Chapter 1 - The First Bite
Buddy leaned forward and licked one glossy drop of juice from the edge of Ethan’s plate.
Megan’s confidence drained out of her face before the rest of us even understood why.
She lunged across the Thanksgiving table like a terrified, wild animal.
Her hand grabbed the edge of the ceramic plate so hard her knuckles turned completely white.
She yanked the heavy steak away from the golden retriever.
But she was exactly two seconds too late.
Buddy let out a sharp, unnatural whine that sounded like a rusty metal hinge snapping.
His front legs gave out instantly beneath his weight.
The heavy dog collapsed onto the hardwood floor with a sickening thud.
White foam began to bubble rapidly from the corners of his mouth.
His back legs kicked wildly against the baseboards as a violent seizure took over his entire body.
Ethan screamed in absolute terror and tried to scramble backward out of his chair.
Lauren snatched our son by the waist and pulled him tightly against her chest.
Tyler watched the dog seizing on the floor and started crying hysterically.
Chris knocked his beer bottle over in his sudden, blind panic.
The amber liquid spilled across the white tablecloth and dripped down onto the dying dog.
My brain struggled to process the sheer speed of the violence unfolding in my mother's dining room.
The sharp chemical smell rising from the steak suddenly made terrifying sense.
Megan had not accidentally spilled a strange seasoning onto the meat.
She had intentionally laced the food with something highly lethal.
And that specific plate had been originally set directly in front of my chair.
My own sister-in-law had just tried to murder me in plain sight.
What did you do, I roared at her, my voice echoing off the walls.
Megan backed away from the table, her hands shaking violently as she stared at the floor.
I didn't mean to hurt the dog, Megan whispered, her voice trembling with raw panic.
Patricia clutched her chest and collapsed heavily back into her dining chair.
Chris finally snapped out of his shock and stepped aggressively between me and his wife.
Back off, Daniel, this has to be some kind of horrible mistake, Chris yelled defensively.
I ignored my brother and pulled my cell phone from my pocket to call emergency services.
I dialed the emergency number while kneeling on the floor to check my dog's fading pulse.
I pressed the phone against my ear and desperately waited for the operator to answer.
The line was completely dead.
I looked down at the top corner of my glowing phone screen.
It displayed zero signal bars, which was absolutely impossible in the middle of Cedar Rapids.
Lauren, use the landline in the kitchen, I ordered my terrified wife.
Lauren sprinted into the kitchen and grabbed the old corded phone from the wall mount.
She pressed the plastic receiver to her ear and her face turned a horrifying shade of pale.
May you like
Daniel, Lauren gasped, holding up the dangling plastic receiver for me to see.
The thick telephone cord had been cleanly snipped in half with a pair of heavy scissors.
