Cookie

A grin lights up Gina’s face as she sees her best friend’s battered red Jeep come around the corner at the end of the street. She picks up her backpack and steps out of her ground floor apartment, locking the door behind her.

“Saraaaaaaa!” she squeals, rushing down the sidewalk to meet the Jeep. “It’s so good to see you! I can’t believe you’re still driving old Diablo around! Thank you so much for coming and picking me up.”

“Not a problem at all, girlie!” Sara beams as she throws Diablo into park and hops out of the Jeep to engulf Gina in a hug. “I wasn’t gonna let your lack of wheels put a damper on this trip! We’ve been trying to take a vacation together for years!”

“I know! This is gonna be so great. Can I put my bag in the hatch, or–”

“Yeah, that’s fine. We can chat on the way to the cabin. Do you mind riding in the back, though?”

Confusion furrows Gina’s brow, but before she can ask a question, a ball of black fur with flashing eyes and pointy white teeth throws itself against the inside of the driver’s door of the Jeep, barking bloody murder.

“Sorry,” Sara apologizes before turning to the furball. “I don’t go anywhere without my precious little Cookie here, now do I? No I don’t! Because you’re the sweetest and your cute little fuzzy face just makes me feel so much better about life.” Sara continues speaking baby-talk to the furball, which stops barking and settles down in response, revealing itself to be a Pomeranian dog. Gina winces involuntarily, then tries to rearrange her features into an understanding smile.

“Oh! Of course,” Gina replies. “Can’t go on vacation without your emotional support dog.” She goes around to Diablo’s hatch to stow her backpack and try to pull herself together. Gina has always been more of a cat person than a dog person, and she has no love for small yappy dogs like Pomeranians. She’s known about Cookie for years, and has even met the dog a few times before, but the two of them are about as compatible as oil and water.

“She had to bring the dog,” Gina mutters, hoping Sara can’t hear her. This trip was supposed to be just the two of them, Gina and Sara, reunited for a whole week after spending years apart after high school to get their degrees and start their careers. She’s made plans for them to go hiking and rock climbing and zip-lining and visit at least half a dozen wineries while they stay in a cabin in Hocking Hills, but Cookie’s presence could ruin all of it.

“Hey, Gina, it’s okay! Cookie’s contained now,” Sara calls, cutting Gina’s self-pity party short. “Get in! The sooner we get to the cabin, the sooner the fun begins!”

“What are you talking about?” Gina replies, forcing a smile and trying to recall the enthusiasm that fled in the face of the dog. “We’ve always enjoyed road tripping together. What tunes have you got for the drive down?”

“Ooooooo I put together a new playlist on Spotify just for this! You’re gonna love it.” Both young women hop into the Jeep, and then they’re on their way for their long-anticipated vacation.

To Gina’s relief, the drive from Akron to Hocking Hills feels just like old times between her and Sarah. Sure, Cookie periodically growls at Gina from her princess perch in the shotgun seat and gives her the evil eye, but other than that, she and Sarah are talking and laughing and singing along with the playlist blasting through Diablo’s speakers, catching up on each other’s lives. Maybe this trip will turn out all right after all, Gina finds herself thinking, as long as that glorified fluffy rat behaves.

“Hey, do you wanna cook together while we’re down here?” Sara asks as they approach Logan, the last town they’ll see on the way to the cabin. “The place has an equipped kitchen, according to the Vrbo page.”

“Sure, yeah, that sounds like a good time. What do you want to make?” Gina answers as Sara swings the jeep into the Wal*Mart parking lot.

“Nachos, for sure! And we should get stuff for breakfasts, and sandwich stuff…Come on, Cookie! Do you wanna go for a walk?!”

Cookie yaps happily in reply and leaps into Sara’s lap as Sara parks the Jeep.

“Will the store let you bring her in?” Gina worries as Sara puts Cookie into her harness and leash.

“They’re going to have to. She’s my emotional support dog,” Sara responds firmly, getting out of the car. Gina follows suit. “She saved my life, you know.”

Gina nods but says nothing as they start to walk towards the store. College was really hard on Sara, and she’s suffered a lot from depression and anxiety in the past few years. She swears that Cookie helps her a lot, but Gina has a hard time believing that Cookie is helpful to anyone under any circumstances.

“Do you have any thoughts about what to cook?” Sara asks, seemingly oblivious to Gina’s dog-related angst.

“Um…. I want to make sure we can make salads. Try to keep at least a little bit of my diet going.”

“Pshhhhh. Girl, you’re on vacation. It’s time to live, not eat rabbit food! Isn’t that right, Cookie?”

“Nice dog ya got there,” the Wal*Mart greeter compliments, interrupting their conversation. Gina darts a glance his way and then immediately looks at the floor, unsettled by the greeter’s appearance. His eyes are wide-set to the point of looking unnatural and so pale she wonders whether he might be blind. His hands are gnarled with skin like tree bark, and his lower jaw juts forward with an impressive underbite. What few teeth he has remaining are black and yellow with decay and erupt from inflamed gums.

“She is, isn’t she?” Sara gushes, looking at Cookie with loving pride. “Cookie, say hello to the nice man.”

Gina has never known Cookie to say hello to anyone other than Sara, but to her surprise, the black Pomeranian trots right up to the greeter, sniffs his hand, and then licks it.

“Wow. She really likes you,” Gina murmurs.

“Heh. Always had a way with beasts,” the man leers. “Y’all have a good day now. Welcome to Wal*Mart!” As they nod and walk into the store, he cackles as though he’s just heard some hilarious joke for a few seconds before breaking off into deep, hacking coughs. Gina wonders about trying to get him something to drink, but Sara and Cookie are already ahead of her in the grocery section, and she doesn’t want to lose them in this Wal*Mart. Her cell phone is nearly dead and isn’t getting good reception in this part of the state; she can’t afford to be lost.

Fortunately for Gina’s nerves, she and Sara quickly find all the provisions they need for their week away from home and even some treats and a new toy for Cookie. The dog seems mollified by this offering and doesn’t growl at Gina for the entire car ride from the store to their cabin, which should have taken 20 minutes but instead takes an hour because they lost GPS signal and neither Sara nor Gina is great at reading paper maps.

“Finally!” Sara sighs as she parks Diablo next to the cabin. “Do you have the check-in code for the lock panel?”

“Yeah, I wrote it on my hand back when I had cell signal,” Gina replies. “I’ll get the place unlocked if you wanna get Cookie situated? I bet she has to go potty.”

“For sure, and she’ll want to explore the area, too. Can you handle unloading?”

“Yeah, I got it.” Gina types in the door code, 7734, and the door beeps and clicks open. While Sara takes Cookie around the cabin, letting the dog sniff around to her heart’s content, Gina double-checks that everything in the cabin is up to standard and carries their bags and groceries inside. She has all the food unloaded into the fridge and has claimed one of the queen beds in the loft as her own by the time Sara and Cookie come inside.

“Wow! This place is really nice!” Sara exclaims, her voice echoing off the vaulted wood ceilings. The main floor is an open concept living room-kitchen combination with large windows and a sliding glass door onto a deck. A narrow staircase leads up to the loft, where Gina peeks down at Sara from her bed.

“Yeah it is. Perfect for us for the week,” Gina agrees. “Did you find anything interesting on your walk?”

“We have a hot tub out back! Not that it matters in this heat. I’m glad the cabin is air conditioned. Do you know where the bathroom is?”

“On your left, under the stairs. I brought your bag up here, if you need anything?”

“Nah, I’m good. Just getting my bearings. I can’t believe it’s already 5:30pm! What do you say we order in some pizza and watch some movies tonight?”

“Yeah, that’s fine with me. Pepperoni and mushroom?”

“Girl, you know me so well! If you get that ordered, I’ll figure out how to get Netflix on this TV.”

“Wi-fi password for the cabin is in the notebook on the coffee table.” Gina is already tapping away on her phone to order pizza from a local place. Sara starts fiddling with the TV, which comes to life with a snap and a hiss of static. A bit more fiddling allows her to sign into Netflix, and by the time the pizza arrives, the two young women have settled into rewatching season 2 of Supernatural. Cookie sits between them on the couch, nibbling on her treats and bits of pizza crust that Sara slips her from time to time.

Before either of them know it, the clock on the microwave in the kitchen tells them it’s past midnight.

“We should probably go to bed, if we’re going to make it for our kayaking trip in the morning,” Gina yawns.

“Yeah, I guess. I’ll just take Cookie out real quick,” Sara answers.

“Make sure you lock the door when you come back in.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.” Sara takes Cookie outside while Gina gets ready for bed, double-checking that all the windows and the sliding door are locked and that the porch lights are turned on. She’s not sure whether being near Cookie has her on edge or whether watching a spooky show after dark was a mistake, but she feels very uneasy. Outside, a full moon glows over the trees, creating sharp, stark shadows and silvering the grass and foliage. Gina shivers involuntarily and pulls the shades down over the skylights in the loft to make it dark and cozy. She’s snuggled into bed when she hears the door downstairs creak open.

“Good girl, Cookie! Now you can have the whole couch to yourself. Be a good guard dog, okay?” Sara whispers. Cookie yips in reply. “That’s my girl.”

Sara makes her way into the loft without turning on any lights, for which Gina is grateful. She’s surprised that Cookie doesn’t sleep in Sara’s bed with her, but she’s definitely not mad about having a finicky, yappy dog on the main level in case something goes wrong. Try as she might, she can’t shake the feeling that something is off.

As they lie in bed, tree branches blown by the wind scrape the cabin roof, creating unsettling noises that keep Gina awake. Something crashes against the cabin wall, followed by a sizzling snap. Cookie starts whining and growling and then barking.

“Cookie? Cookie, baby, what’s wrong?” Sara calls. The growling and barking continues, louder and louder. Before Gina can move, Sara is out of bed. She flips the light switch, but nothing happens. “Damn, power must have gone out.”

“Hate that for us,” Gina replies, sitting up in bed. Her heart is in her throat and goosebumps prickle her arms. The barking and growling has gotten deeper and more ferocious, sounding more like a wild animal than a lapdog.

Gina and Sara both fumble for their phones. At the same time, they get their phone flashlights on and pointed into the main living area.

A massive black silhouette fills the space below, all but blocking the light from the windows with inky darkness. Glowing red eyes illuminate a spiky, doglike head in the midst of the shadowy creature, level with the loft. Gina shrieks.

“COOKIE?! COOKIE WHERE ARE YOU?!” Sara cries, then starts sprinting down the stairs. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH COOKIE, YOU MONSTER?! GIVE HER BACK–”

The silhouette roars a deafening, screeching noise that cuts  Sara off and makes Gina’s ears ring. Its immense form shakes violently and seems to swell. Gina presses herself against the headboard of the bed, wishing she could phase through the wall to get away.

“It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream,” she tries to tell herself, but no amount of pinching her arms or slapping her face makes the shaking, swelling, red-eyed creature disappear or makes Sarah stop shouting for the monster to return Cookie. Gina tries to dial 9-1-1 on her phone, but there’s no service. The call won’t go through.  They’re alone with the beast.

“Sara?” Gina calls, her voice quavering.

With the whooshing roar of a waterfall, the silhouette bursts, scattering bits of blackness everywhere. The buzzing whine of thousands of insects fills the cabin. Gina and Sara both scream, but their voices are drowned out by the rattling of insect wings and jaws. They fill the air, cover the walls, coat the ceiling. Gina screams and flails, slapping at them with the frantic energy of a woman possessed, but still the insects latch onto her skin, biting and stinging and chewing, making her feel like her blood is boiling and weighing her down until she can’t get away, can’t smack at them, can’t move at all. She falls to the floor, and as she shrieks, more of them fly into her throat, stifling her cries.

Two days later, a black Pomeranian dog walks alone into the Logan Wal*Mart and approaches the elderly greeter. A gnarled hand affectionately pets the dog’s head.

“Welcome back, Cookie,” he smiles. “Another job well done.”