Growl

by Ashley Fontainne

  My body began to shake from anger and exhaustion when I realized the scent trail I had been following was gone. I stood up and took a deep, long breath through my nose. Nothing. I spun around in a full circle, trying to catch the trail again, but it was useless. Other than the normal odors of the forest and the heartbreaking remnants of my nana, I lost the rank stench I had been after.

  “Damn!” I screamed, my yell heard by no one but the inhabitants of the wooded area. Breathing heavily and heart beating so fast I was afraid it would pop out of my chest any second, I collapsed in a spent pile onto the damp ground. Though I wasn’t a crier, tears of grief, anger, pain, and sorrow erupted out of my eyes, soaking my shirt in seconds. The rush of blood thrummed inside my head, and a wave of dizziness threw my sense of balance out of whack.

  What was wrong with me? Why had I run nearly six miles into the middle of nowhere, following some scent like a rabid dog? Why did the trail stop here, right by the place Nana took her last breath? Was I being punished for what I had done to her and suppressed in the back corners of my mind for so long? Was this what insanity felt like? Hearing things, seeing things, smelling things that didn’t exist?

  “Dear God, help me!” I sobbed out loud into the muddy ground.

  Come home.

  I shook my head to rid myself of the intruding voice inside my mind. Wet dirt molded to my damp cheeks and edged its way inside my mouth. I spit out the mess and crushed my hands to my ears in desperation, hoping my palms would block the familiar voice. No—I wasn’t crazy! Something killed the dog—something stole Nana’s totem necklace and left the note as a warning. Someone—something—had been inside my house. Left me a note. Those things were real. I saw them.

  Come home, Little One. All will be explained at home.

  Under the intense rays of the late afternoon sun, my body contorted into the fetal position, I crushed my hands harder against my ears. “Go away!” I screamed.

  The ground beneath me began to vibrate. I felt the rumblings in my legs, chest, and thighs. It rippled and grew until I had to let go of my ears and bury my fingers into the soft mud for support. As the quake intensified, I noticed the forest was deathly quiet. When I lifted my head up and looked around, I swear I saw the trees sway, their bright green leaves shimmering in harmony with the movement of the ground.

  An earthquake with no sounds? Not possible. Did my break from sanity make me imagine it? Oh, God, I was going crazy.

  The tremors stopped as quickly as they started. I gathered my bearings back and began to rise, then froze in place as a wave of sheer terror tore through me. Cold chills spread across my back and chest. A low growl rose in timbre and turned into a deafening roar. The sound seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

  I command you! Come home.

  The voice I recognized, though I had not heard it in almost ten years. It was Nahu’ala. It dominated me—a primal urge to listen and obey overshadowed my fear. The impulse to submit took control over my body and I began to run, exiting the sunny glen. Inborn instincts—just like the ones earlier to seek out and find the owner of the evil odor from inside my house—propelled me forward. Toward home. To submit to the voice without question. To obey.

  Though I fought the calling with all my might, it was no use. My body was on some sort of cosmic autopilot, controlled by who or what, I had no idea. All I knew for sure was that the pull was too strong to ignore.

  Within minutes, my legs pumping at full speed, I emerged from the woods and on to the main highway. I was backtracking the way I came before. The scent I had been chasing earlier grew. The stench made my eyes water. The craving to follow it fought for control over the compulsion to submit to the voice of Nahu’ala to return home. My lungs screamed for air, my legs burned, and my heart thundered against the walls of my chest. My breath came in great gasps, and my arms shook as the blood raced through my veins. It felt like my brain was on fire as it tried to grapple with the dueling instructions.

  Then, I hit a wall. At least it seemed like I did. The scent of the thing slammed into me like it was alive. The reeking aroma surrounded me as though I had fallen in a garbage dump. The urge to kill trumped the command to go home. My body veered to the right, zigzagging through the parked cars and construction trucks. In mere seconds, I came to a halt, my quaking body in the parking lot of Cohestra, and my eyes trained on the vehicle closest to me.

  The sleek, black sedan glistened underneath the late afternoon sun. With the way it smelled, it should have been covered in rotting flesh. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt in my heart, that the owner of the car had been inside my house. I shot my eyes over to the license plate and noticed the tags were from Illinois. Figures—it was damned Yankee stink. The raging inferno of anger and confusion in my head dimmed a bit because I knew my enemy was real—a living human being. Not some four-legged monster that smelled like the carcasses of a hundred dead skunks. A sense of relief hit me, for this was solid proof I wasn’t crazy or imagining things. Figments of the imagination weren’t able to drive a vehicle, nor could some made-up monster. This was a real foe to confront and ask why the hell he or she was playing such a morbid game with me and my family.

  And then, after asking, my plan was to tear them into unrecognizable pieces. I would leave nothing but a pile of blood and flesh behind.

  I pulled my eyes away from the car and started to walk toward the smoked glass doors of the smaller, outer building that hadn’t been destroyed by the tornado. The scent trail was so strong it seemed to illuminate in front of me—like a glowing wave to follow. Before I made it to the curb, the voice inside my head exploded. It was so loud it was painful. My head felt like it would burst, and I fell to my knees on the hard blacktop, my hands clamped around my ears.

  Go. Home. Now!

  The roar that followed the order made my entire body quake in fear and pain. This time, I realized the earth wasn’t shaking. It felt like a noose was around my neck, yanking me from behind. My chest tightened, and I couldn’t pull any air into my lungs. Intense, searing heat burned inside my head and for a split second, I wondered if I was having a stroke or aneurysm. I cowered on the ground with my palms pressed firmly against my head, and mewed like a small kitten.

  “Okay, okay. I’ll go.”

  “Sheryl, you okay, honey? What in the world are you doing here? Oh, Lord, you’re filthy! Are you hurt?”

  The voice above me seemed familiar. The smooth tone felt like a cold compress on my burning head. The minute it spoke, the booming growl inside my head stopped and the tension around my chest disappeared. I dropped my hands from my ears and went to all fours, gasping in a lungful of the blessed air.

  “Sheryl, can you hear me? Oh, Lord, do I need to call an ambulance?”

  Get up. Let her take you home. Now.

  Like an obedient child, I complied. Every muscle in my body screamed as I pushed myself up off the hot pavement and stood up. I pushed a wisp of my hair from my face and was surprised when my hand came back covered in red clay. Then, I remembered I had been wallowing in the mud minutes before. No wonder the look of worry on Ms. Emma’s face was of sheer panic.

  “I…I’m fine. Sorry. Just pushed myself too hard on my run today. I…um, tripped and fell down by the creek. Lost my footin’ in the mud.”

  “Child, you realize it’s over one-hundred degrees outside right now, dontcha? Only crazy people, or ones who want to die from a heat stroke, run in this heat. You…are neither. And out in the woods? Alone? That’s just plain dangerous. And you know better than to run during the day! Here, let’s get you inside and cool you off. And some water. It’s worryin’ me, you ain’t sweatin’ like you should be.”

  Do not go inside. Leave! Now! The voice of Nahu’ala was adamant.

  “I know. Don’t know what I was thinkin’. Guess I wasn’t. You know, teenagers have that problem sometimes,” I said, producing a smile that I hoped conveyed I was sorry. “I’m fine, really. Just needed to catch my breath.”


  “No, you need water. Right now. Come on, let me take you inside…”

  I backed away from Dane’s mom and moved toward the parking lot. “Ms. Emma, I really would like to go home. Do you mind droppin’ me off at my house before you go home? You were leavin’, right?”

  I saw a wary look cross Ms. Emma’s dark eyes as she scanned mine. Her parental instincts seemed to be on high alert, for I could tell she knew I was hiding something from her. I remained calm and forced my eyes to reflect nothing but a blank stare. After a few seconds, she shook her head and grabbed my elbow with her soft, warm fingers. “Yes, I was. Come on, I’ll take you home. But only if you promise me two things.”

  “Okay. Shoot.”

  “One, you don’t ever run when it’s this hot outside again and in those woods,” she said tersely, which I followed by a nod of agreement. “And two, stay away from here. It’s dangerous with all the construction.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Once we crossed the parking lot over to Ms. Emma’s sports utility vehicle, the tension between the two of us from moments before melted. I tried to control my body, but it still shook as Ms. Emma put an old practice shirt of Dane’s down on the seat so I could sit inside without ruining the leather. My legs felt like jelly. Though my breathing was still rapid, the thundering in my chest was gone. I climbed inside and shut the door, hoping it would put a barrier between me and the odor, but it didn’t. It was just as strong as before, like I had rolled around in it. Ms. Emma didn’t seem to sense it because she gave no sign she did. When I reached up to push my damp hair out of my face, my hand reeked of it. Thankfully, the overwhelming urge to run inside the building and shred the owner of the stink had lessened.

  Of course that was only because another stronger force controlled me. Though another word had not been said inside my head the last few minutes, I still felt the presence of Nahu’ala. It was like I could feel the big cat watching me from inside my own mind.

  Ms. Emma backed out of the parking lot and onto the main highway. I could tell she was looking at me from her peripheral vision, so I decided to try and act normal. “I’m sorry to hear about Mr. Witherspoon. My family had me bring over some food to the house for you and Dane earlier. Hope you like what we fixed. If not, you’re gonna have a lot of garbage bags full of food to throw out. We kinda went overboard.”

  The smile on her full lips only reached her cheeks. “That’s mighty sweet of you all. I will make sure to thank your family. Dane and I are kind of in a tough spot at the moment.”

  “He told me earlier that Ms. Johnson left. I’m sorry to hear about that too.”

  “Well, today is the day for that word for sure. Heard it a thousand times if I heard it once.”

  “I’m sure you did. Everyone at Cohestra must be in shock.”

  “That’s puttin’ it mildly. Between the tornado and Mr. Dane’s passin’, most are terrified the plant will close down and they’re gonna lose their jobs. Thankfully, fears were soothed today by promises from upper management that wouldn’t happen.”

  I heard the irritation in her voice and suspected it was because of Dane IV’s presence at the meeting. While Ms. Emma drove, I noticed her jaw was clenched and the veins in her neck engorged with blood. I also caught a whiff of the scent of her anger mixed in with her sweat. She was still reeling after her encounter with her ex. I wondered what the conversation inside the four walls had been like earlier. Judging by her demeanor, not pleasant at all.

  Do not ask about that.

  I jumped when Nahu’ala’s voice growled inside my mind. Ms. Emma noticed and questioned, “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

  “I, oh, nothin’. Muscle contraction. My thighs are super mad at me for pushin’ them so hard today. I just need a big glass of water, a banana, and a shot of orange juice to put things right.”

  “And a good smack upside the head for scarin’ the daylights outta me. I mean, I walk out of my office and find my son’s girlfriend on the sidewalk, shakin’ like a leaf, covered in wet mud and lookin’ so pale she musta seen a ghost or somethin. My first thought was you were dyin’, and I can’t handle any more death right now.”

  I tried to stifle my laugh and it came out sounding like a frog’s croak. “I’m sorry I upset you, Ms. Emma. Guess my body took over when it had enough and decided to go somewhere familiar. It won’t happen again.”

  Ms. Emma turned onto my street, her face a bit more relaxed than before. She smiled and this time, it reached her luminous eyes. She maneuvered the SUV into my driveway and parked, then surprised me when she reached out and grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry I’m actin’ so uptight. The last thirty-six hours have been a lot to handle. One minute I’m watchin’ my superstar son practice his slam dunks and the next, our lives are flipped upside down. Just from one phone call.”

  “Please, you don’t have anything to apologize for. With everythin’ going on, you took time out of your day and brought me home. That was very kind of you—so thank you.”

  “I can’t have the woman my son loves dyin’ from a heat stroke or heart attack—at least not on my watch.”

  I swallowed hard and licked my dry lips. I must be going insane because Ms. Emma actually sounded like she cared about me. Her eyes were moist and open, and no hidden agenda or malice swam behind them. It was the first time she had ever looked at me with an emotion other than irritation or anger.

  “Oh child, don’t look at me like that! It’s just, well, with everythin’ that’s happened, it made me take a hard look at myself, you know? Focus on my loved ones…the things in life important to me. And the most important thing in my world is Dane and his happiness. Though I’ve had trouble admittin’ it before, you make him happy—it’s as simple as that. Which means you jumped from minor annoyance to part of the family, at least in my book.”

  “I…uh…well, thank you,” I stuttered, completely taken aback by her candor and intensity.

  “Honey, sometimes it takes death to make you realize you’re alive. Now, scoot and go get yourself cooled off and rehydrated. I’ll see you later I’m sure. And don’t worry, I won’t be tellin’ my Dane about this. He worries enough about you already.”

  She let go of my hand and shooed me out of the truck. I flashed a smile at her and stepped out, and then waved as she left. In a daze, I just stood in the driveway and tried to remain upright as all the dizzying thoughts of the last few hours jockeyed for attention in my mind. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a cold hand touched my shoulder. “Dad! You scared the crap out of me!”

  “Well hello to you too, honey. Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you, but I must say, you had us all worried too. Where have you been, and how in the world did you get so muddy? Oh Jesus, sweetie, are ya okay? Injured? And…was that Ms. Emma?”

  “Oh, Dad, I’m sorry. I…I went out for a run and forgot my phone,” I said, looping my arm around him, herding him toward the front door. I couldn’t control the urge inside of my mind to hurry up and get inside, even though the aroma of the intruder hung heavy in the air. “And yes, that was Ms. Emma. I fell durin’ my run after gettin’ too hot. She was just leavin’ the plant as I was walkin’ by, and she was kind enough to give me a ride home. Other than bein’ filthy and a bit sore, I’m fine.”

  Dad gave me a good once-over. When he noticed I was barefooted, he raised one eyebrow and gave me the look. The look that said he called bullshit. “Uh huh. Your disappearance wouldn’t have somethin’ to do with that boyfriend of yours, would it? Looks to me like you’ve been breathin’ heavy and rollin’ around on the ground.”

  “Dad, really? Come on—his mother just dropped me off! Seriously, I went out for a run and got overheated and fell. That’s it.”

  “So what, your shoes get stuck in the mud or somethin’?”

  I hoped my lie sounded plausible and my face wouldn’t betray my real emotions. “Uh, no. I took them off before I got in Ms. Emma’s truck, since they were so muddy. I’ll have Dane bring them by later.”
<
br />   He stopped me before I walked in through the front door, his face a mixture of irritation and humor. “Your mom has been worried sick about where you went. I had to convince her not to call Sheriff Gilmore to send a search party out lookin’ for you. We may live in a small town, but that don’t mean bad things don’t happen on occasion. I realize you needed to spend some alone time with Dane, but next time, bring your phone. Okay? I don’t enjoy havin’ your mom get all riled up thinkin’ somethin’ bad happened to her one and only child.”

  Something happened to her, that’s for sure. What, exactly, she has no idea. Mister, your daughter’s lost all her marbles.

  I shook my twisted thought away and put on my best smile. “I’ll go call her right now and take the butt chewin’ I have comin’. Then, I’m takin’ a hot bath, callin’ Barb to bow out of practice, grabbin’ some grub, and going to bed. I’m beyond exhausted.”

  Daddy didn’t have time to respond. I smacked a quick kiss on his cheek and went inside, taking the stairs two at a time. The need to be alone hung over me like a heavy cloak, smothering out everything else—even the sickening stench of the monster who’d invaded our home. Within minutes, I got reamed out by my mother. Then I listened to Barb whine and moan about not being able to practice our opening routine, complain about having to run alone tonight, and pester me to find out why I was so tired. I endured it all without saying much to either of them, then turned my phone to silent, filled the tub with scented bubbles and hot water, and settled my sore body down in the frothy suds.

  I thought the minute I was alone and a tad more relaxed that my mind would begin rehashing the crazy events of the last thirty-six plus hours, but it didn’t. Instead, my brain was a blank canvas. It was almost as though all the interior lights in my soul shut off and I was alone in the dark. The tension in my muscles eased as the warm, fragrant water soaked into my skin. The aroma of sweet pea and jasmine floated around me, embedding the fragrant scents into every pore. With my eyes closed and mind adrift in the soothing, tranquil waters of the bath, a sense of weightlessness embraced me. Peace surrounded me, wrapping my body, mind, and soul in a cocoon of warmth.