The man on the screen puts his hand to his neck, blood oozing between his fingers. He fixes the audience with a black-eyed stare; his pupils enlarged to an impossible size by the thick lenses in the spectacles he wears. He sets his jaw and talks through clenched teeth as he delivers his lines to the camera.
“Did you honestly think you could kill me, girl? I am your worst nightmare made flesh!”
Donny chugs from his beer can and grins at the television. He echoes the rest of the actor’s monologue until Colin throws a handful of chips at him.
“Shut up, you wanker!”
Donny shrugs and scratches idly at his crotch. “Still can’t believe you’ve never seen this. It’s a classic.”
“Yeah, well, ‘classic’ just means ancient to me. Mind you, you’re bloody ancient yourself, ain’t ya?” Donny flips him a middle finger and takes another swig of beer. Colin continues grumbling. “And it’s another weirdo black and white horror film, innit? Not even in bloody colour!” He chews a chip and gestures at the TV. “Why are we even watching this crap, anyway? On a fucking DVD like it’s still 2009 or something.”
Donny sighs. “I’ve told you a million times already, the Wi-Fi is still down. You can’t stream a movie without the bloody ‘net, can you? It’s about as much good as a chocolate teapot out here anyway. Fucking trees mess with the signal, I reckon. Look, just shut up and watch it, eh?”
“Yeah, yeah. All right. Can we at least go back to that bit with the topless bird in it? She was well fit.”
Donny drains the last of his beer and hurls the empty can at Colin. His huge backside sinks into the moth-eaten sofa as if trying to become one with the seat. The pattern on the fabric is completely faded, worn away by years of supporting his bulk. He turns his attention back to the movie and pops the tab on another beer can with his thumb. A growl close by makes him snap to attention. Colin stiffens too.
“You hear that?”
“Yeah. That bloody dog again. Check the gate.”
Three weeks ago, they’d first heard it, shrieking and yowling in the dark. It was most likely a wild stray. Maybe even a lost pet. They’d heard its call echo through the trees to the north. Sometimes from the hills to the west. They wondered if it had followed them back from a trip to the woods. Every night since then it had come around, and always after the sun had gone down. It growled from beyond the garage gate. Snuffled underneath the fence. Neither man had managed to lay eyes on it. The closest they’d come was a fleeting glimpse of a shadow fading off into the night.
The two move quickly, surprisingly for their size. Donny grabs a metal baseball bat from the corner. Colin takes a flick knife from his pocket. They slink to the door, and Donny peers through the window. It’s pitch-black outside. The only light comes from a sliver of moon, partly smothered by impenetrable, black clouds.
“Security light ain’t on,” Donny whispers.
Colin shrugs. He flicks the switch on the wall, but nothing happens. “Maybe the bulb’s gone?”
Donny groans. “It’s not the bloody bulb. I only replaced it last week.”
“What then?”
“Fucked if I know. I can’t see shit out there.” Another growl echoes from outside. Donny strains his eyes in the gloom. Something is moving near the gate, he’s sure of it, but he can’t make out exactly what. The heavy metal bars obstruct his view. The image is jumbled and messy.
“I think… I think there’s someone out there,” he says.
“Tell ’em to piss off then,” Colin hisses back. “Garage is closed.”
Donny squints. He can see figures swirling like mist in a breeze. It’s frustrating, and his eyes start to sting as he tries to focus. He blinks and wishes he could see a little clearer, and as if in answer to his desire, the clouds slide away from the moon.
The yard is illuminated in a silvery grey. Piles of stacked up rusted junk, scrap metal and the husks of dead cars combine to throw strange shapes on the ground.
Then he sees them, two figures, side-by-side, standing at the gate. A woman and an animal, both as tall as each other, their shoulders match in height. The beast is massive, and the woman is short, and despite being two different species, somehow Donny struggles to tell them apart. As he watches, the woman raises a hand and waves in his direction.
“Shit!” Donny jerks back from the window.
“What?”
“There’s a gal out there. With a dog. She just waved at me.”
Colin stares at him. “Oh, no,” he says slowly, unable to hide his sarcasm. “Whatever will we do?”
Donny smacks him hard on the shoulder.
“Shut up! You’ve not seen the size of that thing. It’s fucking massive. As big as a cow or something.”
Colin sniggers. “Dogs don’t grow as big as cows, you moron. Don’t be such a wuss. Go out and tell the bitch to shift it. What’s she even doing all the way out here in the middle of the bloody night?”
Donny shakes his head and grimaces. “You go tell her!”
Colin sighs and mutters, “Whatever…” He unlocks the garage door and steps into the yard. “All right, love…” he starts, and the animal growls. “Blimey, that’s a big lad you’ve got there.”
The beast pulls its lips back and wrinkles its snout. It shows off a mouthful of massive, yellow fangs, set into jet-black gums. Colin has never seen a creature like it before, it’s certainly not a breed he recognises. He’s not even sure if it is a dog. When it moves, it seems like it can’t settle in its skin, like it hasn’t quite decided how it should look. Sometimes it looks like it’s draped in fur, other times like it’s covered in scales. He thinks for a second that he sees its eyes flash, a flicker of red in its irises. But it’s quick and fleeting. He can’t be sure. The dark must be playing tricks on him. He tells himself to stop being so daft.
The woman raises a hand again. She is small and stick-thin, so slim as to be almost skeletal, dressed in a black ankle-length coat. The skin on her face is taught and pale; in the half-light she looks almost blue. Her eyes are hidden by tinted lenses set into oversized frames. They are balanced somewhat precariously on a tiny snub of a nose, and when she opens her mouth to speak, Colin sees she has very few teeth, and those she does have look to be rotten.
“My companion is hungry,” she says with a lisp, and flashes a humourless smile.
Colin shudders involuntarily. “Oh,” is all he manages to reply.
“My companion is hungry,” the woman says again, this time emphasising the word.
“Yeah, I heard you the first time,” Colin replies, hearing an unexpected tremor in his voice. He squares his shoulders and tries to make himself bigger. “I guess I missed the part where that’s my fucking problem?”
The woman points to the chains wrapped around the bars of the gate. Locked tight with a heavy padlock.
“Open the gate,” she demands.
“Fuck off,” Colin scoffs. “The garage is closed, love, and I don’t have nothing for you, or your ‘companion.’ So, hop it.”
The woman leans forward and grasps the gate with a bony hand. “I don’t think you fully understand, sir. My companion cannot be appeased. He is hungry and I need you to open the gate.”
Colin lifts the knife and points the blade at the woman. The beast’s low growl sounds like a freight train rumbling past. “No, you don’t understand. Get the fuck out of here. Both of you.”
He hears a thump as the garage door swings closed behind him. The thud of Donny’s heavy footsteps as he joins him in the yard.
“You heard him, you stupid bitch. Fuck off.” Donny stands next to him, swinging the bat casually in one hand. They line up, shoulder to shoulder, glaring at the woman and the beast. The stranger sighs deeply but doesn’t move from the gate. She takes off her glasses with her other hand. Her eyes are sunk deep in shadowed sockets, her pupils so dark they’re almost black. She tips her head to one side as she speaks.
“You really don’t have a choice, sirs,” she lisps. “If my companion here is not fed soon, there will be trouble.”
Colin snickers, feeling braver now he’s not alone. “Sure there will, love, and we’ll be the ones giving it to you. Get out of here.”
The creature snarls, a rolling growl, and foam builds up around its jaw. Donny thinks he sees blood splashed across its teeth, a flash of blue fire in its throat. He looks again but it is gone.
“I will give you the choice then,” the stranger muses, resting her hand on her chin. “Perhaps one of you will offer yourself?”
Donny laughs loudly, but his tone sounds forced. “Jesus, darlin’. You’re not right in the head, are you?” He takes a menacing step towards the woman, thumping his palm with the bat.
The stranger lets go of the gate and makes a complicated movement with one hand in the air. Donny is dragged across the yard, as if by some invisible force. Colin goes to grab him, but he slips from his grasp. The creature pants in excitement, the foam at its mouth growing thicker. Donny’s boot heels skid through the gravel. His body is rigid, his arms pinned to his sides. He tries to yell, but his mouth feels glued shut. Colin shouts loud enough for the two of them.
“Oi! Oi! Let him go!”
Donny’s body stops moving. Colin rushes to his side. He tries to pull him back, but he is rooted to the spot. Donny stays silent, but a tear slides down his cheek. A damp patch spreads around his groin. A sour odour taints the night air.
“It’s all right, mate,” Colin tells him quietly. “I got ya.”
“You see, sirs,” says the woman at the gate, as she replaces her spectacles. “I absolutely must feed my companion. He’s been eager for a bite for weeks. And since I know exactly who you are, and what you’ve both done, you’ll make a very fine meal, to be sure.” She chuckles and smacks her lips. “But I don’t have to take the pair of you. Just one your size will suffice.”
Colin points the knife at the stranger again, looks like he’s ready to charge, but Donny moans and twitches, and he thinks better of it and steps back.
“I’ve no idea what you’re on about,” he yells. “You crazy fucking bitch! We ain’t done nothing to you.”
“Oh no. Not to me. That’s very true. But that young girl who was hitchhiking, who you offered a lift, you certainly did something to her. Or the lady who asked you to change her tyre, she might have a story to add. And what of the women you’ve picked up at bars, the ones whose drinks were spiked? You brought them back here, and they never went home. You buried them all. In the woods. You never even asked their names.
“I’m sure you thought that way out here, you were safe, that your sins were well hidden. But we know all the stories. All the evils that men do.” The woman leans forwards, presses her face to the gate. “My companion and I, we can smell them on you.”
The massive beast pulls its head back and roars. The sound makes Colin’s body feel weak and his legs completely useless. The stranger gives a gravelly laugh. She moves her hand again, and a hollow click echoes through the dark. Chains rattle and coil like iron snakes, falling to the ground. The metal gate swings open.
Colin pulls on Donny’s hoodie, stretching the sleeve long past his hand. “Come on! Move it! Move your arse!” Donny stays solid, riveted to the ground. More tears spill onto his heavy cheeks. Colin slings both arms around his massive waist and tries his best to lift him, but Donny doesn’t budge.
The stranger and the beast wait at the gate. The woman holds the monstrous creature by its scruff. It balances on its two hind legs and scrabbles frantically at the air with its front paws. It pants and slavers in anticipation. Its teeth seem to glow in the dark.
“Which one, sirs?” the woman asks calmly. “Which one of you murderous bastards will satisfy my companion?”
Colin looks from the creature to Donny. From Donny back to the enormous beast. Its eyes flash with a fiery scarlet. Its mouth opens wider than his head. Ears back, fur bristling, its claws like curved blades. It snarls and growls and finally, it screams. A noise so terrifying, so inhuman, Donny feels his blood freeze and his bowels open.
Colin dips his head; he can’t look Donny in the face. “I’m sorry, mate,” he says. “Really. So fucking sorry.” He turns on his heel and tries to run, but both his feet are pinned to the floor. Like Donny, he cannot move.
“I see,” the woman muses. “No honour, even amongst sinners. Well then… It’s just a matter of who goes first.”
The woman releases her hold on the creature. Panic hits Colin like a blow to his chest.
“No! Not me! Not me!” he yells.
Behind him, he hears the pounding of massive paws as the beast runs through the yard.