Beginnings
It was just a late night walk, until it wasn't.
It was a cool October evening, the wind is blowing just enough to rattle the leaves in the trees. It's just a little cool, about 45ºF. And other than that occasional sound of wind and the slight rustle of leaves the only other sound is my shoes on the asphalt as I walk down the side of the road.
it was following me. Just like it often did when I want out walking at night. I could never sleep at night. Not even when I was a baby. So I'd often walk around outside to try and burn off a little energy. If I was lucky, I might get a few winks before the sun came up.
I loved it outside at night, it was always so calm and peaceful. I lived in a pretty rural area when I was young, the kind of place where everything was at least a few miles away. The nearest Walmart was like 20 miles down the road. I liked it. I still sometimes dream of living somewhere like that.
I pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Taking a long pull on it and breathing out through my nose. I could hear everything, feel everything around me. I felt at one with the world. I wasn't afraid of the dark. There were no people out here but me, I was safe. The grass on the other side of the road stirred, and a deer's head popped up. I figured it either saw the light of my cigarette lighter or smelled me, or the smoke from my cigarette. It looked at me for a second before laying it's head back down. I wasn't a threat to it, but it was odd that it would be there by the road, and awake enough to notice me that late at night.
I walked along for a little longer, not really thinking much of it. I figured the deer was the thing following me. Which wouldn't have been all that weird, deer are inquisitive things. I hadn't realized at the time how strange it was that it was up and active at about 1:30. Though that said, the deer might have thought the same thing of me.
I came to a field along the side of the road and walked in, the moon was full so I could see everything. And a part of it was mowed as there was a little softball field on a portion of the field it's self. like in the corner closest to the long driveway that went past rows of grapes that lined the road. I walked to the center of the softball pitch where the grass was nicely mowed and just sat down on the ground.
I just wanted to enjoy the quiet of the night for a while. I was all alone, no one else around. I closed my eyes and listened to the night around me, took the cool air into my nose and let the scent of the grass and the nearby woods in. I could hear the wind there blowing through the tall grass that covered the rest of the field. It was relaxing. I was very at ease.
I sat there for the better part of an hour, just taking in the world around me in every way. Letting my senses reach out into the world around me and tell me about it. I remember looking up at the moon and letting out a little howl. ... and then hearing one in return.
I hadn't done it very loud. Loud enough to hear, but not loud enough anyone else would have heard me. Then a black dog came out of the grass at the edge of the field. I don't know who's dog it was, but his tail was wagging, so I patted my knee and said "hey buddy" And he walked over.
It wasn't unusual, I'd had that kind of thing happen before. I liked dogs, and they liked me in general. He was a medium sized dog, with medium length hair and some white fur on his chest and feet. I petted him and he sat down next to me. We just kind of hung out for a while. Then I got up and decided to continue my walk. I brushed off my pants and started walking back to the road, the dog followed.
I didn't think a lot of it. There wasn't any real traffic on the roads out there at night, and I figured he'd head home when I started moving away from the area. I continued walking up the hill near my house, till eventually taking a left and heading along a different road. By this time the moon was about as high in the sky as it was going to get. It was amazing how much light there was. My eyes were better then, it was almost like twilight, so I could see a lot. But all of it in near black and white.
I'd been out for a bout an hour and a half, and I could feel the temp dropping just a little. It would probably be 40ºF by dawn. I had my coat but the walking kept me warm enough I didn't really need it. So it hung open on me, unzipped. My new friend decided the strings hanging off it would be fun to play with and started pulling on one. I shouldn't have encouraged him but I couldn't help pulling back, a little game of tug of war ensued. I let him win after a few pulls, then shortened the ropes so that they didn't hang down. I didn't really want him chewing on my coat.
We turned another corner and the road turned surprisingly darker. There were more trees along this part of the road that were right up close, and while leaves were turned at this point the trees still largely had their foliage, so they were blocking a lot of the moonlight.
There was a spot there the road curved in an S shape. An accuaintance of mine lived there. We weren't quite friends, but we knew one another. He was as much a night owl as me, so it wasn't surprising he was sitting in his garage with a beer. He saw me and waved me over.
"You get a new dog?"
"No, He just started following me as I was walking. I figure he'll go home at some point. You know who he belongs to?"
"Not of the top of my head."
We went back and forth for a few minutes before he finished his beer and said he was going to head in. I moved along, the black dog still in tow. By then it was about 2:30 so I decided to turn back. I went back the way I came, back around the S curve and into the moonlight. My little sidekick trotting at my side. I reached down and petted his head, he seemed too well behaved to be a stray, but still hadn't pealed off to go home. Then as we were walking back down the hill, we passed a long driveway, I hadn't even seen it on the way up, but that was where the dog turned off. He ran to the front of the driveway, turned back to look at me, then carried on.
"Well, at least now I know where you live". I thought to myself. I kinda' missed him as I carried on. I made those kind of walks all the time, but usually alone. It was nice to have a little company for a change. As I was walking back past the field a little farther down the hill, I heard movement in the grass. Maybe I wasn't as alone as I thought. I stopped and scanned the side of the road and the rows of grapes, but nothing stood out. No movement, no other sounds. I shrugged it off. Maybe that deer was still hanging around. This was about the right area. I pulled out another cigarette and put it to my lips. Then pulled out my lighter and flipped it open, lighting it in the same motion. I started taking a drag to get the cigarette lit when I saw the reflection in the grass of two eyes, staring straight at me, straight at the flame of my lighter.
I wasn't immediately surprised. It wasn't uncommon to see things in the grass out here at night. Rabbits, foxes, coyotes, deer, stray cats and dogs, once in a blue moon even little black bears. I closed my lighter and looked just to the side of it. Not making eye contact, just incase. It took a second for my eyes to readjust after the bright flame. But then I saw it move. I didn't see it because the grass was too tall, but I saw the grass that moved when it did, and I could tell it was large. I kept my eyes on where it was and started to slowly walk away. Most wild animals are as eager to move away from you as you are of them so they'll usually either back off slowly or dart away when they see you moving away. But this just moved parallel to me. Slowly along the other side of the road, just deep enough in the grass so I couldn't see it.
I also didn't notice right away that it wasn't alone. I was watching the grass on the other side of the road move steadily along with me so intently, that I didn't even hear anything come up behind me until it was only a few feet away. I turned just in time to be knocked to the ground! I put my arms in front of my face and felt jaws clamp down on them! My own blood started dripping on my face! I tried to scream, but I couldn't, it was on top of me and the weight of it kept me from getting enough breath to yell. Then suddenly something slammed into both of us! I kept my arms over my face, but could feel the ting on top of me got shoved off and I could hear the growls and the sound of clapping jaws. I peeked from between my folded arms and could see a scuffle happening in the tall grass. They were rolling around wrestling and biting at one another!
Then I heard another sound, dogs. Not just one but many! They were barking and growling as they came upon us! I saw the dog I'd been walking with amongst them as he crossed the road into the tall grass with the others. The two creatures ran on all fours, and I could see them fully for the first time as they crossed the road in front of me. Large, wolflike, they bolted away, torn up a little by each other, taking an extra bite here and there from the dogs!
I couldn't see how badly I was hurt, I just knew I was bleeding. I turned into the grape vineyards and ran straight towards my house. Hoping that the grapes would give me cover if they all decided to head back my way. Panting and bloodied I got home, got inside, and locked everything I could. Then I locked myself in the bathroom and tended my wounds. My arm was torn up, but not as bad as I thought it would be. My jacket had protected me from the worst of it. I washed out the wound and bandaged myself up. By that time in my life I'd already been vaccinated against rabies, so at least I didn't have to worry about that. I spent the rest of the night just being quiet, and staying away from any windows.
The next day, after the sun was up, I walked back out there. I wanted to see if there was anything left from the night before. I found some torn up grass, and a little bit of blood... Then I found a tooth. A broken canine. I squatted down to pick it up and just as I was about to stand back up, a cold nose pressed against my ear and then a tongue licked the side of my face.
The dog from the previous night was there, he sat next to me and I pet his head. Then I noticed his right front leg was bandaged up.
"Looks like he got us both eh." I said. Then from behind us, a gruff voice said, "I guess I'm not the only one looking this place over today." It was an older man, looking like he was in his early 60's. Thin and a little shorter than me. I turned to face him as I stood up and he noticed my arm.
"Looks like you both had it a bit rough last night." He pointed where he was looking, at my bandaged arm.
"We match." I pointed at the dog.
"That's my dog Shemp, he and a couple of my other dogs came back a little torn up this morning, you have anything to do with that?"
"No, well... Not directly. I didn't hurt your dog."
"No, I didn't figure you did. He wouldn't sit with you like that if you did. Were you bitten last night?"
"Yeah... Why?"
"Come with me, we need to talk."
Over the course of the next two hours, my life changed forever...