AN: triger warning for attempted sexual assault. 

Ella was starting to settle at Deer-view house. The repairs on the inside took a few weeks to really get a grasp on. Thankfully damp was very superficial and easily treated. The wood fixtures hadn’t rotted and there weren’t any termites. After some sanding down, varnish and polish, the place was looking rather good. Ella did the bulk of any work that required her to be on the outside of the house or making trips to town during the morning and very early afternoon. Heavy lifting tasks in the house she did in the evening, bar anything that produced fumes like the varnishing. That she did first thing in the morning so she could have the windows open…safely…

Part of her started to wonder if she’d been hit on the head during the attack and imagined the rabbit eared furry devil. The only thing that stopped her from rationalising away her experience, was the scar on her left. Ella sat by the new vanity table in her bedroom as she brushed her curly black hair and couldn’t help but find her gaze fixating on it. The wound was fully healed but she was forever scared. Her fingertips traced the smooth ridges of the bite mark. It was a made by a full set of sharp teeth. Not two puncture marks like a vampire or snake bite.

The sound of thumping got her attention and Ella looked down to see Leo. The silver lining in all of this (apart from her future promotion and being a step closer to her dream of owning a hotel), was the rabbit. On her most recent trip to the library she had discovered that Leo was a Lionhead rabbit. He was large for his breed and definitely not a wild breed you’d find out in Cloosh Valley forest. Ella was sure from how docile he was that he had to have been someone’s pet but either got lost or was abandoned. Two weeks of living with her made Ella view Leo as her rabbit now. Her last rabbit, Lopsy, had been her childhood best friend. She adored that English lop. Yet Leo? He was so affectionate! He had to have been a house rabbit at some point. He was comfortable hopping around various surfaces to follow her around as she renovated the house. Ella would have to look down and make sure he wasn’t circling her feet to get her attention when she moved from room to room.

Even her parents awed and cooed over the little guy. Video calls usually requested Leo’s appearance and the rabbit was happy to curl up and be stroked along the curve of his back. He would purr while Ella talked to her Mother about how the repairs were coming along. Leo would hop up onto the chair and then the kitchen table to eat his dinner while she had hers. Very quickly he stopped accepting food on the floor and would thump his back feet until Ella got the message, and put his plate beside hers. He’s an odd little bunny, but so cute.

One month passed in total and the weather was turning cold. Autumn had arrived and with that came reduced daylight hours. This was evident as sunset was getting earlier and earlier. On this particular Tuesday afternoon Ella was particularly anxious. Deer-view was no where near the mains electric supply grid, and so a generator was needed along with the rewiring. That took a massive bite our of her budget. Getting vital electricity into the old pace was a big job that no one in Gleann Caillte seemed willing to do. In fact, Ella had done all internal repairs herself so far, as no tradesman or woman would come and so any work on the house. This also gave credence to the fact they knew something about the place she didn’t. Thankfully she found a company that would send someone out to install a generator. They came, they parked it to the left of the house, and drove off. No muss no fuss. Re-wiring the house though? That was the big job. Ella found a second company who sent out a pair of electricians to wire up the place. Understandably, it would take them a week from start to finish to rewire Deer-View House.

Unfortunately, the one of the two men the company sent was a real pig. Finley and Drew Gideon were their names. Brothers and work partners. Finely was the younger brother and had lovely manners. He greeted her with a smile and worked diligently. Drew though? He had other…priorities…

“-out here all on your own? No man to protect you and keep you warm at night?” Ella grit her teeth and refused to lose her temper with the guy. He was late 30s, clearly a frequent visitor to his local gym from the thickness of his arms and legs, and his quiff of brown hair was immaculate. He was probably attractive to quite a lot of women. He likely didn’t have much experience of being rejected. This was probably why he wasn’t getting the hint on day 7 that Ella wasn’t interested.

“No actually I have Leo.” Ella smiled politely and shoved her hands in her trusty dungaree pockets. She wore it over a brown turtleneck jumper and her black curly hair was tied back in a scrunchie.

Thump thump thump.

Ella smiled and looked down to see the lionhead rabbit hop quickly across the living room to sit beside her. It’s like he thinks he’s a guard dog. So cute. Ella reached down and picked Leo up to hold and stroke his back. “He’s all the man I need, thanks.”

“Why, you swing the other way or something?” Ella’s eyes widened and she bit her tongue as to not swear the guy out. One, that would be none of your business. Two, you’re not God’s gift to women so the only reason I wouldn’t want you is if I was gay. Three, take a hint and go the hell away.

“Are you nearly done?” She answered tactfully and looked outside. It was 4:45pm. It was…getting dark.

“Why? Got a date with your bunny?”

“He’s not a bunny he’s a Lionhead rabbit.” Ella grumbled and hated the smarmy grin on his face. He enjoyed the idea that he’d got under her skin, clearly.

“We should be in the next hour Miss Murphy.” Finley answered her politely as he went to the front door. “We’ll just need to check the generator is working and that the fuse box protects the house wiring well enough.”

The brothers shared a significant look, though Ella didn't catch it. It spoke of an unspoken agreement and both wore a cruel smile. 

“Oh okay.” Ella’s relief was short lived. Finley unlocked and opened the front door. He left it open. She took a nervous step towards rectifying this, but Drew moved to stand in the doorway. Oh no. She marched over to the living room window and looked out to the darkening forest. The sun was definitely setting. Shadows were darkening between the treeline surrounding the house and stretching into the clearing. Oh no no no no. Leo started to wriggle and she let him jump down from her arms. She paid no mind to the black rabbit calmly hopping out the open front door. He did that. Coming and going. He always came back the following morning whenever he decided to go into the forest. Ella entertained herself by asking him if he had a rabbit wife waiting for him at home and if she was the other woman. Leo would honk and Ella would laugh.

Right now though, nothing about this situation was funny.

Her front door was open. Not just unlocked, but wide open. Drew was barking instructions at Finley as they worked on the generator. They were doing their jobs…but…

“Hey guys, why don’t you call it a day and come back tomorrow?” Ella tried to suggest and didn’t realise she was holding the side of her neck over her bite mark nervously. “It’s getting pretty late.”

“We’re nearly done.” Drew absently dismissed that idea and didn’t look away from his brother.

Ella paced back and forth in the living room. I’m not alone though, so the monster wouldn’t just turn up again, would it? She returned to looking anxiously out the living room window…and saw them. Two yellow eyes with black triangular slits for pupils. Oh shit!

“No, guys, you need to come inside. Right now.” Drew turned to stare at Ella’s worried expression. Drew drew his own conclusion as to what was up with the blue eyed client.

“Alright.” He smirked and leaned out of the doorway. “Finley, you can do the rest right?”

“Sure why?” Finley shouted from around the corner.

“Knock before you come in.” Drew smirked and closed the door behind him. Ella tried to go around him to reach for the key in the door and turn it, but Drew side stepped to block it. Her hand connected with his upper abdomen instead briefly, before she yanked it back. Ella was still panicking. She knew first hand that a closed door was not safer than an open one. Only a locked door would protect them from the monster lurking in the forest.

“We need to lock the door. If your brother won’t come inside then we need to-what are you doing?” Drew started to unbutton his work shirt and stalked towards her. Ella blinked and then realised what he thought was going on. “No I wasn’t coming onto you.” Both her hands were raised in surrender. “I didn’t ask you to come inside to get frisky. There’s something out there that-”

“Relax.” Drew chuckled. “I get this all the time. Hot single women who are lonely and just need a littl’ company. Don’t worry. You’ll sleep well tonight.” He shrugged his shirt off and chucked it over the new brown leather sofa. “I know what I’m doing.”

“No you bloody don’t!” Ella screeched and bolted around the other side of the sofa to stay away from him. Drew was certainly muscular. He looked like he belonged in a wrestling ring. “No. I do not give consent! Get out of my house!” Ella’s alarm hit through the roof. She was no longer focused on the yellow eyed creature outside the house. She was focused on the half dressed electrician that didn’t seem to think he wasn’t getting laid tonight. He was instead unbuckling his belt and grinning as he confidently followed her around the living room.

“Relax. You’ll be cuming three sides of Sunday in no time. I know how to handle a lady.”

“Fuck off!” Ella screamed instinctively ran for the only exit from this horror show.

The front door.

In her white vision panic, she didn’t think to run for the stairs and try and get to her bedroom in time, to lock it before Drew could chase after her. Oh no. Instead she went to the front door. Her hand gripped the doorhandle and she pulled it wide open.

“Hang on.” Drew chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist. Her feet were lifting off the floor as he hugged her to his chest and started to drag her back into the house.

Ella screamed.

Then Drew saw what she was screaming at, and also screamed.

The creature stood on the porch. Black as night and with wild black fur. Upswept goat horns and rabbit ears. Sharp nails flared by its sides. Tall and oppressive with gleaming yellow eyes. Black slit pupils locked onto Drew’s grip on Ella and narrowed. The beast eerily raised it’s head up and a devilish grin grew to reveal sharp white teeth.

“Lu-cky lu-cky.” He sang and took one menacing step across the threshold. Drew dragged them both backwards and Ella’s eyes were wide. The monster was back and it was once again inside her house. “Just when I was getting hungry again? Here I find a very fortunate snack.”