After Marie followed Doc out and called the police, after they hounded her for details about her whereabouts and jotted notes in their little black books, and after Marie poured herself a glass of merlot and then another, she eyed Doc as he cleaned himself in her kitchen, stretching his leg far over his head — a feat Marie hadn't been able to achieve since grad school, though desperately wanted to try again — and suddenly, something seemed off. There was no sign of forced entry, no trace of blood on the floors, yet something was off, something was missing from her atmosphere in that kitchen. Just as she took a sip from her second glass of merlot, something caught Doc's attention.
Doc ran, baring his teeth with a low growl, to the door in the kitchen that led to the basement as a light flickered on. The steps of heavy footed boots echoed through the stairwell as something made its way from the landing, and Marie reached for a knife. As the door creaked open, a tall man with slicked back black hair, blue eyes, and the bounce of someone twenty-plus years younger stepped into the kitchen. Marie turned with a smile to face her husband's killer, "Dinner'll be ready in an hour. Want to help me chop some onion? Wait, you didn't use this knife did you?"
Trent, Robert’s new surgical intern at the hospital, smiled. As Marie had recounted to her girlfriends when detailing a passionate dream one night, he was stunningly beautiful — a chiseled jawline, hard pecs, and abs that could grate even the hardest of cheeses. For someone interested in cardiothoracic surgery, he could make a heart flutter just by walking in the room. Trent embraced Marie, kissed her passionately, approved of dinner in an hour, and then pulled Marie upstairs suggesting they order take-out after a romp in the bedroom instead.
Doc did not approve of what had befallen the home. He saw the darkness as more than just rooms with no lights on, more than just the haze of nighttime. Doc did not bark; he did not make his presence known. As Trent and Marie made their way back downstairs some time later, as Trent nestled himself in Robert’s captain’s chair at the head of the table, as Marie pranced into the kitchen to retrieve another bottle of wine, Doc crouched low beneath the dining table. Trent stared at the table, perfectly set: the plate centered in front of him, nestled between the fork on the left and knife on the right, mirroring an identical twin set ahead of him where Marie would sit.
Trent was oblivious to Doc’s presence, the simple tablescape sending him into a tranced recount of heat and passion lived just moments prior. He did not hear any fur shuffle. He did not sense any movement toward him. In fact, he didn’t realize anything had clamped down on him until he felt a tinge of wetness between his legs. Trent reached down and brought his hand up. At the sight of his own blood he felt the shock of pain, and screamed out, startling Marie, who flounced into the room pleading for a calm evening. Just as she eyed Trent in his depraved state, trying to crawl out of the room, trailing blood behind him, Doc lunged for her face, clamping down on her mouth first. For Doc, it was Marie’s mouth that had caused all the turmoil. As Marie might have recounted to her girlfriends, Doc was always more of Robert’s dog.
The prompts for the Mutant 750 Challenge #67 at Grammar Ghoul Press is the word "hound" (meaning: 1 -noun – a dog of a breed used for hunting, especially one able to track by scent. ; 2-verb – harass, persecute, or pursue relentlessly.) and the visual prompt below:
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Author
Born and bred in a small town, Tony now helms from a suburb just outside Birmingham, Alabama. He earned his Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education from the University of Phoenix and plans to guide young creative minds through the joyful wonders of writing as regularly as possible. In what little downtime he has, Tony writes as often as possible, acts in community theatre productions around Birmingham, dabbles in filmmaking through acting and writing, and more. He is the creator and co-writer of "the Park bench," a new webseries from Background People Productions coming in 2017. Tony has a deep love for music, movies, television, tacos, Greek yogurt and Yankee Candle candles. His website is Bedbug's Writing, which can be found at tonylovell.weebly.com. His first book is Bedbug's Writing: A Collection of Short Stories + Poetry, Volume One, available now in paperback and Kindle formats on Amazon.