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The previous night
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Why did that dog have to run off? And at night?
“Arley!” It must have been the hundreth time she’d called his name. She swore when they got home she was going to put nano-crystals in that dog. Teach it some obedience. It worked for the Thurn’s mules. Who cared if the tech messed with the dog’s free-will and personality—he wouldn’t run off like this anymore. And she wouldn’t have to be out so late following dog tracks out in the middle of nowhere. The dog had ruined her chance to be with Jamus.
“Aaaarleeey!” Alana Jans put some sadness into that one. Maybe he would feel bad and stop hiding. Her parents would kill her if they knew she was this far out chasing after that dog. But not before she killed that dog!
She looked back toward Brunning. The town was only a glow cast against the distant canyon walls. She really was too far out. Arley had never run off this far before. The thought finally crept into her mind that something wasn’t right. “Aaaarleeeeeeeey! Please!”
The ground still held some of the day’s heat, but the air was cooling in the dark and the scrub plants were emerging from their stalks. She pulled her jacket tight around her, but it was designed to wick away heat not conserve it. She swept her palm light across the hard dirt, hoping to find some more tracks in the sandy dust. If her parents didn’t kill her for running off so far, they would if they found out she took tech without permission. The power levels in the light showed ten percent. She should have grabbed a light that had soaked up more solar power. “Aaaarleeeey!”
A whimper stilled her voice and stopped her cold. A weak wind blew about and she made sure she wasn’t hearing things. There! The whimper came again—weak, but close, behind a mound of stones. On the other side lay her dog. It whimpered when she shone the light on it. White yarn-like strings covered the lower half of the dog like a net, holding it down as it struggled.
She stifled her gasp and quickly shut off the light. She knew those strings. Her parents still talked about them and it terrified her. She knew what was coming. And she knew loud sounds and unnatural light would attract unwanted attention. Erimia’s purple moon cast a weird light in the night, but it would be enough. She knelt next to the dog and cut at the snare with a small knife. Luckily only some of the string mesh was viscous and she used a rock to avoid getting any on her hands. She cleared the last of it and the dog sprang up and licked her face. “Arley, you stupid dog.” She hugged Arley, more to calm the dog down than for affection. She needed to leave and quick.
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She set off at a run with Arley dashing ahead. Ten paces later she realized she’d left the light back where she found Arley. She couldn’t go home without it and there would be no way to explain the missing tech without telling her parents why she sneaked out. Her parents knew she and Jamus were close, but they preferred Jamus be with her when adults were around. Families were part of the Brunning plan. Planned, organized families. She turned back with a grimace. Arley stopped and sat down, a stupid confused look visible even in faint moonlight. Nano-crystals for sure, that dog caused too much grief.
The light sat right where she left it when she cut Arley free. Not even slowing, she grabbed it and turned back towards the glow of Brunning. Arley sat in the same spot in the distance. She drew near and the dog jumped up, growling and hackles raised.
“Shut up, Arley. Go home!” she half-whispered, half-yelled. The dog only barked harder, more frantic. With a yelp the barking stopped short. Arley fell to the ground, silent.
“Arley!” She ran to the dog, tried to lift it. Only half came up, the back half still on the ground. She screamed and dropped Arley’s limp front half and ran. Stumbling over the uneven ground and scrub stalks, she frantically wiped her blood-coated hands on her pants, her jacket, anywhere to get the blood off. Tears blurred her vision and wiping them away, she smeared blood on her face. What’d happened? Apart from the webs trapping Arley, she hadn’t seen anything. What killed Arley?
In the moonlight she began to see things. A movement there to her side, something on her other side. Was it real or in her mind? She didn’t care. She had to get home. The faint glow from the few lights still on in Brunning called to her. That was real, that was safe.
Breathing became hard in the brisk night air. Crying didn’t help, only slowed her, but she couldn’t stop. She choked on her snot and tears. She choked on blood. Blood? So much blood. She fell to her knees. She touched her throat, felt the deep slice across it. What happened? Air. No air. No breath. The Brunning lights beckoned her home, but she no longer saw them or the figure standing over her.
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