Klod's eyes sprang open.

A gray ceiling with cracks littered throughout it greeted him. Klod registered it was his own and realized he was at home. He blinked once, twice, then a third, and final time.

A dream, he thought. It had all been a dream. But... what did he dream about?

Klod couldn't remember and only felt a faint sense of dread upon the thought of it. He sat up and noticed that his bed was soaked. Sweat trickled from his armpits, and his underwear was drenched.

"Hmmm." He tried thinking back to the dream.

No dice.

Klod could only remember pieces of it. He recalled being fired, which wasn’t surprising. And something about... teeth? Was he fired over bad hygiene in it? Wouldn’t surprise him if he did.

He dreamt about weirder.

Klod slid off the bed, his legs immediately cramping in response. It took his balance away, causing him to smack his chin against the nightstand.

“I fucking hate mornings,” Klod mumbled as he rubbed his chin to ease the pain.

He took a seat on the floor, stretched his legs out, and pulled on the tips of his toes. Klod counted. “One, two, three, four,” the pain lessened, “five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.” The cramp dissipated. Letting go of his toes, he laid back and shut his eyes, taking a few seconds to relax.

Klod thought back to his dad, who taught him that piece of advice. Man, he missed him. Dad was pretty much his survival guide on how to deal with all his bad luck. But now, well…yeah.

Klod shook his thoughts away and listened for the ticking of his clock. It helped put him at ease after a long day of work. Except today, he couldn't hear any ticking.

The battery must have died, he assumed. But another thought struck him. Why hadn’t his phone alarm gone off? He looked towards his window on the right of the wall from him. Based on the light shining through his curtain, it was the afternoon, meaning it should have gone off. Unless he didn't have work today.

Did he?

He worked every day other than Monday and Saturday this week. Yesterday was Thursday, which meant today was Friday...and his shift… started at….. eight in the morning.

“Shit.”

Klod was, for lack of a better word, fucked. Maybe he could talk his way out of this? Like by saying his grandma died or something. Of course, he's never met his grandma before, but that was irrelevant. Plus he didn’t have time to think about it. Klod jolted up and rushed to the bathroom, making sure not to trip over Nate. Or, rather, he would have if Nate had been in his usual spot.

Odd. He might have slept under the bed. Nate made a habit of that when Klod first took him in.

Klod also supposed Nate could have been checking himself out in the bathroom mirror. Because, you know, that was a thing dogs did. Klod thought as he was shown the exact scene.

“Uhh, Nate, not to ruin your fun or anything, but you care to explain what exactly you're doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Well, I mean, it looks li-” Klod froze, his jaw dropped. Which he was sure made him look like an idiot. But he wasn't concerned with his appearance at the moment. Klod had more important matters at hand, like how his fucking dog just-.

“Talked? And before you say anything. No, I can’t read your mind. It’s just written all over your face.”

Klod, gracefully, of course, made an ensemble of unintelligent noises in response. Dreaming. Yeah, that was it. He must be dreaming. Time to wake up Klod!

He pinched his cheek, feeling a tiny sting in return.

“This is real, man. You're not dreaming. Unless I’m also dreaming. And this is some shared dreaming fiasco.” Nate was facing him now, so Klod could see his mouth move and produce words. But he still didn't understand how Nate was speaking English.

“Ho-how can you talk? No better yet; when did you start being able to talk!?"

“Klod, calm down, I-.” Nate stopped with a look of astonishment. It appeared his buddy made a revelation.

"Y- you alright there Nate?"

“Klod,” his newly talking companion smiled, “Wow, that feels weird saying aloud.”

Klod slowly blinked. “Yea, so imagine how I feel right now.”

“Hey, I’m as freaked out as you are.”

Klod was skeptical. “Are you now?”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on either. I was never able to talk beforehand and definitely couldn’t think or process information as quickly as I am now. Once I woke up, I was able to… I don’t know. Understand everything, if that makes sense?”

Klod deadpanned. “No, it doesn’t.”

Nate rolled his eyes. “Look, we can worry over the fact of me talking later. Because I’m about ninety-five percent certain we have bigger problems to worry about.”

“What could be more important than you speaking English?!”

“Well, first off can you remember anything about before you wake up?”

Klod thought back to his dream. It dawned on him that what he thought was at first a dream may have been, in fact, reality. “No, I tried earlier, but everything’s all fuzzy.”

“Same here, and don't you think that’s a little odd how not one, but both of us can’t remember anything?”

Klod let that info sink in, causing a moment of silence that seemed to last hours. Chills crept along Klod’s back. He was starting to believe going to work late would be the least of his issues.

“On top of that, it's far too quiet."

Ok, that sounded super cliche, Klod thought.

"Maybe to you, but you forgot, my hearing isn't as strong as yours."

“Yeah, while that might be the case. You’ve overlooked one key cause of where most noise complaints from the complex come from. Klod stomach turned, and his throat grew a lump in it. He didn’t want to answer and accept reality. But when a dog you've known for two years starts talking to you, it was kinda hard.

With a bit of strain, Klod forced out the words. “Alastor and Zilla.”

“Exactly.”

“Ok, but have you thought they aren’t in the mood to argue today?”

Nate gave him an impatient expression. “Well, if that doesn’t convince you, then it’s time we both take a look outside.”

“Wait so you’ve been all skeptical and warning, but still haven’t looked outside? Are you serious?” Nate went silent, his ears flattened.

“...Nate?”

He spoke up again. “It's because I was scared. Whatever’s out there, I-I can feel it, and my instincts are telling me it’s something we don’t want to mess with.”

Klod gulped. “Well, that wasn’t sinister at all.”

"No kidding. Anyway, go put some clothes on. In case we're both just paranoid, and you get arrested for public indecency." Klod realized he was still in his sweat-stained boxers and nodded in agreement. "Ok, I'll be done in a sec." Once clothed, both Nate and him stood at the door. Waiting for each other to give prompt to open it. After what seemed like several minutes of waiting, Nate spoke up.

"Alright, on the count of three. One, two, three!" Klod grabbed the door handle, slowly, and steadily, twisting the knob in anticipation. The hinges squeaked from rust. Nate folded his ears in response. Klod's mind went numb from stress and fear of what they might discover.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Shivers ran down his spine, and he realized he was holding his breath. Only him, Nate, and this door seemed to exist. Everything else was outside of their space. Separated from reality. And they were inside their own little pocket dimension. Rays of sunlight hit his face, snapping Klod back to reality. He realized the door was open, making his body grow stiff. The door was cracked open a smudge, so he couldn't see much of the outside. Glancing at Nate, Klod took a deep breath and pushed the barrier hiding them from the truth open wider.

Then it hit him, the truth of it all. That being, everything. All that he came to know living in this run-down motel. Was in utter ruins.

Demolished. In every direction he looked, all he could see was destruction. Most of the second-story rooms had collapsed on top of the first-floor ones. The air tasted dusty and stale, and the sky was a rustic orange. At the center of the motel was a giant sinkhole. On the edge, a truck lay hanging on for dear life, but how it ended up there, was beyond him.

Klod's heart sank, and it took him everything to not fall to his knees. Nate was the first to speak up. "Wha-what happened? Did we sleep through a war or something?"

Klod tried again to remember his dream, but a sharp pain greeted him as he did.

"Agh!"

"What is it!?" Nate asked.

"No, it's nothing. But, it's weird, whenever I try to remember what happened before I woke up, it's like my brain's being stabbed by a knife. Are you having any luck, Nate?"

Nate shook his head. "Somewhat. All I can recall is you greeting Alastor and Zilla in the morning, but after that, it's all a blank."

"Speaking of them, do you think they're alright?"

"I have no idea. This place looks deserted, plus the second floor is ruined, so I doubt they'll be anywhere around here. Still, the best course of action is to look for any remaining…" Nate trailed off.

"Remaining people?"

Nate looked grim. "Well yes, and while I don't mean to be dark, the best word here would be… survivors."

Klod felt the blood drain from his face. He understood his friend's hesitation. Just because they were alive… didn't mean anyone else was. Them being alive was a miracle. Since they were one of the few ground-floor rooms that weren't crushed.

“Wait.”

"I see you finally noticed." Nate continued. "It’s exactly as you think. Since we weren't crushed, that would mean Alastor and Zilla's rooms might still be intact."

"Um…yeah." Klod was shocked. It was if Nate read his mind.

Klod knew Nate was keen before, but this was on a different level. What was the most different, however, was his eyes. They didn't look animalistic but didn't look human either. It was somewhere of a mix instead, of human and animal. And every time Nate stared at him, Klod couldn't help but feel exposed, like his soul was being examined.

It would be a lie if he said it didn't give him the creeps.

"You alright?"

Klod realized he was staring and looked away. "Yeah. My bad. Zoned out for a bit there. Let's go ahead and check out their rooms."

They weren't yet outside as they were standing in the doorway. Still separate from the reality of what had taken place.

"Well, you know what they say." Klod getsured to Nate. "Pets first."

Nate gave him a dry look and proceeded to take the first step outside, with Klod following along.

Usually, to on the second floor, people would have to take the stairs on the south side of the building. But that wasn't possible with the stairs blocked by debris. They needed to look for another way up. Or at least they would have needed to. If there wasn't a convenient and accessible ramp; made from the fallen debris. Huh, he thought. Maybe this whole apocalypse thing is changing my luck for the bet-!

"Woah!" Klod slipped on something underneath his foot causing him to fall. And barely escaped faceplanting by catching himself on Nate.

"Be careful."

Agitated, he said. "Yea you're telling me."

Klod knew something would happen, but that soon? Really God? You couldn't have waited? For like five minutes? "Can't wait for what else you have in store for me today."

Once reaching the top of the ramp Nate spoke. "Quit mumbling to yourself over there and open the door for me, will you?"

"Yes, master."

Nate rolled his eyes, which again was odd for Klod to see. "Very funny, but hurry up, will you? I would rather not be outside longer than we need to be."

He reached the door and opened it

"You and me both. The atmosphere out here's hella creepy and depressing."

"Well yeah… there's that, but I'm getting a sense of danger. Someone's close… or rather I should say something's close."

A sharp chill crept along Klod's back, the breeze biting into him. How many times would that happen today?

"Ok, hurry on inside then because I prefer to keep my heart beating, and you standing outside is not gonna help that." For being all cautious and talking about danger nearing them. Nate liked standing outside and giving foreboding warnings.

Finally entering, Klod shut the door tight and locked it. "It's kinda odd."

"What is?" Nate asked him.

"Well, I'm a little surprised that the door wasn't locked. Considering what happened outside."

"Uh Klod, I don't know about you. But I assume most people wouldn't take the time of day to lock the door behind them. If they were trying to get away from whatever happened outside."

That was a good point, but still, Klod felt like Alastor would be one to lock the door behind him. Even in that situation.

Taking a look around, Klod noticed everything seemed a little, too neat. He felt like considering what happened outside, one would be in a rush to pack and get the hell out of this place. Which hinted at Alastor never packing up and leaving his room. Again, making it odd that his door wasn't locked. Klod kept this information to himself, thinking it didn't make much difference. Either way, Alastor must have left since there were no signs of him being here.

Actually, and while this was a side note. Klod couldn't help but realize this was his first time inside Alastor's room. Though Klod had known him for quite some time. Although he supposed it didn't beyond occasional greetings. Or getting involved in arguments between Zilla and him. So it wasn't surprising that Klod hadn't seen the inside of his room. Although, what was surprising was the interior of his room.

A bookshelf was pressed against the wall opposite of the doorway. On the wall to the left, the bathroom doorway and a wooden desk stood between the entrance and back wall. With the bathroom door closer to the back wall and the desk closer to the entrance. Alastor's bed was on the right of the bookshelf. In the corner of the room. A small window was above his bed, that looked at the backstreets behind the motel. He had a dresser pressed against the wall; which was between his bed and bookshelf. And finally, a small table stood in the center of the room. All things considered, it felt crowded with how small the rooms in this motel were.

Disregarding the strange fact of the room being neat. What shocked him the most was that it looked like a museum.

A black and white picture hung over a desk with a younger-looking Alastor posing next to a motorwagen. Sure Klod knew Alastor was older. Likely somewhere in his mid-seventies. But Klod was pretty sure Alastor wasn't alive back in 1876. Most motorwagens, if not put on display to boast, by some rich person. Were kept inside museums. So the question was, how the hell did Alastor get his hands on one? On top of that, the photo looked old. It was in black and white. Plus the edges of the picture were starting to fade from age.

Another interesting sight was on the wall above his bed. Where a rusty katana crossed with a musket hung. On the desk, a piece of paper lay next to a jar of ink. With a white feather stationed inside it.

"This is… interesting," Nate said.

"Yeah, I won't lie, I didn't exactly see him being a… um, what would you call this? A collector?"

"Well, whatever he is doesn't matter right now since he isn't here." Nate walked over to the table. "Looks like he was in the middle of writing something but." He squinted "I'm not able to read this language."

"Since when could you read different languages? No, wait, time out. How can you read?"

"Believe it or not, all dogs from birth can understand any language and are able to read. How do you think we understand humans no matter what language y'all speak?"

"Ok then, if that's the case, why are some dogs disobedient? And knowing all languages from birth seems like a bit of a stretch to me."

"Simple, it's because most, if not all dogs, are dyslexic but with human speech. Human words are mumbled and jarred to us. It takes some dogs years for them to decipher y'all's gibberish into actual words."

Klod sat at the desk while Nate hopped on the bed to lie down. Klod was skeptical but couldn't deny the new profound interest he'd taken in this topic. Nate continued to speak, which again was still super weird.

"Some dogs are better at understanding humans than others though. Because of their past life's memories being much clearer than other dogs."

"Woah, hold up, past lives? Like in reincarnation?"

Nate went poker-faced and simply replied. "Yes, reincarnation Klod, it exists."

"Wait does that mean-"

"Before you ask, no I don't know if humans reincarnate, but I have a hunch that you guys don't."

"What about you then? You seemed to pick up on things I told you to do pretty fast. Is that because of your past lives?"

"Yeah, pretty much, but I wasn't always that way. I was originally a street dog, and from some harsh experiences, I've been through. It triggered my past memories to come flowing back so I could survive. This is also why street dogs are typically smarter than others. But now, ever since I woke up this morning. I can remember everything from every one of my lives. Your words aren't jumbled together anymore. And understanding and addressing the situation is so much easier than before. Whatever happened to me made things brighter. Like if the fog finally cleared, making the world visible to me."

That was a lot of information Klod heard, and it would take a while to digest it. So he focused on the easiest to understand and asked about that. "I didn't know you were a street dog?"

Nate gave him a, really? That's your question. Look in response but still answered. "Yeah, I was since birth. My m-" Nate jolted up, his ears perched in alarm.

"Wha-"

"Hide."

Klod understood from Nate's face that danger was approaching and approaching fast. "Got it. We can both fit under the bed if we squeeze a bit."

"Sounds good, but let's hurry because whatever's coming isn't hu-"

A boom sounded off below them, followed by a screech. "Let me guess, human?" Klod said.

Nate nodded. "And I don't think a locked door is gonna stop it from coming in."

Thump! A shockwave shook the room.

"What was that?!"

"Well, if I were to guess. It jumped up here from the ground floor. So hurry up and get under here!" Nate had made himself comfortable under the bed and scooted over to make room for Klod.

"Alright, I'm coming, but that's insane. What's out there?"

"Don't know, but no more talking."

Klod shut his mouth and silence filled the room. Any sound came from the footsteps of the creature outside. Then it stopped. Well, at least he thought it stopped because Klod couldn't hear any more footsteps. A minute passed, which changed into five, and then turned into ten. Klod spoke up.

"Why'd it st-"

BOOM!

The door came flying towards the wall and made a loud smacking sound. Chips of wood flew everywhere. Klod covered his mouth. Focusing on keeping his breathing even.

The creature took a step forward and stepped on the remains of the Egyptian statue that had split in two. Its feet were dark and clawed, its skin looked scaly. The creature sniffed the room and stopped at the bed. Klod and Nate looked at each other, preparing for the worst.

Nate froze, his eyes fixated on something behind Klod.

Klod slowly turned back his head. And rather than Alastor's room, was greeted by the face of an ugly and terrifying monster. Their huge eyes were a solid golden color and were staring at him like he was a five-course meal. Klod's brain stopped working, and apparently, his mouth did too. Because what came next is something he doesn't think any of them would have seen coming.

"Excuse me, but I would just like to say that you have lovely eyes." The beast screeched in response.

"Rude, you could have at least said thank you," Nate commented.

Then it flipped the bed over.