Creatures of Old

Prologue I sat under the moon and waited, heart, pounding as anger boiled in my veins. "So, you showed up?" her voice pierced, soft as velvet but chilling as ice, through the night air. "It's good to see you, Maxwell." Her bright brown eyes slinked over my form lustfully as she sat down next to me on the bench. She casually laid an arm over my shoulders. "The feeling nah mutual," I said, shrugging her arm off and standing up. "Now tell what you want, Frieda." She gave a false show of surprise. "Why do you think I want something?" she stood up and put her hands on my shoulders. "Maybe I just wanted to see you." She pulled back and turned away. Irritation replaced my anger. "You called me all the way out here because you maybe wanted to see me?!" I yelled and began to walk away annoyed. She had lured me from my duty with some important updates on my assignment. Of course, it was nothing but her selfishness driving her intentions. "Me have a job to do, and me follow the laws of that job, unlike you!" I looked back at her meaningfully, and her eyes glazed over in anger. "f**k you, Max!" she screamed and disappeared into the night air. ------- Zoe's POV The blaring sound of my alarm had me starting awake in bed. Mack let out an irritated bark, and I felt him shuffle the bed. I opened my eyes and quickly silenced the grating noise. I checked the clock and it was 2 pm on the dot. I had just 45 minutes to get to my shift at the diner, and then after that, it was off to the bar for the late-night shift. "Sorry, Mack," I said as I snatched my still tired body out of bed. I looked at my giant dog only to see that his eyes were already closed again. I scratched behind his ear lovingly. "Lazy dog," I whispered. he let out a grumpy noise that made me think that he was thanking me for the scratch and now telling me to leave him alone. I left him alone and went into the bathroom. I switched on the shower and waited for the standard two minutes for the water to finally get hot enough. Once inside, I let the water do its magic and wake me up. After I was finished, I wrapped my towel around myself and went back into my room. Mack was wide awake now and tentatively watched me as I shuffled about the room picking out my clothes. My phone gave a quick chirp that let me know I had a text message. I sat on my bed and pulled the text up, and when I realized who it was from, I felt my insides squirm in worry. "I miss you; call me back. Please, I'm sorry, okay." The message read. Mack slipped his big head under the arm that wasn't holding my phone and laid it on my thigh. I absentmindedly scratched his ear as I worried over this message. Why won't he leave me alone? It had been four weeks of the same weepy and sometimes scary messages. Four weeks ago, I told him that I never wanted to see him again. He was possessive and, at times, physically violent with me. I licked my tongue over my lip, feeling the faint pucker of skin where it had been split after he had punched me in the mouth because I told him we were over. I deleted the message. "God," I said to myself. "Why do I always get the crazy ones?" I pondered, then looked to the clock on my wall. I quickly shot up, causing Mack to whine. "Sorry!" I apologized and went back to ignoring him as I stripped my towel off and threw my clothes on. I was furiously brushing my teeth as I ran into the kitchen, throwing cabinets open as I made Mack's breakfast. The black creature crept into the room and sat his tail wagging, and watched me fuss through the kitchen. I sat a frying pan on the stove, but before I started the fire, I turned and spit the toothpaste out my mouth and into the empty kitchen sink. I washed my face and sat my toothbrush on the counter. "I think I have the only dog in the world that won't eat unless his food is cooked!" I said, slightly annoyed that time was moving faster than me. No breakfast for me then. I slapped a sausage into the pan and let it cook while I rushed around my apartment, gathering everything I needed for my jobs today. I already had on my waitress get-up, so all I needed was to grab my tote, which carried a change of clothes for the bar and my skates. I set them by the door and rushed into the kitchen at the sound of hissing meat. When I tried to move the meat, it broke apart, most of it sticking to the pan. In all my rush, I had forgotten to spray the pan. "Ugh!" I said, and I looked over to Mack, who was staring back at me with a look on his face that fiercely reminded me of concern. "Sorry, Mack," I said as I dumped the ruined meat into the garbage disposal. I rushed to the fridge and snatched it open. There was a pack of unopened lunchmeat, so I opened it and dumped the whole thing into his bowl. He was standing by my leg during the process, his nose sniffing violently. "I'll make you something better at lunch!" I said as I slammed the door behind me. Unknown POV I watched as she scampered down the front stairs of her apartment. Her thick black hair was in a strained bun and her dark eyes focused on her every step. She was clearly running late because she ran to her car like a bat out of hell. Her tiny black Honda whipped out of its slot as she quickly drove away. I walked around her apartment and found a window that faced the woods' emptiness behind her apartment complex. The apartments were really duplexes. On each side, there were medium, one-level houses. I glanced in her back window and was immediately greeted by the steely stare of my old friend. "Ugh!" I whined as I burst through my front door, my butt throbbing after spending the day being a human pin cushion. Some of those men had really hard pinches! I dropped my skates onto the floor and looked around. "Mack?" I asked in the silence of my apartment; he usually greeted me at the door, with his blue eyes shining in delight. I walked into the house, dropping my purse onto the couch. "Where are you, Big Mack?" I said as I moved into the kitchen, readying everything for breakfast; take two. I heard a shuffle and looked around. Everything went silent; then, the shuffling turned into a bark. Mack must have closed himself in the guest room, which was basically his unofficial room, again. The room was off the kitchen, so I padded over and walked down the little hallway, passing my room and the bathroom. There was shuffling again and a thump on the door—Yup, locked in the room again. I smiled as I reached for the knob but stopped suddenly when I heard the sound of a loud meow. I pushed the door open and immediately yelped as a ball of grey fur launched into my arms. How did a cat get in my house? Mack was on the other side of the room, with hackles raised and a low scary growl slipping from his muzzle. "What's wrong, Mack?" I asked, a little worried about his demeanor. I looked down at the cat that was now purring into my neck. "Is this little kitty what has you all in a tizzy?" I asked and smiled at the oppressive dog. He gave a brief bark that reminded me of a 'hell yes,' and it made me laugh. "Oh, be nice!" I said to him before turning away. "Well, who do you belong to, little kitty?" I asked as I walked down the hallway; I looked to his neck and found no collar. He looked very clean, despite being a possible stray. And I suddenly worried if it might have fleas. But he wasn't scratching, so I took that as a good sign. I dropped him on the table, and Mack suddenly appeared and quickly launched himself at the feline. I looked in shock for a moment; how did he move so fast? The cat hissed and jumped from the table to the floor and darting toward me and without missing a beat landed into my arms again. He hissed and looked over at Mack, who was still on the table. My mind was slow to respond; how the hell did he do that? He leaped from the table and walked over to me, his teeth bared, and I felt my heart quicken. He wouldn't attack me, would he? Sometimes I became too comfortable because I lived with a heavier creature than me and only smaller in the sense that he couldn't stand on two feet. Even the vet had no explanations about what breed Mack was or how exactly this seemingly lean dog weighed, a staggering 230 lbs. I stepped back cautiously as Mack stalked closer to me; the cat suddenly jumped from my arms to the counter then straight to the top of the refrigerator. Mack immediately rushed over and began to bark up at the cat frantically. His loud barks echoed through the small apartment. "Mack!" I yelled as I rushed over to him and began to pull at his middle. He didn't budge, outweighing me by almost a hundred pounds, he kept firmly in place. Still frantically pulling, I glanced up at the cat and saw that it was staring down at me. He bounced off my back in a flash, headed to the back door, and slipped through the large dog door. Mack had already pushed off the fridge, causing me to fall on my butt. Mack went through the door too, and I heard loud barking, but I was still slow to react. I was pushing up to all fours when he appeared through the door. I stared at him, and he looked at me with a very human-like expression. It looked a lot like guilt. He came over to me and bowed his head. "It's okay, Big Mack," I said as I ruffled his head. I sat back on my calves and took stock of the wrecked kitchen and dining room. I let out a sigh and pushed off the floor. "I'll clean this later," I said, looking over at the clock. I had to get back to work.