Ever since I had moved to Maple Falls, I had been the attention of every pubescent, annoying, disgusting boy in my high school. I had been flooded with phrases like, “I love exotic women”, and “I’ve never been with an Asian girl”, and, worst of all, “I have yellow fever, and you’re the cure.” However, Alex was different. I knew it as soon as I looked into his deep, blue eyes. He was usually surrounded by hoards of girls with too-tight clothing and too much makeup, but he singled me out. In our Math class, he looked at me, and smiled the cheekiest smile I had ever seen. Of course, I smiled back, but I was pretty sure that my buck teeth would scare him off. This went on for a week, and I slowly became more and more obsessed with him. Finally, I got the courage to go up to him and ask him to help tutor me.
                  Now, we were on our way to his house. The red leaves cluttered the sidewalk, and crunched under our feet as we walked. We were silent, but my heart raced with every step I took. I looked up at him, and observed his strong cheekbones, long nose, and dirty blonde hair. Would we make a good couple? A short Japanese girl with choppy hair, buck teeth, and baggy clothes, with a tall man with looks that challenged those of Greek gods. I shook myself out of my trance, and reminded myself that he was just going to help me with tutoring. That’s it.
                  “So, how many guys have hit on you since you came here?” 
                  I stared at Alex, then answered, “Um, I lost count. I guess Asian people are a rarity in these parts.”
                  “Yea,” he smirked, “but I don’t think being Asian affects how adorable you are.” He raised an eyebrow, and continued, “You’re just really cute.”
                  I covered my face with my hands, and felt my face grow hot. “Well,” I said quietly, “I think you-“
                  Suddenly, a black mass came rushing towards me. The previously quiet air was filled with chaotic chains and monstrous growling. Both Alex and I scrambled back, and faced a large black Shepard baring its teeth. Its spit dripped from its mouth, and the dog’s eyes glowed yellow with intense hate. “Rufus!” Alex stepped from behind me and hit the fence, “Get back!” The dog kept barking and snarling at Alex, who turned to me and said, “I’m sorry, Kameko, my neighbor’s dog isn’t usually this crazy.”
                  “Really?” Great, a racist dog. Only I would move to a town where even the dogs are leery of newcomers. Nonetheless, I noticed that Rufus was focusing most of his attention on Alex, not me. I stopped wondering why when Rufus charged at the fence again and began trying to tear it apart with his teeth. “Oh god!”
                  “Come on.” Alex grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from Rufus, who became more frenzied. I jogged up next to Alex, and grabbed a hold of his hand. He squeezed it tight, and the world around me seemed to become a little bit brighter. 
          After a while, we approached his doorstep, and he grabbed a hold of my other hand. “Are you okay?” I was going to be sarcastic, but the intense gaze from his eyes made me weak in the knees and forced me to only weakly nod. “Okay, good.” A slight smiled appeared, “I wouldn’t want a stupid dog scaring away such a pretty girl.” 
“You’re sure giving a lot of compliments,” I grinned, “How come you’re not as forward at school?”
“Because you’re always flooded with a lot of guys, of course. I didn’t think you would notice me.”
             “Notice you?” I started laughing, “You thought that I wouldn’t notice you? You were the only thing I thought of all week!” I covered my mouth, and my eyes widened in horror. Oh no.

             Alex just smirked in response and said, “I’m glad we’re on the same page.” I could have sworn I saw a glint of success in his eyes as he looked at me fondly, and he brushed his hand against my arm. “Ready to go inside?” I nodded vigorously, and he placed a hand on my back, slightly pushing me inside. 
Right before I went inside, I heard a sound in the distance.                   “Wait.” We both stopped, and listened. “Is that…barking?” I looked behind Alex, and saw a black figure running towards us.          

               “Alex!” I stepped back, and Rufus came from behind. He tackled Alex to the ground, and tore at his shoulder. “Oh my god, oh my god,” I stammered as blood started soaking his shirt and Rufus whipped his head furiously. I approached them, to try to force the dog off, but Rufus glared at me and growled deeply. 
              “Kameko!” Alex pushed Rufus off of him and shouted, “Run!” I stepped back to the side of the house, and looked to my right. There was a cellar, which seemed like a perfect place to hide and call Animal Control. “I said run!” I glanced back at Alex, then started running towards the cellar. Suddenly, I heard a demonic, terrifying voice scream at me, “No! Not there!”
I ran to the cellar and found a small latch holding it closed. I opened the latch, and was about to open the cellar when I saw Alex running up to me. “Alex! Are you okay? I was going to—“
“Get away from there!” Alex grabbed me arm with a jerking motion that caused a jabbing feeling in my shoulder. I tried to wrestle my arm away from him, but stopped when I saw the way he looked at me. The blue eyes that used to capture my affection with a dazzling mischievous light now glared with a hateful spark. Rufus came around the corner, his open mouth dripping with blood. The dog ran towards Alex and tackled him to the ground, causing Alex to let go of me. Rufus whipped his head more furiously, and I heard a strange cracking sound. After a while, I noticed that Alex's neck was bent in an odd angle, and he stopped moving. Rufus finally let go and looked up at me. I backed away. I waited for Rufus to attack me, but he didn't move an inch. In fact, he sat down and wagged his tail playfully. Why was he after Alex, and not me? I was shocked at the fact that I actually didn't feel sorry for Alex, or scared of Rufus. Maybe it was because, in the split second he looked at me, Alex reminded me more of a ravage animal than Rufus did.
                Instead of running away like a sensible person, I decided to see what was up with the cellar in the basement. I opened the latch, and was met with a surprise I only half expected. As the horrible stench hit my face harder than a punch, Rufus started barking and ran down into the cellar. I ran after him, holding my sweater up to my nose. My actions did little to hide the horrifying smell that filled the air. After following the dog for a little bit, I wasn't able to see where I was going. I felt the wall for a switch, then flicked on the light.

            I really wished I hadn't. If I didn't, then maybe I wouldn't have the clutching feeling in my entire upper body, or thrown up my lunch. However, I wouldn't have known what Alex was up to. With red carcasses hanging from hooks on the ceilings, bloody saws and machetes cluttering the tables, and red splatter covering almost every inch of the floor, the cellar represented a scene from the slasher movie I saw last week. The only way I knew that the corpses were human was by the fact that some of them still had skin and other recognizable features. The thing that made me throw up, though, was that about half of them were children. Small, black haired children with slanted eyes. As I came to my senses, I finally realized why Alex was so interested in me.

            I noticed Rufus running and whining around a small girl that looked like she was around ten hanging from the ceiling. I found a lever nearby, and pulled it. The girl fell, and Rufus snuggled up to her. "Was that your master?" Rufus whined some more as he rubbed his head on the girl's body. I would have gotten closer to him, but the locations of the cuts on the girl made me vomit again. Alex was a sick, demented freak that deserved what came to him. When I recovered, I saw Rufus looking at me with large, caring eyes. My heart seemed to shatter as I watched a tear go down his cheek. With a shaking voice, I told Rufus, "Thank you for saving my life."

              I finally decided to call 911, and stayed by Rufus as I waited for the police to come. The police came almost an hour later, and ended up calling ambulances. It took a while for me to convince them that the dog with bloody teeth hanging over a mutilated body was a good dog. I saw my parents as I was escorted out of the cellar, and the paramedics held them back as they threw a shock blanket over my shoulders. I refused to let them take Rufus away, no matter how hard they tried. The police tried calling the owners, but the apparent owners of the house where Rufus was weren't there. According to the other neighbors, the original owners moved out after their daughter became missing, and Rufus refused to move from the backyard. Therefore, they just let him there. A bit heartless, but I was thankful for it. If Rufus hadn't been there, I could have been found as another carcass hanging from a meat hook.

             The police came to interrogate me about ten minutes later, and asked me, "How did you come across this cellar?"

              "Um, I was walking with Alex, a guy that was in my class. We were supposed to be studying together. We were, uh, about to go inside the house when some crazy animal started attacking us. Rufus came along to save us, but I managed to run towards the cellar. I tried to open it, but Alex stopped me and Rufus ended up attacking him. I had no idea why at the time, but I opened the cellar, to hide in until the commotion was over, and just found all of that. I think Alex was the one that killed all those people, but I have no idea how. I didn't think an eighteen-year old would be capable of this."

         "You would be surprised," the police officer wrote down, "Now, where is Alex?"
          "What? What do you mean?"
           "Your friend, the one that you think killed everyone in the cellar? Where is he?"
           "What do you mean, where is he? He was literally outside the cellar! He's dead! Rufus broke his neck!"
           "I thought you said Rufus was a good dog?"
           "He is! He saved my life!" I ran my fingers through my hair, and said, "How could you not notice him? He was right outside the cellar?"
             "Ma'am, nobody was there when we came here. And I was the first on the scene. The only thing we found in the premises was you, this doggy, and the bodies in the cellar." Another police officer called him over, and he said, "Hold on miss. I will be right back." He walked away. My heart started racing, and my breath became short and labored. I became even more anxious when the officer came back with his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth forced into an intense frown. 
             "What happened?"
             "Well, as it turns out, you weren't wrong. That police officer over there said a witness said that they saw a blond man running away from the house with his shirt covered in blood."
            "What?! His neck was broken! How did he run away?!"
            "I have no idea, ma'am. But it looks like we're going to have to place you in protective custody until this gets all sorted out. I will talk it over with your parents." He walked away, and I hugged Rufus tightly. 
             Suddenly, he began growling. His snout pointed east, and his previously pleased grin was now twisted into a vicious snarl. I looked towards the direction where Rufus was pointing. In the crowd surrounding the police and ambulance, I saw a tall blond boy with stunning blue eyes. With a terrifying grin and raised eyebrows, Alex winked and mouthed, "I'll be seeing you later."