The Darltons loved their dogs

Our area was your typical suburban neighborhood. Neat, white-painted house with manicured lawn and well-trimmed backyards lined the two sides of the road that wound through the houses. The most special thing about our neighborhood was that each of our family had a house pet, and we consistently won Best Pet Award at the state level, a tradition that went back to my grandparent’s time. The pets in our neighborhood were varied and unique. The McPhees had a pet beaver, and next to them, the Singers had a family of chubby and cuddly pet racoons that they slowly raised and domesticated over several generations. The families with the most ordinary pets out of all of them were perhaps the Smiths – who had a litter of cats that they built a business around and the Darltons, who had a pack of dogs.

The Darltons had no children, something about their financial plannings, according to my dad. Other than that, they were just your regular neighborhood, Mr. Darlton worked as a doctor and Ms. Darlton was a veterinarian. I could still remember when our dog got sick, we rushed her to Ms. Darlton who fixed her right up. I had a special appreciation in my heart since that day for Ms. Darlton, she just seemed so smart and so capable. I considered her my role model and wanted to grow up to be like her. There was one time when I was around 5 though, the Darltons just up and vanished. My dad said it was because they wanted to build another pet business in another city. After about one year, they suddenly turned up overnight, spright and happy as ever, though Ms. Darlton looked a little gaunt. That was around the time when the Darltons started to win every contest about dogs in our state. My mom even said that their dogs had the intelligence of humans.

Highschool came and soon, rumors about our neighborhood spread. They were all unsubstantiated, of course. When I walked by a group of boys, they would ask me if I “slept with the animals” and broke into laughter. It took me several months to fully understand what they really meant, but it didn’t make me ashamed of my neighborhood. Instead, I felt prouder than ever. These people were just jealous we got such a pretty neighborhood and that we lived in harmony with our animals.

I met Milo on one of those occasions. The boys were calling me names and blocking my way, and she stood out and protected me and threatened to call the principal. That was how we became friends. The boys took to calling me and Milo “beasties” and other inventive names, but I didn’t care. I would not have to be alone anymore and there wasn’t anything they could do about it.

It was during a neighborhood BBQ that we heard the cry of the dog in their basement. I invited Milo over and we were having a chat with the Singers about a pet racoon when suddenly, there was confusion on Milo’s face.

“Do you hear that?” she asked me and looked around.

“No. What is it?”

“It sounded like a dog howling. But it sounded real strange, too.”

I stopped what I was doing and focused my ears. I could only hear chatter at first, but slowly I started to hear what was clearly the yelping sounds of a dog. It sounded like whoever made it was in pain and anguish. We approached and asked the Darltons, who were passing grilled hot dogs and burger patties to other neighbors. I thought I spotted a sudden fright followed by anger in Mr. Darlton, but he just told me that they had a sick dog that was probably missing its family and that they would take care of it as soon as the BBQ party was over. We shrugged and kept on with the party, but I could no longer unhear the yelping of that dog.

Milo came over to my house more and more often. We would eat marshmallows, bake cookies in the kitchen and my favorite – gossip about the people in the school. We talked about the cheerleader, the captain of the debate team and all sorts of people.

“They have rumors about your neighborhood too, you know,” Milo told me one afternoon when we were finished with an entire batch of cookie and milk.

“What rumors? Is it about us sleeping with the animals again?”

“No, not that. They said that there are families in this neighborhood that feed people to their pets, as sacrifice, that’s how you got so many awards with your pets”

“That’s totally creepy!”

“Yeah. And also the sleeping with the animal thing. But you know what the worst of it is?”

“There’s worse?”

“They said that you love animals more than you do humans.”

“That’s just jealousy talking,” I told her, raising my voice.

“Yeah. I think so too”

As time passed and we grew up, the neighborhood started to fill with children. The rumors still continued, but I no longer cared about them. Our family soon welcomed another member. I loved my little brother the moment I laid eyes on him. He was this little, innocent and helpless thing, yet I knew he would grow up strong. When my little brother was four, we went trick-or-treating for Halloween. We went through the Smiths and got some candied apples, the McPhee gave us Reese’s peanut butter cups and the Singer had a bowl full of racoon-shaped chocolate candies. It was a good haul. We were waiting in front of the Darltons for candies. My little brother tiptoed in anticipation and he kept wanting to ring the doorbell more, but I had to stop him. That was when I heard it.

It started as the yelp that we once heard some years ago, but soon it gave way into a bloodcurdling howl. By this point, I was familiar with all the dogs of the Darltons, and they definitely did not have one that howled like that. I felt my hair stand on end and next to me, my little brother started to sob and then cried.

It took a moment for the Darltons to open their door and I heard some commotions. Ms. Darlton finally opened the door and she wore a thick jacket that looked like it had scratch marks on it. I spotted a faint hint of annoyance in her face but she quickly composed and became cheery again.

“Oh, it’s you two. Sorry, we are busy training the new litter. Would you care for some licorice candy?”

“Yes. Thank you, Ms. Darlton” I said, feeling the awkwardness rising. Luckily, my little brother stopped crying after eating the licorice candy. Ms. Darlton stood at the door for a little while longer before closing it shut. I heard some commotions soon after that and rushed to get my little brother home because the howl earlier really creeped me out.

I couldn’t sleep that night, lying on my bed and perking my ear for the entire night. The howling stopped after that but somehow, it kept ringing in my ear. I thought back about the sound and a sick theory sprouted in my mind. It was too horrible to bear alone so I told Milo the next day when she got over to my house.

“What? You think they are keeping a human in there?” Milo spurted out her tea.

“That’s the only explanation I could find. That explains the howling and why they were away for 1 year. I think Ms. Darlton got pregnant and didn’t want a human child, so she raised them as a dog,” I said.

“That’s a far reach. What if it’s just a really weird dog?”

“Then why did they have to lock it in the basement? The Darltons are proud of their dogs. They’re not gonna hide a dog in the basement just because it sounded a little weird.”

“Alright, still doesn’t prove that they had a human raised as a dog inside.”

“I have a plan” I said.

It took a little bit of persuasion for Milo to agree. We waited for a week to learn the habits of the Darltons. The most difficult line of defense would be their pack of dogs and for that, Milo and I took what we called the “attrition approach”. Each day, we would approach the dog pack and feed them a little bit of treat, we bought an entire pack of premium dog food for that purpose. At first, they would bark when they saw us, but that was expected and from the eyes of the Darltons, it seemed like we just developed a liking for their dogs. After two weeks, the dogs no longer barked and instead huffed and puffed on seeing us, their heads perked up, expecting a treat. That was phase one completed.

All that was left was to come up with a way to enter the Darltons’ basement. We walked around their house one day and discovered that the basement had no window, only tiny holes slanted upwards to let the air in, it was impossible to see the inside from these holes. That meant we would have to enter the basement from the inside.

That afternoon, I stood in front of the Darltons’ doorbell, feeling each and every single one of my heartbeats. It was scary, but the scariness was also exhilarating. After what felt like an hour, I finally rang the doorbell, sweats dotting my fingers and toes. Minutes later, Mrs. Darlton answered. She wore a light green dress with polka dots.

“Hey kids, do you need something?” she asked with a cheery smile on her face.

“Hi Ms. Darlton. Our history teacher assigned a group project; we must investigate the lineage of a family in our neighborhood. Can you help us with it?” I asked. Next to me, Milo shifted uncomfortably.

Ms. Darlton stood silent for a long while, her gazes never leaving us. She seemed to be calculating something in her mind. Finally, she nodded her head.

“Alright, I can help you with that. Let’s talk over cookies and milk. I’m baking a fresh batch and I would like to cook and talk at the same time. You girls come on in”

I felt as if a stone was lifted inside my head. We got inside her house. The furniture inside was cozy and surprisingly well-kept for a family with a pack of dogs. We walked through her living room first, there was a sofa and several armchairs next to a fireplace and a large TV. There were several dogs here lying on the ground next to the sofa and the fire place. They saw us and to my relief, did not bark. I took note of a door that looked like it led to the basement and I looked at Milo. She gave me a reassuring wink before we were led into the kitchen, where a bag of flour was on the counter with a carton of eggs and a bag of chocolate chips.

We sat for a while and talked about a lot of things. Mrs. Darlton told us about her great great grandfather’s family who immigrated to America. They were early settlers and once almost died in a harsh winter. It was thanks to their first dog who they named Lady Star that led them to a cave that they survived. Taxidermy wasn’t popular at that time so they settled for taking her skull and putting it on a pedestal when she died and to thank fate, they had been taking care of dogs ever since.

I was completely engrossed in the story until I felt pain flaring up from my leg. It was Milo pinching me. I snapped into focus and touched her feet with mine. Suddenly, I held my stomach.

“My stomach is upset, is there a bathroom I could use?”

Just like I planned. Ms. Darlton did not suspect a thing and pointed to the bathroom near the living room. I went there and Milo sat back to look out the hall. As I stood next to the door to the basement with a smartphone in my hand, I thought that my plan would fail. Milo made a sign as if to continue with what I was doing while she talked with Ms. Darlton. I held my breath while she slowly inched a metal bowl closer and closer to the edge of the table and at the pivotal moment, pushed it down. A loud clang rang out in the kitchen and at the same time, I opened the basement door and went in.

The basement was dark, only small rays of light shone in from the slanted holes that made up the windows. I slowly walked down and stopped after 5 steps, in the middle of the basement was a shrine with a large pedestal in the middle. On top of the pedestal was a big dog-like creature that had skin and face very much like a human. Too scared to advance further, I stood and zoomed in with my phone instead. The human-like dog yelped a moment in pain before pushing out a small, pink creature covered in bodily fluid. The creature looked like a hybrid between a human and a dog. That was the moment a black and muscular Doberman walked over from a corner of the basement, bit the creature on the neck and carried it to one of the dog beds lying around. I had never seen this dog outside the Darltons’ house and hadn’t even realized it was there, its black coat merged seamlessly with the darkness.

At this point, my eyes had adjusted to the dark and I saw clearly that there were other, similar creatures lying in the dog beds. “Da da, ma ma” one of them said before curling up. My heart was beating wildly and my instinct was screaming at me to back up and return to the normal world above, but I could feel my curiosity winning over. I held my phone at an angle that allowed me to see as many of the creatures as possible and pressed the white round button on the screen. That was the moment when I realized that in my haste, I forgot to switch it from photo mode to camera mode. The entire basement lit up with the flash from my phone and at an instance the Doberman turned it snout towards my direction and the human-dog creature let out its telltale howling, then they both started to growl and snarl while my hair stood on end. I slowly backed up. Then I heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway, the engine sound was familiar, Mr. Darlton was home.

I took my time with my steps, the growling got closer and I barely just made it to the door and closed it before I heard the sound of lunging blocked by the hard wood. I stood facing the closed door, the reality taking a while to register. It was Mr. Darlton that jolted me out of the fear-induced trance.

“What are you doing there?” he asked.

“Oh hi Mr. Darlton, I was looking for the bathroom, seemed I got the wrong door”

He smiled and directed me to the bathroom. I quickly got to Milo and we left the Darltons’ house.

That was three weeks ago. Milo asked me almost every day what I saw, but I lied and told her that there was nothing, just rows and rows of canned vegetables. She didn’t seem to believe me but also didn’t press it further. Ms. Darlton went by the house a couple of times to give us cookies and talk about her new dog litter and that she would train them to be excellent. I didn’t know if it was my imagination or not but one time she seemed to give me a wink before she turned away. My mom said she hoped the Darltons win another prize for the neighborhood. Once she went away, my dad said they must really love their dogs. If only he knew.