My dog who was missing for five months returned home one morning.

This is an account of the first two nights at home with him.

I was just about to put on a pot of coffee when something brown caught my eye right outside the kitchen window. At the first glance, I thought I must have left a coat out on the porch, but upon closer investigation, I realized it wasn’t a coat after all but something alive. I nearly leapt through the glass when it hit me that I recognized this animal.

On the porch was my dog Moose who disappeared one night five months ago. I’ll never forget that day. I came home from a late shift at work to a vacant house. Moose was always there to greet me at the door wagging his bushy tail with his tongue hanging slightly out of the left side of his jaw. That night though, it was deathly silent.

My attempts at calling his name were never answered. I searched my house front to back at least ten times. When that didn’t pan out I took my search outside where I covered the yard then expanded my search into the nearby woods. I never found a trace of where he might have gone. The following days were spent calling anyone I could think of and putting up posters everywhere, my efforts never bore any fruit. My soul was crushed. It was as if Moose vanished into thin air.

Now though, there he was, curled up into a ball on my porch. I flung the door open with enough force it threatened to fly off the hinges and wrapped him in my arms.

After I completed my warm reunion with my dog I pulled away and took a good look at him. I noticed that he hadn’t wagged his tail or made any sort of noise at all like he normally did which made me worry. Hugging him felt like I was wrapping my arms around a statue. Then I noticed something that made me scream.

His eyes were gone.

They looked like they had been deliberately carved out of his skull with a sharp object. Not like anything that could have been caused by an accident. A feeling of shock took over me which slowly dissolved into rage. What kind of twisted individual would do this to an animal? Worried for his health I decided my best plan of action would be to take him to the vet.

Moose didn’t complain or emit any kind of emotion as I picked him up and put him in the back seat of my car, I honestly felt so bad for him. I had no idea what he might have gone through. I knew whatever had happened wasn’t pleasant at all. In my mind, I pictured a small rusted cage where he was tormented day and night. I bit down hard enough on my tongue that I tasted blood and tried my best to shake these kinds of thoughts out of my mind. It wasn’t going to do me any good to think like that. I was just happy Moose was back.

An uneasy feeling crept up me as I drove. My gaze shifted upward to the rearview mirror where I looked at Moose in the backseat. When I did I nearly swerved off the road. His head was tilted slightly at an odd angle that made it appear as if he was staring right back at me through his hollow eyes. I refrained from looking again for the rest of the ride.

We finally made it to the vet and I took him in. I got the vet to do a full workup on him to make sure nothing else was wrong with him. I was told he was in good health, aside from the fact that my dog was now blind. I received some medicine to help prevent any infection in his eyes and a pamphlet about living with a blind pet with tips on ways to improve their quality of life.

I finally got Moose home after the long ride where I focused all my attention staring at the road. Letting Moose out of the car I noticed he seemed to have no problem whatsoever getting up the stairs and making his way into the house which sort of freaked me out. I just assumed he had memorized the layout because he’s been there so long.

That night I double-checked every possible way out of my house to be sure everything was locked. I didn’t just get him back so he could wander out an open window or door. Moose tried to follow me to bed like he always did but I lead him out and back to the couch. It was harder for me to find sleep than I anticipated. The feeling of eyes on me kept me up. I kept looking through my cracked bedroom door almost anticipating someone being there. Eventually though, my eyes closed and I drifted off.

I woke up sometime early in the morning right as the sun was trying to breach the horizon. I reached over to check the time on my phone. Before I got to my phone a shape outlined in my doorway caught my attention. I turned my head to see Moose peeking through my cracked door looking dead at me.

He was barely illuminated but I could tell something was wrong about his outline. He looked bigger and his silhouette contained sharp protrusions shooting out of it. My heart rate raced upwards as I took in the sight before me. I guess he somehow noticed me looking because he slowly disappeared past the door. I heard floorboards bend and creak as he made his way back down the hall.

I laid in my bed well after the sun came up. I cracked my door and tiptoed into the living room where I saw Moose sitting at the front door. He looked like he should. I felt like a fool for being scared of my own dog. His head turned as I entered and I walked over to pat him on the head. I was relieved I didn’t walk in to see some mutated horror that was once my dog. I tried to shift the blame on me still being half asleep.

A little while later I got ready and left for work. Before I did I made sure Moose had some food and water then told him goodbye and left for my shift. The whole time I was at work I couldn’t help but think back on what I had seen that morning. I was just seeing things right?

When I pulled into my driveway that afternoon I saw Moose looking out through the living room window at me. I say looking because the way his head was facing the window peering out at me in my car. It was like I could feel his gaze on me.

I tried to ignore the goosebumps breaking out over my body as I got out of my car and headed for the front door. I watched the window as my foot landed on the first step and Moose hopped down from the window. I knew where he was heading.

Right as I opened the door Moose was there. I was happy for a moment because it reminded me of how it always was before he vanished. I walked past him and gave him a pat on the head and told him he was a god boy. Sure he unnerved me a little but I could never be scared of Moose. I still remember the day my parents brought him home from the shelter. Since then he’s always been by my side.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. I cooked dinner and gave Moose a healthy scoop of dog food that he practically inhaled. Me and Moose sat in the living room with a movie playing. I have the weekend off so I had a few drinks during the movie. I noticed Moose was acting strange. Looking over at him he was stiff as a board peering out the window into the night. Like he was seeing something out there.

When the movie finally ended along with my drinks Moose was still looking outside. I figured I would give the yard a once over with the flashlight to calm my nerves.

I grabbed the flashlight I kept under the sink and opened my front door to peer out into the abyss that my yard became after sundown. My house is positioned a good ways off from the road so the streetlamp’s glow doesn’t reach it. I scanned the tree line trying to see if anything was out there. Staring out I felt as if the trees themselves were looking back at me.

After a few minutes of scanning back and forth I gave up. Whatever had Moose so spooked was beyond me. I got back inside and was getting ready for bed while Moose was still looking out the window. The only time he got up was to follow me into my bedroom, where I walked him back out to the couch and told him good night.

That night I woke up to Moose barking. I leaned over to grab my phone which told me it was 3:15 am. I hurried out of my room but froze halfway down the hallway. There was something off with Moose’s barking, it was like he was reaching a lower octave with each bark. It didn’t sound like it use to either. There was something predatorial about it.

I slowly reached the end of the hall and peered around the wood paneling to get a look at where Moose was. When I saw Moose I nearly cried out but stopped myself with a hand over my mouth. He looked as if he had put on at least fifty pounds, but that wasn’t all though. His back was arched upward like a cat when it’s scared and parts of his spine had broken through the skin. Each exposed vertebra was sharp and serrated. His teeth were bared with his mouth curled into a snarl. I was so close to his bark now that it seemed to shake my very being.

His attention wasn’t on me though. His body was positioned facing the window, the same one he couldn’t take his eyes off earlier. This time it wasn’t only the darkness looking back beyond the window, it was accompanied by two wide eyes and a manic smile. My heart nearly jumped into my throat when I saw it. Then his gaze which was fixed on Moose shifted over to me and this time I wasn’t fast enough to suppress my scream. Moose began to turn around.

His head turned with his body as he stood mere feet from me. Empty sockets instantly locking with my eyes. He stared intently for what felt like forever until I heard a knock at the door followed by what sounded like stifled laughter. Like a hand clasped over a mouth only allowing little pieces of it escape.

My attention shifted from Moose to the front door as the knocking began to grow louder. Moose whirled around to face the door and began barking again. I just stood there shaking, I couldn’t move. My heartbeat was in my ears and I was sure it was about to give out. The laughing grew and grew as I saw the doorway start to give under this person's inhuman strength.

The door cracked and splintered as the man's blood-soaked hands began to appear from the other side. Moose was growling something guttural and low as the man reached one of his arms through the new hole in my door trying to open the door. Ripping off little ribbons of flesh as he worked his way down. Laughter exploded into the room as the man's grip finally found the inside lock and began to turn.

Horror possessed my entire being as the door slowly opened up to show a man who was at least seven feet tall and bone-thin. He stood right in the doorway with one of his bloody hands over his mouth cackling like a disturbed child.

“There you are!”

Those were the only words that escaped his lips before Moose launched himself at him. The man went completely airborne when Moose struck him. He crashed through the railing on the porch and was swallowed up by the darkness beyond. Moose trailed right behind him into the abyss.

I sat there with my now empty bladder as the laughter from the man and Moose's howls grew quieter and quieter. How long I sat motionless before moving again is anyone's guess.

When I regained myself the only thing I could think of to do was call the police. I repeated the night's event, only leaving out the part about what happened to Moose. I doubt they would believe that. At the time I wasn’t sure I believed what I had seen either. I just told them that Moose chased him off and hasn’t come back.

It wasn’t long before I heard sirens and blue lights filled my yard. They asked me a few questions before a few officers went and scanned the surrounding woods and streets. I sat in my kitchen on a stool trying to process what had just happened. The sun rose before I heard any news, it didn’t calm my nerves in the slightest. I was told they found signs of a struggle in multiple locations but never found the man I described. There was no sign of Moose either. A detective gave me his number and told me to call him if anything came up and with that, I was alone in my house.

Trying to do anything that would help me not be alone with my thoughts I decided to go pick up a new door. There was no way on earth I was sleeping without one. Well, that’s if I could even fall asleep.

After a long and quiet trip to Lowes, I came home and started my work. It was slow at first as I had no carpentry experience whatsoever. Along with last night's events playing on an endless loop in my head. I found myself worrying about Moose. I was scared senseless the moment I saw him, but somehow I still thought of him as my dog. That night it felt like he was trying to protect me.

I hoped he was okay. I wanted him back home, even though he wasn’t the same dog I knew before he disappeared.

I finished putting in the new door the best I could. I was honestly proud of myself, it actually turned out better than I had hoped. The remainder of the day was spent periodically checking outside and doing chores around the house to quiet my thoughts.

I had just finished eating dinner when I heard movement on my front porch. It was muffled behind the door but I could tell something was there. Slowly rising to my feet I grabbed a knife from the kitchen seeing that man’s crazed eyes and smile in my mind. My heart rate quickened as I held my breath while creeping up to the door. I was trying my best to stay calm but I was losing the battle.

I slowly looked through the peephole in the door and dropped the knife to the ground. I didn’t see the man from the night before instead Moose was lying curled up on my welcome mat. All fear I had of him drained out of me as I opened the door and wrapped him in my arms just like I had done when he showed up a few days ago.

There were cuts all over him and a large gash in his leg which I quickly wrapped the best I could. Moose laid on the floor panting as I made him a meal and called the vet completely forgetting that they weren’t open. I just sat with him for a while to make sure he was okay until I noticed he had fallen asleep.

It’s been a few weeks since then now me and Moose are almost inseparable. Slowly as time passed he began to act more lively like he was before he vanished. I haven’t seen him in that form like he was that night. I still think about it every once in a while but then I take a good look at him and honestly it doesn’t really affect me anymore. I know Moose would never hurt me.

Every night I still make sure my house is secure. Not to keep Moose in but keep whoever showed up that night out. The police never found the man. I still dream of that face in my window and it makes my blood turn to ice.

One more thing that’s changed. After that night I no longer bar Moose from my bedroom at night. He follows me in and lays on the new dog bed I have placed right beside me.