I’ve always been a shy quiet person. I’m the friend no one calls unless they have no other option and I’ve always been fine with that. Aside from my best friend Jessica, I didn’t hang out with anyone. I just went to work and on my days off I hiked the local trails. Even though my main hobby was outdoors, no one would ever call me out going.

For a while Jessica hadn’t been talking with me much. I figured she got busy with life and all that. We met in collage and I helped her with homework. She bought me lunch and other small things as thanks. Her family were pretty well off, but they still put her through school so she could have some sort of skills to fall back on in case something happened to her family's funds. She barely passes her classes and as far as I knew, didn’t work after collage. She called me up on occasion to go to bars. It wasn’t my scene. I tended to go for an hour just to see her then ditch.

Lately Jessica started to act pretty strange with odd posts on her socials coming up. I got worried so when she invited me out, I went without any hesitation wanting to see if she was alright. The moment I saw her she burst into tears. I sat with her for hours and listened to how her father become abusive in the past year. She showed me faint bruises on her wrists from where she said he grabbed her. I held her hand and offered to be with her if she wanted to go to the police. She sadly shook her head claimed her family held too much power for us to do anything. We both fretted over her situation. I let her drink her troubles away then took her to my place to crash.

That night she swore she would think of a plan. I kept telling her I would support her no matter what. It was clear she wanted to ask me something important but wasn’t ready to bring up the topic just yet. I needed to go to work and left her alone in my apartment to think over things. She stayed at my place for three days and went out at night. Two nights in a row she came back drunk as hell. She woke me up in the middle of the night but I gave her a pass because of everything she was going through.

After the third day of staying at my place, she looked much better and stopped me before I left for work.

“I heard about someone who can help!” Jessica said excited for the first time in days.

“Really? How?” I questioned without really thinking about it.

At this point we needed a restraining order against her family and enough funds for her to move out. My friend was thinking of different ways to take care of her issue. In that moment I didn’t realize that fact.

“I’ll tell you tonight. Meet me at the bar across the street at nine, ok?”

I needed to work late. I would be cutting it close but I agreed. I was so wrapped up in thinking about work to see the red flags waving around. Only when I finally got off work and started to drive back home, I started to wonder about Jessica’s words. Who was this someone and what could they do? Beat up her father to scare him away? That sounded like a dumb plan she would come up with. Now I needed to go to the bar to make sure she didn’t commit a crime that night.

I didn’t even change after work. I just went right into the bar, grimacing at the loud music. Apparently, the bar was holding some sort of 80’s themed night. I wasn’t dressed for such an occasion and pushed past others to find my friend. I found her at the bar speaking with a man I didn’t know. He gave me the red flags I’d been blind to seeing so far.

His grey hair pushed back in a messy way, and dress shirt opened down to his collar bone. His grey wrinkled suit jacket made him almost look like a sleazy used car salesman. He gave me the creeps. His steel grey eyes landed on me through the crowd and somehow knew I was Jessica’s friend. She got close to his ear whispering something. I needed to get her the hell out of here.

“Is this your friend?” The stranger asked when I walked up.

His voice deep and wrinkles appeared at the corner of his mouth when he smiled. His face made my skin crawl.

“Oh yes, this is Maddie. Isn’t she the cutest?” Jessica offered and started to order another drink.

“We’re leaving, pay you tab.” I told Jessica, my voice stern for once.

The man didn’t say anything. He just watched us like a shark. I spent the next few minutes verbally wrangling in my somewhat drunk friend. He smiled at the exchange and I’m glad someone enjoyed that whole scene. Jessica kept saying how this stranger would solve her problem and that was just needed to talk to him. Finally, I got her to pay for her drinks and started to get her away from the man. With some effort I got her into the parking lot when she exploded in me in a way she’s never done before.

“You said you would support me no matter what! This guy can take care of everything, we just need it ask what he wants!” She snapped, face red from her drinks and rage.

“We’ll talk about this when you’re sober. You’re not thinking clearly.” I said, trying to calm her down.

Another outburst nearly came, but her phone went off. After she checked the message, she cooled off and let me drive her home. I let her crash after making sure she drank some water. I felt so wired after the whole thing I barely slept that night making me feel like a zombie for work the next day. I didn’t see her in the morning and needed to head right into work. I really hoped she didn’t do anything stupid until I got back home.

She did something stupid. Really stupid. I got home to find an empty apartment. My heart starting to race I looked around for a note and double checked my phone trying to find any hint of where Jessica went. The answer came after a few minutes of me pacing around the apartment. She sent a text with a location asking me to meet her and that stranger from the night before.

I cursed at her. Why couldn’t she just do this all the legal way? Nothing ever good came from trusting a random sketchy dude to solve your problems. I grabbed my jacket and debated on calling the police. I figured I didn’t have much of a reason to bring the cops along. No crime was committed just yet. But I would call them if they guy tried anything.

The place they wanted to meet was a little way into one of the local trails. The sun already set by the time I arrived but that area was pretty much a park. Some lights had been set up along the trail making it a bit safe. The trail branched off to a newly built neighborhood or deeper into the woods so people used it as a short cut to get home. I heard a few people got attacked before the lights were installed. As meeting spots went, it was pretty alright. Not as safe as a parking lot but at least I wasn’t meeting them in the middle of the woods.

I saw them both standing under a light and my rage grew. At least Jessica looked fine. Stupid, but fine. The man hadn’t tried anything with her as far as I could tell. I stopped a few steps away from them and Jessica didn’t come over to me. I get stressed out over the expression on both of their faces.

“Let’s go back home. We can deal with this legally. We don’t need him.” I told my friend who just shook her head.

“I thought you cared about me! I told you we can’t go to the police! My parents need to be taken care of because of what they’ve done!” Jessica said, tears starting to come to her eyes.

Parents? Not just her father? Aside from some bruises, I didn’t know about any other kind of abuse. I wished I asked for more details and not just ignored her and carried on with my job.

“The little lady told me her father kept getting fresh with her and her mother knew. Now isn’t that a good enough reason to hire someone like me to take care of them?” The man said, his sinister tone not matching the smile on his face.

My stomach dropped. I shook my head not wanting to believe such a thing. My friend, my only friend went through something like that and I did nothing for her. I understand why she acted the way she did, but this still wasn’t the right answer to solve the problem.

“Maddie, you said you would support me no matter what, right? He's offered to take care of my problem but he doesn’t want money.” Jessica said. Her tone clear even with tears coming down her face.

If my stomach wasn’t already turning, those words would have made it rock. I started to see double for a second. Even someone like me could catch onto what they were implying. I took a step back when the man took one step towards me.

“She said you were a virgin as if that was what I’m after. I’m not the kind of man who enjoys such a filthy thing such as that. I only want to sink my teeth into you.”

I didn’t give him a chance to get any closer. He spoke, grin getting wider and his eyes looked like they should belong to a wild animal. I turned and bolted back down the trail; mind blank with fear. Somehow, that man raced around and cut off my path in front. I saw a good-sized rock at my feet and grabbed it. I managed to hit him upside the head and then charge into the forest. Branches tugged and ripped at my jacket. I needed to take it off and leave it behind when it caught on a bundle of thorns in a bush. The man hot on my heels even after the hit to the skull. I heard a dreadful laugh close behind and struggled out of my coat to go deeper into the woods. Only after I ran for a few minutes I realized my mistake. My phone had been inside my jacket pocket. With the sounds of foot steps behind me, I didn’t have a chance of going back to get it.

I needed to keep running. If he caught me, it would be all over. I pushed the thoughts of Jessica selling me out to the back of my mind. I didn’t have the time to think about that. Because I hiked through these woods pretty often, I sort of knew where to go. If I got lucky, I could reach the neighborhood and knock in doors until someone called the police. I stopped hearing the man following me for a few minutes so stopped to catch my breath.

A twig snapping made me turn my head. I scanned the trees trying to find the source of the sound. I saw a raccoon staring back at me and at first, thought it looked normal. My eyes went back to it and my heart almost stopped. The longer I looked at it, the more horrible it looked. The body thin and fur ragged. Parts of the skull exposed and when it moved slightly closer, the eyes started to glow a bright pin prick of white. This wasn’t normal eyeshine, that was for sure. Keeping my eyes on the thing, I kept moving backwards. My legs froze when I heard rustling in the trees. I risked looking away from the raccoon to look up, my face almost nose to nose with a massive snake. The body coiled around some branches with bones showing through rotten sections. The eyes also with the white pin prick of light staring down at me.

I didn’t wait to see if more of those creatures showed up. I didn’t know if they were real or my mind created them because of stress. I refused to stop. I needed to get the hell out of those woods and away from the mad man that wanted to eat me.

I tripped over something that ran in front of my feet and fell hard. The ground ripping through my pants and skinning my knees. I cursed and looked in time to see another undead raccoon at my feet. The thing opened its mouth and sank sharp teeth into the sole of my shoe. I kicked it off, trying to get away. The raccoon taking my shoe as a prize and I kept moving. The forest floor hurting my foot but I refused to stop.

So many more of those undead creatures got in my way. I didn’t know if they were herding me in a direction but knew I couldn’t let them get near to me. I saw their eyes shining off in the dark and did my best to avoid them. When I saw the outline of the man off in the distance, it took everything I had not to scream.

I made another sharp turn that caused me to stumble down a slight hill. My body at the limit and mind about to break. The undead forest creatures stayed in the bushes and trees watching with glowing eyes. Tears sting my eyes and my chest was on fire from running so much. My foot hurt along with my knees. I just wanted to be at home and in a nice safe bed. I raised my head trying to see of a way out of this terrible situation when my eyes landed on something near a bush.

A poor rabbit was on the ground, with a bolt from a crossbow sticking out of its small body. I scrambled over to it thinking it I removed the bolt I could use it as a weapon. My hand landed on the soft body. It must have died a few hours ago because it didn’t smell, or feel rotten. The tears came then. I took the bolt in the other hand and whispered to the small rabbit how sorry I felt that not only it died, but because I needed to disturb the body.

With one pull, I removed the bolt, dried blood sticking to the end. I looked down at the small animal, my mind refusing to let it stay like this alone. My life was still in danger but I took the time to cover the rabbit with some leaves and thanked it for giving up its life so I might have a chance to use the sharp bolt and live.

“What a nice chase you gave me!”

I jumped still on my knees by the now covered rabbit. My body shook and I looked over to see the strange man walking into the small area, arms out to his sides and a smile so wide on his face it should be impossible. My jaw dropped open at the sight of the side of his face. Something like smoke poured from it along with twisted shapes of the undead creatures I’ve come across in the woods. Some disappeared back into the smoke, but others jumped free to run into the bushes ready to tear my body apart.

These monsters had come from his body in some way. I didn’t have a damn clue what he was and I didn’t care. I tightened my grip on my only weapon wondering if there was anything I could do. Suddenly, he froze in his tracks. His eye fell on the pile of leaves next to me. Slowly the smoke faded and his face went back to normal. He almost looked annoyed over something.

“I’ll let you get a free hit on me. Come on, use what you got.” He said and his voice almost made him sound reasonable.

I looked from him and the metal bolt in my hand not trusting him. He still kept his arms out showing he didn’t have any weapons. But that didn’t matter. He wasn’t human. Wouldn’t one of those undead animals get me before I hurt him? Still, there wasn’t anything else I could do. I braced myself and put everything I had into running right at him. My arm came down, stabbing the bolt directly into his eye as deep as it would go.

I backed up, panting and feeling sick. To no one’s surprise, the man strayed standing. I collapsed to my knees, a feeling of hopelessness washing over me as I watched him yank the bolt out. He tossed it into the bushes, his eye reforming in seconds. He then got down to my level, sitting on his heels and arms resting on his thighs.

“You did pretty good. Let’s talk for a minute.”

To my shock, he got out a pack of cigarettes. He was about to light one with a cheap pink lighter when I gave him a face.

“The second-hand smoke makes me cough.” I scolded him.

If he was going to kill and eat me, he should at least not be rude about it. With a huff he put the smoke back into the package and looked a bit frustrated.

“You see, your friend wants me to kill her parents. I’ll gladly do so but I must be paid for something like that. I asked for you and she gave me permission to do anything to you as payment.” He explained.

He reached out to slip a finger in the torn hole at my knee and I slapped his hand away. He implied he could have done something much worse than just killing me. If he tried anything like that, I would rather kill myself then let him get away with it. He waved his hand trying as if trying to clear the air.

“You know, I didn’t really accept her offer. How about you turn it around on her? I’ll kill her and you can offer me something in exchange.” He said, that awful smile coming back to his face.

My body started to trembled. I shook my head not wanting to think about any of this. Besides what he could want from me? I couldn't bring myself to be the reason why my best friend died even if she forfeited my life.

“You can do whatever you want now. Why make this offer? Do you get off on shit like this?” I said trying to sound brave but my words shook.

He sat, his eyes looking towards the covered rabbit. An odd expression on his face that I couldn’t understand. The undead animals off on the bushes making slight noises to show they were still watching.

“That rabbit was shot then left behind. It should have been eaten by the ones who killed it. They just let it die for no reason. Then you came along and thanked it for giving up its life. If I was human, you could have saved yourself with the bolt that rabbit carried. If more people though and acted like you, I wonder if something like myself would ever been created in the first place.” The odd man spoke, sounding almost human for the first time.

I looked at him and the spot where the rabbit fell. Then to the glowing eyes in the woods. There were so many of those eyes I made the forest appear like the night sky. Did they all suffer the same way that rabbit did? All killed and then their bodies left to rot? And did that mean that man was the same as them? I felt sorry for them but not him. Why was he offering to kill others if he’d been disrespected in death?

“I can’t let you kill my friend. I don’t want to die but... I can be like that rabbit. My life can mean something. It can save my friend from whatever abuse she’s gone through.” I said, tears nearly over taking me.

That man smiled and I hated him for it. A small laugh started in his chest and soon he cackled so loud it startled a few of those undead creatures away. Unable to do anything else, I pushed him over offended by his laughter. He stayed on the ground, covering his eyes with the palm of his hands still laughing. It took him a while to calm down, a few fits threatening to take him over again. I’ve never felt so embarrassed in my life.

“Why don’t you confirm if your bestie actually has abusive parents or sold you out for their inheritance before you refuse my offer? I’ll even be nice and kill her for you in exchange for something painless.” He said not sitting up yet.

I opened my mouth to refuse on reflex. I didn’t want to believe someone I cared about would do such a thing. The thought of it hurt too much. But if he was offering this then it meant I could stay alive for a little bit longer. That gave me time to think of some way to get us both out of this.

“How can I do that? I lost my...” I was about to say I lost my phone when an undead deer walked over, my jacket hanging out of its mouth.

I accepted it and checked my phone. Not a single message from Jessica. That wasn’t proof of anything. Should I send her something and tell her to run? Or to call the police?

“I made you run close to the end of the trail. She should be waiting by your car because I told her she needed to drive me to her parent's place after I took care of you.”

The man finally stood up and brushed himself off. I didn’t even notice where I ran earlier. I just assumed I went deeper into the woods and away from safety. I looked up at him trying to figure out if I should trust him at all. So far, the undead monsters of his hadn’t really done much besides steal my shoe. Regretfully I got up to follow behind. He didn’t slow down and if those eyes weren’t watching me, I could have made a run for it. I saw the parking lot and paused to hide behind a tree. The man walked right over to Jessica who stood against my car.

“Are you done with her? And did you get her keys? I used an uber here and I don’t want to spend the money for another one.” She said, sounding annoyed.

“Aren’t you going to inherit a bundle after tonight? What’s a few more dollars if I didn’t grab her keys.” He said with a shrug.

Jessica’s face turned red and she lost it on him. Her foot stomped down, clearly done dealing with his attitude.

“I knew you were after money! There was no way you only wanted her as payment! That’s why I didn’t tell you my parents had any, who mentioned it? Maddie?! Did she try and bribe you to not kill her?” Jessica questioned, face hot.

My chest tightened and I started to get dizzy. A coldness pressed against my leg making me jump. A half rotten dog of an unknown breed pressed against my leg as if he wanted to keep me steady. I placed a hand on his cold fur feeling sorry for him just being there. I didn’t want to believe I refused to see the kind of person Jessica was. Even if she did such a terrible thing, I didn’t have it in my heart to kill her.

“My selfish mother just had another kid. Ugh, she shouldn't be able to have any more. What do you want to take care of him too? I don’t have any more virgin friends like Maddie but I can find a few girls no one would miss.”

Those words brought a wave of heat over my body. It made me finally act. With one last pet against the dog’s fur, I rushed out from behind the tree, rage fuelling my actions. Jessica's face fell seeing me, her head turned to yell at the man. I got to her within seconds and punched her as hard as I could in the face. We soon became tangled into dirty fight with hair pulling and some biting on my end. Being how angry I felt, I didn’t even notice the man laughing at us fighting each other.

Within a few minutes we were pulled apart, the man laughing so hard he started to cough. In the end, Jessica and I sat on the ground bleeding and panting waiting for the hired killer to stop coughing.

“I don’t care what I have to pay you, just kill this bitch too!” Jessica shouted after the laughing died down.

The man looked from me to her. He couldn’t decide which deal to take. He didn’t care about killing three innocent people, one of which a child, in the slightest. The only thing he wanted was to be amused. Unless I gave him something entertaining, my head would be on the chopping block. And yet, I still didn’t want to kill Jessica. She deserved it, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask that of him.

“I’ll give you anything you want, just please don’t... don’t kill her family. And don’t kill her either.” I said, unable to think of any other words. My entire body drained from the fear.

The monster got down low, his human mask slipping for a second. He grabbed my chin in such a tight grip I couldn’t pull away. A smell of rotting flesh came from him and his face turned into a wide smile. A hint of white light appeared in his grey eyes making my start to tremble.

“Anything?” He asked, voice filled with implications.

I nodded the best I was able with him still holding my chin. His other hand lifted up, finger nails turning into sharp claws. I screamed when his hand dropped to wrap around my neck and brought my back against his chest. I struggled trying to get away even though I just offered myself. He roughly grabbed my hair in one hand jerking my head back for a second. And then the tension was gone. My body fell forwards, the man standing up holding the long hair he’d cut. I breathed hard waiting for him for do something else.

“It’s a bit choppy but you still look cute. Now to deal with your friend.”

I stared up at him dumbfounded. My hair now cut to a little past my ears making my head feel weirdly light. I reached out to stop him from going near Jessica but he shook off my hand. She wisely got up and started to run only to be cut off by the dog I petted while watching them. The mouth turned back into a snarl; drool dripped from the rotten mouth.

“This is your new little friend! He’ll hang around you for a while. Miss Maddie here bought him for you. If you make any move on hurting her, or trying to harm your family he’ll rip your throat out!” He explained in a cheerful tone that did not suit his deep voice.

“I said not to kill her!” I snapped.

“I won’t. The dog will.” He pointed out.

I got up to hit him with a few useless punches. He easily took them and then grabbed my shirt collar from behind to drag me to my car.

“Give me a ride into town. I don’t have a car.” He ordered.

I could not believe his nerve. I looked over at Jessica staring at the rotten dog, her legs trembling. She noticed we were leaving and weakly spoke up.

“Can you... give me a ride too?” She asked, hoping she may still have some sort of sway over me.

“Call an uber.” I shot back.

The man barely had his door shut when I started the car and drove off. My entire body hurt from the night and I’ve never had a mixture of rage and fear before. I found a gas station with a few cars and pulled into it.

“Get out.” I order the stranger that threatened my life a few times that night.

He was in the middle of reaching for his pack of cigarettes so didn’t move right away. Since he stayed in the car for an extra second, I asked him a question that bothered me.

“Did you not kill me because I respected the rabbit?” I asked.

He paused, his hand on the door handle and the car door half open. He considered the question, then nodded.

“I didn’t kill you because you’re the type of person to show respect to a dead rabbit. But you got lucky. Some days it doesn’t matter what kind of person I’m asked to kill. If I get too hungry that’s what drives me. In order to fill that hunger, I’ll chase my target to the end of the Earth if needed. It’s how I got my nickname.”

I did want him out of the car but I did want to know his name a little bit more.

“What do people call you?” I asked, eyebrow raised.

“Mad Dog.” He replied with a smile that showed too many sharp teeth.

“That sounds stupid.” I said to cover up the shudder from the words.

“You face is stupid...” He added in a childish whisper I nearly didn’t hear.

After all the stress of the night, that was what broke me. I turned my head to let out a very un-lady like laugh. I hated this guy for everything he’s done and I hated him more for making me snort. He got out of the car but paused closing the door.

“Get better friends. I don’t want to see you again.”

He slammed the door and started to walk towards the gas station, hands in his pocket and back slightly hunched over. To anyone else, he would appear to be pretty none threatening. He was a good actor in order to pull that off. I drove off, wondering how the hell to explain all the cuts and bruises to my boss when I went into work the next day. In the end. I used up my first sick day to get some sleep after such a horrible night.

When I did enter the office, everyone had more questions about my short hair instead of the busted lip. I really hated getting this much attention. I also hated the fact that man was right, I did look cuter with short hair.