Chapter 3

Gail glanced through the rear-view mirror for what had to have been the twentieth time since she left the store. The feeling that she was being followed or watched refused to leave. Yet every time she looked at the surrounding cars, none of them seemed to follow her. Everything seemed normal. Yet, the sensation refused to leave her. She looked over at Bruiser, who was now sitting in the front with her. Unlike this morning, he seemed relaxed and quite content.

“It must be me,” she mumbled to herself, and turned on the radio. As the upbeat pop song came over the radio, Gail tried to let the music distract her. 

When she pulled into her driveway, the anxious, nervous sensation in the pit of Gail’s stomach eased. Once she let Bruiser out of the car, they started towards the house when someone called out, “Hello, dear!”

Turning, Gail saw her elderly next-door neighbor crossing the yard. “Oh Mrs. Baker, how are you? Is there something I can help you with?”

“Oh, call me Ava,” Mrs. Baker said as she continued to walk up to her. She was a plump, eighty something widow. Though they only spoke a handful of times, Mrs. Baker always seemed friendly and had an impeccable sense of fashion. 

“And I’m fine,” Mrs. Baker told her. “Just fine. Well, the arthritis is getting to my knee again, but I guess that comes with the territory of being an old lady.” She laughed a soft, but happy, laugh. However, as soon as she reached them, Bruiser let out a low growl as he came to all fours, his eyes trained on her. With the fur on the scuff of his neck lifting slightly. 

“Oh dear,” Mrs. Baker exclaimed, with a hand flying up to her chest, her eyes widening as she stared down at him. “Will he bite?” She shook her head, giving Gail a disapproving glare. “It’s not safe to keep a dangerous dog in the neighborhood, right? We have so many younger children who play on this street. If he were to attack one of them…” She shuddered and shook her head at Gail, looking horrified at the idea.

“Bruiser, stop,” Gail said, snapping her fingers at him. “No, he’s not dangerous, Mrs. Baker - I mean Ava,” she told the older woman, then realized that might not be true. So far, Bruiser’s behavior was excellent, but dogs sometimes, triggered by something, snap and become aggressive. Bruiser stopped growing and sat next to Gail’s feet. If a dog could glare, Bruiser would’ve been giving Mrs. Baker the nastiest of glares.

“I hope you’re right. Either way, it’s a good idea to keep that one on a short leash, or any leash!” She gave Bruiser a wary look as she played with the pears on her necklace. “I’d hate to see someone get hurt because of a mutt.” As she spoke, her tone turned bitter, and she returned Bruiser’s glare. In a blink of an eye, Mrs. Baker turned to Gail and gave her a bright smile. “Well, I was coming over to ask you for a cup of sugar, as cliché as that sounds. My boys are out of town or too busy with work to stop by the store for me and I have a hankering for my special double chocolate fudge cake.”

That sounded like a dentist’s worst nightmare and a little piece of heaven to Gail. “Oh wow, that sounds great and of course, I’d be more than happy to give you some sugar,” Gail said, walking to the house and unlocking the door. “Would you like to come in?” As soon as the door opened, Bruiser darted around Gail’s feet and sat near the door to watch her neighbor. Gail walked inside and held the door open for Mrs. Baker.

“Oh, quiet neighborly of you, my dear, quiet neighborly,” Mrs. Baker said, following Gail up to her house, but stopped at the door. “Uh, actually,” she said with a laugh. The laugh sounded strained to Gail’s ears. “I think your dog there would prefer it if I stayed outside, and I think I would rather play it safe and stay out here. No offense.”

“Oh, yeah. None taken. I understand,” Gail said, looking at her neighbor a little closer. While she didn’t know Mrs. Baker all that well, something seemed a bit… off. “Well, I will be right back.” She closed the door to go get her neighbor the cup of sugar. Gail tried to pinpoint what it was about the elderly woman that seemed not quite right, but she couldn’t come up with more than a gut feeling. Bruiser, it seemed, had the same gut reaction. He stayed by the door, staring at it as if he could see through it to Mrs. Baker.

Gail got the sugar for her neighbor, putting it in a plastic, sealable bag and reopened the door. Mrs. Baker had moved from the door along the porch towards her flower garden on the left front side of the house. As soon as the door open, she spun to give Gail a bright smile. “Admiring your flowers. You’ve got a bit of a weed problem, right? Perhaps later I can bring a piece of my cake and tell you how to get rid of those nasty ole weeds.”

“I’d appreciate that. I’m not much of a gardener, if I’m honest. Here is your sugar.”

“Oh thank you, dearie. You’re a lifesaver. Thank you.”

“No Problem. Glad I could help. See you later, Ava,” Gail said, keeping an eye on her neighbor as she walked towards her house. Once she left the yard, Gail closed the door. She laid her hand on the wood of the door and closed her eyes. With a slow breath, she sought the faint strings of familiar energy. The protection on the door was still in place and dormant. Turning from the door, Gail walked over to the windows and did the same. Dormant like the door had been.

With Bruiser watching her, Gail walked around the house, checking every window and the side door. They were all still dormant. A small wave of relief washed over Gail. No one had tried to get in or test the protections on her house. It seemed more than likely her neighbor was lonely, as Gail had heard people Mrs. Baker’s age often got, and came up with an excuse to visit, but more than likely, Bruiser scared her. 

Gail took a seat at the kitchen table and looked at the dog. “Why’d you scare poor old Mrs. Baker? That was a little rude, don’t you think?”

Bruiser made a soft whine then barked. 

“Yeah, old people can smell weird sometimes, but that is still no reason to growl at her like that.”

This time he did the low growl chuff at her. 

“Yeah, me too,” Gail said, as she rested her chin on her fist. “I’ve had a weird feeling since we left work too.” She ‘hmm’ and tried to place what might have given her the feeling, but Gail couldn’t pinpoint the cause. “I think perhaps it’s best we give Aunt Rose a call.”

She got up and walked over to the coffee table where she’d left her purse. Gail took out her phone and called her aunt.

“Gail,” her aunt said, her throaty voice rising a little higher as she spoke. “What a pleasant surprise.” She paused for a moment. “It is pleasant, right? Is everything okay?”

“I think so,” Gail said, knowing she didn’t sound at all certain. “I’ve had a weird feeling since I got off of work and was wondering if maybe something might happened on your end.”

“A weird feeling,” her aunt repeated, then ‘hmm’ed. “No, everything here as business as usual. Everyone is busy preparing for Litha. Tell me more about it.”

“It’s probably nothing. You know, me being paranoid,” Gail said, feeling silly about the whole thing now. 

“Galiena Faye Palmer, do not discredit your instincts. They are telling you something. Now, tell me, what has been going on.”

Gail cringed. She hated when her aunt used her full name. She sighed, watching Bruiser lay out on the couch. He looked half asleep, but she noticed his ears turned towards her. “No, nothing. I mean, I found a stray dog, but that’s about it.”

“A stray?” The way she said the words made it sound as if Gail told her she picked up a hitchhiker. “Gail, you know those animals aren’t safe. Who knows what kind of history they have. So many dogs there are scarred with trauma. They are like ticking time bombs.” 

“That’s not true,” Gail told her flatly then before her aunt could say more, she added, “But back to the topic at hand. Nothing has happened. I have seen nothing weird or the protections are still in place and dormant. So I don’t know why I am feeling like this. I thought perhaps someone on your side caught word of me.”

“Not that I’ve heard, but I can do some checking if it will make you feel better.”

“If you can, then yeah, it would.”

“Okay then, Little Bug, I will ask my people, see if anyone’s heard anything.”

“Thanks, Aunt Rose. I appreciate it. Bye.”

“Bye, bye.”

Gail ended the call and looked over at Bruiser. “Well, guess we’ve done all we can, right boy?”

Bruiser barked in reply.

“Dinner time then. What would you like to try tonight?” Going into the kitchen, Gail started taking out the dog food cans they’d bought. “This one.”

Bruiser let out a low growl.

“How about this one?” She held up a can with a red label with chunks of meat that made even her hungry.

This time, Bruiser made a soft whine.

“Oh, don’t be a baby,” she told him. “You know what? You’re going to try this one, at least. It looks freaking delicious.”

Bruiser made a sad sounding chuff and laid his head down on the couch. 

Gail rolled her eyes and shook her head as she began working on her own dinner. She did her best not to think about the evening, but as the little hairs on the back of her neck still stood on end. The feeling as if being watched or at least not quite safe wouldn’t leave her. 

At one point, she had to leave the kitchen to go close all the curtains and blinds around the house. All the while, she kept telling herself she was being stupid, but the feeling refused to go away. Neither music nor watching t.v. helped either. So when it was time for bed, Gail patted the spot on the bed next to her. “Come here, Bruiser. I think I’d feel better if you were here tonight.”

He jumped up on the bed and curled up next to her.

“You feel it right?”

He barked, and she pet his head. 

“Yeah, something is hinky here. I wonder if someone’s put a hex on me or something.” Gail took a minute to assess the surrounding energy. “No, not a hex. Perhaps, I’m being paranoid.” She again tried to shake off the feeling, but it refused to leave. “Well, good night, Bruiser.” She ruffled the fur on the top of his head and gave him a kiss on the muzzle before laying down. Gail went to turn off the light, hesitated, afraid she might hear the howls again or perhaps the mysterious voice.

“Quit being stupid. You’re not a little girl anymore,” she told herself and, gritting her teeth, she shut off the light. She dared not to breathe as she listened for howls or shadows that moved.