Michael continued to stare at the dead body that was the masked man and would be assassin. He was leaking blood all over the bedroom floor, something that grossed him out tremendously. Buddy stared up at Michael, with blood dripping out from his sharp teeth. A silence fell over the room for a moment, before a knocking could be heard on their bedroom door.
“What’s going on in there?” Evan asked from the other side of the door.
“Uh nothing” Michael called back nervously. “Go back to bed now, Evan.”
“That didn’t sound like nothing. That sounded like a gun went off or someone shot off some fireworks. Open up, dad. Tell me what’s going on in there.”
Buddy whimpered, as he motioned to Michael with his head. Reluctantly, Michael slowly made his way to the door and opened it slightly ajar.
“What happened in there?” Evan asked, as he tried to peek his head inside.
“Nothing you need to worry about” Michael replied sternly, pushing Evan’s head back. “Now go back to bed.”
As Evan continued to try to peer his head into the bedroom, he could see Buddy standing near Michael, with blood coming out of his teeth.
“That doesn’t look like nothing. It looks like papa turned into a dog again.”
Buddy whimpered, as he made his way to the bedroom door.
“Why does papa have blood coming out of his teeth like that? Is he a werewolf now too?”
Michael sighed, as he opened the door to his bedroom all the way open.
“No” Michael replied, as Evan saw the bloody corpse of the masked man lying on the floor. “We had a home invader and Freddy helped me fend him off.”
“Oh my god!” Evan exclaimed, as he covered his eyes and recoiled in horror of the gruesome sight in front of him.
“That’s why I wanted you to go back to bed. So you wouldn’t have to see this.”
“How did this happen? How—“
“Evan, it’s a long story, one I don’t have time for now. I have to call the police to report this so we don’t get accused of murder. Will you do me a huge favor?”
“Uh..sure, I guess.”
“Would you mind taking your papa into your bedroom with you and hiding him while the police are over? I don’t want them seeing him in the house, lest they arrest me for stealing Tom’s dog.”
“Yes dad.”
Evan took his arms off of his eyes and looked down at Buddy staring up at him.
“Come on, papa. Come on boy.”
Letting out a light growl, Buddy trotted out of the bedroom he shared with Michael and made his way into his son’s room.
“Evan” Michael called back.
“Yes dad” Evan replied, as Buddy walked into Evan’s bedroom.
Michael went under the bed and pulled out Freddy’s pajamas.
“If for some reason he changes back in there, give him these.”
Michael handed Evan Freddy’s pajamas, before going back into his own bedroom.
“Ok dad.”
As Evan went into his bedroom to be Buddy’s unofficial dog sitter, Michael sat silently in his room. He was filled with a mix of emotions in that moment, fear, anxiety, anger, rage, horror. He had to work through those feelings quickly, as he dialed up the police precinct with his communication device.
“Precinct” a voice on the other end of the line said.
“Hi” Michael replied nervously. “I need to report a home burglary attempt that occurred just now. I’m at—“
“We know where you are, sir. We can trace your location from your communication device. Is the robber still there?”
“He’s dead.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“He’s dead. We had a struggle and then I managed to take the gun from his hands. I shot him in self defense.”
“Were there any other witnesses?”
Michael paused for a moment, before he answered the question.
“Just my son was home, but he was in his bedroom, so he didn’t see anything.”
“What about your husband?”
“He...”
Michael paused for a moment, thinking carefully of how he was going to respond. His husband had witnessed this, as he was the intended target of the masked man. However, since Freddy was no longer human, but Buddy the dog, he needed to think of an excuse to avoid casting suspicion on him. Plus, he didn’t want the police spotting Buddy in the house anyway. Since Tom had previously accused him of stealing his dog, he didn’t want to risk an arrest of his own for theft.
After a brief moment, Michael had come up with an answer.
“Freddy wasn’t home to witness this.”
“Alright. Well, this is going to require us to send some officers down there to investigate. We’ll send someone over now. They should be there in five.”
“Thank you…I guess.”
Michael ended the call and thought of what to do in that moment. He didn’t want to touch the body again and be accused of tampering with the scene of a crime. However, his pajamas were soaked in blood and he wanted to change out of them. Deciding against it, Michael left his bedroom and waited for the police to arrive downstairs.
In Evan’s bedroom, the boy sat on his bed, as Buddy laid down on the floor below him.
“Wow papa” Evan said excitedly. “You turned into a dog again.”
“Don’t remind me” Freddy thought to himself, as Buddy whined quietly.
“How did you manage to trigger the change this time?”
Buddy whined again, not wanting to have this conversation now.
“It’s ok, papa. Everything is going to be alright.”
Evan hopped down from his bed and sat beside Buddy on the floor. He couldn’t see the dog entirely well, given that his room was dark. However, the small bit of moon light from his window illuminated in enough to give him the ability to see Buddy’s silhouette. He quietly looked at the dog his papa had become, while Buddy looked up at him, staring intensely with his big, brown eyes.
“Papa? Can I pet you?”
Buddy stared silently, as Evan held out his hand.
“I know you’re not really supposed to be a dog and all, but I always wanted one and know I’m never going to get one so long as I live here. Since you’re a dog now, I was kind of hoping you’d at least let me pet you. I don’t know when you’ll be a dog again after this, so this is kind of my only chance to try it. Please papa. Please let me pet you.”
Buddy hesitated for a moment, before he gently nodded his head. Reaching out, Evan began to pet all over the dog’s furry body. He scratched the top of his head, which made Buddy pant happily. He rubbed up the dog’s back and on the sides of his belly. He touched the dog’s paws, front and back.
“Do you do tricks?”
Buddy quietly growled in response.
“Calm down, papa. I was just hoping we could shake hands, that’s all.”
Reluctantly, Buddy held out his paw, allowing Evan to briefly shake it.
“Good boy. This is so awesome.”
Buddy put his paw back down and continued to stare at his son.
“I bet that you’re probably better at doing tricks than the average dog, huh papa?”
Buddy growled again, which caused Evan to slightly flinch. Feeling guilty for scaring his son, Buddy whimpered and laid his head in his son’s lap.
“There there, papa” Evan said, as he scratched behind Buddy’s ears. “It’ll be ok. I’m sure you’ll change back again soon. And if you don’t, then maybe we can go to the park tomorrow and play fetch or something.”
Buddy let out another quiet growl, which Evan seemed to ignore this time. While Evan continued to pet Buddy all over his body, Michael waited in the living room for the police to arrive at his house. When the siren was heard a few minutes later, he went to open the door, seeing two male officers walking out of their car.
“Well, well, well” one of the officers said, as he walked up to the door. “If it isn’t Michael Scavolini, husband of the notorious cop hater. I never thought you’d ever be calling us for our help, seeing how much you guys trash us on a regular basis.”
“I had to call you” Michael responded bitterly, as he let the officers into his house. “I couldn’t have not reported this or I’d be in serious trouble right now.”
“Yeah, yeah” the other officer said, as he entered the house. “That’s what they all say. Now show us where this supposed dead robber is.”
Michael closed the door behind them and made his way up the stairs. Once they were inside of his bedroom, the police officers saw the masked man on the floor, drowning in a pool of his own blood.
“Sheesh” one of the officers said. “This looks pretty bad.”
“Let us take some pictures” the other officer said “and then we need to ask you a few questions.”
Michael nodded, as one of the officers pulled out a communication device and began snapping photos of the body. He took pictures of the bed, the removed window pane on the floor and Michael’s blood stained clothes. When they were done, the officers asked him to go into the living room so they could ask him some questions.
“Can I change out of my clothes first?” Michael asked. “I’m feeling really gross right now and could use a fresh pair of pajamas.”
“You should wait to do that” one of the officers replied. “We’ll need to take your pajamas into evidence after we’re done with our questions.”
“Ok.”
Michael made his way downstairs with the officers. When they sat on the couch in the living room, one of the officers spoke up.
“So tell us your entire recollection of what happened up there” he said.
“Well” Michael responded “I was in my bed asleep, after waiting for Freddy to come home. He never showed up and all. Long hours at the office these days. So anyways, the next thing I know, I hear this noise of something being dropped and then a man shouting out ‘shit!’. I stir awake and then see this masked man standing over my bed.
“In a panic, I made my way off the bed, as the masked man pulled out a gun on me and tried to shoot me. I rolled under the bed hoping to hide from him. He saw me go under and bent down after me. He put the gun to my face, but I managed to snatch it from him.
“I got the gun and we fought over it for a while, with him eventually pushing me to the open window frame. I almost fell out, but I managed to regain my balance and get back up again. In a split second decision, I shot him and he fell to the floor. Pretty much he was dead upon impact.”
The police officers nodded, as they took down some notes on their communication device.
“Story adds up” one of the officers said as they typed.
“For the most part” the other officer added. “Just one question, though. How did those dog bites get on the masked man’s leg?”
“Huh?” Michael asked nervously, as a sense of panic washed over him.
“Yeah, those bites looked peculiar” the first officer said. “Especially since we’ve come down here before on account of a report of a stolen dog. You wouldn’t happen to have that man dog’s hiding around here, would you?”
“Nuh, nuh, no” Michael stuttered out in reply.
“So then how did those bites get there?” the second officer asked.
“I, I, I bit him.”
The second officer raised his eyebrows, not buying the story that Michael was telling.
“Was there anyone else in the home at the time of the murder?” the second officer asked.
“Juh, juh, just my son, Evan.”
“Is he still here now?” the first officer asked.
“He, he, he, he’s in his room” Michael stuttered out. “I, I, I don’t think it’s a good idea to wake him now.”
“We’d just like to ask him a few questions” the second officers said. “That’s all.”
“A, a, as his father and legal guardian, I, I, I do not give you permission to talk to him at this time.”
“What’s the matter?” the second officer asked. “Are you trying to hide something from us?”
“No, no, no, bu, bu, but Evan isn’t doing so well right now. He, he, he’s very tired and upset and I, I, I’d rather not traumatize him, mu, mu, more than I have to right now.”
“We won’t say anything to scare the boy” the first officer insisted. “It’ll only take five minutes at most and then we’ll be out of your hair.”
The two officers got up, as Michael tried to reason with them.
“Le, le, leave him alone. He, he doesn’t need this, ri, ri, right now.”
Ignoring Michael’s pleas, the officers made their way back upstairs to go to Evan’s bedroom. Inside of the bedroom, during the time of the interview, Evan continued to play with Buddy. At a certain point, Buddy whined and motioned to the bed with his head.
“Go to bed, Evan” Freddy thought to himself, as he tried to communicate with his son using his body language.
“I’ll go to bed later” Evan replied dismissively. “I don’t know how much longer you’re going to be a dog for. By the time I wake up in the morning, you might already be papa again.”
“I hope so” Freddy thought to himself.
In that moment, a knock could be heard on the door.
“Young man” the first officer said, as he knocked on the door. “I’m Officer Adams. I would just like to come in to your room and ask you a few questions. Open the door, please.”
“Uh” Evan replied nervously, as he got up from the floor. “Just a second.”
A sense of panic began to wash over Buddy, before he felt his fur recede back into his body.
“Perfect” Freddy thought to himself, as he got up from the floor. “Just in the nick of time.”
As Buddy tried to trot under the bed, Evan grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.
“Wait papa” Evan said quietly. “Will you let me watch you change back?”
Buddy shook his head no, as he tried to escape his son’s grip on his neck.
“Please papa. You wouldn’t let me watch you change into a dog. The least you can do is let me watch you change back this time. Please papa. This may be the only time I ever get to see something like this in my entire life. Don’t deny me this once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Buddy stood for a moment, as he felt his fur receding back into his skin. After a brief pause, he reluctantly nodded his head, as he turned around and faced Evan head on. Allowing the changes to occur, Freddy felt himself rapidly shift back from a dog on all fours into a grown man on his hands and knees. He would soon be naked in his son’s room, something that internally freaked him out. Evan stared in awe, as the dog’s body mutated back into Freddy's human form. Although the room was dark, the moonlight illuminated enough to give him a view of what was happening to his papa. Just Freddy finished turning back into himself again, another knock was heard on the door.
“Kid” Officer Adams said again from the other side of the door. “Open up the door, please. Don’t make us bust down your door.”
“You don’t have authorization to do that” Michael said.
“Active crime scene investigation” the other officer said. “We have authority to look where we need to at a crime scene.”
Freddy briefly composed himself, before he looked at his son Evan. In that moment, although Evan couldn’t see it in the dark, Freddy was blushing, as he was completely butt naked in front of his son.
“Get me my clothes please” Freddy hissed as quietly as he could.
“Right papa” Evan whispered back.
Evan handed Freddy his pajamas and then turned towards the door. As Freddy got his pajamas back on, Evan could hear another knock on the door.
“Kid” Officer Adams said gruffly. “I—“
Evan opened the door slightly ajar and saw the officers and Michael standing in the hallway.
“Yes” Evan replied, with a cool tone to his voice. “Can I help you?”
“Kid” Officer Adams replied. “We’d like you to come downstairs so we can ask you a few questions. It’ll only take five minutes or so.”
The second officer noticed that Evan would not open the door fully.
“Kid” he said. “Open the door all the way. Let’s see what’s going in there.”
“Nothing’s going on in here” Evan replied nervously. “I—“
In that moment, Evan could feel Freddy’s hand on his shoulder, as his father opened the door to his room all the way and turned the overhead light on.
“Freddy?” Michael asked, with a confused tone in his voice.
“Nothing’s going on in here, officers” Freddy replied, with an extremely good poker face. “I was just trying to sleep and Evan was kind enough to try to keep things quiet, I guess. The knocking woke me up just now.”
“What are you doing in your son’s bedroom?” Officer Adams asked, with a concerned tone in his voice.
“Well” Evan replied. “I—“
“I got home late tonight” Freddy interjected, lying convincingly through his teeth. “I had a long day at the office again and I got home late. Michael had said that if I continued to come home late, that he wouldn’t let me into our bedroom, so I knocked on my son’s door and asked him if I could keep him company for a while. We don’t really get to spend a lot of time together these days.”
Freddy ruffled Evan’s hair, as his son smiled brightly.
“So I guess after we spoke for a bit" Freddy continued "he and I both passed out.”
“Did you hear any of the commotion that took place a little while ago?” the second officer asked.
“I’m afraid not, officer. I’m a pretty heavy sleeper, so I have no idea what just happened.”
Michael stood with his jaw agape, as Freddy gave a friendly, if fake, smile to the officers. Officer Adams noticed the confused look on Michael’s face and thought it was suspicious. Suspicious enough to warrant statements being put on the record.
“Would the three of you mind coming down to the police precinct?” Officer Adams asked. “We’d like to get some statements on the record and then we will open up an official investigation into what happened here tonight.”
“Can’t it wait until the morning?” Evan asked, trying to sound as sleepy as he could. “I’m really tired right now.”
“He has a point” Michael added. “My son is very tired and has school in the morning. He needs all the sleep he can get.”
“We’d just like to get some official witness statements to put on the record” Officer Adams insisted.
“Statements that can be used to prosecute you for perjury if any of you are caught lying to us” the second officer added gruffly.
Pausing for a moment, Freddy and Michael looked at each other nervously, trying to communicate their thoughts with their eyes and body language. None of them wanted to go with the police, but weren’t sure how to reject their insistence on following the officers back to the precinct.
“It’s not really a request at this point” the second officer spoke again. “It’s an order. If you don’t follow us back to the precinct, then we will place you all under arrest.”
Nervously, Freddy nodded, as he took his son and got him ready to go out.
“Can I change my clothes at least?” Michael asked, with annoyed tone in his voice.
“Certainly” Officer Adams replied.
“Those pajamas are evidence anyway” the second officer added. “We were going to need you to hand them over to us once you got down there, so you might as well just do it now.”
Michael made his way into his bedroom, as he sought to strip off his blood soaked pajamas and change into something more presentable. Downstairs, Freddy got Evan dressed to go out, as the officers passed by them, as they headed to the front door.
“We’ll wait for you outside” Officer Adams said, as he opened the front door. “Follow our car to the precinct. We’ll show you the way.”
Freddy nodded, as the police officers stepped outside of his house.
“Is everything going to be alright, papa?” Evan asked, with a drowsy tone in his voice.
“I hope so” Freddy replied, as Michael walked down the stairs, wearing a new outfit.
Michael was holding his blood stained pajamas in his hands, feeling a sense of panic wash over him.
"But I can’t say for sure" Freddy added, as he motioned Evan over to Michael.
The three of them gathered together and made their way to Freddy’s car. In silence, they followed the blaring police car, as they drove to the precinct. They were hoping to get this line of questioning, expected to be extremely aggressive, over with as soon as possible. Although Freddy and Michael did their best to coordinate their answers in the car, they were worried that it wouldn't be enough. In that moment in time, it was the three of them against the town, the mayor and, seemingly, the entire world.
At the precinct…..