looked at her boots instead.

She paused, her lips twisting before she spoke. “It’s been hard with you gone. Your father—he’s getting older. He’s not as good a shot as he used to be.”

Something rose in my chest as she spoke until I forced it down. “You shouldn’t have come here.” My voice was barely a whisper.

“You can leave — right now.” She took a step closer, one hand extended, the other still on the hooded lantern.

“This is my home now.” For a moment my hand reached for hers as I studied her face. The light from her lantern pulled my eyes. The covers were closed, runes and saints etched into the thin metal, rusted with age.

“You shouldn’t have brought that here.” My eyes stayed on the lantern.

She opened her mouth to speak, then froze as the night stilled.

“Shouldn’t have brought what?” Vuk placed a cold hand on my shoulder and gripped. His nails dug in enough for me to notice.

With a pat on my shoulder, he stepped past me toward Irena.

“Don’t come closer — I swear to God I will— stay back!” Irena commanded, raising the covered lantern, her free hand now on the hood.

Vuk’s smile curved upward, canines extending. “Oh? And why should I do that?” He continued forward, laughing softly. His body coiled.

I should have said something.

My stomach dropped. I knew that lantern.

Irena’s hand tightened as she slid the hood up. “This is why.” I wanted to warn Vuk but stood still as the hood came off.

Light spilled out as Vuk lunged, engulfing the three of us in a halo of gold. Shielding my eyes, I saw Vuk suspended—mouth open, fangs bared, one hand still extended.

A knot tightened behind my ribs. “What are you doing?!” The words burst out of me.

“Saving you! Stefan, move!” She reached behind her back, pulling out a brass cross sharpened to a point.

“Just run. Leave.” I said — and did nothing.

She pulled her arm back, gripping the cross. “I will end this.” The cross began its descent toward Vuk’s lifeless heart.

I felt the leash against my palm then — slack, unmoving. The collar at my throat waited. They could be mine.

My neck braced for a tug that never came.

I dove without it.

I saw the cross falling.

And chose.

Then it plunged into my shoulder— pain rippling down my body.

Irena’s nails broke skin as she fought me. I went for the candle. Even as she pulled, I kept reaching. A blur of movement—then the heat of flame on my palm. I squeezed. The light went out.

“I’m dea—”

Her words never finished. Vuk was already on her. His hand—more claw than flesh—clamped around her throat pinning her to the ground.

Vuk reached for my shoulder where the cross was buried. With one finger, he wiped up a trickle of blood. He brought it to his lips and licked it clean, his eyes shifting from black to dark red.

Irena’s eyes stayed on me as she hammered at Vuk’s arm. He yanked her closer and buried his teeth.

When it was over, Vuk reached into the satchel and handed me one of the apples.

I ate it.

“Good boy.” He ruffled my hair as I leaned into his touch.

Then he took the leash again. I only moved when he gave it a tug.