Chapter Text
End of September, 1984
“Okay, listen” Ryan said, leaning in his chair. “I know it sounds crazy, but I swear it wasn’t like your regular corpse, he weighed so little, just like – ” Everybody around the table startled when Brandon and Mike slammed their food trails on the table.
“Maaaaan again with that shit?” Brandon groaned “stop being so lame dude! no mothman, yeti or other bogus monster did anything to your dog! It probably just died and you just took too long to find it and it got all rotten out!”
Ryan reddened, sputtering indignantly, ready to start a shouting match with him.
“... Something happened to your dog too?” Mike asked, looking intently at Ryan. At everybody’s inquisitive stares, he clarified “My dad’s hunting dogs, they were all in a big metallic cage out near the barn you know? Well, the other day we went to feed them and there was a hole in the fence – and it did not look like a chain-cutter hole, but more like a ripped-by-claws hole – and two of the dogs were missing, but a third… it was dead… but – not like a bear would kill something either, it’s neck had been twisted, and it was like… hollow”
“yes, yes! exactly! just like Ruffus! When we picked him up to check his injuries he weighed only like 20 pounds! And he was a big dog, you know?”
Seeing that he was the one looking foolish now, Brandon sat next to Mike, sulking, while the rest of the table started talking exaltedly about the different monster possibilities.
Sitting at the far corner of the table, Charlie was listening to everything quietly. He wasn’t much of a talker when not surrounded by close friends, preferring to just sit and listen, and only involve himself in the conversation once he’d had time to mull the topic over and choose carefully what to say. Something was killing dogs? or was it someone? if it had been only Ryan’s dog, it would have been easily tossed aside as fantasy, everybody knew he was too much into the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist and all that horror crap. But Mike’s dogs too? Mike was the captain of the baseball team! He was a popular dude! He could only lose if people started mocking him about his beliefs in the other’s monster hypothesis (not that anyone would dare, his dad was the owner of Newton’s Olympic outfitters after all, one of the richest men in town). So, what was killing the dogs? maybe he should sneak into Mike’s barn tonight and… Oh my god oh my god oh my god SHE is coming over! Get a hold of yourself Charlie!
Charlie sat there, frozen, while a couple of the girls in the cheerleading team strutted towards their table. The lights faded out, the world became slow motion, the orchestra started to swell in and a spotlight shone in a mane of shinny brown hair, reflected in the bluest eyes, glistened in the glossiest lips… Renée was ambling towards him? she going to sit next to him?! Okay Charlie, calm yourself! you know the exercises, breathe in 1-2-3-4, hold it 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, exhale 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, breathe in 1-2-3-4…
By the time he came out from his mantra, the lunch hour was almost over and he had completely forgotten about any dog nonsense.