The rain always smells different in Dorrance, especially during thunderstorms. The earthy scent mingled with the smell of water, but the scent of the river and the fog drifting down from the mountains added a touch of ozone.

But today wasn't like a thunderstorm; it wasn't like the rain was about to come pouring down, the darkening sky felt unnatural as she ran past the Food trucks.

It felt off and smelled worse underneath.

It had nothing to do with the mountains or rain, something so foul she had to hold a hand over her nose.

Rotten fucking eggs.

A flickering light at the far end didn’t help much as Tegan ran through the gate to find her boss.

“Ethan!” She jogged past cars, peering between them. “Where the hell are you?” she hissed, the shadows feeling thicker the farther she got from the fair.

She glanced back once, her friends were gone, swallowed by food trucks and game stalls.

“Dammit.”

Ethan hadn’t even waited. Didn’t even look back. Aria told her not to go, but she went after him anyway. Why did she go after him?

It felt like a different world out here.

Not just darker, but colder. Empty.

The music from the rides had become distant and distorted, swallowed by the rows of parked cars. The smell of fried dough and grilled meat was gone too, replaced by damp asphalt and those fucking rotten eggs.

The lights in the distance flickered. 

Wait, since when were they so far apart?

She looked around. The further she looked, the more stretched the distances looked. 

Get a grip.

It's just a fucking parking lot.

It was just the sun dipping low behind the ridge, that kind of shit always distorted things. 

Right? 

It had to be just a trick her eyes were playing on her, that had to be it.  Tegan wiped the sweat from her eyes, blinked, and looked around.

Through the haze, people were twenty feet away, eating funnel cakes and blowing money on rigged carnival games.

Kids were screaming on rides.

Couples were holding hands.

There was absolutely no reason she should feel like she was about to die.

So why did she?

Fuck!

Shut up, brain!

She looked around to ground herself.

That didn't help at all, because that world, that Fair felt a thousand miles away from the dark part of the world she stepped into.

The lights from the fair were blurry little spots, and the words and letters on license plates looked like they had been melted off.

No.

No!

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. Hard. Nothing fucking changed.

The farther she looked, the worse it got.

The chain-link fence stretched away in both directions, disappearing into the darkness.

She took a step toward the gate and froze.

The fence wasn't ending.

It just kept going.

Car.

Fence.

Car.

Fence.

Car.

Fence.

The same rusted pickup sat three rows down.

Then again. And again.

Fucking cliché bullshit.

This wasn't happening.

It couldn't be happening.

“Everything is fine… Everything is fine,” she whispered, more to fill the silence than anything else, her pace slowing without her meaning to.

Tegan screamed when she felt a heavy pressure hit her shoulder.

Flailing when the grip tightened. "I rebuke you, Satan!"

It didn't work.

The grip pulled her back, and she elbowed it in what she hoped was the face.

"What the fuck!" Lottie yelled, letting go and holding her nose.

Turning around, she immediately defended, smacking whatever dared to attack her. "I won't fall for it, skinwalker!"

"It's Me!" Lottie defended herself, holding her arms up. "You psycho!"

"DIE!"

“Knock it the fuck off!”

Tegan paused and narrowed her eyes. “How do I know you’re really Lottie and not some Empousa?”

“I… a what?! I’m not a female body part!” Lottie sputtered out, clearly offended.

“Alright, you’re definitely Lottie… Jesus… You scared the shit out of me!” Tegan hissed when Lottie elbowed her back.

Tegan rubbed her sore ribs and looked around.

With a weird Audio click, the world came into focus, the Fair was...normal.

In fact, the lights felt too bright.

"What the hell?"

"What?"

"Didn't you notice earlier how everything was... kind of foggy?"

"No... It's been a clear day all day." Lottie looked around. The sun was just setting, turning the sky every orange and deep purple as it sank behind the mountains.

"It was nighttime."

"Tegan, you're being weird again."

Tegan glared at Lottie.

I'm not being weird.

She's being weird.

Tegan looked around. The sights, the sounds, the laughter. It was normal... Everything was normal. She took a deep breath in and almost choked. The scent of the food trucks barely covered it.

Rotten eggs.

Shit.

Lottie was still talking, but Tegan grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the gate. "Let's just meet up with the others before something happens."

"What could possibly happen? They are literally right there." Lottie pointed to their friends, sitting at the table less than 20 feet away.

Tegan felt relieved and walked faster.

"Ow, wait... What's the rush...Tegan..." Tegan stopped and looked at Lottie, who was pointing to the parking lot, the shadows filling the parking lot, the lights going out.

"This already happened," Tegan whispered

It wasn't déjà vu, not exactly. 

It wasn't that fuzzy, forgettable kind people joked about at parties.

This was a clear, exact memory.

What the fuck?  

Tegan looked, spun around slowly, clocking the same crack splitting the same windshield three cars down. 

That same fucking, annoying flicker in that light across the lot, everything was the same, but there was one difference, and that was...

She looked right at her cousin, standing next to her, looking around quickly, her hand reaching out to grip Tegan's sleeve. 

“Okay, that's fucking creepy.” Lottie stepped closer, her eyes on the sky as it darkened. The moon hung low and was rising slowly.

“You are just scaring yourself... There’s nothing.” Tegan started, but she stopped when Lottie whispered her name.

"Tegan," Lottie said louder, grabbing Tegan's sleeve, tight, her hand trembling. They both saw it, watching a dark shadow moving across the lot. “What is that?” She let out a short whiney whimper.

A dog stepped from behind a rusted pickup. Tegan's stomach dropped. She recognized the broad shoulders and unnaturally angular muzzle immediately. Even in the fading light, the bright red collar stood out against its black fur.

What the fuck.

The thing looked fucking creepy, even worse than it had before, too muscular, too heavy, its mouth hanging slightly open to reveal far too many teeth.

This isn't fucking happening.

For a second, she thought she was imagining it. Then it took a step forward, and she knew exactly what she was looking at."Tegan! Is that a dog?”

“I don’t fucking know!!" Her voice broke as she screamed in a panic. "I’ve never seen a dog like that before! Don't do that!”

Lottie held out a trembling hand. "Good boy." Her voice was too tight as she spoke to the dog, not the dog. Tegan grabbed her, trying to pull her back.

"Lottie, please, for the love of god." She hissed.

"I'm trying to make it nice."

“Don’t fucking touch it! Look at its mouth! It might have rabies.” It moved across the parking lot quickly toward them

It dodged Tegan's leg as she kicked at it, causing her to skid in the gravel and hit the ground with her knee. "Fuck!" She yelled when she felt her knee pop.

"Lottie! Run!" She didn't have to ask twice as Lottie took off running, not away but towards her. "What the hell are you doing!" She grunted as Lottie pulled her to her feet.

"We need to go!" Lottie and Tegan held on to each other as they ran towards the fair; the noise and the lights should be enough to deter it.

Her heart pounded hard. 

Damn it. 

Tegan knew if she stopped, something very bad was going to happen. Her foot slipped on the loose gravel. 

She lost her grip on Lottie’s arm just as the creature lunged, its teeth clamping onto Lottie's leg.

Tegan scrambled up and made the mistake of trying to tackle the damn things. Rotten eggs and a smell she could only describe as a swamp, decaying leaves, and stagnant water made her gag. 

She lashed out and hit the dog in the head, boxing it right on its ear, forcing it to let go. 

It shook its head, stunned as it looked at them.  

Tegan stopped, hand over her nose as she breathed through her mouth.  "Go away! Get out of here!" She scooped up a stone and hurled it. The rock struck its ribs, but it didn't even fucking faze the thing.

Its eyes locked right back onto Lottie. The dog bolted past Tegan and clamped onto Lottie's leg again. 

Teeth sank deep, and blood gushed out.

"Lottie!" Tegan sprinted after them as the beast began dragging her cousin away. 

Lottie's fingernails clawed desperately at the asphalt as she was dragged backward.

Blood smeared across the asphalt, leaving a slick, shiny trail. 

Tegan dove, reaching for Lottie's hand, but the slick blood made it nearly impossible to get a firm grip.

"Tegan! Help me!"

"I'm trying!"

The beast jerked Lottie onto her side. Seizing the opening, Tegan dove onto the dog's back. She shoved her fingers past its sharp teeth right into its throat to try to force it to let go. 

It bucked hard, finally releasing Lottie's leg.

Lottie pulled herself away as Tegan swung her leg up with a grunt, wrapped it around the damn thing's neck, the collar, sharp little pricks cut her thigh, even through her jeans, as she locked her legs around its head. 

Her calf muscles screamed, and she knew she wouldn't last long. "Lottie! Run!" Tegan's voice was hoarse as she screamed, half in desperation, half in pain. 

She pushed through the pain of the cuts, the injured knee, the teeth digging into the hand she still had shoved into its mouth. 

"But..."

"Fucking go!"  

Tegan was not dealing with that bullshit, as she hung on.  

She grabbed the collar with her free uninjured hand for leverage.

It was bright red against the black fur and just loose enough for her to slip her fingers underneath and yank hard sideways. 

They both crashed into the ground. 

Tegan groaned as she kept her grip and pulled hard, smashing the thing's face into the ground.  With a pained yelp, the collar snapped.  

They both stopped, looked at each other for a brief moment. Tegan blinked and it jumped up and stumbled.

She braced herself

Coward.

She thought as it turned and ran off into the bushes on the other end of the parking lot.

Lottie crumpled into a sobbing mess, her ankle mangled as she tried to hold the skin back in place.

Tegan stuffed the broken collar into her pocket and dropped down to comfort her cousin.

There was so much blood. It soaked into her jacket and completely coated her hands. It wouldn’t be until much later, when the adrenaline finally wore off, that she realized her own palms had been sliced wide open by the tiny, hidden blades lining the inside of that red collar.  

Maybe that's why it was so pissed. 

They had to have pressed deep into the dog's own neck.