Free Loss, a paranormal thriller by Glen Krisch

started to solidify.   
    Bizzy's barking.  The firecracker snapping of twigs outside, so much like footsteps.  Stupidly chasing after the dog into the woods while coatless and high on Vicodin and liquor.  And resting on the fallen tree.  Knowing it was the last thing she would ever do.
    Her fingers toyed with the cuffs of her pajamas as they often would when she felt stressed.  Now, she had the urge to strip off the pajamas, to rip them clear from her body.  There was no way she had dressed herself.  She would've never even made it back to the house on her own; while in the woods she'd had no clue where she was, and she hadn't been in any condition to figure it out, either.
    Someone had brought her home.  Someone had stripped her naked.  Someone had dressed her and tucked her into bed.
    "Paul, if it's you, please... just let me know.  I don't know what's happening to me.  I don't know what to do without you."  She knew how unhinged her words sounded, both audibly and in context, but she couldn't help it.  She wanted it to be Paul, no matter the impossibility, because otherwise, the most obvious conclusions were so much worse.  Sitting heavily on the couch, she buried her face in her hands.  She sobbed silently, and focusing on the tears and the hitching in her chest seemed to take her away from the madness of the last several hours.
    The doorbell rang, sending a surge of adrenaline through Angie's system.  She guardedly approached the door, feeling like it would open up any moment and suck her into a endless chasm of darkness. 
    It wasn't too far from how she felt about most things lately.
    When she checked the window next to the door, she saw Nathan smiling a huge smile, a winter cap pulled over his ears.  After wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath, she opened the door.
    Before she could say anything, Bizzy leapt from Nathan's arms and into Angie's.  She was lucky not to drop the dog. 
    "Oh, my God!  You have no idea how worried I was!"  Angie couldn't help the flood of warm emotions washing over her as Bizzy squirmed in her arms. 
    "Look who I found wandering down the street.  What happened?  She's half-frozen."
    "She got out last night.  She went out to pee, and then she just took off on me."
    "That's not like Bizzy.  Not at night at least."
    "I know.  It's my fault.  I didn't put on her tether, and then she took off when she heard... I don't know what it was.  A squirrel or rabbit.  But she just ran and didn't listen when I called out to her."
    As Bizzy bathed Angie's chin with her tongue, Nathan went to the couch and grabbed a small lap quilt.  "Here, wrap her in this."
    "Thanks."  Angie bundled Bizzy until nothing showed but her twitching eyes and little nub of nose.
    "Late night, was it?" Nathan asked, glancing at the empty bottles.
    "No... just bad housekeeping."  Angie grabbed the bottles with her free hand and carried them to the kitchen.  She left them on the counter and when she turned to return to the great room, Nathan stood only about a foot away.
    "Are you sure?  I don't have to start worrying about you out here alone, do I?"
    "No.  I'm fine.  Really."  Angie, feeling apprehension over both Nathan's close proximity and his unannounced visit, pushed by him.  She came back out to the couch and sat down, unfolding the quilt to get a better look at Bizzy.  Though she was normally a nervous dog, she usually would have calmed down by now.  She was still twitching and panting, and Angie felt a terrible guilt knowing that Bizzy was struggling to get warm.
    "It's dumb luck I found her when I did," Nathan said and pulled off his skull cap and winter coat, making himself at home.  "I don't know how long she would've lasted out there in this weather.  You never know about this time of year.  We can have a snowstorm, or go around in shirtsleeves."  He went to the fireplace and grabbed an armload of logs from the rack next to the hearth, laying in a good pile.  After