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The moderately warm temperature of September afternoons faded away as October came and the afternoons became colder and the nights arrived earlier. High school kids walked or drove home with their friends and laughed and gossiped about the new school year. One student however, walked home alone for many school years because no one wanted to accompany her. She was used to walking alone and was used to hearing "creepy Carrie" hissed at her as she walked along the side walk to return to her estranged home. She never had any real friends, no one would speak to her unless they were insulting her. She was never invited to any parties or social gatherings, and never tried out for the sports teams, clubs, or school play for the fear of being verbally abused and harassed. Despite the fact that her soul was broken from years of torment and isolation, she had never thought of inflicting her pain onto anyone else and had never tried to defend herself against her tormenters. She was taught that seeking revenge was sinful. Her head and stomach felt tight as she continued with her slow paced walking to return to house.

Her head was down and her face felt hot from the hot and salty tears from earlier. The incident that happened that day involved Chris Harkenson and her friends. These were the girls who hated her the most and always looked for ways to ruin her was inferior to them because she wasn't athletic, pretty, or "normal" like them, and thus did not deserve any of their kindness. This time, Chris had spread rumors about Carrie sleeping with multiple male teachers. Sexual relationships were sinful according to mama and if she committed such an act she would be sent to hell if she didn't beg for Jesus's forgiveness. Chris always verbally, emotionally, and physically abused her but this was the first time she had spread a rumor about her. People hated Carrie already because of her so-called weirdness and now people would shun her for having sexual relationships with older men. She stopped for a moment, and felt salty tears return to her acne ridden face.

" .. Why me?" She sobbed to herself. She was used to be being tormented, but never understood why she was so hated and never received an act of kindness.

There was a faint wresting in the woods close by followed by a deep growling noise and a muffled shriek from a bird. The cries from the bird stopped and muddy-matted Saint Bernard emerged from the forest. The remains of the bird hung from his foamy face and his eyes were caked with mucus. His snout was covered in dry blood and had the fresh blood from the bird covered his nose. Carrie almost vomited by the grotesque appearance of the beast that suddenly focused his attention on her. She was stiff with fear and the dog ran full force at her with his foamy salvia flinging into different directions. Carrie often thought about death and what it felt like. Would it be soothing, or would it be painful? She often thought of dying by her own hands, but she had never thought that she would be killed by an animal. A strong pulse ceased her brain and a strong sensation tugged at her nerves and she suddenly felt stronger, as if she had total control of her surroundings. The strong pulse was released from her body and flew straight at the dog.

" STOP!" She gasped and she closed her eyes in fear. The dog forcefully fell down and whimpered in pain. She opened her eyes slowly to see what happened to him and saw that he was laying down and seemed to no longer have interest in attacking her. She was afraid to move because she feared that he would get up and try to attack her again. His eyes focused on her as if she was his master. She had always felt that dog eyes were as easy to read as human eyes but dogs seemed to have more heart than humans. Her heart rate increased and her breathing took a lot of effort, but his calmness assured her that he would not attack her.

"... Stay.." She muttered. He titled his head and stuck out his tongue. Despite his mangled and filthy look, he looked like a friendly puppy. She approached him slowly and got a better view of his name tag that was matted in his fur.

"... Your name is Cujo?" She wondered where he was from and of his family's whereabouts. She thought of him staying with her until his family would find him but she knew her mother would not allow it. Her heart felt heavy that she could not help this creature, and continued to walk home.

" Stay!" She hissed, she hated parting with him in a stern matter, but she did not want him to follow her home and get in trouble with her mother. The dog whimpered in confusion but he stayed in his spot. Her heart broke from his whimpers and that she turned down a potential friend.

Dusk arrived earlier that night and she couldn't even focus on her homework. She kept to herself in her bedroom and tried to daydream about pleasant thoughts. Her mind dwelled on her rabid companion and hoped that he could reunite with his family and hopefully receive some sort of treatment for his rabies, and maybe get a nice grooming too. Her daydreaming was shattered when she heard a blood curdling scream a few blocks from her house.

" WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?! HUHH AHHH?" Screamed a woman as she sobbed loud enough to wake up the whole neighborhood. The sobbing harmonized with gagging noises and painful screams from man. Moments later, Carrie could hear police sirens and wondered what happened to the man and woman. She was afraid of a criminal being in the neighborhood and coming to her house and harming her, her eyes would wide opened and she no longer had the desire to sleep. She suddenly heard rustling and items being knocked over in her backyard. Her heart skipped a beat and her throat was constricted.

" ... No... the criminal is here..." She gasped and felt like she was going to vomit. Despite her fear, she was tempted to take a look outside. She closed her eyes and slowly stood up and walked to her window. Her heart was going to explode and her body was numb with fear and she slowly opened her eyes to look outside. In the darkness, she could see him. Big old Cujo, staring back at her with an obscure shaped item in his mouth. Her mouth opened up in shock, and didn't understand how he knew where she lived.

".. Cujo? What are you doing here? My mom will find you!" She hissed. She tip toed downstairs quietly to meet him outside. When she opened the back door to finally meet him, she got a better view of the item in his mouth and it had a strange dark liquid coming from it.

"... Cujo... boy... what do you have in your mouth?" He whimpered and walked to her gleefully. The object became more apparent and she gasped and almost shrieked what she finally knew what it was.

" CUJO? WHY?" She cried, hot tears fell down her face as she almost vommited at the dismembered hand dangling from his mouth. He dropped the mangled hand in front of her and started to feast on it. She sobbed and vommited at the horrific site and then she was distracted by police sirens. She had to act fast, because the police would surely kill him if they caught him.

"... Cujo! You need to go under my porch and you need to hide there!" She whispered, she felt the same pulse from earlier return to her. Cujo then whimpered and listened to her as if he understood human language. She ran back inside and tried to forget about what she saw. She went over to her sink and tried to calm down by splashing cold water on her face. She sighed loudly and returned to her room and attempted to fall asleep. She dreamed about Chris and the rest of her tormenters and how they were burned alive with the flames of hell.

Morning finally came and she sat in her desk during homeroom. She was exhausted from the night before and felt Chris's hateful eyes stare at her. Carrie closed her eyes and turned her head the other way, trying to block her out of her mind.

" Hey... look at Whorey White..." She whispered to her friends. Kids in nearbly desks snickered at Chris's new nickname for Carrie.

" So, any new teachers you are going to sleep with today?" She hissed. Carrie slowly opened her eyes but stared at the wall, she felt a rage storm inside her and she could no longer hold it in.

" Fuck off... you horrible bitch!" Carrie mumbled, she silenced herself once she realized that she actually sweared at another person, for she was always taught that swearing was sinful and would make her go to hell.

Chris and her friends roared in laughter at Carrie's weak comeback and the rest of the classroom joined in with them. Carrie clenched her teeth and the rage turned into a hot pain filled with regret.

" HAHAHA FUCK OFF YOU HORRIBLE BITCH! LOOK AT ME I'M CARRIE!" Chris mocked in a high pitch voice, making the students laugh even harder. The teacher in the front desk did nothing, and seemed to only be focused on grading papers. The bell to dismiss homeroom rang and students left the room. Carrie waited for everyone to leave, so that no one would attempt to trip her. She held her head down low and she left the classroom, trying to avoid contact with any human being in the room or hallway. Once Carrie walked further down the hall, she felt a forceful, hot liquid pierce her shoulder. She turned her head slightly to see it was Chris, laughing at her after she spat on her.

" Hahaha... ugly bitch, go fall down a flight of stairs!" She hollared. Carrie felt those painful words sting her and then she felt numb. She attempted to block Chris from her mind, and tried to continue her regular school day.

The school day was finally over and many students were excited to go home, or go to rehearsal for the school play, or their sport's practice. Carrie, despite her rough day, could actually wait going home and did not want to interact with her mother. She remembered her new furry companion, and how he listened to her despite the fact that he was a dog. She believed that Cujo could help her ease the years of loniness and pain, despite the fact that he was mangey and rabid.

She walked towards the football field, and saw Chris and her friends in their softball uniforms, gossiping and being prepared for softball practice. Her eyes locked on to them, and felt the powerful pulse return to her brain and the rage from that morning returned, giving Carrie a sense of invicibility. Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of dehydrated panting towards her. She turned to see her furry friend, Cujo, staring at her with playful puppy eyes. His face was even more caked up because of the bloody hand from last night, and he smelled more rancid than when she met him. Carrie stared at Cujo, and then stared back at the girls. The rage continued to dwell inside her, and then she felt a new feeling, a feeling that was seen as sinful and would make her go to hell.

" Cujo... do you see those girls down there? Do they look appetizing to you?" She whispered to her rabid companion.

~ The End