BLOODHOUND

Ch 7

Midnight has struck and the cold air in the city was bitter. Those without a place to stay would find somewhere to hold themselves warm throughout the night. Many of these people choose not to get help, some our addicted to a form of drug or other illegal medicine. The homeless usually will try to find some secret place where they can stay warm and safe for the night, in fear that another will steal their propery. The subway terminals have become a well known place where the homeless would gather to stay warm. However the police has caught on to this, checking nightly with subway staff to make sure that the area is empty before locking up. Tonight a homeless man was able to hide himself from the authorities. When everybody was gone and the man found himself while locked in for the night, a place that was to an extent warmer and safer. The homeless man feeling at ease empties his supplies out from his backpack and bundles up for the night. Looking forward to a good nights sleep, the man is disturbed from his deep slumber by his dog. His entrusted companion, barking ferociously into the darkness that was the subway tunnel. The homeless rubbing his eyes and face is unable to control his dog as he sprints off into the darkness. Hearing his dog continue to bark, it stops with a sudden wimper. Fearing his only true friend has hurt himself the hobo walks over to the edge of the subway terminal to peer into the black. Moments later the dog comes back, growling hard at his master. The homeless trying to calm his dog down backs away slowly, his dog showing his teeth gave him a dead stare before pouncing to attack. From the stairs leading to the subway terminal you could hear the screams of the man who shouted not just from pain but for help. The cold breeze was too much for anyone to be out there listening. The sun came up and Margaret awoke to feel the cold from the night was over. Getting dressed Margaret went to feed her cat and finds a small but smelly puddle of brown liquid. Looking to her pet she sees Shadow has jumped up on top of the refrigerator. "Shadow! Are you sick?" Margaret talked to her kitty as if it would answer her. The cat simply stared from its perch as her master cleaned up the mess. Pouring Shadow's food Margaret waited but saw that her cat refrained from leaving its position high in the room. "Whats wrong Shadow? Aren't you hungry?" Reaching for her cat she brings her down into her arms, Shadow not wanting to be held fights and claws at Margaret's hand. "OUCH! SHADOW! What is with you this morning?" Shadow leaping from her arms hissed at her. Margaret has never seen this reaction from her cat before.

Leaving the room she returns with a gray plastic carrier box.Opening the metal gate Margaret looked at her pet who still would not eat. In an attempt to reach for Shadow the cat hissed again at ran off, her pet still not wanting to get picked up. Margaret angry over Shadow acting out followed her cat until she was able to at last grab her and place her in the carrier. Shadow usually being mellow would now not stop moaning to escape. Margaret grabbed her keys and left for the nearest veterinarian. Entering the small building Margaret found the place to be packed with people and there pets. All the seats were taken, and there was already a long line of people standing. Some of these people had cats, one had a bird, the majority of the pets were dogs. Most of these pets were calm, however when Shadow began meowing away the dogs went mad. Each of them barking and jumping for the carrier case. With no other choice Margaret left the building before getting tackled by a great dane. "Its okay-we're okay. Aren't you little pussy?" Margaret said to Shadow as she lifted up the carrier case. Shadow pushed itself against the back walls of the carrier case in attempt to get far away from Margaret. Looking at the parking lot full of cars, and seeing all the people that also were having pet issues made Margaret think. Swinging the carrier gently she walked down the street and made her way toward downtown. It took Margaret over an hour of walking with Shadow in that carrier to reach the infamous church on Istra road. Reaching the walkway to the door John was outside, watering the bushes and plants. The priest looked over and saw that Margaret was there, a little sweaty, and a little out of breath. John taking Margaret to his office sat her down and got her some water. "Are you okay Margaret?" Asked John. "I'll be finejust a little exercise thats all." Margaret placing the carrier on the ground sipped at the cold water. John sat down at the chair across from her, the oak desk separating them. "Has something strange occur?" "Yes I believe so. Is it that obvious?" "I haven't seen you for a while. Seems every time you come to see me here is because something bad is happening." John stated to Margaret. "Yes well it can go from bad to worse real quick. Listen, do you still have that book? You know, the one I gave you?" When Margaret asked this John had to pause and think. "Ofcourse I do." John stands up and heads to his book shelf. "I asked you years back to never give it to the Circle." "And I honored your request." John said as he retrieved a book from the shelf and placed it on the oak desk. It was a dark brown color, with no writing or symbols on the cover. Margaret opening the book, turned the pages with patience. "Its been so long since I've taken a look at this book" Margaret mentioned as she looked over the writings within. Stopping at a specific part in it she turned the book to John so he could read it over. John took a glance over at it before looking back up to Margaret. "The Day of The Dog?" John asked. "An old tale that witches would be weary of. Its a myth. Or at least I thought it was." She said.

"And upon the hours of a full day, the beast will desire domination. Instincts will overcome the animal. A desire for blood, a desire for bone. The animal will turn on its master, fighting for the position of alpha-male." John read from the page. "So what is happening out there?" "You don't get out much do you? Animals are attacking humans! On the walk here I saw animals from the zoo running free in the street!" "From this book it talks about dogs, no other animals having to go through it as well!" "John the book was written over a century ago so the details could be off, but I think it has a point. A day in which it fights back from being a slave to us. This day may be for the dog, but that doesn't mean other animals won't riot!" Margaret debates as John reads further on. "The book doesn't give any information about how to stop it." "You can't stop it! You can't stop time, you can't stop the next day from coming. We have to just warn as many people that we can." Margaret waited for John to respond, he continued to read from the book in front of him. "We have to go about this carefully MaggieI will handle with the warning people. You need to get yourself and the two doctors to safety. Barricade yourselves somewhere, and just wait the day through." Margaret stood from this talk and left the office, John picking up the phone on his desk made a quick call. "This is Detective Klines The cop answered the other line. "Its me John, something strange is going on." "Okay?" Klines answered. "I need you to warn people. They need to stay inside! And lock up their pets!" "Woah-woah-woah! You must have me mistaken with god! I don't have that sort of power! I start doing that it can cause even more chaos! Probably lock me up too!" "I need you to do this for me!" John stated over the phone. "Sorry Reverend, but you will have to call in the big guns for what your asking." "Alright, alright! But you have to at least investigate what is going on. Find out why animals are acting crazy. If you can find a starting point to this, we can possibly stop it from happening again in the future!" John negotiates. "Animals! Look-I'm homocide division. You got me? Homocide. Now I do admit strange stuff has been happening but no one has died from it. My Captain would chew my ass off! I'd be getting cats out of trees, horses stuck in mudstuff like that." "Forget it, FORGET IT!" Hanging up John puts his hands on his head. "JESUS!" Shouting in frustration John immediately covers his mouth. Creeping to his own office door he opens it to see if anyone had heard him. The church was at that time empty. John closing the office door gently, sits back at his desk and prays for a few moments. Thinking over his options, John picked up the phone and made yet another call. "Saint Gabriel Medical Center, how can I help you?" A female voice chimed in. "Yes I'm calling for Doctor Travis Pierce." John responded through the reciever. "And may I ask who's calling?" "This is Reverend John Clark."

"Oh! Ofcourse father my apologizes! Give me one moment" Waiting for the staff John flipped through the book that remained on his desk. He noticed that the book did detail about Cerberus but as a guard-protecting humans from the Otherside and vice-versa. "I'm sorry father but Doctor Pierce is not in today." "Really? I thought he was scheduled" "He was, but him and Rigsbee have both left for the day. I do have Doctor Abbott available-" John hung up the phone and this time did not say anything extremely loud. Closing the book he placed his hands in front of him and prayed. Traveling farther away from the hospital, Doctor Daniel Rigsbee drove his car while Doctor Travis Pierce sat in the passenger seat. Rigsbee was heading east, which was only a tenfifteen minute drive to the well known residential neighborhood. The day was now sunny, and with this Pierce enjoyed looking out the window at the wonders of mother nature. "Hey I wanted to thank you again Travis for helping me out with this again." Rigsbee says. "No-its okay. I'm actually really glad that you asked. Anything to get out of the hospital right?" There was an awkward silence between the two as Rigsbee focused on the road ahead. "So how long has he been missing?" "My wife called this morning about it, he just ran off. You don't know how important this is to me, hes family!" Driving down a major street that lead even further east. "So how far is it?" Pierce asked. "Just a few blocks now." Rigsbee answers. Stopping at a red light he turns to his fellow Doctor. "You remember my wife? From that ceremony?" Rigsbee pops the question. "Of courseHelen, right?" "Yes well she works for the city. She has a strange hobby" "Uh oh what is it Dan?" Pierce saw the worry in his eye. "Its nothing bad. Well not that bad. Just trying to warn you." This act of warning however Pierce did not take to heart. Arriving at Rigsbee's home Pierce was immediately jealous and in admiration. He had a well-kept front yard, beautiful green grass that had been recently trimmed. Inside the house had plenty of space for Dan, Helen and his kids. After Pierce met with Helen and the kids again, Helen brought him to the kitchen. "I'm gonna go change real quick." Was what Dan said as he left for the master bedroom. Helen pounced on this chance. "So Travis, tell me, what do you know about Zelma?" Helen looked at him with a crooked smile. "Zelma? Our city? I know enough to get by, thats all I really needed." Pierce replied. "Did you know that Zelma use to be known as Heltonville?" Helen asked and Pierce barely had time to shake his head 'no' before she continued. "Heltonville was a small town. Had some churches, cemetaries, nothing really going for it. Zelma was the only other town that had was before entering the Brown County State Park." "So there use to be two towns? Now its just one big city." "Actually considering this to be a city is kinda of a stretch. While there is a large population here, majority of them come to find a cheap place to stay and then head north to the check out

the acres of forests and mountains. The tourists always be coming in so why should the two fight over customers right?" Helen gives the Doctor a moment to understand. "At first the town was known as Siste Viator, thats Latin for 'Stop, Traveler'. However there was a feud between the mayor of Heltonville and the sheriff of Zelma. These two little towns while had come together still believed that survival of the fittest." "Sounds like they didn't like each other." "Not at all. While they tried both towns ended up being at each other's throats. It was only a matter of time before a huge fight commenced. It was war. There blood, guts, many people died from both sides of the town. Four years later people came from Bloomington, the big city to the northwest of the park. They cleaned it up, began the rebuilding of the city. At the time out of the survivors left from the epic war was the sheriff of Zelma. Thus the city was named Zelma for the mayor from Heltonville had died." "Honey!" Daniel called out from the hallway as he saw that his wife had become gone a bit too far in details about the history of the city. "Though word spread that the sheriff actually went into hiding to protect himself. That way in the end he could be the victor. But that I just rumors-" Helen trailed off at the end, giving factorials about the city as her husband appeared in new clothing and handing Pierce a photo. "Sorry about that she can really get carried away sometimes." Dan apologized. "It waseducational." Pierce looked over the picture. "Is this him?" "His name is Roscoe." Dan informed Pierce. "You guys are going to look for Roscoe?" Helen asked. "Oh from the way you were talking about him in the car I thought Roscoe was well-" Pierce held his tongue. "Well what?" Doctor Daniel Rigsbee asked. "I thought he was a small dog. You know like a bulldog, or even a pitbull. Golden retrievers, there pretty popular." "He has his collar with tags on him. Come on he couldn't have gone far!" Dan pulling away Travis from the kitchen and began walking the streets of the city of Zelma. "I tried to warn you, she has a thing with information about the city." "I'm sure it wouldn't be any different if I had a wife." Pierce said as the two walked down the block. Upon reaching the corner the two doctors had decided on a route in which to take. Walking down the sidewalk of another residential block Pierce stopped at an alley that was between the streets. The alley had trash bins littered down the narrow lane. Rigsbee looks on to see a group of dogs walking along at the other end of this alley. Changing course the two doctors cut through the alley and appeared at another residential block. The chase continued down the street and trailed into a different alley further down. The two doctors had begun a light jog to keep up with these dogs. At the alley the dogs were no longer running, Pierce could only see the end of one dog as the rest of his body and the other dogs were hiding behind a large trash bin. Moving in Pierce and Rigsbee looked around the trash bin to find an unpleasant scene. A large pile of trash, rotten food, and bones. There was a

puddle of red but Pierce could not recognize if it was blood. Whether the bones were human or not was also in question. Four dogs picking through the treasure in this undisclosed alley. All the dogs looked as though they were strays. No collars, dirt all over their fur, two of dogs were even fighting over the larger bones. One of the dogs, a black furred doverman, showed its teeth as it turned to notice the two doctors. This one dog locked its eye sight on the two of them, never backing down. With a low growl the two doctors backed away slowly, another one of the dogs came to now notice the doctors and also began to growl. The other two dogs remained to naw and bite away at the bones. However these two big, dirty, stray dogs had their eyes on their next meal. The two doctors turned and ran, the dogs broke into stride immediately, hellbent on the chase. Running to the end of the block Rigsbee called out for help but there were no other people around. The silence on this street was a strange occurrence. The two dogs still hot on their heels Rigsbee ran left, Pierce ran right. Now splitting up, what began as a search for a lost dog had become a survival from dogs. Meanwhile at a Zelma City Police Station, Detective Klines sat at his desk. Hanging up the phone he swears under his breath, as he marks on his notepad. Yet another call in about the disturbance of dogs or a wild animal. Many police officers have been called out about the crisis already, Klines however was reluctant to leave his desk. Even though he had a clue that no other police officer had Klines did not want to believe that clue. As the phone calls kept coming in he continued to do his job. However if anyone asked he would tell them the same lie: I don't have a clue whats going on out there. Two cops come stomping through the room with a man who is shouting absolute nonsense. The police officers attempting to hold him back are unable to fight off the odd strength of this singular man. Knocking down the cops the man jumps onto one desk, only to dive onto Klines desk. Dropping in front of him the man flopped as if he was a fish out of water. Klines lifts the man onto his feet by his collar. "What do we have here?" "Homeless man! Found him in the subway terminal. He states that his dog tried to kill him too." "I'M THE MASTER! I'M THE MASTER! I AM THE MAS-" As the homeless man ranted Klines drove his fist into the man's guts. Bending over with pain the man stops he endless crusade of craziness. "I'll take him to the cage, since you two dicks are totally useless anyways." Klines turning the hobo around pushed him down the hall. Entering the area where people were incarcerated, the dirty and smelly old hobo began to chat again. "Cage for a man, cage for a dog" "What?" Klines asked, he was looking for another reason to pound the hobo. "Its a place to sleep for the night, so you should be happy. "I AM THE MASTER! SLAVE BE IN CAGE AND NOT THE MASTER!"

"SHUT UP!" Sliding the door to the prison open, Klines uncuffed the homeless man before throwing him inside. The gate slamming shut the hobo wrapped his hands around the bars and peered back on the Detective. "You gottta listen! Listenlisten to your instincts! Animal instincts..." Klines kicking the bars the hobo curled into a ball, hiding from possible further physical damage. Seeing how scared the man was Klines began to stroll back to his desk. The hobo went back to the bars and shouted to the Detective. "THE WEAK EXIST ONLY TO NOURISH THE STRONG!" Klines ignored the man as returned to his desk. Only to find himself, no other police officer was at his/her desk. The Detective sat at a nearby window and took a look outside at the view. Not much was provided for a view, many commercial buildings blocked the way. However the street below was filled with many people, some were crying from injuries, others were complaining about the ongoing issues. Klines rubbed his head and grabbed his coat, leaving the police station he found the city was in chaos. Anarchy was oncoming, inevitable. Klines figured it was best for him to do something about it. Weaving through the crowd of people Klines jumped into his car. Before turning the engine over Klines thought about what his first step should be. An investigation could start anywhere, however the priest John Clark was the first to give him a hint about what was going on. Even though Klines did not want to help the man of God the Detective thought it was best to at least visit him to ask a few more questions. Finally turning the engine over he drove away from the panic in the street. After driving for only about five minutes Klines saw a large pack of dogs roaming the street. The Detective seeing no one else around this area he chose it would be best for him to follow. Slowly following the pack of dogs in his car, Klines drove by much of strange events. One house the windows were shattered, the roof of this house was covered with an army of crows. Driving by a playground he saw an elephant sitting in the sand! With all this stuff happening around him, Klines had lost track of the pack of dogs, and even worse hits something. Turning off the engine Klines leaves his car to see that blood splattered onto his hood and covered the grill of his vehicle. Bending down at the sight of a dead dog Klines complained to himself about the damage done on his car. Coming from nearby Doctor Rigsbee immediately runs up and drops to his knees to check the dog. "NO! No!" Rigsbee quoted. "You okay buddy?" The Detective asked. "Roscoe! This is my doghe was my dog." Rigsbee held his canine in his arms. "I'm sorry I didn't see him coming." Klines stood up quickly as Doctor Pierce ran to Rigsbee. "Oh no, he didn't make it." Pierce said. "YOU?" Klines said as Pierce saw that it was the man he had met not too long ago. "Detective? What are you doing here?" "Trying to figure out what is going on!" Klines replied boldy. "You know this guy?" Rigsbee asked. "Kinda" Said Pierce.

"He killed my dog!" Rigsbee cried out. "Sorry but theres a lot of strange shit going down the last thing I need to worry about is your dog!" As Klines stated this Pierce drew closer to him so that Rigsbee wouldnt hear him. "What do mean? Is there something going on that I need to be a part of?" "I don't know. I'm investigating." "Right. I'm gonna help my friend here bring his dog home to bury-" "No your not. Your coming with me!" Klines demanded as he grabbed Pierce and forced him into his car. "What are you doing?" Rigsbee stated as he stood to fight. "Relax. I'm a cop." Klines pulling his coat aside shows the badge on his waist along with the gun in its holster. Cruising away Pierce looked back to see his fellow Doctor still on his knees, still embracing his dead dog. "You didn't have to do that." Pierce commented on Klines behavior. "Right now this city is falling apart. Have a bigger problem on our hands." "Still you know better than that. You were wrong back there." Pierce continued his assault. "It was an accident." This was all Klines replied back, Pierce's tactics did nothing to get arise of emotion from the Detective. "So where are we going?" Pierce asked as they drove toward the heart of the city. "Have to go see John. Something is wrong with all this." Getting closer to the tall skycrapers Klines stomped on his brakes hard. Hearing the screeching of the discs pressing against the wheels the car was able to stop in time as a large pack of dogs crossed the street. Pierce pulled forward from the force gets kicked back against his seat and watched the dogs roam together like a hurd. This pack had at least twenty dogs, all of them moving together to their next location. "Un-fucking-believable." Hearing his phone ring Pierce reaches into his pocket to answer. "Hello?" Pierce asked the caller. "Doctor Pierce?" A woman's voice from the other end asked. "Yes. Whos this?" "Its me Rebecca. Margaret came by the hospital, I guess shes been looking for you." "Is that him? Give me the phone!" Another female voice came from the background. "Pierce! Where are you?" "Margaret! I'm uhh-well I'm mobile." Pierce said as he anxiously looked over to Klines, the Detective did not look concerned over the call. "Listen this is all one big paranormal event! Its considered a warning sign from the Otherside!" "Uh-huh. So is this the end of the world?" Pierce asked. "No! Its not the end of the world! No matter what you do or plan on doing it isn't going to make things better only worse!" "Uh-huh." Pierce simply said as he looked to Klines, who looked back now suspiciously. "Are you listening to me? It is so written! Don't you understand? This was going to happen! No matter what we did or what we do this event was going to happen! Doesn't matter that its happening now all that matters is that you survive it!"

"Who are you talking too?" Klines finally asked, with a hard gulp the Doctor responded. "Margaret." The Detective immediately pulls over the vehicle. "MARGARET! Hell no! I thought I made this clear with John I am not listening to her!" Klines grabs for the phone, and after a brief tug-of-war Klines had the cell phone in his hands. "Hello? Pierce? Whats happening?" Margaret asked through the reciever. "Margaret we don't need your assistance." "Who is this?" Margaret could not recognize the voice. "We appreciate it but for all I know you probably had something to do with this!" "WHAT!?! Whoever you are I am not the blame for this! Listen you just gotta stay inside! Keep yourselves safe! Don't even worry about other people now!" As Margaret talks Klines puts the phone to his shoulder as static comes in through the radio. The radio in the Detective's car was not a regular radio, he had installed a police radio within to be able to communicate with relay. "Sorry girl, gotta go." "Girl?" Klines disconnecting the call turns the Doctor's phone off and throws it in the backseat. "What are you doing?" Pierce wondered as he reached for his phone, but Klines cut him short. Grabbing the transmitter the Detective pressed down on the button and talked into it. Hearing nothing but static at first a male voice came out loud from the radio. "Attention this is Officer Lewis. I got multiple I repeat-MULTIPLE codes 187. I'm here at location 27 Tesem Drive. Requesting backup immediately." Shifting the car back into drive Detective Klines turned on the siren along with lights and stomped on the pedal. "Now that is my type of situation!"

Part 2

Detective Klines drove like a race-car driver to reach the location in a timely matter. All the while Doctor Pierce sat passenger. The Detective excited, the Doctor was scared of how the cop was reacting. Arriving at the address cops in uniform had already taped off the location. Klines with ease showed his badge and ducked under the caution tape. Pierce following him was immediately stopped by the other officers in uniform. "Hes with me!" Klines turned back to say, with this Pierce was allowed past the yellow tape and into what was a crime scene. From the front yard it looked like any other ordinary two-story house. White paint with blue trim, nicely cut bushes and properly placed gnome statues. Pierce has learned from his past experiences that nothing is ever what it seems from the outside. Walking through the house with Klines he saw that the place was a mess. Furniture was knocked over and around. There were spots of blood but no bodies to be seen as of yet.

On the way to the backyard Klines diverted the Doctor around a man from forensics who was collecting bullet casings from the hardwood floor. While the inside of the house looked to have many clues the real interesting part of what was happening was in the backyard. The entire yard had a make-shift garage port. Walking into the area Pierce saw that while the frame was made of wood the roof itself was made of thin metal sheets. Under the shelter of the metal was a small dirt ring. This ring was formed with a small fence that was no higher than a man's knee. There was plenty of blood here, a few bodies remained along with plenty of footprints. From the look of the action in the dirt, there was quite a stampede that had happened recently. Klines took a close look at one of the few bodies. "This was a dog fighting ring." The Detective stated as he looked over this body. "Something bad happened here. Made everybody run for their lives." Klines stood up to respectively meet with an officer. The man looked sweaty as if this was his first crime scene. Pierce was able to hide his nerves better than this cop. "Detective Klines?" Asked the cop. "You must be the man who called it in. Let me guess, dogs. Dogs did them in." "Not all of them sir. The man your standing over only got bit by one of the dogs, then he got three rounds in his back. From what they can tell the shots came from inside the house." As the cop explained Klines looked back at the house. "So our shooter intentionally shot the man, though the dog would have done him in anyways." "Yes sir. Now there were two dogs fighting, they went crazy. Still unable to determine how many more dogs there were here." "Thank you officer you can go." Klines said after a moment of thinking. Pierce watched his step as he got himself closer to the Detective. "The dogs went crazy" Pierce bending down went to touch one of the bodies. "What are you doing?" Klines stopped Pierce with a firm hand on the Doctor's chest. "I'm gonna look him over. Least that I can do!" "Sorry Doc, but they're already gone." "I don't understand-" "Your all about saving lives. Here you can't do this. Sorry you'll just contaminate it." "?THEN WHY DID YOU BRING ME ALONG?" Pierce asked stubbornly, Klines grabbing the Doctor's arm pulled up his shirt sleeve to reveal the tattoos. "Because you are a Guardian." Klines releasing his grasp went back to looking over the bodies. "So you knew. Just how much do you know?" "I know enough. Just let me do my job." Klines didn't even look at the Doc while he said this. Pierce bent over to whisper into the Detective's ear. "Then what is your job-with me?" Klines turned his head sharply at Pierce. "This is priority one. You got me?" Standing up Klines left the make-shift shelter and headed for the narrow passage to the side of the house. There were two trash bins knocked over, trash spilt onto the dirt. Ants were crawling all over it. A dead dog was also there. Looking over the dog Klines could see he was clearly shot multiple times. Someone must have thought the dog was

still a threat and put it down. Kicking away bits of trash the Detective raised the head of the dead dog up, and pulled at his mouth to reveal his teeth. "Wow. Check out those teeth." Klines said to Pierce as he bent down to get a closer look. The dog had a large amount of blood in its mouth. The blood could be its own, or from the people he had injured and killed. Red teeth that were longer than a usual set of a dog. "Even if this dog was trained to fight, there is no way that his teeth would be this long. Never seen teeth like that before on a dog." "Maybe, its a side effect. You know, from the Otherside." Pierce responded as he gagged lightly from the sight of the blood dripping from the dead dog's mouth. "Alright, I admit something odd is going on. But this is ridiculous!" Klines dropping the dog's head walked back to his car and leaned against the hood. "We have to hide! Find shelter, keep ourselves safe." Pierce relayed. "Can't do that." "But Margaret said-" "Margaret? MARGARET! You know what? Let me show you something." Klines jumped into his car and Pierce hopped into the passenger seat. The Detective grabbed his laptop from the backseat, opening it up a light from the screen reflected on Klines. "Gonna show you something. Gonna show you right now." Klines typed away at his laptop furiously. The Detective driven to give Pierce a glimpse of history about this woman he was dealing with. Turning the laptop to the Doctor there on the screen was a photo of Margaret. "This is her mug shot." Pierce replied, to the right in bold was her name. Then below Margaret's name was her stats: age, height, weight. Below this was a record of everything that Margaret had been arrested for. "Thatis Margaret's police record. And its pretty thick." The Doctor's heart sank into his lungs as he read the file on the laptop. Trespassing, Breaking & Entering, Stealing, Arson! The list was extensive and even gave dates in which this occurred. The most recent arrest records indicated she was incarcerated last year over assault. "This IS pretty bad" Pierce mentioned. "Well? Do you see why I don't listen or believe her now?" "Sorry, I'm just trying to get my head wrapped around all of this." Klines taking the laptop away from Pierce closed it and placed it in the backseat once again. "Don't be sorry. Just don't question my authority. I have a job as a cop. Theres a bad guy out there, and I'm gonna be the one who catches him." Klines buckles himself in and turns the ignition on to his car. "So where are we going now?" Pierce asked as he buckled in his seatbelt. "We're gonna go check out the pound. All these wild dogs had to have come from somewhere." "Theres a lot of dog pounds in this city" Pierce noted. "All we need is one. Its a step in the right direction." Klines shifting the car into the right gear began to slowly move forward, away from the crime scene and toward the nearest dog pound.

Frustrated from the phone call Margret hangs the phone up with hard force at the hospital. Stomping away she is talking to herself, infuriated with the way she has been treated by this unknown person on the phone. Rebecca follows her outside, where Margaret finally unwinds and releases the pressure building within. "Just who the hell was that?" Margaret asked out loud. Rebecca however did not know the answer, Margaret began to pace. Back and forth, along the sidewalk. The people who were around did look to see why she was acting so odd. "Pierce is with some-some GUY! Do you know who he is?" "Nomaybe it was Doctor Rigsbee. They did leave together." "If thats true then Doctor Rigsbee is an Asshole!" Margaret changing the tone of her voice when saying Rigsbee's name. "Theres no way! Rigsbee is a good man! A family man" Even though Rebecca wanted to defend him, Margaret continued to pace back and forth. "I can't believe it. Hes going to get himself killed! He needs think before just going out into the world! He can't just leave-he needs to have a plan first!" "You sound like my mother." Rebecca mentioned as Margaret appeared worried over Pierce. "I am NOT going after him. No way. No one is safe outside!" Margaret finally stopped pacing and took a moment to breath. Rebecca walked in front of her and looked into her eyes. "You owe him. We owe him" Margaret's eyes glazed over, her face was built up with sadness, as if he was already gone. "I don't know where he is. Do you know where this-Doctor Rigsbee lives?" "I can find out." Rebecca turning to head back into the hospital stops and turns back to Margaret. "Wait hereplease." Rebecca then continued into the hospital. Margaret with no one around to listen to her sits on a nearby bench. Despite the mood she was in she still noticed just how wonderful the weather was outside. Warm, wind was perfect, and the sky had almost no clouds at all. Margaret watched as a man being aided by his buddy hurry into the hospital. The man's arm dripping with blood, Margaret could overhear them talking. "Can't believe he bit you! I'm so sorry! Hes never done that before!" Margaret looked over the blood trail that the two left behind. "They're gonna be in there for a while." Margaret said to herself, as she sees Rebecca coming back out of the hospital with a small piece of paper. "Got it!" Said Rebecca happily. "Great. Now where did you park?" "Oh-I don't have a car." "You don't? But you're a Doctor! Don't you get paid well?" "I get paid enough. I'm actually an interndon't you have a car?" Rebecca asked and Margaret quickly searched through her pockets to find something specific. "Come on." Margaret lead Rebecca into the parking lot. Reaching the car that the two men who just entered the hospital left in the lot, Margaret got in. She was lucky that they had left the doors unlocked. Reaching underneath where the steering wheel was Margaret popped off the

compartment and began messing with the wires. Rebecca hopping into the passenger seat got herself adjusted. "You drive a truck?" Rebecca seeing Margaret cross some wires and hears the engine turn over. "I do now." The loud engine of the truck rattled as Margaret drove the truck quickly away from the parking lot. The traffic in the streets of Zelma was all consuming. While Klines and Pierce were able to drive a good distance, they eventually had to stop due to too many cars on the road. Being only a few blocks away the pound the two men walked through the lanes of vehicles. Each car, empty with people, some even had dirt on them as if they had been there for a long time. After a good walk Klines and Pierce were able to see the sign for the dog pound. At the last intersection was where all the traffic had started. A massive pile-up had occurred earlier in the day. With dried blood on the ashpalt and no bodies around they knew that the action was long gone here. Making it to the parking lot of the dog pound Klines and Pierce stopped to the sounds of loud footsteps and heavy breathing. A man with sweat on his brow stumbles onto the road from a nearby area. Falling against one of the cars he sees the Doctor and the Detective, immediately he races over. Stopping only a few feet short of the men this stranger knelt over from the exertion. "Whats wrong with you?" Klines asked. Before he could respond however a dog surprise attacked the man from behind. Jumping onto his back, the stranger falls forward, scrapping his cheeks against the hard pavement. Blood slowly formed from his the wound as the dog that landed on his back found a good chunk of skin to tear off. As another dog showed in between the alley of cars Klines pushed Pierce away and toward the dog pound. Walking faster than normal the man groaned in utter pain. The stranger's yelling however was quickly gargled from blood as one of the dogs ripped from his neck. Upon reaching the dog pound Klines stopped to see more dogs appear as they began to howl. Getting inside Pierce grabbed a few chairs to position them against the door. Pierce looked around and saw that no one was inside, then looked to see that Klines was staring out the window. "Oh my godis itthat guy?" The Doctor wondered. "Huh? No, hes dead. Isn't that weird? The howling? I've only seen wolves do that." The Detective helped Pierce take a look around the dog pound. The main entrance was a lobby area. There was a long counter for people to come in and talk to the receptionist. Papers were scattered about behind this counter, and the phone was off the hook and unplugged from the wall. Looking up Klines pointed at the cameras. "Whatever happened it must have been caught on video." Klines began checking doors. The bathrooms were to the left past the lobby counter, also to the farther left were two large set of doors. These having a sign on it saying EMPLOYEES ONLY. The Detective tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge, from the security set-up they would need a id badge to scan to get access. To the right of the lobby was another door(one o'clock position), this was locked as well. Then larger set of doors to the far right(three o'clock position). These doors had no security badge, and were easily pushed open. Detective lead the way, slowly stepping into the right wing of the facility. Pierce followed behind him, staying in a single file line.

Right wing were inclosed quarters for the dogs. This was most likely the rooms for dogs incase weather was bad, or if they needed to be separated from other dogs. Many of the gates to the cages were bent and deformed. More paper was along the floor, along with some of the cages themselves. Klines opening the first door he gets to finds it to be a utility room. The next door he finds is a cleaning closet. With every door Pierce had a relief that whatever happened here was over and done with. The last door in the wing exit the facility, brought the two men into a grassy area. The building was set up like a large U. From here the two of them could cut across and connect to the left wing. The door was clearly visible from that side of the building. In between the left wing and the right wing however were two large octagons. Made out of a clear and thick plexi-glass these were more kennels for dogs. Clearly the area where dogs mainly stayed. This was the perfect place for families to play with the animals and find which dog was best for them. Walking quickly past the first octagon Pierce saw that the sky was no longer blue. Instead a thick fog had blanket the entire sky. This same fog hung low, Pierce feared that the Otherside had come and swept them into its world. Stepping slowly through the fog now Klines had to step over bones that were scattered along the grass. The fog had another ability other than making hard to see what lies ahead, it had a tendency to fade colors away. The beautiful green grass was now just a gray still. A fragment of what it really was, once. A loud howling echoed through the fog, and this made Pierce step on one of the various bones lying around. The snapping of this precious bone turned the howling into fierce growling. There from the fog appeared the twisted dogs of the Otherside. Klines took aim with his firearm and blasted away, getting Pierce to run to the door. The Doctor found it and looked back to see that the Detective's firearm actually did damage. Two beasts had fallen, as lifeless as the gray grass, Klines holstered his firearm before rejoining Pierce in the left wing. "How did you do that?" Pierce asked Klines once they were inside the facility again. "What kill those dogs? It wasn't that hard, just have to not care." "No thats not what I meant. I didn't think it was possible here." Pierce stopped short and stared down the hall. The left wing of this facility had become a warzone, blood was splattered everywhere. On some parts of the hall were puddles of the dark red substance. The first room Klines and Pierce accessed was a surgery room for animals. Marble counter with tools were set up, above this were cupboard that were left open. The room ransacked, the only thing left in clean condition was the table that was set up in the center of the room. That was when the room grew dark and Klines paid attention to the activity happening in the center of the room. Through the darkness a dog appeared on the center table, along with two people in white coats and masks. These two people had already opened up the dog and was reaching inside of it. The dog lifeless on the table was covered in blood. The two veteranarians had there arms deep in its stomach. With a loud gush tentacles ruptured from the dog and wrapped themselves around the two vets. One was lifted up high, the other was tossed hard against a bare wall, which was now painted with red. Pierce shuddered at the loud crack as the tentacles snapped bones in

the vet in the arm, before tossing it aside. The tentacles flayling now reached for Klines and Pierce. The Detective opened the door and threw the Doctor into the hallway before joining him. "We have to go back outside." Pierce said to Klines. The Detective began to walk treacherously through the narrow left wing, stepping over and around the puddles of blood. "No. That is not an option." Klines was still refusing to listen, he still wanted to believe. "Theres nobody here!" Pierce said as he followed the Detective. Jumping out from one of the rooms at the far end of the hall a man held a knife out toward Klines. "FUCK!" Pierce was so startled by the man that he slipped in a puddle of blood. The Detective raising both his hands up slowly shuffled to one side of the hallway. Keeping his eyes on the man with knife Klines did not make any fast movements. The man had blood splattered on his hands and clothing. Blood was smeared on his face like war paint. The oddest part was the man wore the skin of a dog on his back like a hooded coat. The man kept the blade pointing outward, his hand slightly shaking he refused to blink. His eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and survival. "Take it easy" Klines said to the stranger with a knife. The Detective kept his hands high to show that he posed no threat. The stranger waved the stainless steel blade, and took short quick breaths. The dog coat on him was dripping wet and stunk like shit. "Take it easy" "GET AWAY FROM ME!" The man yelled. "STAY BACK!" "Calm downjust calm downits okayI'm a cop" Klines slowly raises his coat away to reveal his badge on his belt. Along side it was clearly his firearm. "YOU-YOU JUST STAY THE FUCK BACK! I MEAN IT!" "We're here to help!" Pierce tries to help talk the stranger down. "Lets just get out of here. We'll go together-" Klines looks to reason with the man. "I'M NOT GOING OUT THERE! YOUR CRAZY! THESE DOGSTHEY'RE FUCKING CRAZY!" The man darted his eyes back and forth between Pierce and Klines. "We're not gonna hurt you" Klines slowly stepped closer to the stranger, his hand still shaking on the blade. "I'M NOT GOING OUT THERE" The man stated as Klines drew closer. "FUCK YOU!" The stranger swung but Klines was able to react fast enough to dodge the attack. The Detective throwing a heavy right hook knocks the man to the ground. Stomping on the stranger's hand Klines pressed down hard until he let go of the weapon. A loud noise from behind them made Pierce turn to see that the door leading outside has been ripped open. As part of the fog drifted into the hallway a tall lingering form stood there silently. With round beedy red eyes it was a figure of a monster. It looked to be at least seven feet tall, skinny but built. As it entered the hallway two more dog-beasts leap from outside and began to sprint down the hall toward the Doctor, the Detective, and the stranger. "Oh NO! NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO!" The stranger shouted, Klines grabs the man and pulls him into the room that he busted out of. "PIERCE!" The Detective called out as the Doctor rushed into the room, shutting the door hard behind him. Klines throwing the stranger aside grabs the only piece of heavy furniture in the

room: a large wooden desk. Flipping it over the Detective slides it against the door. As Pierce and Klines barricaded themselves in the pounding and scratching began. The stranger curled himself up in the corner and began to cry. "WHAT CAN WE DO?" Pierce shouted over the noise. Klines took a look around the room. "THERES NO OTHER WAY OUT! WE'RE STUCK IN HERE!" Klines pushed hard against the desk to keep there enemies at bay. "WE HAVE NO CHOICE, WE HAVE TO HOLD THEM OFF!" Pierce shouted back to the Detective. The pounding and scratching continued, they could hear the barking of the beasts on the opposing side of that door. Knocking on Rigsbee's front door Margaret stood behind Rebecca who rearranged her clothing, making herself look presentable. Expecting Dan to answer the door it was in fact his wife Helen. After Rebecca explained that they were looking for Dan she directed them through the house and to the backyard. There with a wheel barrel and a shovel Doctor Rigsbee was digging a hole in his backyard. Margaret noticed the big black trash bag near the hole as Rebecca approached the doctor from behind. "Excuse me, Dr.Rigsbee?" Sticking the shovel into the dirt he turned to see who was calling out his name. "Dr.Kelly? What are you doing here? You should be back at the hospital." Rigsbee drew a cloth from his pocket to clean his glasses. "I'm looking for Pierce...I thought he was with you?" Hearing why Rebecca was at his home Dan retrieved the shovel and went back to digging his hole. "He wasbut he left me. Some cop took him and left me stranded, alone." "Ohokay." Rebecca knew she had struck a nerve but did not know just how deep that nerve went. The intern merely stepped back and away from Dan and left with Margaret back to inside of the house. "That didn't go well." Margaret replied to Rebecca, as they made their way through the house they stopped at the front door to be greeted by two police officers. These police officers were not there for Rigsbee, they were there for the reported stolen truck. Klines and Pierce kept leaning there bodies against the desk as the attack continued. The stranger who once was so offensive remained hiding in the corner. You could hear him faintly crying. You could hear him losing all control. "HEY YOU! GET OVER HERE AND HELP US!" Klines shouted to the man who wiped his eyes and sniffled hard. "DO YOU WANT TO DIE? GET OVER HERE AND HELP US!" The man's hands were shaking ever worse now then they were when he was holding the blade. As he sat in the corner thinking over if he should help, the pounding and scratching ceased. With no sounds of barking or anything Pierce took a moment to rest. "Why did they stop?" The stranger said as he arose from the ground. "They'll be backthey always come back! Its only a matter of time until we all die!" Klines seeing that the man was becoming hysterical walks over to the stranger and pushes him against the corner walls.

"Klines!" Pierce called out to the Detective. "Stop! Thats enough!" Pulling Klines away Pierce takes a moment to have a quiet conversation with him. "It must be the Otherside!" "What are you talking about? What is that?" "You don't know what the Otherside is! Its that fog! If it went away then now is our chance!" Pierce said but Klines did not take his eyes off the stranger. "Hey! We gotta go now!" Pierce began sliding the desk aside, Klines grabbed the man who was petrified. The stranger did not want to leave but did not want to be alone either. "FINE! But he is coming with us!" Klines said as pushed the stranger out of the room and into the hallway. Together the three men escaped the dog pound much faster than they first came through. Once they had made it to the parking lot Pierce looked to see that the fog had lifted. "Its like the tide" Pierce said to himself, however Klines who was pushing the stranger ahead looked back. "What?" The Detective asked. Pierce did not answer, which was enough of an answer for Klines. Upon making it back to the vehicle Klines, cleared out his back seat. Much of his stuff he put in the trunk. Then he handed Pierce his phone. "Here!" Pierce looking at the familiar device had a light laugh. Klines helping the stranger into the backseat closed the door to his vehicle hard. "WHAT?" The Detective shouted at Pierce. "This would have been really useful back there." Pierce remarked as he put his phone back in his pocket. The three of them drove away from the facility and made it all the way back to the police station. Nightfall had come upon the city, so much of the chaos had not died down from earlier. Inside the station Klines brought his crazy stranger to the cells, having him join the other crazy man who was sleeping on his cot. "Pierce! Oh thank god!" The Doctor turned with the Detective to see that Margaret along with Rebecca were in the opposite cell. Rebecca rushed up to the bars with a smile as Margaret simply folded her arms. "Rebecca! What happened?" Pierce asked. "We got arrested." Rebecca replied. "For what?" Pierce asked another question, Rebecca looked back at Margaret, then looked away. "Grand theft auto." "HA! Thats fitting for you isn't it Margaret? Just adding another notch to your belt! Classic!" Klines said loudly as Margaret unfolded her arms and gave the Detective the middle finger. "Go Fuck Yourself! We were trying to track you down Travis!" Margaret stated, Pierce pulled Klines aside again. "You gotta get them out!" "Not gonna happen. Shes a criminal! Believe me she belongs in there!" "Wheres my phone call?" Margaret asked. "No need for that." A familiar voice came from the entry way, everybody turned to look and see that it was the Reverend John Clark. "FINALLY! You're here to bail us out!" Margaret pumped herself up as if this was a victory. "Yes but not now. Your going to have to stay the night." John informed them.

"What! Why?" Rebecca asked. "The city went to the dogs today. It seems there was also a huge breach in communication. On all sides of the team today" John took a look at each and every one of them. "You should all be thankful. This day could have been a lot worse." Said John before heading back out to where the police desks are. Klines quickly chased him down, Pierce took a moment to touch Rebecca on her hand as she tightly gripped the bars. "Its gonna be okay." Pierce said as he soon enough raced to catch up to the Detective. John was now having a nice conversation with Klines. "You can have that girl in there. But Margaret stays." Klines said boldy. "Oh no? I already got your Captain's approval on this." "You don't have that type of power." Klines fought back. "Trust me, I do." John sat down slowly. "Just what in the hell are you doing?" Klines demanded to ask as he pounded his own desk. "I'm taking care of my team. Whether or not you want to be a part of this team is no longer your choice. You made the decision and you can't go back on it now. Now excuse me, I'm going to pray." Putting his hands together John closed his eyes. Klines frustration made him walk away, Pierce sat down next to John. "So, we can't leave?" "Not until the night is over. Not until this day is done." John said with a quiet-inside voice. Pierce understanding got up and found the nearest bench in which he could lay down to sleep. Curling up on the hard seat the Doctor was finally able to rest. As Pierce slept on the wooden bench, Klines accessed the cot that was in the police station. This was only intended for use by the Captain and other high ranking officers. The Detective was happy to go in and use it despite not having that authority. Rebecca and Margaret were able to spend more time getting to know each other. As there relationship grew stronger the two crazy men across the way became more coherent. The stranger who once held a blade to Klines took off the dog coat and wondered why he would ever wear such a disgusting thing. The other man believed it to be a dream. Though it ended up becoming a nightmare for the city. One that would make myths come true and people question the meaning of life. People had died, even more were injured by the odd events. The Circle was able to cover it up nicely; no person ever questioned there existence. This would indubitably show the cowardice of curs. These people, this city, is a dog-eat-dog world.