It sat in my palm, staring up at me with those cute, little black eyes.
“Wow. You’re a friendly guy,” I said to it. I raised my palm to study it. “I’m glad you’re not afraid of me. I wish I had something to feed you.”
It tilted its round head to one side, as if it understood me. It squeaked again, twitched its pink snout, and opened its mouth. I was startled to see two rows of sharp, pointed teeth.
I really have to photograph this guy, I thought. But I don’t have any film. I think I’ll bring him home with me and take his picture there.
He jumped again. Onto my shoulder.
A second later I felt a sharp stab of pain in my neck.
“Owwww!” I uttered a shocked cry as the creature clamped its teeth into my throat.
“Hey—OWWWW!” I gripped its back and struggled to pull it off me.
But the pain made me stop.
The pain … the pain …
It shot down my whole body.
The teeth were so deep—and shut so tightly—if I pulled the creature away, I’d tear a hole in my throat!
“Noooo!” I moaned, gripping the animal, squeezing it, struggling to remove it.
Warm liquid trickled down my neck. My blood!
I heard a lapping sound. Sucking and lapping.
The pain throbbed and pulsed.
The blood flowed down my neck.
The pointed teeth chomped and dug in hard.
The lapping and smacking sounds grew more rapid. Frantic.
He’s drinking … I realized.
Drinking my blood.
Gripping the tiny pig, I could feel it start to swell up. Its belly inflated, and I could feel liquid sloshing around inside.
My blood!
I opened my mouth in a scream of horror. “NOOOOOOO!”
The creature drank furiously, sucking hard, its teeth cutting my skin.
I screamed again. Again.
I dropped to my knees. I started to feel weak … so weak.
And then I heard a shout. The snap of twigs.
Dad stepped out from the trees, his eyes wild, his face twisted in fear.
He spotted me down on the ground. And then his mouth dropped open in surprise as he saw the creature at my throat.
“Hold still! Hold still!” he screamed.
He dived down beside me. Dropped to the ground. Reached both hands for the creature.
“Don’t pull it!” I shrieked. “It’ll rip a hole—”
Dad clenched his teeth as he struggled to pry the little animal’s jaws apart. His face darkened to red. “Yessss!” he cried finally.
He stumbled back. I saw the creature leap from his hand and scramble into the tall grass.
The pain still throbbed in my throat. I touched my neck and felt the warm blood trickling down my skin.
“Are you okay? Laura? Are you okay?” Dad kept repeating. He leaned over me and pushed my hand away so he could see the wound.
“I … don’t know,” I whispered.
“Here.” Dad pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and handed it to me. “Press this against your neck. It will stop the bleeding.”
I held the handkerchief against my neck, and Dad helped pull me to my feet.
“Whoa,” I murmured, shaking my head. I felt dizzy, kind of light-headed. “What happened? What was that?”
Dad shook his head. “I didn’t really get a good look at it,” he said. “I was so busy prying its jaws apart…. And then it ran off. How do you feel? Are you okay?”
“Okay, I guess. The pain is starting to fade.” I let out a deep breath. “But it was so weird,” I said, picturing the little animal jumping into my hand, then lunging for my neck. “It didn’t just bite me. It was sucking my blood.” I shuddered. “It was sucking my blood like a vampire.”
“Let me see your neck.” Dad took the wadded-up handkerchief and studied the wound.
“I don’t like the way that looks.” His brow tightened with worry. “We have to get to Dr. Davis right now.”
Dr. Davis took us into his office immediately. He is a short, pudgy, egg-shaped man with a tiny head. He reminds me of an ostrich.
“Laura—what happened?” he asked, leading me to the examining table.
“Something bit her,” Dad said. “A baby chimpmunk, maybe. But I’m not sure. It was hard to tell because whatever it was, it had lost all its fur.”
I stared over the doctor’s shoulder at Dad. Why did he lie? No way that was a chipmunk. Why didn’t he tell Dr. Davis that it was a strange little pig?
Dr. Davis examined the wound. “It could have been a diseased animal. Maybe rabid,” he said softly. “Did it look rabid?” the doctor asked.
“I’m sorry,” Dad answered. “It ran off. I just don’t know.”
“Rabies shots are very painful,” Dr. Davis said. “I’ll rush your blood sample to the lab before we start with shots. I’ll have the results by tomorrow morning at the very latest. In the meantime, I’ll give you a prescription for strong antibiotics. Start taking them right away.”
Rabies. My stomach tightened. Please let the blood tests be okay, I thought. I watched Dr. Davis prepare a needle and thread to stitch up the wound.
I closed my eyes and pictured the animal that bit me. I saw its pink body. Its little piglike snout. It was not a chipmunk, I thought. It was definitely not a chipmunk.
A short while later Dad and I crossed the parking lot to the car. “How does it look?” I asked. “Do I look like Frankenstein now?”
Dad ran his fingers gently over my neck. “It should heal without much of a scar,” he replied. “It might itch after a while. Try not to scratch it, okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” I muttered.
“Do you have any symptoms at all?” Dad asked as we reached the car. “Do you feel at all strange or sick?”
I shook my head. “No, I feel okay.”
I climbed into the car and waited for him to slide behind the wheel. Dr. Davis had given me some painkillers, but my throat still ached.
“Dad, why did you tell Dr. Davis it was a chipmunk?” I asked. “It didn’t look like a chipmunk.”
Dad started the engine and backed out of the parking space. “I didn’t see it very well. And without its fur, it was hard to tell what it was.”
“But it looked like a pig,” I said. “It had a snout. It didn’t look like chipmunk at all. Why didn’t you say it looked like a pig?”
Dad turned to me. “It was simpler, Laura. That’s all. It doesn’t really matter. We’ll get your blood tests and find out what to do next.”
I swallowed and stared out the window. We drove for a while in silence. “I hate to say it, but I’m a little afraid to go back in the woods,” I confessed.
“Don’t worry about that,” Dad said. “You won’t be back in the woods for a long while.”
My mouth dropped open in surprise. “Excuse me? Why not?”
“Why not?” Dad raised his eyebrows. “You’re the one seeing vampire pigs! Do you think the woods are safe right now?”
“But—but—” I started to protest.
“But what, Laura?” Dad shook his head. “We don’t know what bit you. Whatever it was, it could be rabid. And we know it’s dangerous. Aren’t those enough reasons?”
I could see there was no point in arguing. I turned away from Dad and stared out the window the rest of the way home.
As soon as we reached our house, I ran up to my room and slammed the door. I dropped facedown on my bed and buried my face in the pillow.
I have to go into the woods, I thought. He can’t keep me out. He can’t!
A short while later I heard Dad’s voice downstairs. He was talking to someone on the phone. I climbed out of bed and pulled my door open a crack.
“She seems to be fine,” he said.
Who was he talking to? Dr. Davis?
“By tomorrow. We’ll have the blood tests in the morning,” Dad said.
Not Dr. Davis.
I walked
to the top of the stairs. I could hear Dad so clearly now. I could hear what he said next—the cruelest, most hurtful words I’d ever heard in my life.
“Can you take Laura for a while? A trip to Chicago right now would help. I really have to get her out of here.”
I called Ellen right away. And in a trembling voice begged her to come over.
She and Stevie Palmer had made up, and she was supposed to go biking with him and a couple of other guys. But she said she’d tell them to go without her.
A few minutes later she showed up. I pulled her up to my room. “Laura, what’s wrong?” she asked, dropping onto the edge of my bed. “You sounded so weird on the phone.”
“It’s Dad. He’s sending me away!” I cried. “I—I heard him on the phone. With Mom. He asked if Mom could take me. He—he said he had to get me out of here.”
Ellen jumped to her feet. “I don’t believe it.” She shook her head. “He can’t send you away just like that. What’s wrong with him?”
“I—I don’t know,” I stammered. “Maybe it was because of the animal that attacked me.” I told Ellen about the little pig. Then I showed her my neck.
“Oh, gross.” She gasped. “Does it hurt?”
“No, but Dad said I can’t go into the woods anymore. He thinks it’s too dangerous,” I said, running my fingers over the raw stitches. “But then he called Mom and … and … ” A sob burst from my throat.
“How could he do that?” I wailed. “He just wants to get rid of me. He called my mom without even talking to me about it. How could he, Ellen? He doesn’t even care about me anymore.”
Ellen hurried across the room and hugged me. “Of course he cares about you,” she said. “He was upset that you were attacked. He just wants you to be safe. That’s why he called your mom. But he’s not serious. He’d never send you away.”
“He’s serious,” I insisted. “He’s very serious, Ellen. He wants to get rid of me.”
I took a deep breath—and a new thought came to me. One that sent a shiver down my spine. “I know why he’s doing this. He checked the film in his camera on the shed. He saw that I was in there.”
“Whoa. Slow down.” Ellen raised a hand. “Your father has a camera on the shed now?”
I nodded.
“And you went inside? What was in there?” she asked.
“His instruments and stuff. That’s all,” I told her. I didn’t want to talk about the journal I had found. I didn’t know if my father was killing animals or not. And I didn’t want to say anything to Ellen until I was sure.
“What about the animals? What about the one we heard howling?” she asked.
“There weren’t any animals inside. I don’t know what happened to them,” I said.
I plopped down on my bed. “I’m not going to Chicago. I’m not!” I declared.
Ellen’s chin trembled. “I sure hope not,” she said softly. I could see she was really upset, too. But then a smile crossed her face. “At least, not until after my birthday party!”
We both laughed.
She always knows how to make me laugh.
“I have to make him change his mind,” I said. “And the only way I can do that is to find out what is making him act so strange. If only—”
I stopped when I heard a sharp cry from outside.
We both turned to the open window.
“What was that?” Ellen asked.
A horrifying howl rang out. A shrill cry of pain.
And then I heard a different sound.
An animal screech.
I dived for the window and peered out into the evening darkness.
A hunched figure darted toward the woods. I could see it loping away on four legs. It was about the size of a large dog.
As it reached the edge of the woods, it stopped—and I gasped. It stood up. Stood on two legs—and charged into the trees.
My eyes searched the backyard—
And on the ground …
… on the ground …
Lying on his side on the ground …
“Georgie!” I screamed. “Oh, no! Georgie!”
Ellen and I flew out of my bedroom and down the stairs. I pushed open the kitchen door and tore across the grass.
“Georgie! Are you okay?” I cried.
The poor dog lay on his side whimpering. His legs twitched. His chest heaved up and down.
“Georgie? Georgie?”
I dropped beside him. I started to pet his head. His eyes rolled crazily. His tongue fell limply from his mouth.
“Ohhhh. Look. His leg,” Ellen moaned. “Ohhhhh. Sick.”
I followed her gaze. Georgie’s leg … oh … Georgie’s leg …
The creature had practically chewed it off.
The fur had been ripped away. Chunks of flesh had been torn off. Blood flowed onto the grass. I could see veins pulsing in the chewed-up mess, and a white bone poked out.
My breath caught in my chest. I couldn’t stop myself. I started to gag. I could feel my dinner lurch up to my throat, and I struggled to choke it back.
I forced myself to turn away from the horrifying wound. “Georgie,” I whispered, petting his head softly. “You’ll be okay. You’ll be okay.”
The dog whimpered softly, too weak to raise his head from the grass.
I looked up to see Ellen running, bringing my dad, pointing furiously to Georgie. “He was attacked!” I shouted to Dad. “His leg—it’s pretty bad.”
Dad’s mouth dropped open when he saw the chewed-up leg. “He’s losing a lot of blood. I’ll slow the bleeding.” Dad took off his T-shirt and shredded it.
“Laura, go in the house and get the bandages,” he said as he wrapped Georgie’s leg in a strip from his T-shirt. “We’d better get him to a vet—fast. He’s going to need surgery on this leg.”
Dad and I carried poor Georgie to the van and set him down gently on the backseat. He stared at us with those big, dark eyes and didn’t move. We were covered in blood.
“I’ll call you later,” I told Ellen. I climbed into the van beside Dad.
“Hope he’s okay,” Ellen said, shaking her head sadly. Her eyes glistened with tears. “Call me!”
As Dad backed the van down the driveway, Georgie whimpered softly behind us.
“I think I saw the animal that attacked Georgie,” I said.
“What was it?” Dad kept his eyes on the road.
“Well, I’m not really sure. It was too dark to see clearly. But it was about Georgie’s size—” I told him.
“Well, that could be anything,” Dad interrupted.
“I know,” I said. “But here’s the weird thing. It was running on four legs. And then it stopped and stood up, and ran into the woods on two legs.”
Dad swallowed. “Two legs?” He didn’t take his eyes off the road.
“Yes. Isn’t that strange?”
Dad didn’t reply.
I glanced out the window. Most of the houses we passed were dark. Georgie cried softly in the backseat.
“Hey, wait!” I cried. “This isn’t the way to the animal hospital! Dad—turn around!”
“I’m not going to the animal hospital,” Dad said softly, still avoiding my stare.
“But—but—” I sputtered.
“There’s a good place in Walker Falls,” he said. “I know the doctors there. They will—”
“Walker Falls? But that’s two towns away!” I shrieked.
“It’s a good place,” Dad insisted. “They’re experts at this kind of surgery.”
“But, Dad—”
Finally he turned to me. To my shock, his eyes were cold. His expression remained hard. “Don’t argue with me, Laura. I know what I’m doing.”
“Okay. Fine.” I sighed. I turned away from him and stared out the window.
We drove the rest of the way in silence.
Dad won’t go near the animal hospital, I realized. Even in an emergency like this one.
Why won’t he go there? I wondered.
What
did he do that he can no longer face Dr. Carpenter?
What horrible thing did he do?
We had to leave Georgie in the hospital. The vet cleaned and stitched up the wound. But he wasn’t sure if Georgie’s leg could be saved. We’d have to wait and see.
When we got home, I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned all night, thinking about Georgie, thinking about the weird animal that attacked him. So many strange things were going on in the woods.
I had to find out what was going on there. And I couldn’t do it from Chicago.
My whole life suddenly seemed out of control. I was afraid now of the thing I loved most—the woods. And I was angry with Dad. Angry because he didn’t trust me. Or confide in me. Angry because he wanted to send me away.
I was afraid of him, too, I realized. I didn’t know my own father anymore. I was afraid of what he might do next.
After school I hurried to the animal hospital. Dr. Carpenter greeted me in the waiting room. She looked really stressed. She had dark rings under her eyes, and her blond hair was unbrushed, falling in damp tangles.
Before I had a chance to say hi, she spotted the wound on my throat. “Laura, what happened? Did Georgie bite you?”
“No. I—I was bitten by a—” I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what had bitten me.
“What was it?” Dr. Carpenter asked.
“Well, it looked like a little pig. With really sharp teeth.” I let out a nervous laugh. “I know it sounds crazy…. ”
“Where was this little pig?” Dr. Carpenter asked. “Where were you when you got bitten?”
“In the woods,” I told her.
“A little pig with sharp teeth running around in the woods. It does sound crazy, doesn’t it?” Dr. Carpenter frowned. “What does your dad think?”
I let out a sigh. “I don’t know. He told Dr. Davis it was a chipmunk. He just said that because it was simpler than trying to explain what it really looked like.”
“Oh. Did your Dad see it, too?” she asked.
“I think so,” I answered.
Dr. Carpenter leaned close to me and studied the wound carefully. She smoothed her fingers gently around the stitches. “That’s nasty,” she muttered. She raised her eyes to me. “Did your doctor give you a rabies shot? Or any kind of antibiotic?”