The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Dog’s Gotta Hunt  
by Satcha Russell 

A sudden rush from the left and I found myself flat on my back. The woman who knocked me down stood over me screaming obscenities; kicking me in the head. I tried to roll away, but she grabbed me by the hair and dragged me onto the lawn. I yelled for help, but no one came. I saw a couple sitting on the steps, they quietly got up and went inside. The onslaught wouldn’t stop. I tried to crawl, roll, anything to get away. I even fought back – that was a mistake. When the bitch attacking me realized that I might have some fight left, she doubled down and landed both knees in my gut; blood spurted from my already cracked lips and shattered nose. I felt the pressure from the impact shoot straight to my eyes, my vision blurred. As I started to drift, I mumbled, “I wasn’t going to tell anyone…”

“Damned right you weren’t gonna tell what he did, you stupid cunt! He’s mine, and I already warned him to stop lookin’ at you!” Spit rained down on me from her distorted grimace.

“You knew…” disbelief tinted my slurred words. “You knew he would rape me, and you let it happen?”

“Don’t feel so special, you ain’t the first. Dog’s gotta do what a dog’s gotta do. I can’t leash him, but I can sure as hell make sure there ain’t no treats ticklin’ his nose. Nah, we ain’t got no need for pretty little things like you ‘round here.” She punctuated her statement with a crushing stomp to the center of my forehead.

I stared through the branches, the moon was so bright tonight, just like it was the other night, the night it happened. She still stood above me and bellowed furiously, but all I heard was a muffled hum.

Leaning close to my destroyed face, I could just make out her words. “How cute are you now, city girl?” With a final steel-plated toe to the crotch, she walked off.

.

Fiction © Copyright Satcha Russell
Image Copyright Rie Sheridan Rose