The Puppy and the Barn

Alexis “Lexi” Charles had had a bad day. After complaining of sexual harassment from a coworker, her now-former manager told her to just ignore him.

“Just ignore him grabbing my chest,” she vented to herself as she drove home in the dark. “I should press charges.”

She knew it was a futile thought. In the midst of her rant at the manager, said harasser clutched his chest and fell. She angrily stepped over him as he writhed on the floor. Manager, who was Harasser’s brother, was already on the phone with emergency services when she left.

Lexi wasn’t sure if the words were ever actually spoken, but she thought it was clear that she was no longer employed. She’d let the manager decide if she quit or was fired.

Suddenly, there was a loud thump that jerked her truck up, a yelp, and tires screeching as she lurched to a stop. As she placed her head on the steering wheel, tears were already welling up in her eyes. The engine had stalled during the sudden stop, a failure to shift down the gears. She kicked the parking brake into place and hit the hazard light switch with a shaky hand. Her legs were jello as she forced herself out of the truck and around to find the dog.

She had hoped to find a decrepit, old dog with no collar, so she could at least tell herself a better afterlife awaited it. She fell to her knees to stroke the puppy gently before checking the collar for a tag. Two of his legs were pushed out at an awkward angle and he didn’t seem to be breathing.

Suddenly, she couldn’t hold back the flood of tears anymore. She covered her face with her hands as she sobbed.

Lexi wasn’t sure how long she sat like that in the middle of the street, her hazard lights bathing her and the puppy in light for just a second at a time. On this street, it was unlikely that she’d be hit as well, though she knew she deserved it.

She heard a door creak open at one of the houses nearby, likely the owner of the puppy. She took a deep breath and wiped away her tears, hoping her new mascara is as waterproof as it claims. For a moment, she wished the puppy was still alive solely so she wouldn’t have to face the owner with bad news.

She gently picked up the puppy, his awkward legs crunching back into place. Her stomach lurched up into her throat at the sound, but she pushed on, slowly wobbling to her feet.

There was definitely someone on the porch watching her. She walked directly through the yard towards the porch and person. Tears started welling up again against her will.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” she called as she made her way down the hill. “Do you own a puppy?”

“I do.” It was a woman, older by the sound of her voice, but the light on the porch was making it difficult to see features yet. “Did you hit him?”

Lexi was sobbing again as she stepped up on the porch. She nodded, still cradling the puppy in her arms. “I’m so sorry.”

The old lady pulled Lexi into a hug. “It’s alright,” she stroked Lexi’s hair. “He may have been young, but he had a happy life.”

The puppy whimpered and licked Lexi’s hand.

“He’s okay? I was sure he didn’t make it.”

The old lady laughed. “Looks like he was just playing possum. Or maybe we should call him Lazarus.” She motioned towards the door. “Would you like to come in for some tea? From the looks of you, you seem to have had a roller-coaster of a night.”

Lexi nodded. “I’d like that. I’m Lexi.”

The old lady ushered her inside. “Gertrude.”

Lexi continued petting the puppy as they went inside. “Lazarus is a good name.”

Lexi and Gertrude, became fast friends despite their thirty year age difference. At first, they bonded over Lazarus the puppy, but Lexi found herself enjoying the company of Gertrude and her teas as well. With the job hunt turning up no leads, Lexi found herself with plenty of spare time for the visits.

That’s how Lexi had wound up here. According to Gertrude, the barn had originally been built in the 1800’s. What was once farmland had been paved over for parking lots and store fronts. The rail door on the front of the barn had been replaced with a glass door. A Fireworks! banner currently hung over the door. The barn itself was an odd juxtaposition with the more modern surroundings. According to Gertrude, the lot had been in her family since before the barn had been built, but the family gave up farming for business and now leasing a few generations back.

Lexi was here to clean since the fireworks store had closed, that time of year now over. She still sat in her truck though, looking at the eviction letter she’d received earlier. Gertrude was paying her enough to cover the overdue rent, but what about next month?

She huffed. “I’ll worry about that later.” She stuffed the letter and her keys in the sun visor before making her way to the barn, pen and clipboard in hand.

She talked to herself as she wrote, something to help her remember despite having a list. “I’ll need a ladder to take down the sign.”

The inside of the barn had been kept in a decidedly barn style to match most of the exterior. The wooden floors creaked as Lexi looked around. The rail door had been moved inside to separate out a storage area with all the supplies she could need today. Individual stalls on the right side of the main room and been turned into what Lexi thought were dressing rooms, with full length mirrors on the wall. Maybe it was a clothing store before. A wooden staircase snaked its way around the wall to the loft, which was now an office area.

“Dust, sweep, mop.” She added a question mark on her list. The place was spotless. Aside from a lighter and a bottle rocket on the desk in the loft, it looked like the previous business had done a flawless job of cleaning the place up. Perhaps Gertrude hadn’t checked the place out before sending in Lexi.

“No, she did.”

Lexi jumped at the sound. That was a man’s voice downstairs. She rushed down to meet him. “Hey, this place isn’t open anymore.”

He was holding the banner from outside. “I know. I straightened up the place so we could talk.” There was something wrong with his face. “You’re Alexis—”

“Lexi,” she corrected.

His face lit up, but still looked scaly to her. “Just like Luci! That’s wonderful!” He paused to rub his cheek. “I guess scaly would be the correct word. A few of us demons had a bet going. I won, so here I am.” He bowed at the waist.

“Demons. Are you insane?”

He shook his head as he straightened. “How exactly am I supposed to answer that to calm your anxiety? Do insane people know they’re insane?”

For some reason, that helped. She somehow felt comfortable around this man. This demon?

“Don’t get hung up on the little things,” he continued. “It’s the bet you want to know about.”

She nodded slowly. “Okay, so tell me about the bet.”

“Ah yes! Thank you for reminding me!” He winked at her. “There was a prophecy that you would end a life and trigger a resurrection. I bet that you would kill one and bring back another. I thought they would both be human, but that wasn’t a part of the bet. The man you killed,” he hesitated, “the one you worked with…”

“Donald.”

He snapped. “Yes, Donald! He—”

“I killed him?”

She blinked and suddenly the man was directly in front of her, shushing her with a finger on her lips.

“Don’t get hung up on the little things. That man was terrible and he got off easy with a heart attack.” He stepped backward. “Anyway! Then you brought back that adorable, little puppy and here we are!” He motioned around the room. “Had they won the bet, you’d have four demons in here and probably a hell of a bigger mess to clean up than what I started with.”

“Why are you here?”

“I didn’t-” he looked away from her and walked around in a small circle. “I didn’t say that part already?”

Lexi just shook her head.

The man bowed again. “Why, to serve you, my lady. You’re the Antichrist.”

“I’m the what?”

He shushed her again. “Don’t get hung up on the little things. This will make a wonderful base of operations. Our own little shop of horrors.” He looked her up and down. “Or miracles. Your call since you’re the boss.”