This is my submission towards ''One Night in XXX Story Event'' Hope you like it more info at the end of the page. Thank you for reading. Comment if you liked i tor hated it. I have to say my thanks to my Editor this time 'Rachel'. Without her this would be so much worse.
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Ben stumbled out of the house. He barely had any sleep. It was close to 2 am when he was awaken by the commotion in his backyard. The dogs just kept barking like mad. He strode purposely towards his dog pen. His animals continued to bark even after he verbally warned them. That usually would do the trick. However, this time something was making his animals insistent.
His dogs were barking constantly. And that was a minor understatement. What he thought was just them blowing off some steam was soon replaced by a sense of dread. Of something out there. He couldn't pinpoint the source, but he was afraid.
Ben's house was situated just on the cusp of the woods. It did not help his deep seated paranoia of the unknown that the house was virtually surrounded by a pitch black forest. The house was a small cabin he built with his own two hands, just after moving here to Nome, Alaska. What a trip it had been? He was a 30 year old college dropout and very few options were open for him. Took him a while to figure out college was not his cup of tea, if you will, but eventually he decided to take the pink slip back home.
As he wanted to get away from everything back home that reminded him of his own failure, he took his trusty backpack and set foot. Towards somewhere.
Nome, Alaska was just another stop in a huge line of cities refusing to employ an almost middle aged man without any references. Tough luck. Some would say.
He was just tired, "God damn it." Ben whispered, he hated walking out there at night.
The woods were eerie. Even during the day. He always felt he was being watched.
The months of working, eventually turned into a year of painstaking carving, cutting and sawing. Eventually, even though he had no idea what he was doing the job was done. The home looked ugly, primitive and unfinished, but it was his hands that built it.
Ben felt incredible joy from doing this hard work. He started to build some chairs and furniture to use in the house. His neighbors would often comment on his unusual taste when carving the chairs and beds.
Even though his house was just at the border with in the woods, the company was never far away. Neighbors were close, kept to themselves and would respond when Ben greeted them every morning.
This past week he had enjoyed a late coffee and could swear someone was just right there, behind the trees, watching his every move. Giving his head a shake, Ben cursed out loud at his paranoia.
The two lycan shepherds were always jumpy, but relaxed when he left the house to see why they were making all the racket.
In recent months it only got worse.
He was accustomed to their barks, knew what they meant and among other dogs he could almost instantly recognize and tell why they were barking.
Angry. Sad. Or just plain excited, he knew what to do and would act accordingly.
"Easy Hulu. Easy girl." He approached and cooed his 2 year old dog.
As he approached, Bruiser, the older dog by two years, went crazy and even bared teeth. His bark was just unnerving Ben.
"What's wrong guys?" By now Hulu was acting in a similar way, teeth bared and her fur was raised.
A sound behind him made his heart jump out of his chest.
He saw a man cowering in utter fear. Eyes wide.
"Tom? Is that you Tom?" Ben almost could not recognize the stoic chief of police.
It looked he was wearing his pajamas. His house was not far away, but even in summer no one would leave their home in just their jammies. Ben thought it was funny. But here he was, always brave policeman. Cowering in utter fear.
"B-B-B-Ben. H-H-Help them." The chief whimpered.
"What happened man? What's wrong? Are the girls ok?" Ben approached the man shaking him from his fear and shock.
Tom remained unresponsive. Shaking like a leaf. He watched with wide eyes. Searching for something or someone.
Ben quickly leapt and started to run. The girls' safety was more important than anything else. The dogs in their state were practically useless. He did not own a gun so he could not bring one. However, he had his hands and feet. Hoping that would be enough, Ben started to run and think about their fate.
The doors to their house were shut. Ben knocked, "Rachel! Are you ok?" He called out.
The house was right there if he needed anything. He never did, but nevertheless he started to pound on the door. Leaving Tom like that was probably not the wisest thing in the world, but something about how the man acted sent shivers down his spine.
"Madison? Rachel?" He called out.
Nothing. Ben tried again, but the door remained shut. Locked. What now? There was the police chief hunkering down in his back yard while his family was inside the house. He gritted his teeth in anger. How could someone leave their family behind?
He tried his phone. The first thing he should have done was dial the cops. He was shaking his head in anger. He should have known better.
There was eerie static. Again, he tried, but with the same result. Ben swallowed, he'd think about consequences later. He will probably have to deal with the police.
He took a two steps back and charged at the closed doors. He kicked the bolted doors with everything he had. Expecting to feel some resistance, he was quite surprised when the doors just broke where he had kicked them. There was loud snap and a crash. The doors now were lying on the floor and he was in. Surprised it was that easy he was reluctant of proceeding any further.
"Anyone home?" Probably a stupid question, he felt his old habits resurface.
Anxiety started to kick in, what are other neighbors thinking? Or doing for that matter?
