Bella knew what was coming for me. In the days leading to that horrific night, she never left my side. She was the only one who believed me that that thing was out to kill me and she was the only one that was going to do everything she could to protect me. When the end came for us, she stood fast. I felt how scared she was but she was not going to fail me. An unspoken promise that she kept.
~ ~ ~
Bella was beautiful. She never was the aggressive, intimidating breed that everyone seems to make pitbulls out to be. Bella was a caramel terrier mix with a look like the joke went over her head. She always smiled at me. She’d lumber around very lazy-like when she passed by me, or when following my dad. Whenever we all came home from our outside ventures, she’d greet us with ruckus jumping, jubilant running around (zoomies we called that), and bathe us in the wettest of kisses. Her tail made me laugh because it whipped side to side frantically like an upside-down car wiper in a heavy rainstorm. She had the best fur. It was tan and smooth when you slid your hand with the natural flow of it. It tickled when you went against it.
I was very little and learning to walk when I felt my connection with Bella. Bella once accidentally knocked me over and was scolded hard by my mom. She scurried out of sight. Dad told me when I was older that in the proceeding days after that incident, he’d catch Bella hiding either behind the couch or in the hallway; just out of sight but always not far from where I was when I was with mom. I knew this. I don’t remember the accounts but I remember knowing she was there. Looking over me. Protecting me. Loving me. She was my best friend before I even knew what those words meant.
~ ~ ~
I don’t remember when the nightmares started but I do remember the first time when the thing from my nightmare was still there when I opened my eyes. Initially, I thought it was my father standing over the bed and looking down at me. I thought he was checking on me or he came in take Bella outside because she was whining that no one walked her before bedtime. But it was not my dad. It barely looked like a man. Its shape was blurry like it has no solid dimension to it. A shadow with burning yellow eyes and a blood red hue glowing behind it. It snatched my arm. Its grip was so cold that it burned my skin. I screamed with every bit of energy I had in my seven-year-old body. And then everything went black.
I woke up the next morning on the floor with my mom holding me in her arms, frantically shouting my name to me while my dad was on the phone calling for help. They sobbed with relief when they saw my eyes open. I wasn’t sure if this was real. I remember the blackness drowning me. I remember that shadow thing’s cold dead grip. I knew it tried to kill me but somehow, I’m alive and safe with my parents. I felt weak and discombobulated. It was seeing my Bella peering over my bed that brought me back into the moment. She was on all fours with her car wiper tail whipping side-to-side joyously. I smiled to let her know I was okay but that feeling quickly sank when I noticed a dark scar on the side of her face. I don’t know what she did but she was the one that saved me… and she was hurt doing it.
Over the next couple of weeks and several doctor visits, my mom and dad took turns asking me if I was okay. I answered yes, every time. I wanted to convince them and myself whatever happened to me was never going to happen again. The look on their faces every time told me that I was convincing no one. And Bella… I felt her worry too.
~ ~ ~
I could not sleep. The dread I felt was choking the life out of me slowly. My school teacher and the school social worker were constantly calling my parents about my erratic behavior and random outburst of screams. I fought my classmates because I thought they were the thing trying to kill me. I was exhausted all the time. Then came the therapy talks. I refused to talk about what happened the night of the attack. I did not want to talk about it out loud because I thought that would awaken that thing to return and finish me. Whenever I came back from these sessions I would rush into the house and hug Bella tight. She’d lick my face to assure me that I did the right thing by not talking.
The therapist prescribed a pill to me. He told my parents it would help take the edge off, so I did not question when my mom asked me to take it. I gulped it down with one sip of water. Bella began barking hysterically. It was a deep and thunderous bark that seemed to shake the house. My mom called my dad to take Bella outside. My dad swooped in and pulled her by the collar to escort her out. As I watched on, my eyes locked with Bella’s. A terrible chill crawled up my back. I asked my mom what the pill was for. To help me sleep she explained. I immediately tried to gag myself to vomit out the pill but she quickly sequestered me in her embrace. This is to help you she pleaded. I began to cry uncontrollably. “I don’t want to die!” I shouted repeatedly. My mom sobbed as she held me tighter.
~ ~ ~
I sat at the foot of my bed in room with Bella sitting up next to me. My parents were in their room. I could hear my mom questioning everything they were doing to help me and my dad trying to reassure her it was going to be okay. Bella had her ears perked like she was trying to listen in on them too. She looked like one of those guard dogs that stood at attention at the side of an Egyptian king sitting on a throne. I felt like no king though. A king is brave when his enemies attack. One is a king because he shows others his courage. I had none. I was scared and powerless. But she protected me anyway. She had a worried look now. She knew as I did that the enemy was coming… tonight. All it was waiting for was for me to fall asleep. I prayed Bella would be able to save me again. I felt Bella hoping for the same thing. She caught me gazing at her and quickly licked a kiss on my cheek.
~ ~ ~
Bella is in bed with me. Both of us struggle to not to go to sleep but I’m losing this fight. Bella fusses with me to stay up for hours but my eyes are now too heavy. I relive the moments of the night of my attack. That night when I fell asleep, I heard angry, threatening voices. I was too scared to open my eyes. When I finally did, I saw those horrible pair of glowing yellow eyes looking back at me. I suddenly remember Bella growling that night. She stood over me while she glared at the enemy. The shadow thing returned a gruesome snarl that reveals large sharpened teeth. Each looking like ivory stakes itching to pierce skin. The thing jumps at us; mouth open, ready to shred us. I black out. In the darkness, I feel my body get heavy. I can’t move. This was not the memory anymore. I was asleep.
~ ~ ~
The overwhelming thirst for water wakes me up. Sluggish, I pull myself out of bed. I don’t see Bella in the room. I whisper out her name. I snap fully awake when I see my bedroom door open. Bella was gone. And I have been left defenseless. I sit still on the side my bed; my fear paralyzed me. Then staggered paw steps approach my bedroom door. I let out a sigh of relief when I see Bella poke her head into view. In that instant, the door slams shut in front of her. She cries out to me. I hurry to open the door when a cold hand grabs my leg and yanks me back.
My face slams on the floor so hard that it bounces off the wood flooring. Blood shots down my nose. Everything is blurry. I looked back behind me and I see the yellow glowing eyes of the shadow thing gazing at me. It lets out a horrible sigh as it smiles at me. I hear Bella screaming behind the door. She wants me to move but I’m frozen in fear. Bella then unleashes a thunderous bark that shakes me alive. I dive for the door and barely turn the knob when the shadow thing grabs me again but it was enough to crack the door open. Bella barges inside and jumps in between me and the enemy. I crawl to the wall and curl up into a shell. My terror fuses my eyes close. I hear Bella barking feverishly, staving off the yellow eyed monster. Then… everything went quiet.
I dared not open my eyes. I kept waiting for Bella lick me letting me know that the battle is over. That everything is okay now. Instead, I feel drops of saliva dripping over me. I opened my eyes and I see the yellow eyes again… and they belong to Bella. Her eyes…our connection… Bella was gone. She is now something pure evil and vicious. She unsheathes her teeth at me. I was no longer her king. I was her prey.
My parents rush into the room and see Bella over me ready to tear into my skin. My dad yells at her to get off me. Bella replies with a loud and unholy bark that drives both my parents to the ground. She pounces on my dad and bites down so hard on his forearm that she nearly breaks it in half. Bella rips a chunk of flesh off my dad’s arm. Mom screams in horror. The shadow creature took my friend and now is going to take my family. I scream Bella’s name as loud as I could through tears washing down my cheeks. Bella snaps back her attention to me and leaps. I close my eyes once more and ready for them to be closed forever. A moment passes where I was not sure whether I was alive or not. I open my eyes and Bella’s teeth were inches from my face. Drool pours out of her mouth. She was still, shaking a little bit. Hesitating. I saw the yellow in her eyes beginning to dim. Bella, the real Bella, and I looked at each other for the last time. I could hear her telling me that she could not hold the shadow for long. I knew what she was going to do. It was the only way to end this and finally keep me safe. Before I could say goodbye, she darts out of the room. A window shatters down the hallway and I hear Bella running towards the woods.
~ ~ ~
Seven years. Seven years have gone by since the night Bella ran off with that thing inside her. Every day since I’ve come to the same spot where our backyard meets the towering woods. It has become part of my routine. I have waited here for my friend to come back. I came to hope that the darkness inside her would eventually leave having failed to get what it really wanted all those years ago. I decided that if that were true then I will wait for her every day at this spot. I would want her to see me and know it’s safe to return. If she were still alive today, she would not have too many years left and I’d want them spent with me. Seven years have passed and…and…I am now paralyzed with chills… my breathing slows to a stop as I hear something trotting back towards me from the woods.