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Entry was easy, the unlocked window nudged up without much strain

Stalking slowly muffling claws on the hardwood, these people must be slain

Carol’s eyes snapped open, there was that rhythmic clicking sound again

The house is always quiet, then the soft rustle and movement in the den

Greg was out of town, another sales seminar and won’t be back until Friday

Cassie, her two year old asleep in her princess bed three steps down the hallway

In the faint light she glimpsed the dark shadow of some dog like beast

Her mind screaming, ‘it’s just an illusion, not a ghost of a brute long since deceased.”

Cracking open her door trying to quiet her pounding heart and shaking knees

She took a deep breath to regain composure hoping to see nothing causing her to freeze

The light swept down the hall revealing nothing. Then came that low soft growl

She thought she’d heard it before, like a warning from an animal on a prowl

Feeling the hair stand on her arms, she gently called Cassie’s name

“Cassie, oh please baby don’t be playing some kind of game”

Trying not to panic, Carol’s mind feverishly worked for this to make some sense

Maybe this is a dream started when that wolfish dog charged the fence

It was an early fall day, and the three of them had been on a walk around the block

When hateful Mr Guyler’s gargantuan mutt Simba had rattled the pickets and lock

After the dog had terrified the family, Greg started a petition to have Simba put down

Mr Guyler was outraged screaming at Greg, “just who was he to throw his weigh around?”

The court ruled in Greg’s favor that Simba was a nuisance and needed to be destroyed

A hysterical Mr Guyler was led away, the eyes of the jurors he tried to avoid

“You people don’t understand, “ bellowed Mr Guyler. “Simba was more than a stray”

“ He’ll be in your nightmares, your lives, your children’s lives, you’ll have hell to pay”

Now two months later the torment has started, two are children missing, only clues blood and glass

There are no additional traces, no weapon, no ransom note, no footprints in the grass

Mr Guyler proclaimed his innocence, his dog had been destroyed, he had nothing to add

Now it was just Carol to fend for her baby with a flashlight. The only weapon she had

“Dammit Greg your self righteous gun control rhetoric is not doing me any good now”

“We’ll have a discussion on this, we need to consider what kind of weapon you would allow”

Snapping on her light and pushing open Cassie’s door the beam revealed the glow of yellow eyes

Carol saw her baby was gone, a wail formed on her lips, in her mind the clarity of one who dies

The creature launched at Carol with unimaginable speed, fangs bared and a banshee shriek

She felt it’s claws hook her chest, her throat was torn away, her blood lapped by this ghoulish freak

Suddenly the monster lifted it’s head, sniffed the air, crashed through the window and was gone

The house was still again, the only noise was the tick of a clock and the sputter of sprinklers on the lawn