When I was walking down the enchanted alley, I saw him. He looked scared, scared as if something had gotten to him. As I walked closer, we began to make eye contact. His eyes looked so sad, he looked lost. I needed to help him. I grabbed the t-shirt I had left in my favorite blue zip up book bag for gym and went to pick him up. His fur was dirty, ruffled with leaves and blood. When I looked to see if he had any wounds, I found none.
         The poor puppy was shaking in my arms. I took him home to give him a warm comforting cleansing. It was the sweetest sight seeing him all wet. I literally wanted to get in the tub with him. I suddenly heard the door alarm beep and I began to panic. It was my parents. Without thinking, I got naked. Maybe, if it looked as if I were the one taking a bath, they would ask fewer questions.

         “Amanda? What are you doing?” I could hear my mother saying as she was walking up the stairs. I didn’t answer right away, it would seem too suspicious. Knock Knock Knock. She walked quicker than I had expected from her. I wrapped my towel around me and put the puppy in a hand towel they use to “decorate” the bathroom. I went to turn the gold knob of the door to give my mom an answer and was surprised.

         “Taking a bath?” my father questioned, “Are you stressed out or something?”
         “No, I just felt like relaxing today, just one of those days.”
         “Well when you get done pampering yourself, make sure you come down to clean the kitchen. Your mother is just a wee tired from work today. How was school?”
         “Fine, nothing new. How’s your back today?” I had to ask him. He was due for surgery in a few weeks and I was worried.

         “I wish I had a new one.” He said, sounding distressed. He seemed as if he didn’t want to speak of it anymore so I allowed the conversation to end. I waited until I knew he was on the 1st floor, most likely sitting on the couch watching some type of basketball or football game. I took the puppy into my room as smoothly as possible. I rubbed him gently behind his ears, toweling him off on my bed. It shocked me that he hasn’t even barked yet. Not the typical thing with a majority of dogs. He was a dark grey blue nosed pit bull. He had these blue eyes that could melt any girl’s heart if he were human, and his paws. OH MY GOSH, his paws were so big for his size, they were spotted white, matching the spot on his belly that went up to his chin. I just laid there, admiring his every aspect.

         I decided to let him sleep in my bed for the night, since I knew he didn’t show any signs of having fleas. My heart melted when he was sleeping. He does this thing where he curls into a little ball after he gets as close to you as possible. It was so heart warming. I could hear his little snoring whimpers as he slept.
         “Blue,” I whispered in his ear, “it’s the perfect name.”
         When I woke up the next day, I asked to borrow the Nissan. I needed to feed Blue something and nothing in the house was fit for a puppy. I went to the closest pet store and located one of the employees.
         “Excuse me, do you happen to have any type of puppy chow?”
         “I mean, we are a pet store,” the lady chuckled, “is it for the little guy right there?” she asked, pointing to little Blue.

         “Yes, I found him last night and I would like to feed him before I begin to search for the heartbroken owner. What would be best for him?” At this point I was a bit irritated. I’m not to fond to people who get smart.
         “Okay, right this way.” She began walking past all the toys, clothing, and other types of things. We got what we needed and got out. I fed him outside the car, he has probably been hungry for so long. I didn’t find it comfortable to watch him eat so I looked away. There weren’t many people around, I guess it was a small pet store, or maybe not many people around here had pets. Who knows? I glanced past a small poster, and of course I had to be nosey so I went to look at it. On it, it was titled Pet Gone MISSING. Instantly, I knew the pet in the spotlight. It was Blue. I looked back at the car, he was still eating. Gosh, he could really eat; maybe I shouldn’t have left the whole bag sitting there.

         I don’t know if I felt relieved or worried. I was glad that I found some trace of the owner, but I still questioned why I found someone else’s blood on the puppy’s soft fur. I allowed the thought to wonder from my mind and begun to type the number into my phone. I looked over again and saw Blue still eating. Damn. Did his last owner starve him? I took the food away and put him back in the car, I didn’t want him to eat too much. I decided to call the number from the sign. It began to ring. Blinggg...blinggg...blinggg...blinggg...blinggg. No answer. I called once more. Blinggg...blinggg.

         “Hello?” a rough voice answered.
         “Umm, hi. My name is Amanda and I’m calling about a lost puppy.”
         “Oh thank God. I don’t mean to rush but are you able to meet at the moment?” he sounded frantic.
         “Actually yes, I’m at the small pet store where you posted the sign. I just happened to glance over at it and noticed it.” I was trying to make small talk, it wasn’t working.

         “I’m literally 2 minutes away. Can you wait?” I was surprised at his response. He must really care for the pup. I thought I should take the chance to get my questions answered.

         This guy was serious; he made it within 5 minutes. He took Blue up into his arms as if the puppy was a child of his. The sight was beautiful. I don’t know if it was because I watched him reunite with his pet or if it was the fact that the guy was so flawless. His skin was a honey bronze and his hair was cut short and wavy. He had crazy beautiful brown eyes, like if you stared too long you would disappear and it’d be the last sight you see. Odd enough, he was staring right at me. I honestly thought he forgot I was there since he was so happy to see Blue.

         “I’m so sorry. I was hurt when I lost my little guy and I just feel so relieved that I have him back. Your name is Amanda right?” I fell in love with the way he said my name. What am I thinking? This guy is a stranger, why am I acting like this? I should be asking him why his dog had blood on him last night.
         “Yes, what is your name by the way?” I sounded slightly assholey if you asked me.
         “Derek, but I sometimes prefer Rick” he responded. I looked at my phone in a nervous reaction to the fact that we were still standing there. I suddenly got an adrenaline rush, it was 12:26. I forgot that I promised my cousin I would go to her soccer game.

“I’m so sorry. I have to go. Ummm, can we meet up another time, maybe a little later today, say like 6:00?”

         “Hmm I don’t see why that would be a problem, you have my number.” It was sort of creepy; he said it with this really cheesy smirk. I didn’t have time to worry about it so I got in the car and drove to the soccer game. She ended up winning so I took her for ice cream. She may be 13, but that doesn’t mean you stop loving ice cream.

         It was about 4:48pm and I thought that I would call the guy about meeting up. I still wanted my questions to be answered. We had agreed to go to some place small where we could hear each other speak. It ended up being a dinner date. I found it kind of weird that I was going to dinner with a completely handsome guy who I just met, who could possibly be some type of killer, saying that his lost dog had blood on his fur, and it didn’t belong to him.

         When we got there, a flimsy woman came and seated us, it was almost as if her bones were bare. I could see every structure of her body. She didn’t look like a woman who should be working in such a fast paced place.
         “Hi my name is Sally, I’m yaw server for today. Can I start yaw’s off with drinks?” She had a strong accent that I could not, for the life of me, pinpoint.

         “I would like a sweet tea please,” I said, trying to be polite as possible.
         “Just water would be fine,” Derek carelessly spoke.
From there we spoke on so many subjects. I found him to be a really sweet guy who seemed as if he couldn’t hurt a fly. It kind of made me feel bad for what I was going to ask next.
         “So Derek, when I found your puppy- by the way, what do you call him?”

         “Blue.” He stared at me confused. I was giggling due to the fact that I called him the same exact thing.
         “I’m sorry. Its just that, I found that to be a perfect name for him and I’ve been calling him it since I found him,” that made him giggle too.
         “Seems we are the same in the mind. I wonder about the heart.” I heard the seduction in his words as soon as they came out. I could not help but blush. He was throwing me off. I just really wanted to know why Blue had blood on his fur the other night. It was just so hard not to accept his flirting.
         “So back to what I was saying, the night I found Blue, he had-”
         “Here’s yaw drinks, yaw food will be right out.” Sally came out at the wrong time. Was this some type of sign that I shouldn’t say anything about it?
         “Now, he had what?” Derek questioned, eager to hear what I had to say.

         “Oh yes, sorry. I know this seems weird, but he was covered in blood. When I checked to see if it was coming from maybe a cut or anything on his body, he was perfectly fine. I was just wondering, maybe if something happened to you when you lost him and your blood had gotten on his fur or something.” When I looked at him as I finished speaking, his face showed he was thinking. He must have been thinking really hard because he started to rub his temple.

         “Yeah, this is kind of embarrassing. I cut my own meat. That night I was cutting a turkey. Its kind of a family thing,” he could see the look on my face, “I know, it’s weird. Saying that Blue is clean and smells like raspberries, I can tell that you had to clean it up. I’m so sorry”

         “Wow” was all I could say. I don’t know if it was because I was disgusted or if it was because I didn’t fully believe him. I continued on to another subject. I felt maybe I would lose my appetite if we kept speaking of it.
         We finished our dinner and I felt it went pretty well, so I allowed him to walk me home. I mean, he was cute. Actually cute was an understatement, he was beautiful.

         “So look,” he stopped and turned towards me, “this may have just been some quick dinner to talk about you finding my puppy, but I feel as if it changed directions from the start.” I could see what he was getting at with this, I let him finish. I actually liked where he was going. “Maybe we could further this a little bit. I would love to show you around this world.”

         “Maybe we could go out a few more times, you know, get to know each other a little bit more. It only seems right.” I had to say it with a smirk, only to stop myself from flashing my big pearly whites.

         “Hey, at least its something. I enjoyed the night with you. Thank you. Can’t wait for the next one.” He turned and walked in the opposite direction. I could hardly wait for the next date. I went home and went to sleep thinking about what dating him would be like.

         Over time, one date turned to nine. Before I even knew it, we were practically “official” as a check on a celebrity’s twitter account. I felt pretty happy about this. I mean, there were some things off about the relationship, but isn’t that normal? And it was only small things. Like, whenever we hung out together, it was either out or at my house. He was a little touchy, but that’s a lot of 17-year-old guys. He knew the school I went to without me having to tell him; maybe he followed me one day. What does it matter anyways? I was happy. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt true happiness. My little questions weren’t going to get in the way of it.
         He was on his way over. I was getting used to seeing him daily. Today, we were just going to sit and watch a film. It was my turn to pick so I chose something mysterious. It was a movie about a girl who fell for this mass murderer who was only using her as another victim. It was crazy. It’s like a mixture of a love story and horror. Knock Knock. It was him

         “Hey love,” I hugged him as I opened the door, “ready for the movie?”
         “I guess.” He didn't really sound too excited, but I let it go.

         Throughout the movie, all he did was complain. It was as if he was standing up for the villain. We basically got into an argument and he stormed out of the house. At first I sat there as if I didn't care, but then I got up to go stop him. As soon as I stepped out the house he was down the street at the stoplight. So I thought that if I drove in front of him, it would force him to stop and talk. I hurried to grab my keys and got in the car.

         With every attempt I made, no one would let me past them so I could get in front of him. At one point I had the chance but he made a turn at parked by a house not too far from mine. It never occurred to me how close he lived, but then again, I’ve never been to his house.

         When he got out the car, I was parking down the street as I watched him angrily run towards his house. I got out and observed the rare sighting. It was actually kind of small. It was a red-bricked one-story home. From the sight of it, it looked like it only had three rooms. I walked up the paved driveway. I wonder why he didn’t just park in it? There was a mailbox with the initials DK; below it was Derek’s name, Derek Kelvinison. When I got into the shadow of the house, I was frightened by multiple barks. All seemed to be coming from his house. Before I could even think, I was running back towards my car. I drove home thinking if I should say a word to him or act like it never happened.
         I woke up the next morning and called him to apologize.
         “Look, before you say anything, I just want to say I’m sorry. I didn't know I offended you so much during the movie. Can you come back over?” He didn’t seem angry anymore. If he were, he wouldn’t have answered the phone.
         “I overreacted a little bit.” such an understatement, “I’m out now, I’ll be there in five minutes.” He hung up and just as expected, he was here in five minutes. He was always on time. He didn’t even need to knock on the door at this point so I left it unlocked for him and he walked in. He came upstairs and sat next to me on my bed.
         “I’m sorry. I’m a little sensitive. I know its odd for guys to be sensitive,” I stopped him with a kiss, “Amanda!” He looked at me timorously, showing exactly how sensitive he was. I leaned back in and continued to kiss him. Even though that it was our first kiss, it wasn’t meaningful. It was just a way for me to think about to say to him without him asking why I had such a face upon myself.
         We finally allowed ourselves to settle down after a few minutes. It was a long awkward silence so I decided to say something.
         “Lets play a game, you ever heard of 20 questions?” This was my way of figuring him out.
         “Okay you start.”
         “Who are you?” I started with an obvious question.
         “Full name: Derek Lee Kelvinison. What’s your favorite thing?”
         “Ice cream. No, sports. All of them,” I giggled at my change of interest, “where did we first meet?”
         “The pet store when I lost my puppy. What was the best thing about that day?”
         “Seeing Blue so happy in your arms. How many dogs do you have?” I was starting to get to my point.
         “Just the one. I’m not really a dog lover but Blue caught my eye. Do you like dogs?” This made me question why there were so many dogs at his house yesterday. Just before I could answer his question, his phone rang.
         “Hello?” He walked out the door mouthing that he had to go. I got out of bed and ran to the window to watch him leave. He went in the opposite way of his house. I figured maybe I could go investigate yesterday’s confusion. That way, I wouldn’t be doubting and thinking negative about him anymore. I got dressed faster than I would have if I had woke up late with five minutes to get dressed before I missed the bus. I told my parents I was going out with some friends and that I would be borrowing the car.

         When I got to his house, he wasn’t there. I saw an open window and climbed through it. Thank god he only had one floor. I was right; he had more than one dog. It was a room full of them, all types and colors and sizes. It was so many of them in the room that it smelled like the SPCA dog room. I calmly walked to the door and closed it behind me, making sure I wasn’t alarming any of the dogs that I could have been a threat. Since I knew he was lying to me, I thought that I should just go home. I couldn't go out the way I came in so I looked for another room. This room had a black steel door, which was sort of weird for a bedroom door. When I opened it, I almost threw up. There were dead bodies everywhere. They weren’t just sitting on the floor; they were neatly set up on the walls. There were at the least 10 bodies. All of them were females. Before I could turn around and leave, Derek was behind me. He pushed me into the room and closed the door behind him.
         “What the f*** are you doing here!” I couldn’t speak, “How did you know where I lived?”

         “I followed you yesterday. Wh-wh-what is this?” He started laughing. I grew more and more terrified.
         “This is my ex-girlfriends room.” He was still laughing. “I didn’t want to tell you this but you know that movie you made me watch? Well I saw it already, and I copied it but in a better way. I lure girls with my puppies, and after a few months, I kill them. I didn’t want to do the same thing with you but now you’ve forced me to.” He pulled out a knife and walked closer to me. I spotted a hammer and nails covered in blood not to far from me so I crawled towards them. When I turned around Derek was two steps away from me.

         “Stop! Wait, just tell me why. Why me?” I tried to make time. He talked as he walked closer to me.
         “I liked you. I didn’t want to hurt you but you figured out my secret. I can’t let you live now. But I did love-” I hit his head as hard as I could. Blood began to come out. I ran as fast as I could and call the police. They arrived and began to question me.

         “Ma’am where is the guy you were telling us about?”
I fainted.

*****

I woke up out of my sleep from the recurring nightmare of the few weeks I thought I found my happiness. I’ve been in prison for 19 months as of last week. That so call “boyfriend” ran off and I was blamed for all the dead bodies since I had no real story behind what happened. Just wait, when I get out. People will pay. I will find my way.