Running with the Pack

door for Jonathan, someone says, “Let me help you with that dog,” and you’re scrabbling on the concrete, trying to dig your claws into the sidewalk just outside the door, but there’s no purchase, and they’ve dragged you inside, onto the linoleum, and everywhere are the smells and sounds of terror. Above your own whimpering you hear Jonathan saying, “She jumped the fence and threatened my girlfriend, and then she tried to bite me, so I have no choice, it’s such a shame, she’s always been such a good dog, but in good conscience I can’t—”

You start to howl, because he’s lying, lying, you never did any of that!

Now you’re surrounded by people, a man and two women, all wearing colorful cotton smocks that smell, although faintly, of dog shit and cat pee. They’re putting a muzzle on you, and even though you can hardly think through your fear—and your pain, because Jonathan’s walked back out the door, gotten into the car and driven away, Jonathan’s left you here—even with all of that, you know you don’t dare bite or snap. You know your only hope is in being a good dog, in acting as submissive as possible. So you whimper, crawl along on your stomach, try to roll over on your back to show your belly, but you can’t, because of the leash.

“Hey,” one of the women says. The man’s left. She bends down to stroke you. “Oh, God, she’s so scared. Look at her.”

“Poor thing,” the other woman says. “She’s beautiful.”

“I know.”

“Looks like a wolf mix.”

“I know.” The first woman sighs and scratches your ears, and you whimper and wag your tail and try to lick her hand through the muzzle. Take me home, you’d tell her if you could talk. Take me home with you. You’ll be my alpha, and I’ll love you forever. I’m a good dog.

The woman who’s scratching you says wistfully, “We could adopt her out in a minute, I bet.”

“Not with that history. Not if she’s a biter. Not even if we had room. You know that.”

“I know.” The voice is very quiet. “Wish I could take her myself, though.”

“Take home a biter? Lily, you have kids!”

Lily sighs. “Yeah, I know. Makes me sick, that’s all.”

“You don’t need to tell me that. Come on, let’s get this over with. Did Mark go to get the room ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. What’d the owner say her name was?”

“Stella.”

“Okay. Here, give me the leash. Stella, come. Come on, Stella.”

The voice is sad, gentle, loving, and you want to follow it, but you fight every step, anyway, until Lily and her friend have to drag you past the cages of other dogs, who start barking and howling again, whose cries are pure terror, pure loss. You can hear cats grieving, somewhere else in the building, and you can smell the room at the end of the hall, the room to which you’re getting inexorably closer. You smell the man named Mark behind the door, and you smell medicine, and you smell the fear of the animals who’ve been taken to that room before you. But overpowering everything else is the worst smell, the smell that makes you bare your teeth in the muzzle and pull against the choke collar and scrabble again, helplessly, for a purchase you can’t get on the concrete floor: the pervasive, metallic stench of death.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

PETER BELL is a historian, living in York, England. He is a member of the Friends of Arthur Machen and the Ghost Story Society. He writes for The Ghosts & Scholars M.R. James Newsletter, and the magazines Wormwood and Faunus. His stories have appeared in All Hallows; Supernatural Tales; Swan River Press’s Haunted Histories series; the Ash-Tree Press anthologies, Acquainted with the Night, At Ease with the Dead, Shades of Darkness, and Exotic Gothic II; and in the Ex-Occidente Press anthology Cinnabar’s Gnosis; a Homage to Gustav Meyrink. A collection of his stories The Light of the World & Other Strange Tales is to be published in 2010 by Ex- Occidente Press. An article on Beasts by Joyce Carol Oates is in the forthcoming Twenty-First Century Gothic: Great Gothic Novels since 2000.

MARIE BRENNAN is the author of the Onyx Court series of London-based historical faerie fantasies: Midnight Never Come, In Ashes Lie, and the upcoming A Star Shall Fall, as well as the Doppelgänger duology of Warrior and Witch. She has published nearly thirty short stories in venues such as On Spec, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and the acclaimed anthology series Clockwork Phoenix. More information can be found on her web site: www.swantower.com.

MIKE BROTHERTON is the author of the science fiction novels Spider Star (2008) and Star Dragon (2003), the latter being a finalist for the Campbell award. He’s also a professor of astronomy at the University of Wyoming, a Clarion West graduate, and founder of the Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for Writers (www.launchpadworkshop.org). He blogs at www.mikebrotherton.com.

JESSE BULLINGTON is the author of The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart and the upcoming The Enterprise of Death, as well as several short stories and articles. He lives in Colorado and can be found online at www.jessebullington.com.

STEPHANIE BURGIS is an American writer who lives in Wales with her husband, fellow writer Patrick Samphire, their son, and their dog. Her YA Regency fantasy novel The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, Book One: A Most Improper Magick will be published in 2010. Her short fiction has appeared in several magazines, including Strange Horizons, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Fantasy Magazine. To find out more, please visit her web site: www.stephanieburgis.com

AMANDA DOWNUM lives near Austin, Texas, in a house with a spooky attic, and works at a bookstore in addition to writing, cat-herding, and falling off rocks. Her short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Realms of Fantasy, and Weird Tales. The Drowning City, first of the Necromancer Chronicles, is available from Orbit Books; the second volume, The Bone Palace, is forthcoming in 2010. For more information on Amanda or her writing, visit www.amandadownum.com.

STEVE DUFFY’s stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies in Europe and North America. Two new collections of his short fiction, The Moment of Panic (which includes the International Horror Guild award-winning tale, “The Rag-and-Bone Men”) and Tragic Life Stories, will be published in 2010. He lives in North Wales.

KAREN EVERSON is a jack-of-all-arts. She has published fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Recent publications include “Support You Local Werewolf,” another Olwen story, in Esther Friesner’s anthology Strip Mauled. Her current writing projects include a fantasy novel, Crown of Shadows, and a paranormal romance centered on Olwen and her family. In addition to her writing, Karen runs Moongate Designs, a small business showcasing her art and needlework designs. She lives in Michigan with her other great passions: her husband Mark, her daughter Caitlyn, and numerous pets.

JEFFREY FORD is the author of the novels, The Physiognomy, Memoranda, The Beyond, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, The Girl in the Glass, and The Shadow Year. His short stories have been collected into three books—The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant, The Empire of Ice Cream, and The Drowned Life. He lives in South Jersey and teaches Writing and Literature at Brookdale Community College.

LAURA ANNE GILMAN started out on the editorial side of publishing, but went freelance in 2003. Her urban fantasy Staying Dead (Luna) came out in 2004, followed by Curse The Dark, Bring It On, Burning Bridges, Free Fall, and Blood From Stone. The first in a spinoff series, Hard Magic, was published in May 2010.