Later, after arriving home, Kyra wondered what had bitten the man in the dumpster. A wolf? A coyote? Maybe even a cougar? But what would any of those animals be doing in the city? Was it possible a human had done it? But how?

The thought of someone being able to do that to another person gave her chills. She really wished that she had had her boyfriend stay with her for a few hours so she wouldn’t be alone in her apartment; especially not so close to where the attack happened, the alleyway being only a few blocks from her house. What if it was another person who had done it? What if they were still close by and thought Kyra had seen something that would lead the police to them? What if they just thought she would be another convenient target? So many questions whirled through her head. She heated up some milk to make hot chocolate. Maybe something warm and some melatonin would help her calm down and let her relax enough to feel tired, not that chocolate would help really.

After the milk had been warmed in the microwave and chocolate added, she snuggled into a fuzzy blanket on her threadbare couch. Old worn it might have been, her couch was still super comfortable and she had fallen asleep watching a movie on it many a night. She hoped tonight would be similar. Kyle always tried to tell her that chocolate before bed would give her nightmares, but it never did. She turned on the TV and switched it to Roku so that she could watch Netflix. Maybe a Disney movie would be the best movie for a night like this, she thought. She selected a classic, Aristocats, and settled deeper into the couch, sipping her hot chocolate.

A few hours later, she woke up feeling rested. It was only three in the morning though. She wondered what had woken her. She looked around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She decided to check her phone. Ah, a text message. It was an apology from one of her friends that had ditched her at the party. Apparently, Colton’s party had been as lame as she thought. Marissa, her friend, reported that there had only been like 10 people there and all they had done was stand around and drink. Colton, drunk out of his mind, had tried to kiss Kelsey, another one of her friends, and Kelsey had slapped him and flipped him over her shoulder and that ended the party. Kyra smiled, Kelsey’s self-defense classes had done some good after all. Kyra didn’t think the teacher had meant for the moves to be used quite like that, but whatever worked.

She sent a reply, letting Marissa know that it was alright and kudos to Kelsey. Still smiling, she got up off the couch and went to go back to sleep in her own bed. She still wished that she wasn’t totally alone though. Maybe she should move in with someone else or get a dog or something so that her apartment wouldn’t feel so creepy. The dog idea sounded awesome. She drifted off as thoughts of what kind of dog floated through her thoughts.