I heard the dog whine. I could see his shadow pacing back and forth through the crack under the door. I chuckled to myself. If only he had thumbs he could open the door and save my life. But he didn’t have thumbs. He was a dog. I felt a puddle of wetness spreading out all around me. The viscous liquid was hot and sticky. Somewhere in my mind, I knew what it was, but I couldn’t recall the word. I tried desperately to remember how I ended up on the floor here, in this room, my clothes soaked. I didn’t feel any pain apart from a profound frustration that I knew it was beyond my power to leave this place. I resented the dog for having the power to move freely. I tried to shout to the dog, but all that came out was a hoarse croak. 

Suddenly there was a commotion all around me. The dog quickly skittered away from the other side of the door. The world flooded with a bright, white light, and then my mind struggled to comprehend what I saw….

---

 I was sitting in a bar earlier that night or maybe even a couple of days ago, the music too loud to understand the conversation beside me. The bartender walked over. 

“Hello sir! Can I get you something?” 

“A whiskey sour please.” 

“Coming right up!” She walked away and started to make my drink. Moments later she slid the drink across the table where it landed directly in front of me. 

“Thank you darling! What’s your name?”

“Madelyn, how about you?”

“Jacob, but I go by J.”

“Well, it was nice to meet you, J. It’s getting busy, so I better get back to work.” She gave me one last smile.

I ordered four more whiskey sours and was hammered before the night was even over. Completely drunk out of my mind, I somehow ended up in the bathroom. “What the hell am I doing in here?” A high-pitched voice responded from inside one of the stalls. 

“Um, I think you may have gone into the wrong bathroom.”

“Oh shit, I am so sorry!” I walked out of the bathroom and returned to the spot at the bar where I was sitting. Taking one final sip of my whiskey sour, I decided to take on the dance floor. After a while of dancing, I began to feel dizzy, but just thought it was because of how many people were inside. I decided to walk outside. The fresh air hit my face as I opened the door to the dark alleyway. I began to feel worse after being outside for a minute, and maybe thought I was overdosing on alcohol. Then suddenly a streak of lightning lit up the midnight sky, and rain began to soak the ground. I did not have the energy to make my way back inside, so I stayed in the pouring rain. 

Two bright lights lit up the alleyway. My eyes strained, and my head pounded. Maybe this person will take me home. A slim figure appeared, but it was too dark to tell exactly who it was. 

“Do you need a ride home?”

“Uh, Uh,…..Yes please.” The person helped me into the car. My vision started to become blurry and then all of a sudden everything went dark. 

---

The bright, white light blinded me, but what was on the other side was even more confusing. A skinny, blonde woman holding a flashlight appeared at the beginning of the doorway, and some part of me convinced myself she looked familiar. 

“Who are you?” 

“It’s only been a day and you don’t even remember who I am” 

“Madelyn?” She softly giggled and came over and whispered in my ear. 

“I knew you wouldn’t forget me.” 

“Why are you keeping me captive in my own house?” Silence fell upon the room as she had no answer to my question. 

“How did you even get me here?”

“Well, you see, while you went to the bathroom, I slipped a drug into your drink.” 

“At the bar you seemed so mellow. What the hell happened?” She slammed her hand into the wall out of pure anger. 

“Don’t talk to me like that, or I will kill you.” She began to say something else, but was interrupted by a bark that was echoing throughout the hallway. 

“What is that?”

“That’s my dog, Rocky.”

“Well Rocky has no business being here.” She pulled a gun out of her pocket and walked into the door way and turned towards the direction of Rocky. 

“NO!” A loud bang went off and a cry shortly followed. 

“You stupid bitch! Why would you do that?”

“What did you just call me?”

“I didn’t stutter.” I began to stand up, and she pointed the gun directly at me. 

“If you make one more move, I will shoot you. I did not bring you here to kill you. At the bar I felt that we could have something special, you know a relationship.”

“After you just killed my dog? I think not. I wish you would just go away.” She began walking away from me, but then stopped. 

“Do you really want me to leave?”

“Please.” Finally, she was out of sight. Tears began to flood my eyes, as the scene of Rocky dying was playing over in my head. My best friend is gone and that bitch will pay for it. 

Hours later, Madelyn stepped back into the doorway. 

“Did you miss me while I was gone?”

“Absolutely not!” I stepped towards her. 

“What are you doing? Go back over there now!” Ignoring her commands I took another step. 

“STOP J! DO NOT TAKE ONE MORE STEP!” 

“You killed my dog and now you are going to….” Before I could finish my sentence a loud bang echoed one more and a sharp pain entered my heart. I placed my hand on my heart and nothing but blood appeared. My knees became week as I collapse to the ground. She began walking towards me and was standing over my dying body. 

“I warned you!” 

I softly whispered “bitch” as she stood over me and watched me take my final breath.