Free Prey by Stefan Petrucha

said.
    I’ll bet you did.
    She looked at Chelsea. “But he wouldn’t. Not without you.”
    Chelsea couldn’t help but smile a little.
    â€œYou think that’s cool, don’t you? You shouldn’t be so selfish. Just because you can’t bring yourself to go because you’re too afraid of being raped and mutilateddoesn’t mean you should hold him back. Is that fair?” Penny said.
    â€œPenny!” Darlene said again.
    Chelsea winced, not just because the words brought the image to mind, but also because Penny was right. Derek was dying to go, but he wouldn’t go without her.
    Just as Chelsea was achieving a whole new level of feeling bad, Derek walked up. “L. C.!” he said. “I’ve been emailing, IM’ing, text messaging, and calling your cell. I was thinking of actually writing you a letter. Why’ve you been blowing me off? You leaving me for the lizard?”
    She walked up to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him a big kiss. From somewhere behind her, she could hear Penny huff in disapproval.
    Derek smiled. His eyes actually wobbled a bit from pleasure. “Okay, I forgive you.” But as he focused on her face, he knitted his brow. “You okay?”
    â€œCan I talk to you in private?” Chelsea whispered.
    He nodded, so she led him off to a quiet corner of the cafeteria.
    At first she spoke in halting tones, but then, as she told him everything she’d been through, she spoke faster and faster, until finally she was making one verylong sentence connected occasionally by the word and .
    When she got to what he considered the most interesting part, he couldn’t keep from bursting into a grin.
    â€œSo you think it actually ate a dog? Wicked!”
    â€œShh!” she said. “This is so serious! How can you laugh? It’s horrible!”
    But the fact was, she wished she could laugh too. Then she might be able to do something about it herself. Maybe that was why she stayed with Derek. So many things that seemed awful to her struck him as laughable. It was a strength.
    â€œCome on, L. C., it is funny! It’s probably just a twig or something, like you said.”
    She sighed. “I have to go back to see, to make sure. Come with?”
    He didn’t hesitate. “You bet! I’m done with my tests and my car is outside. We can go right now.”
    At first she thought he was just being an amazing boyfriend, but then she realized he was really excited about seeing the cool lizard that ate the dog.
    Â 
    As Derek pulled up, Chelsea noticed that the trees lining the street all had posters on them. She knewwhat they were for before she even got out of the car to look, but she felt compelled to see for herself. In big black letters, above a color photo of a Chinese crested, it said: HAVE YOU SEEN MY DOG?
    Not a good sign. Aristotle wasn’t safe at home as she’d hoped.
    The temperature had dipped yet again and the cold made her cheeks ache as she stared at the picture of the little dog. She glanced at Tess Sullivan’s house, saw her at the window looking out, but didn’t dare turn to face her. Instead she tried counting the branches on the tree.
    â€œIt’s groomed to make it look like a little horse,” Derek said coming up behind her. “Freaky.” He was munching on some chips from the open bag he’d found in the backseat of his car. She heard them crunch between his teeth as she turned again to the picture of the dog. Crunch. Crunch.
    Like Koko’s jaws, moving.
    It was true. It had to be. She felt as if she was going to tumble into an abyss inside her own mind, fall forever. But when she shivered, Derek put his hand on her shoulder and brought her back to the world.
    â€œCome on,” he said, clacking his tongue against the inside of his mouth. “Let’s check out Koko.”
    On the porch she fumbled with the ancient keys. Derek stood there in his thin