Hound
By Matt Roberts

In Marietta's house, things always seemed to be just right. It was an older house that made a lot of noise at night. Marietta knew that the house was just settling, and that never bothered her. In fact, she wasn't even the type of lady that believed in paranormal things, or as she liked to say, "spooks and goblins and bumps in the night". Her house always smelled of apple pie, and it was always warm and friendly to anyone who went inside. She welcomed anyone in with open arms.

Frequently, her family would stop by for a visit, usually her grandson. He had previously lived there with her until he could get out on his own. They seemed to get used to each other, and after Mark left, Marietta seemed to be a little depressed at his lack of presense there. So he would stop by several times a week just to say hi and to chat with her.

One day as Mark was visiting, Marietta took him outside to the patio and leaned in real close to him as they sat at the patio table. After looking around, she looked at him and almost in a whisper said, "Mark, I've been hearing things."

"What kind of things Grandma?" asked Mark.

"Strange things. I used to think the house was just settling in the cold of the night, but now I have my doubts."

Mark looked at her suspiciously and said, "Grandma, are you sure they're just not house noises?"

"I know my house noises, and these weren't those noises" she replied.

"What have you been hearing?" Mark asked, getting a little concerned.

"Well..." Marietta stopped to think and again looked around. She leaned in a little closer and began again. "Well, I've been hearing scratching. And sometimes sniffing."

"Are you sure you don't have rats?"

"Mark, I don't have rats!"

Marietta seemed a little disturbed and Mark could now see that she was shaking a little.

Mark took her hand, "Grandma, if you'd like for me to stay a night I will. And I can listen to see if I hear those noises. Where are they coming from?"

Almost as if she hadn't heard him she looked off and started again, this time her voice was shaking and she seemed very scared. "There were these eyes..."

"What did you say?" Mark asked shocked.

"These eyes... they just kept staring at me... I've been keeping a gun next to my chair in the living room... for when they come back...."

Mark was now totally shocked and worried. "Grandma, I didn't know you had a gun."

"It's right next to my chair now... it won't come back or I'll shoot it!"

As the breeze began to blow on this sunny day, Mark told his Grandma to stay where she was and that he'd be back. He walked to his car and got his cell phone out and called his mom.

"Mom, Grandma's acting very strange. She's saying that she's seeing eyes and she's got a gun. She's been hearing noises too."

"How upset is she?" came the response.

"Well, she's shaking now, and she seems lost in her own thoughts. She's freaking me out."

"Stay with her and I'll be over as soon as I can."

Mark hung up with his mother and headed back to the patio, only to find his Grandmother wasn't there.

"Grandma?" he asked out loud, to no response. "GRANDMA!" Still he got nothing. Then he heard some noises coming from the house. Mark ran into the house thru the kitchen door and he found his Grandma getting pans out of the cupboards.

"I was wanting to make a pie, what kind would you like Mark?" she asked him as he stepped inside the kitchen.

"Grandma, are you ok? What about the noises? And the eyes?"

Mark started worrying that maybe she was starting to get a little crazy in her old age.

"Oh, they can't have any pie. But you can. What kind would you like?"

"Grandma, I want to see your gun."

"Oh no, you shouldn't play with guns. They're dangerous."

Mark said that he'd like an apple pie because hers were the best and he headed into the living room when she started to make the pie. He looked next to her chair and didn't find the gun, so he started looking around the living room, getting worried. If she was getting crazy in her old age, he didn't want her having a gun.

An hour passed and his mother had shown up to the house and they all sat out on the patio eating apple pie. The discussions were light and about the weather turning colder as fall was coming. Finally, Mark's mother asked.

"Mom, what is it you're hearing? Mark told me about some noises."

"Oh, they're nothing." was all she said. Mark looked at his mom and she looked back at Mark.

After the pie and another hour or two, Mark's mother announced that she was going to head home and she pulled Mark aside.

"Mark, stay here tonight with Grandma. But don't be making this thing a big ordeal. She said it was nothing, so make sure it stays that way."

"But mom, I seen how she was acting. I'm not making this up. She was freaking me out."

"Well she seems ok now. Stay tonight and let me know how things go tomorrow." And with that she left.

Mark turned to Marietta and said, "Grandma I'm going to my place to get some stuff and I'll be back within the hour. If anything happens, call my cell phone."

"Ok Mark, be careful. I'll see you soon. Don't worry about me."

She started with the dishes and Mark left to go get his stuff.

By the time Mark came back to the house it was dark and the porch light wasn't on. She always left the porch light on. Mark left his stuff in the car and he headed towards the front door. Inside, he could hear her yelling out, "YOU WON'T GET ME!" Mark ran in the house and as soon as he turned the corner he seen his grandmother with a shotgun aimed right at him and he jumped away from where he was standing just as there was a loud BANG from the gun.

"GRANDMA IT'S ME!" he shouted.

"YOU WON'T GET ME!" she yelled again, and again there was another shot, but not in his direction. He slowly looked into the living room and saw she was facing the dining room that was off to the other side of where he was. She had this horrible look on her face and she was reloading the gun. Mark ran over to her as she had reloaded the gun and aimed again at the dining room.

Mark grabbed the gun and said, "Grandma, what are you doing?"

"IT'S NOT GOING TO GET ME MARK!"

Just then, Mark looked into the dining room and seen what it was she was shooting at. These horrible big red eyes were looking at them both. As the noise settled from the two, he could hear a deep, dark breathing, and finally, the two eyes started to move towards them. Marietta tried to free herself from Mark's grip. He didn't realize he was still holding onto the gun. Then the creature behind the eyes finally came into view from the living room light and it looked just like his dog Maggie.

"Maggie, what are you doing here?" he asked the dog. The dog didn't wag it's tail, it just looked at them both with it's head down a little. It stopped in the doorway with a stance that it wasn't backing down. Mark could see the hair standing up on it's back.

"IT'S NOT MAGGIE!" and again Marietta shot at it. Mark could hear a window in the dining room break. Just as this happened, the dog-like creature lunged foreward at them, and it seemed as if in mid air it changed in size, growing more than two times it's original size. Just then, as the creature came at them, there was another BANG from the gun and all was silent.