“Hey, Rock, stay. Stay.” The old man shouted from a distance. Rock did not move from his place, but his hostile eyes were still staring into my eyes.

“She is Casey.” He said, pointing towards me. “Casey, this is my homemate, Rock.” He said to me while pointing towards his dog. Then, to my fear, he motioned for Rock to come near me. Rock followed his command and did so while showing me his sharp canine teeth, which were whiter than Thomas’s teeth.

“Rock easy, easy. She is a friend. It’s alright. Easy Rock Easy.” The old man said while standing between me and Rock.

Rock growled. The old man grabbed my hand and brought it near the dog, but not very close. “Easy Rock, Easy.”

Rock began to sniff me suspiciously, like I was there to murder him and his old owner. But after some seconds, he calmed down and did not growl at me anymore.

“Go ahead and pet him, but slowly.”

I did as he told me. Rock was still eyeing me suspiciously but seemed to be not bothered by my presence any more.

“I will give you his treat to feed him; this way he would perceive you as neutral.”

Rock’s ear perked up upon hearing the word ‘Treat’. “Come inside.” Said the old man.

“Okay.” 

As I entered inside, I was greeted with a cloves smell. I looked around and saw a plant on a cabinet next to a window. The leaves or petals were of orange color at the center. Its green leaves were sparkling due to light coming from the window. There was a fireplace securely designed with stones, and above it on the wall there was taxidermy of deer heads.

On the other wall there was a television. Across the television there was a picture of a young boy in his school uniform; right next to it is another picture of the same boy in his college years with his friends and then another picture, in this he was grown, sitting in a park with a brown-haired toddler girl. The face, which I was more familiar with but met on mostly scheduled occasions.

“Are you missing him?”

I was pulled out of mixed thoughts and blurry memories by the old man’s voice. I was confused on what to say. “I don’t know.” I said while looking away from it and looking anywhere, excluding the old man and those pictures.

“You don’t talk much. Well, that is not much of a problem for me. Now sit down, there are some rules you should know before you start living with us under the same roof for your vacation.” He said while motioning for me to sit on the sofa.

I sat on the far side of the sofa he was sitting on and looked at him.

“Do not enter the rooms of home, which I tell you not to enter.”

I nodded.

“Don’t laze around when you are free; work on your homework.”

“Don’t venture too deep into the woods. Going alone is not an option.”

He paused and looked outside. He said, “Let’s consider that you end up alone in a forest, a worst-case scenario. Even though it’s summer, your surroundings become foggy, and you hear a strange animal-like voice. You better run as fast as you can.”

He looked dead into my eyes and said, “Or hide in a place where no one can find you. Because once it finds you, we won’t even find your body.”