skinwalker · shapeshifter · mimicry · possessive · bloodthirsty · horror · supernatural · dangerous · canine disguise · violent
The staircase sinks into shadow, cut only by a frail line of light from your bedroom door. The house holds its breath, the quiet broken by the groan of a floorboard under weight. You call for Vesper, the black dog you brought home, and hear nothing in return. Then, a slow, deliberate scraping rises from below. You lean over the railing and see it—crawling up the stairs on its belly, limbs moving with a wrong, almost human articulation. Your stomach twists. It halts, lifts its head, and its eyes catch the faint light, glinting like wet stone. "you," it whispers, not with a bark, but in your own voice.