"W-who... Who's there?" I called out in a stutter, but there was no response and no one in sight.
Ah, was I talking to myself? I was, wasn't I? After all, why would anyone follow me around, a drunk ass fellow?
"Ah, I definitely drank too much." I had gulped down one too many bottles and it was to the extent I started hallucinating and feeling weird things, I guess.
I brushed whatever feeling I was having off, thinking it was just the alcohol taking over my brain. "Ngh, I'm going to throw up." With those words said, I bent towards the corner where no one would see me and emptied my stomach.
After that, my knees went weak but I knew I couldn't stay there. If I did, I would be in danger of waking up the next morning with nothing on but my briefs, that is, if they were lenient enough to let me keep that last piece of clothing.
I was about to continue walking, planning to flag a taxi when I noticed that at the corner, there was an animal. It looked like a dog and... My nose perked up in the air... I could smell blood.
Was it injured?
I went closer and reached out for it, but it shot its eyes open and scratched me with its claw, digging deep into my arm.
"Ah,"
I stumbled back and fell on my butt.
It was a dog, alright. A black dog with pointy ears and gold eyes. Not a breed you'd see every day.
I guessed the dog was on high alert since it injured me so deeply even if I approached with no ulterior motives. It must've been a wild dog since I couldn't see any collar.
"Ugh," I looked at my hand. Maybe this was what I got for not minding my business. "What am I doing right now? An injured dog by the alley should be the least of my concerns."
I guess I deserved that wound. After all, it was minding its own business and suffering from its injury alone, but then I went ahead to intrude. I best be going and avoid it from attacking me any further.
My arm bled, so I tore my shirt and wrapped it, planning to get it treated as soon as I got home. I was going to leave that ferocious beast to its fate but something kept pushing me to take a good look at it.
That aside, the feeling of someone lurking around still edged at my consciousness, so I was kind of scared.
The wound it gave me seemed to have woken me up because I was completely sober and my reasoning was back, making me fear for whatever was lurking around in the shadows.
I noticed the dog taking steps back but limping as it had a wound in its chest as well as its back leg. It was still on high alert, growling and gnashing its teeth, but it looked even more pitiful like that... I just couldn't leave it.
"Phew!" Despite its rabid behavior, I picked up the dog but it struggled, scraping me on my face and my body.
I had no idea what had come over me but for some reason, I wanted to treat that animal so it wouldn't die.
It stopped struggling only after biting me on my neck, which was quite painful. I felt like it would test my skin apart but it stopped there, magically calming down and falling unconscious.
"My neck is bleeding." I exclaimed but was more focused on the dog in my arms. It was calm.
The first thing I did was head for a vet that was likely available at that hour of the day.
The vet looked at me worriedly while it treated the dog's wounds and occasionally asked,
"Are you okay?" I nodded from time to time but it was still true that I was bleeding. So, he gave me a hand after treating the dog. "No need to pay for your bill, it's on the house." He said and winked.
I was confused but didn't think too much about it. Rather, I was concerned about the dog.
Really, what had come over me that I wanted to save a dangerous dog that could've taken out my eyeballs and bitten off my ears? Was I insane?
And then it started coming back to me.
When I saw the dog lying down alone and wounded on the floor right next to a trash can, it very much reminded me of myself.
I got Divorced after one year of marriage after finding out I was impotent. And then I got a gay awakening that made me bend over to other men.
Not just that, I got fired from my job at that time, so I had to look for another, which led me to the company where I poured my blood and sweat till there was nothing left to drain from me, only to get sabotaged and then fired.
I was left alone with a painful bruise on my face. So, seeing that dog on the corner alone and injured, made me see myself so tragically alone, so I wanted to take it home and give it a place.
At least, if it had a roof over its head, it wouldn't feel like the entire world was against it. Maybe then, I would feel better as well, doing a good deed, that is.
"Well, it's not like I had room to worry about anything else." I rested my back on the chair.
What was left was to live off the remaining money in my bank account and then commit suicide.
I would do it in one of that wicked company's meeting rooms so that the company gets implicated. That was the best way to get revenge.
"Kekekeke," the vet looked at me worriedly, probably wondering if I had gone mad but I was sane. I was just... Fed up.
I took the dog home. It was still unconscious, thanks to the sedative given to it and I thankfully had another living being in my big apartment.
I dropped the dog on the bed and laid down as well.
"I'm so exhausted," I exclaimed and slowly, I closed my eyes.
That night, my house was filled with light at the transformation of the animal I brought home with me.
There was suddenly a big naked man sitting on the spot where I had laid the dog and he was staring at me while I slept, his black eyes gazing deeply at me.
He had a pair of dog- no, wolf ears perked up at the top of his head, and a furry tail sticking out of his lower back. His eyes were intently fixed on my neck, the bandaged part, where it had bitten me, and after staring for a few minutes, he raised his head to glance around my house.
It was at that moment that he sought to ask,
"Where am I?"