Story Announcement - Dogs in the Attic! (11/22) · 12:52am Nov 16th, 2019

D<I>gs in the Attic!

Clunk!
Winona jolted awake.
Every fiber of her body shook as a cold draft suddenly set in the room. Something wasn’t right. That sound previously unheard.
Could it be that AJ got up to go to the bathroom? she thought. What if she fell! Ah should go ‘n check on her!
But her upper body felt heavy, like an anvil on a stool with a severe bowel syndrome. She felt like a kitten by heart, being this scared of nothing.
Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!
Okay, perhaps not nothing per se, just nothing in the presence of something totally real. Yeah.
The hair on her nape stood; goosebumps crinkled her flesh. The idea that whatever is in the house could come down here and gobble her up was scary enough, but the very thought that she’d have to investigate it? It sent a sinister chill down her spine.
Did she really want to investigate the sound? Maybe if she wrapped herself up in her favorite woolen blanket everything would go away. The sound could have just been from a wild animal and it would leave when it found nothing in the house.
Like a mama bird would ready herself to throw her babies from the nest, so did Winona ready herself to leave her bed.
Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!
Like a mama bird would wrap a noose around her babies’ necks and throw them from the nest, so did Winona welp as she saw a shadow move.
Come on ya big kitten! What happened to pony’s best friend?
She wrinkled her nose, sniffing the area. As of the Territory Act mentally signed by herself-included, section eight, the Whizzing Rights, the very act she had instinctually agreed upon birth, it was her duty to rightfully defend her sanctimony. This included not herself, but those within her territory. It’s an ideology engraved into her mind: to protect those she cared about and to protect her habitat.
In the end, her loyalty outran her fear.
She felt like shrieking glass, shivering this much. Navigated by a giant red ball of will, investigated every room downstairs like a pest looking for a nibble. She could let out a relaxing sigh when it proved to be clear—but existential dread got the best of her again and the upstairs forbade her red ball of will.
It took her brain a quick argument with the fast pumping of her heart, but she convinced herself to follow that ball upward.
Each creak in the wood made her stomach lurch, but instinct told her to be brave. Something is in the house: that meant she had to annihilate it. Convincing herself of this, her confidence soared jumping-height, and she pushed herself forward.
The first thing she noticed in the upstairs hallway was a light on the other side. Coming down from the ceiling, it veiled over the rotting wood of a stairway. It looked like a heavenly path that could turn into a slide to Tarturaus at any moment.
Creeping up the hallway, Winona’s heart thumped in her chest. Whatever is up there probably isn’t supposed to be up there. And if it isn’t supposed to be up there, she didn’t want to find out what it is.
It felt like walking on thin ice, every step a step closer to aman… emma… imminent(?) (Yes!) danger.
It couldn’t be anything, really. It has to be AJ or Granny going through some old records.
But the question “This late at night?” was pushed to the back of her brain. And with that thought pushed back into the deepest corners of its closet, so did she feel something wet clamped down against the back of her neck.
Her eyes widened with terror and her heart lurched, but not as much as her stomach did when her whole body slammed on its side. Before she could even begin jerking, the thing dragged her along the floor, possibly to her doom.
The clamp-on her neck was a well-callused vice. Every movement, it bit down harder. If it wasn’t for her thick fur, she was sure the teeth would have sunken down into her neck and drawn blood by now.
All this happening, and she barely realized they were now going up the stairs.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Her pelvis banged against the planks. The simple fact that the wood had softened with age stopped her from bruising.
The wrestling came to an abrupt halt when her body was flung against the floor.
It took her a minute to kick off the daze, but when she did and her vision cleared of its million tiny blurry particles, the only thing that didn't unease was the burning thump, thump, thumping of her heart.
She could hear something behind her breathing.
Slowly lifting her head, her vision moved from the fragile floorboards and onto three quadrupedal silhouettes standing in the moonlight. The amber glow of their eyes particularly frightened her. But not as much as the knowledge that her attacker was right behind her.