Illusion

Most people love dogs and I used to be one of those people. Why you ask. Well, ever since I saw that thing I've never been the same. I was never the same around dogs anymore. What thing you ask? Well, let me tell you the story then.

It all started on that one rainy day. I was dumb enough to forget my umbrella so I had to walk home in the pouring rain. I could've caught the bus like my friends keep on telling me to but I was stubborn and declined their offer so here I am now, walking in the damn rain. How could I not know that it was going to rain today? Well, my mother banned me from the television so I couldn't watch the news and know today's forecast. I mean, I could just go on the internet and check the weather on there but luck seemed to have turned away from me because my mother took my laptop away from me, saying that I was spending too much time on the web. I sighed at the memory and forced myself to walk faster so I could get home faster.

Finally, after what seemed like a millennium which was actually in fact, only twenty minutes, I finally arrived home. I took out the wet keys from my soaking pants and inserted it into the key hole before twisting it to the right and withdrawing it from the hole. Placing my hand on the handle, I pushed down and opened the door, stepping into my cosy warm home and slamming the door behind me. I dropped my soaking bag onto the tiled floor and gratefully thanked the heavens that the floor wasn't carpet otherwise my mother would have my head. I kicked off my shoes and walked upstairs to my bedroom to grab some clean clothes before heading off to the bathroom to wash myself down. I felt sticky and weird in my wet clothes. I hate the way your clothes stick to you and show your skin because you walked in the pouring rain in which I did.

Once I dressed myself in clean dry clothes after my shower, I dumped the wet clothes in an empty basket so I could wash them later before heading off to my room to complete some homework. I'm glad that this was homework that I had received days ago otherwise it would be soaking wet in my bag. We didn't receive any homework today for some reason but maybe its because of our science teacher who gave us four assignments to do and I had no idea as to how I was going to be able to complete them all. I could feel the pressure beginning to build on top of me but I sighed and began work. I became so absorbed in the information that I was researching for my assignments that I didn't even hear scratching and whining until a howl broke through my concentration. I leapt a bit and nearly hit my knees against the desk as I cursed the noise for breaking my concentration. The howls continued and I groaned before turning back to my work. It's probably some neighbour's dog begging for food. The howls continued and it became irritating so I got up and walked over to the window, opening it and yelling out into the street, "Who ever owns that dog better tell it to shut up! I'm trying to do my homework here!" the howling stopped and I shut the window before walking back to my desk to continue on with my homework when the howling started up again. I groaned and turned on some music so I could have something else to listen to other than the whining and howling.

For the next three hours, I had to put up with the whining and howling that was going on while I was working on my assignments. Every now and then, I would yell for the noise to stop. It would but only for about three seconds before it started up again. Eventually, it got to the point where I would stop working for minutes and glare at random spots in the room, looking for the source of the noise. One more howl was all I needed and I snapped. Shooting up from my chair and looking around furiously, trying to seek out the source of the noise. "Shut up!" I yelled when I heard the howl again but this time, it didn't sound like a normal howl. It sounded weird. I couldn't describe it but I wasn't taking any chances. I'm sick of hearing this dog howl. It's annoying me so I opened the drawers next to my desk and got out a knife before approaching the door and opening it. The howls echoed throughout the house for some reason and I listened closely, it sounded like it was coming from the bathroom. I made my way to the bathroom slowly, knife in hand, ready to slash at anything in the room. I peered into the bathroom and turned on the light. The place immediately lit up and I looked around. I was about to leave when something on the bottom right hand corner of the window caught my attention. It was an imprint of a dog face. I screamed and dropped the knife. The imprint looked so real that it made me run back to my room. I slammed the door and slumped against it. I was panting. What had I just seen? Well, that question would be answered later.

I stayed in my position at the door for another hour. I didn't want to go back there and see that thing again. I sighed and decided to continue on with my assignments when a scratching sound from the other side of the door made my muscles stiffen and tense. I froze and didn't dare move. The scratching went on for a few more minutes before they stopped. I breathed out a sigh of relief and stood up only to hear the whining again and this time, it wasn't coming from the other side of the door. It was coming from behind me. I slowly turned around to see a ghost''. The ghost of a dog. ''It tilted its head at me and I could feel my heart beating inhumanly fast. My fear and paranoia had risen up to the point where I couldn't hold it much longer. It seemed to look at me with ''sad pitiful eyes? ''Eh? The more I looked into the ghost's eyes, the more I could feel sadness building up in me. It was like that this dog had once enjoyed a great life until something terrible happened to it but I wasn't going to let myself get fooled by its aura. Deep down, I knew that it came here for a reason and I was about to find out why.

This staring contest continued for a few minutes before the ghost began to whine again. Honestly, I would feel sympathetic for a dog but this was no dog, it was a ghost and now I know that it is the source of the whining and howling, anger replaced my sadness. I took a threatening step towards the ghost which backed away. Interesting, this ghost is scared of me. Normally, the ghosts would be the one to scare people not the other way around. ''I grinned malevolently and cracked my knuckles. Even though I knew ''that this was a ghost, I was getting sick of hearing the ghost's whining. I wanted to strangle it, to torture it in every way possible. The ghost, seeming to sense my plans, turned and ran through the door. My grin dropped and was replaced with a snarl as I threw the door open and chased the ghost. Now this was like a game of hide and seek, only I was playing with a ghost. I turned a corner just in time to see the ghost disappear into the bathroom. I slowed down and grinned evilly as I approached the bathroom. I spotted my knife on the floor and bent down to pick it up but as I did, I felt something wet and sticky drip onto the back of my head. I slowly straightened and placed a hand on the back of my neck to feel whatever had dripped down onto my neck and when I pulled my hand away, in the light of the bathroom, I could see blood.

Blood. Why was blood dripping down from the ceiling? I slowly and painfully looked up to see that stupid ghost again but this time, it looked...''different. ''It looked horrible. Its right front paw was twisted and mangled and one of its ears looked as if it was bitten in half. Bones poked out of its body here and there and in some places, the bones were actually showing because the skin and flesh were missing. I gagged, trying not to vomit but the one thing that nearly made me throw up my long ago eaten lunch was the crimson blood staining its mouth. It looked so bright against the faded grey body of the ghost that was floating above my head. And it was fresh as well. I covered my mouth and I could already taste the bile in my mouth. I pushed the bile down my throat and removed my hand from my mouth, trying to think of what I should do next but I didn't need to for the ghost lunged at me. Its paws stretched forward, reaching out as if to grab me and its mouth was wipe open, revealing two-inch long canines. As it came closer, I moved aside and the ghost slammed passed through the wall that was left in my place. I chuckled but stopped when the ghost dog's head popped out of the wall, an angry look on its face. And I knew that it was time to run.

Unbeknownst to me, my pet cat Kiki was dead apparently. I found her lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen as I was running from the ghost dog. Kiki...she replaced Nirvana when she died and became one of my best friends. Now she was dead too and that meant that two pets had died under my care. Why? I sobbed and let my tears run down my cheek and drip onto Kiki's midnight black fur. Her olive green eyes were one of the most beautiful that I had seen and I would never forget them. The clicking of claws against tiles brought my grieving to a stop. I slowly turned my head to see the dog but it wasn't a ghost anymore. It was a Siberian Husky. It looked normal. No blood, no bones jutting out of its body. Its ears were perfectly fine and its skin and flesh were intact. Anyone would've mistaken this for someone's lost dog but I knew that this was no ordinary dog. Its eyes though were a dead grey colour. That was the eye colour of the ghost dog and I suspect that this is the ghost's solid form.

I'm hiding in my closet. Why? Because I'm being chased by this dog that's actually a ghost. I think to myself that this is a dream but the image of Kiki's corpse is always there to remind me that this is all too real. I looked down at the wounds on my arm that the dog had given me. The area around the wound had become grey and I was starting to panic. Every now and then, I would catch myself trying to fall asleep but I couldn't. Not when there's an undead dog after me. I began to hyperventilate when I heard the clicking of claws come closer towards my hiding place. This is it. I'm done for. I'll be nothing but a corpse once this undead dog is done with me. I squeezed my eyes right as the closet door creaked open in a deathly slow manner, I braced myself for the attack but it never came. I didn't dare open my eyes, afraid that the undead dog would attack me as soon as I did.

The attack never came and I peeped open one eye. What was taking the dog so long? Maybe it left. Thinking that it had left, I opened my eyes and the dog was still there causing me to back up even more in the closet. Why was it still here? "W-what do you want?" I asked the dog in a quiet and scared voice. Why was I even talking to a dog anyway? Oh yeah, because it's actually a killer ghost. It tilted its head at me before its mouth split into a grin. Fur and flesh melted away like smoke and nothing but the ghost was left. It advanced towards me and I knew there was no escape. I had no weapons, only my bare hands but better be safe than sorry. Pushing my fear away and replacing it with a surge of determination, I lunged at the ghost and I passed through it. As I did, I felt like icy cold water just got dumped on me. I got up, shivering and the ghost turned around to face me, teeth bared.

"You're not escaping that easily, human." 

My eyes widened. Did the ghost just talk to me telepathically?

''"Yes, I just did." ''the ghost replied and I shook my head slowly, backing away towards the door. I felt for the knob and just as I had my hand on it, the ghost lunged. I expected it to just pass through me and give me that icy cold water feeling but it switched to its solid form in mid air. At the very last moment, I moved aside and the undead dog slammed its face into the wood of the door. It fell to the floor, its body contorting and writhing to try and get rid of the pain. It swiped at its nose with its paws and it would switch from its solid form into its ghost form every now and then like some sort of glitch before it settled on its ghost form and went still.

''Well, looks like the pain was too much for it. ''I did not feel sympathetic for it. Not one little bit. It killed my precious Kiki so why should I be sympathetic towards it. I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief but when I opened my eyes, the ghost's body was gone. My breath hitched in my throat when I felt hot breath next to my ear. I slowly turned around and felt a searing pain erupt from my face before everything went black.

***

I woke up with a jolt in my bed and I could feel cold sweat running down my face. I placed a hand on my face to try and calm myself and to steady my breathing. "It's fine Avery, it was just a nightmare." I said to calm myself. It felt so real though. That ghost of a dog was just a nightmare, just an illusion.

''"It is no illusion." ''