Housepets! Changing by the Seasons: 2. The New Era
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 12:26 pm
If you want to know why the titles have changed, go ahead and stop by "The Way Back Machine" thread and there is a brief explanation there! As with the other one, here are the links to the stories!
CbtS: 1. The Way Back Machine
In which Peanut talks a bit about his life.
CbtS: 3. Pet Project
In which our heroes discover the ups and downs of equality.
As with the other one, I hope you enjoy! Thanks again for reading.
Housepets: The New Era
“Pet Friendly”
"The bond between mankind and animals go back before the dawn of primitive civilization. Before the written word. Before philosophy, before gods and demons. Back to an age where we were all animals. Survival was the key to happiness. We were equal in the face of nature. Years later someone somehow gained an upper-hand."
-Excerpt from Peter Hooke's best selling book, Man and Beast.
In the corner of a room sat a lone television. The lights all around were dimmed, accentuating the luminescence of the magic talking box. A pack of wolves sat a good distance away; wolves of different sizes, shapes, ages. All of them transfixed by a single program. There was a man in blue suit standing at the pulpit. Signs were all around him that read “Hooke for President,” held aloft by roiling masses of cheering crowds. Camera flashes illuminated his face with a sharp strobe like effect.
“I stress equality, for generations to come. They will hear my battle cry, our battle cry! And they will forever remember us as the ones who changed the world for the better.”
The crowd erupted on screen. A surging wave of passionate cries for justice.
“Isn't this wonderful Miles? Finally someone else out there that thinks like Mr. Milton.”
The head of the pack looked at his mate and gave her a solid nod. His teeth spread out into a toothy grin. “He seems like a real stand up guy.”
“Shh we're watching the man yell.”
“Sorry son.”
All of them continued to watch in pious silence. Smiles on their faces, watching the dawn of a new era unfolding. The entire household had been seized. All save for two. Not but a few steps down the hall and to the right was the kitchen. The television set was quite audible to those inside. A small, Pembroke welsh corgi, was straining to reach a jar at the top refrigerator shelf. His companion trying to hide a smile.
“Hey Fox can you reach me the mayo?” Said King, his voice mixed with defeat.
“All you had to do was ask.” Fox replied, smug smile creeping up on his face as he grabbed the white jar from the highest shelf and handed it to his vertically impaired friend.
“It looked closer to the ground than I thought it would be.” The corgi replied as he grabbed the mayo and walked to the table. They had both already spread out bread, ham, and other fixings for a mid evening snack. The mayonnaise was the only thing missing.
“Dunno how you can stand that stuff.” Fox grimaced as he watched King spread liberal amounts of mayonnaise onto a slice of bread.
“I grew up eating mayo on my sandwiches.” King muttered as he placed a few slices of ham. “Besides it adds just the right type of flavor.”
“If you say so.” Fox shrugged as he threw together a plain ham sandwich. “I should come over to your place more often, you eat like a king, so to speak. Dad never lets me use to the good ham.”
“I'm lucky if I get any meat, have you seen those wolves eat?”
“No I guess not, but right now I think they're a little busy.” Fox poked his head out of the kitchen, the light from the television spilled into the hall. “So long as that guy keeps talking I think you'll get first dibs here in the kitchen more often.”
King nodded as he took a seat and rested his elbow on the table top. “I guess so, would you call me crazy if I said I was kind of worried?”
Fox tilted his head a little. “Why worried?”
The Corgi sighed a little and shook his head. “The guy running for president, Hooke was him name I think, something just seems up with him. Call it doggy intuition but something doesn't feel right when I hear his voice or look in his general direction.”
“I don't know, but if you haven't noticed most politicians are like that.”
“Point taken.”
King did not expect Fox to understand. In fact King wasn't so sure he understood it himself. Things had been too quiet. Not just for a few weeks, or even months. No, the past few years had been strangely quiet. Quiet in a normal way, and his life was hardly ever quiet in a normal way. No spiritual disturbances. No news about the direction of his soul. Nothing.
“I think his idea is noble, animal equality,” Fox shrugged, “but I don't think that's a step even the animals are ready to take.”
“Agreed.” King nodded, remembering all too well the fine dividing line between cat and dog in quaint little suburbia.
“Besides, unless animals are allowed to vote, I don't think Hooke will have a chance.”
“Yeah, you're probably right.” King muttered as he nibbled away at his sandwich. For some reason he did not feel at all reassured.
~~
A starkly chill breeze weaved through the sleeping houses of Babylon Gardens. The shift from summer to fall was always subtle at first. Like a lion stalking its prey, there would only be traces of change, traces of a beast in the brush. Until one morning one would awake and the leaves would all be falling from their perch and the crisp autumn air had replaced the summer haze. The beast had pounced.
Kevin shivered a little as he tucked his hands into his K-9 vest. Wishing he had a double coat rather than the thin layer of fur that provided scant protection to the elements. His mind shifted to thoughts of warm blankets and healthy helpings of hot drinks.
“Kevin are you even listening to me?”
The doberman's eyes snapped to attention as he looked to his right. “Oh! Yeah sorry Sarge, it's kinda chilly out don't you think?”
“That's why I brought my coat, I actually pay attention to my two-way.” Sargent Ralph rolled his eyes.
“Well if these dumb radios played music once in awhile I might not be bored to death of the chatter.” Ralph rolled his eyes.
“If you listened you might be focused, this isn't a job to be taken lightly Kevin.” Ralph's voice took a much more serious tone. Kevin stopped shivering for a moment. “Can I rely on you or not?”
Not one to be talked down, Kevin had an instant reaction.
“Yes sir you can rely on me, sir” The doberman went to attention, with his back straight and chin up.
“Then pay attention to what we're dealing with, stay close, and for the love of dog, do not under any circumstances tackle.” Ralph hissed, his voice low.
Kevin was not all too certain what he was up against. It sounded incredibly dangerous. Danger was something he rarely felt while on his job. Even when he was up against hardened criminals, they would not dare hurt a dog. Even inmates frowned upon that.
“Ralph...what exactly are we up against?” Kevin's imagination went wild. Was it a ten foot tall man-and-pet-eating bear? Big foot? Michael Vick?
“We're on crime scene investigation.” Ralph grimaced. “The officers had been tracking a guy for months now, turns out he was right under our noses.”
“What did he do?”
“At first his only offense was drug related, they only needed sniffer dogs for that one.” Ralph replied. "They needed him because he was connected to a dealer they were looking to bust."
“So that's what Jamie has been up to this whole time.” Kevin nodded. “Then what?”
“They found his hideout about two hours ago, he had long since flown the coop. What really concerns me is what he left behind” Ralph replied. “Turns out he had been kidnapping pets from all over, taking them with him, and doing...” Ralph could not begin to speak.
“What?”
“Terrible things.” Ralph choked a little on his words, Kevin had never seen Ralph choke. “Just know this man is still at large and what you are about to see is going to be, for lack of a better word, scary.”
“I understand sir.”
The house looked fairly average on the outside. Save for yellow tape and police cars. Most other members of the K-9 unit had already assembled there. Most were sniffers, but they could see Fido out questioning the neighbors.
“Have you ever been on crime scene investigation before Sarge, I mean when it comes to pet abuse.”
“Once when I was a rookie.” Ralph muttered as they approached the house. "I think you were still a pup back then. We had trouble with a Gator and a guy that was kidnapping pets to feed it. This is the first time we were too late to stop something like this though."
Kevin could see about five pets sitting down next to a police car, all wrapped in blankets. Their fur matted, some had eyes puffy and swollen. Clumps of fur were completely gone on others. They all shared an uncanny dull stare that was lost in the distance. He could only begin to wonder what they were thinking.
“There were ten pets locked up here when they found the hideout.” Ralph said as he opened the door. “The five you see here are in shock but thankfully recovering, three had been in bad shape; they were promptly rushed to the vet. Two others they found were already...they didn't make it.”
Kevin stepped into the house and covered his muzzle. A rancid smell had lingered in the dimly lit house. He did not dare think too long about what that smell very well might be. The two dogs carefully worked their way around the house, Ralph had a flash light out. The kitchen was full of rotten dishes and left over food. Flies buzzed around, blackening the beam of the flashlight. Kevin whimpered a little as they made their way to a stair case obscured behind piles of newspapers and trash.
One cautions step after another they made their way to the second floor of the house. Checking the rooms one by one. Kevin was not quite used to the smell of the air, but Ralph recognized it. It was a sinister scent. One meant to excite predators in the wild. It was fear and submission. It was release. Ralph knew they were going to find the last two pets on that second level.
There were beds, cages with broken locks, and assorted tools scattered about. The police dogs could only imagine what sort of atrocities had happened in those rooms. Eventually Kevin pushed against a door that would not give. Suspicious and rather impatient he threw his shoulder against the door, effectively "tackling" it open. He stumbled a little in the door way, his eyes squinting to get a better look in the dark. “Ralph...you might want to get a look at this.”
Ralph turned his flashlight into the room and gasped. Words had been painted all over the wall, at least it looked like paint. Kevin gulped as they stepped into the room. “Beast is for man, and man alone.” Ralph read aloud. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Something to do with Animal equality.” Kevin replied.
“Now where did you pull that theory from?”
Kevin pointed at a newspaper clipping on the wall, with the headline “animal voting amendment reaches senate.”
“Kev, I think we have ourselves a real nut case on our hands. That or someone watches a lot of television.” Ralph replied as he picked up a notebook left in the corner of the room. He gently opened the pages and scanned through them.
“What's that?”
“It's a journal of some sort, it has a bunch of names, descriptions, breeds.” Ralph winced. “Holy- these are past victims. He has been at this for a year now.”
“Something tells me this guy had a little more than drugs on his mind.” Kevin peeked over Ralph's shoulder. “Ralph, I think we should let the humans take this one.”
“Never send a man to do a dog's job.” Ralph closed the notebook. “His motives seem awfully political don't you think? He had a lot of Senator Hooke on his mind when he did this.”
“Yeah, but then again he could just be crazy.”
“That is a viable theory, but he seems too methodical. He has kept every intricate detail of his... prisoners, in this note book. Not to mention it seems like he was dragging them around with him. His recent entries are for pets all the way from neighborhoods like Mariana Trench."
"Where is that?"
"A small coastal place, and you know how far from the coast we are." Ralph stroked his chin and tapped his foot. "It makes me wonder if he isn't the only one in on all of this. He might have accomplices all around the country. Misery loves company after all. How do you think PETA gets members?”
“That's a scary thought.” Kevin replied as they left the room.
“He is trying to make a point, that's how I see it.” Ralph frowned. “That guy is still out there and probably still willing to make his point. Hopefully the sniffers got his scent.”
“Hey lets show them the notebook! That should help.”
“Good idea Kevin, let's go.”
~~
Fido let out a long heavy sigh as he slipped off his K-9 vest. Tired did not begin to describe how he was feeling. Though he did not believe he was getting any sleep that particular night. He slumped into a chair and rubbed his temples. The neighbors yielded some useful information, the car the perp drove away in was a gray Oldsmobile, which is a fairly unique looking car. However without the license plate they could be out looking for Oldsmobiles for weeks.
“Long night?”
The police dog rubbed his eyes. “Hey there, how long have you been here?”
“Not too long.” Sabrina stepped into the room and sat next to him. “Your dad was nice enough to let me hang around here until you got home. I had a feeling you needed the company.”
“You read my mind,” Fido smiled a little.
“No I didn't.” Sabrina tilted her head.
“Figure of speech darling.” He yawned.
“Oh yes, sorry.” They both shared a laugh and huddled close together. “You nab your guy?”
“We're working on it, I have a feeling he did not get too far out of the neighborhood.”
The black cat nodded and scratched her lover's back. “I could help.”
“You sure that doesn't violate any psychic rules or anything?”
“I know my ways around all of the rules.” Sabrina winked. “It's a gift of mine.”
“Then by all means we need help.” Fido closed his eyes and leaned his head against a cushion.
“But we'll discuss this tomorrow, I think.” Sabrina smiled as she watched the dog doze against her. “Good night.”
“More like morning.” He said, half asleep.
She watched the dog finally fall into his slumber and gently slipped away, letting his head rest on the couch. He curled up into a ball in his sleep. Sabrina scratched behind his ear and left the room.
“I wonder if all dogs look like pups when they sleep.” She mused as she opened the front door. Only to find a Pomeranian standing before her. “Arcana, you know you might want to invest some time into finding some friends other than myself.”
“I apologize, I would be with Tarot but she's at that retreat and you know Peanut and Grape probably want this time alone.”
Sabrina smirked a little. “Is the great spirit dragon feeling lonely?”
Arcana blushed slightly and nodded. “It's something I'm not used to.”
“I know a couple of places to hang out at this hour, hope you don't mind fish.”
The two girls made their way down the road. Sabrina had always wondered what it might be like for someone immortal to spend their time as a mortal. Everyone in the Gardens instantly recognized Arcana as being strange, but luckily Tarot was rather strange her self. It was easily assumed to be genetic.
“How are you getting along at the Good Old Dogs club, heard you went to a meeting or two.”
“I think I've spent too much time as a dog because for some reason I was starting to care about their issues.” Arcana smiled a little. “Between you and me Bino is cute when he yells, like he's actually threatening or something.”
“Cute is not the word I would use, but...” Sabrina paused for a moment. “You aren't implying that you like him do you?” Sabrina felt a grin spread across her face.
“No, I'm just making an observation.” Arcana shrugged. “If I did like him, that would be rather awkward, considering the petty stuff he did to my ex.”
“You mean Tarot's ex.”
“Right, that's what I mean.” Arcana blushed madly.
“Well good to know you're starting to fit in around the place, dogs certainly are an interesting crowd.”
“Amen to that.”
The two girls laughed a little as they kept up their brisk walking pace. Sabrina felt it odd to connect to an all powerful being on such a friendly level. Usually when she talked to them it had a “boss and intern” feel to it. She was so absorbed in the conversation that she almost did not realize the strange car that had started tailing them.
“That's not at all suspicious.” Sabrina muttered as she glanced over her shoulder. “His lights are dim and everything.”
“Hm?”
“Don't look now but there's some car not too far behind us.” Sabrina said. “Just keep walking and pretend you can't see it.”
“You sure we shouldn't do something about it?”
“I am, I think Fido might be interested. I'm going to call him up. Just be careful, if this guy is who I think it is, be prepared to run.” Sabrina warned as she used her psychic link to establish a connection with Fido.
Arcana could not help but notice the car slowly pick up speed, gaining inches closer to them.
~~
And that's part one done. Hope you guys enjoyed what I've got thus far. As always critiques, comments, and other such things are greatly appreciated on my part. I only want to get better and I want you guys to enjoy what you read.
As always, Happy Reading.
CbtS: 1. The Way Back Machine
In which Peanut talks a bit about his life.
CbtS: 3. Pet Project
In which our heroes discover the ups and downs of equality.
As with the other one, I hope you enjoy! Thanks again for reading.
Housepets: The New Era
“Pet Friendly”
"The bond between mankind and animals go back before the dawn of primitive civilization. Before the written word. Before philosophy, before gods and demons. Back to an age where we were all animals. Survival was the key to happiness. We were equal in the face of nature. Years later someone somehow gained an upper-hand."
-Excerpt from Peter Hooke's best selling book, Man and Beast.
In the corner of a room sat a lone television. The lights all around were dimmed, accentuating the luminescence of the magic talking box. A pack of wolves sat a good distance away; wolves of different sizes, shapes, ages. All of them transfixed by a single program. There was a man in blue suit standing at the pulpit. Signs were all around him that read “Hooke for President,” held aloft by roiling masses of cheering crowds. Camera flashes illuminated his face with a sharp strobe like effect.
“I stress equality, for generations to come. They will hear my battle cry, our battle cry! And they will forever remember us as the ones who changed the world for the better.”
The crowd erupted on screen. A surging wave of passionate cries for justice.
“Isn't this wonderful Miles? Finally someone else out there that thinks like Mr. Milton.”
The head of the pack looked at his mate and gave her a solid nod. His teeth spread out into a toothy grin. “He seems like a real stand up guy.”
“Shh we're watching the man yell.”
“Sorry son.”
All of them continued to watch in pious silence. Smiles on their faces, watching the dawn of a new era unfolding. The entire household had been seized. All save for two. Not but a few steps down the hall and to the right was the kitchen. The television set was quite audible to those inside. A small, Pembroke welsh corgi, was straining to reach a jar at the top refrigerator shelf. His companion trying to hide a smile.
“Hey Fox can you reach me the mayo?” Said King, his voice mixed with defeat.
“All you had to do was ask.” Fox replied, smug smile creeping up on his face as he grabbed the white jar from the highest shelf and handed it to his vertically impaired friend.
“It looked closer to the ground than I thought it would be.” The corgi replied as he grabbed the mayo and walked to the table. They had both already spread out bread, ham, and other fixings for a mid evening snack. The mayonnaise was the only thing missing.
“Dunno how you can stand that stuff.” Fox grimaced as he watched King spread liberal amounts of mayonnaise onto a slice of bread.
“I grew up eating mayo on my sandwiches.” King muttered as he placed a few slices of ham. “Besides it adds just the right type of flavor.”
“If you say so.” Fox shrugged as he threw together a plain ham sandwich. “I should come over to your place more often, you eat like a king, so to speak. Dad never lets me use to the good ham.”
“I'm lucky if I get any meat, have you seen those wolves eat?”
“No I guess not, but right now I think they're a little busy.” Fox poked his head out of the kitchen, the light from the television spilled into the hall. “So long as that guy keeps talking I think you'll get first dibs here in the kitchen more often.”
King nodded as he took a seat and rested his elbow on the table top. “I guess so, would you call me crazy if I said I was kind of worried?”
Fox tilted his head a little. “Why worried?”
The Corgi sighed a little and shook his head. “The guy running for president, Hooke was him name I think, something just seems up with him. Call it doggy intuition but something doesn't feel right when I hear his voice or look in his general direction.”
“I don't know, but if you haven't noticed most politicians are like that.”
“Point taken.”
King did not expect Fox to understand. In fact King wasn't so sure he understood it himself. Things had been too quiet. Not just for a few weeks, or even months. No, the past few years had been strangely quiet. Quiet in a normal way, and his life was hardly ever quiet in a normal way. No spiritual disturbances. No news about the direction of his soul. Nothing.
“I think his idea is noble, animal equality,” Fox shrugged, “but I don't think that's a step even the animals are ready to take.”
“Agreed.” King nodded, remembering all too well the fine dividing line between cat and dog in quaint little suburbia.
“Besides, unless animals are allowed to vote, I don't think Hooke will have a chance.”
“Yeah, you're probably right.” King muttered as he nibbled away at his sandwich. For some reason he did not feel at all reassured.
~~
A starkly chill breeze weaved through the sleeping houses of Babylon Gardens. The shift from summer to fall was always subtle at first. Like a lion stalking its prey, there would only be traces of change, traces of a beast in the brush. Until one morning one would awake and the leaves would all be falling from their perch and the crisp autumn air had replaced the summer haze. The beast had pounced.
Kevin shivered a little as he tucked his hands into his K-9 vest. Wishing he had a double coat rather than the thin layer of fur that provided scant protection to the elements. His mind shifted to thoughts of warm blankets and healthy helpings of hot drinks.
“Kevin are you even listening to me?”
The doberman's eyes snapped to attention as he looked to his right. “Oh! Yeah sorry Sarge, it's kinda chilly out don't you think?”
“That's why I brought my coat, I actually pay attention to my two-way.” Sargent Ralph rolled his eyes.
“Well if these dumb radios played music once in awhile I might not be bored to death of the chatter.” Ralph rolled his eyes.
“If you listened you might be focused, this isn't a job to be taken lightly Kevin.” Ralph's voice took a much more serious tone. Kevin stopped shivering for a moment. “Can I rely on you or not?”
Not one to be talked down, Kevin had an instant reaction.
“Yes sir you can rely on me, sir” The doberman went to attention, with his back straight and chin up.
“Then pay attention to what we're dealing with, stay close, and for the love of dog, do not under any circumstances tackle.” Ralph hissed, his voice low.
Kevin was not all too certain what he was up against. It sounded incredibly dangerous. Danger was something he rarely felt while on his job. Even when he was up against hardened criminals, they would not dare hurt a dog. Even inmates frowned upon that.
“Ralph...what exactly are we up against?” Kevin's imagination went wild. Was it a ten foot tall man-and-pet-eating bear? Big foot? Michael Vick?
“We're on crime scene investigation.” Ralph grimaced. “The officers had been tracking a guy for months now, turns out he was right under our noses.”
“What did he do?”
“At first his only offense was drug related, they only needed sniffer dogs for that one.” Ralph replied. "They needed him because he was connected to a dealer they were looking to bust."
“So that's what Jamie has been up to this whole time.” Kevin nodded. “Then what?”
“They found his hideout about two hours ago, he had long since flown the coop. What really concerns me is what he left behind” Ralph replied. “Turns out he had been kidnapping pets from all over, taking them with him, and doing...” Ralph could not begin to speak.
“What?”
“Terrible things.” Ralph choked a little on his words, Kevin had never seen Ralph choke. “Just know this man is still at large and what you are about to see is going to be, for lack of a better word, scary.”
“I understand sir.”
The house looked fairly average on the outside. Save for yellow tape and police cars. Most other members of the K-9 unit had already assembled there. Most were sniffers, but they could see Fido out questioning the neighbors.
“Have you ever been on crime scene investigation before Sarge, I mean when it comes to pet abuse.”
“Once when I was a rookie.” Ralph muttered as they approached the house. "I think you were still a pup back then. We had trouble with a Gator and a guy that was kidnapping pets to feed it. This is the first time we were too late to stop something like this though."
Kevin could see about five pets sitting down next to a police car, all wrapped in blankets. Their fur matted, some had eyes puffy and swollen. Clumps of fur were completely gone on others. They all shared an uncanny dull stare that was lost in the distance. He could only begin to wonder what they were thinking.
“There were ten pets locked up here when they found the hideout.” Ralph said as he opened the door. “The five you see here are in shock but thankfully recovering, three had been in bad shape; they were promptly rushed to the vet. Two others they found were already...they didn't make it.”
Kevin stepped into the house and covered his muzzle. A rancid smell had lingered in the dimly lit house. He did not dare think too long about what that smell very well might be. The two dogs carefully worked their way around the house, Ralph had a flash light out. The kitchen was full of rotten dishes and left over food. Flies buzzed around, blackening the beam of the flashlight. Kevin whimpered a little as they made their way to a stair case obscured behind piles of newspapers and trash.
One cautions step after another they made their way to the second floor of the house. Checking the rooms one by one. Kevin was not quite used to the smell of the air, but Ralph recognized it. It was a sinister scent. One meant to excite predators in the wild. It was fear and submission. It was release. Ralph knew they were going to find the last two pets on that second level.
There were beds, cages with broken locks, and assorted tools scattered about. The police dogs could only imagine what sort of atrocities had happened in those rooms. Eventually Kevin pushed against a door that would not give. Suspicious and rather impatient he threw his shoulder against the door, effectively "tackling" it open. He stumbled a little in the door way, his eyes squinting to get a better look in the dark. “Ralph...you might want to get a look at this.”
Ralph turned his flashlight into the room and gasped. Words had been painted all over the wall, at least it looked like paint. Kevin gulped as they stepped into the room. “Beast is for man, and man alone.” Ralph read aloud. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Something to do with Animal equality.” Kevin replied.
“Now where did you pull that theory from?”
Kevin pointed at a newspaper clipping on the wall, with the headline “animal voting amendment reaches senate.”
“Kev, I think we have ourselves a real nut case on our hands. That or someone watches a lot of television.” Ralph replied as he picked up a notebook left in the corner of the room. He gently opened the pages and scanned through them.
“What's that?”
“It's a journal of some sort, it has a bunch of names, descriptions, breeds.” Ralph winced. “Holy- these are past victims. He has been at this for a year now.”
“Something tells me this guy had a little more than drugs on his mind.” Kevin peeked over Ralph's shoulder. “Ralph, I think we should let the humans take this one.”
“Never send a man to do a dog's job.” Ralph closed the notebook. “His motives seem awfully political don't you think? He had a lot of Senator Hooke on his mind when he did this.”
“Yeah, but then again he could just be crazy.”
“That is a viable theory, but he seems too methodical. He has kept every intricate detail of his... prisoners, in this note book. Not to mention it seems like he was dragging them around with him. His recent entries are for pets all the way from neighborhoods like Mariana Trench."
"Where is that?"
"A small coastal place, and you know how far from the coast we are." Ralph stroked his chin and tapped his foot. "It makes me wonder if he isn't the only one in on all of this. He might have accomplices all around the country. Misery loves company after all. How do you think PETA gets members?”
“That's a scary thought.” Kevin replied as they left the room.
“He is trying to make a point, that's how I see it.” Ralph frowned. “That guy is still out there and probably still willing to make his point. Hopefully the sniffers got his scent.”
“Hey lets show them the notebook! That should help.”
“Good idea Kevin, let's go.”
~~
Fido let out a long heavy sigh as he slipped off his K-9 vest. Tired did not begin to describe how he was feeling. Though he did not believe he was getting any sleep that particular night. He slumped into a chair and rubbed his temples. The neighbors yielded some useful information, the car the perp drove away in was a gray Oldsmobile, which is a fairly unique looking car. However without the license plate they could be out looking for Oldsmobiles for weeks.
“Long night?”
The police dog rubbed his eyes. “Hey there, how long have you been here?”
“Not too long.” Sabrina stepped into the room and sat next to him. “Your dad was nice enough to let me hang around here until you got home. I had a feeling you needed the company.”
“You read my mind,” Fido smiled a little.
“No I didn't.” Sabrina tilted her head.
“Figure of speech darling.” He yawned.
“Oh yes, sorry.” They both shared a laugh and huddled close together. “You nab your guy?”
“We're working on it, I have a feeling he did not get too far out of the neighborhood.”
The black cat nodded and scratched her lover's back. “I could help.”
“You sure that doesn't violate any psychic rules or anything?”
“I know my ways around all of the rules.” Sabrina winked. “It's a gift of mine.”
“Then by all means we need help.” Fido closed his eyes and leaned his head against a cushion.
“But we'll discuss this tomorrow, I think.” Sabrina smiled as she watched the dog doze against her. “Good night.”
“More like morning.” He said, half asleep.
She watched the dog finally fall into his slumber and gently slipped away, letting his head rest on the couch. He curled up into a ball in his sleep. Sabrina scratched behind his ear and left the room.
“I wonder if all dogs look like pups when they sleep.” She mused as she opened the front door. Only to find a Pomeranian standing before her. “Arcana, you know you might want to invest some time into finding some friends other than myself.”
“I apologize, I would be with Tarot but she's at that retreat and you know Peanut and Grape probably want this time alone.”
Sabrina smirked a little. “Is the great spirit dragon feeling lonely?”
Arcana blushed slightly and nodded. “It's something I'm not used to.”
“I know a couple of places to hang out at this hour, hope you don't mind fish.”
The two girls made their way down the road. Sabrina had always wondered what it might be like for someone immortal to spend their time as a mortal. Everyone in the Gardens instantly recognized Arcana as being strange, but luckily Tarot was rather strange her self. It was easily assumed to be genetic.
“How are you getting along at the Good Old Dogs club, heard you went to a meeting or two.”
“I think I've spent too much time as a dog because for some reason I was starting to care about their issues.” Arcana smiled a little. “Between you and me Bino is cute when he yells, like he's actually threatening or something.”
“Cute is not the word I would use, but...” Sabrina paused for a moment. “You aren't implying that you like him do you?” Sabrina felt a grin spread across her face.
“No, I'm just making an observation.” Arcana shrugged. “If I did like him, that would be rather awkward, considering the petty stuff he did to my ex.”
“You mean Tarot's ex.”
“Right, that's what I mean.” Arcana blushed madly.
“Well good to know you're starting to fit in around the place, dogs certainly are an interesting crowd.”
“Amen to that.”
The two girls laughed a little as they kept up their brisk walking pace. Sabrina felt it odd to connect to an all powerful being on such a friendly level. Usually when she talked to them it had a “boss and intern” feel to it. She was so absorbed in the conversation that she almost did not realize the strange car that had started tailing them.
“That's not at all suspicious.” Sabrina muttered as she glanced over her shoulder. “His lights are dim and everything.”
“Hm?”
“Don't look now but there's some car not too far behind us.” Sabrina said. “Just keep walking and pretend you can't see it.”
“You sure we shouldn't do something about it?”
“I am, I think Fido might be interested. I'm going to call him up. Just be careful, if this guy is who I think it is, be prepared to run.” Sabrina warned as she used her psychic link to establish a connection with Fido.
Arcana could not help but notice the car slowly pick up speed, gaining inches closer to them.
~~
And that's part one done. Hope you guys enjoyed what I've got thus far. As always critiques, comments, and other such things are greatly appreciated on my part. I only want to get better and I want you guys to enjoy what you read.
As always, Happy Reading.