Well, here is the next part. Over the next few days, I should get around to fixing the rest of them so they all look like this.
Enjoy
What a miserable day. Kyria thought.
It looks like it could start pouring at any second. What a day for Bino to move the meeting to.
Kyria was slowly walking toward the GODC clubhouse. The meeting didn’t start for about thirty minutes or so, but she just couldn’t wait. She was so excited about this that she couldn’t sit around and let the time just slowly slip by.
So she had decided to start walking at a slow pace.
There weren’t any other pets or people on the street. In fact, Kyria didn’t see any outside at all. The cloud cover was so thick and dark that everyone was staying inside. There wasn’t a single break in the clouds at all. Despite being 9:30 AM, it was incredibly dark out. The clouds blocked most of the sunlight that would otherwise be illuminating Babylon Gardens at this time of day. The air even had a kind of heaviness to it. The kind of heaviness that said it was going to rain soon.
It was a perfect match for Kyria’s mood the past few days. She had been in Babylon Gardens for only about a week, and while she had met her long lost friend Sasha, she had also met a cat named Danny. Danny had proved to be a real jerk.
Kyria had been having secret meetings with him so she could try and set up a surprise birthday party for Sasha. He seemed like a good enough cat when she met him; he even agreed to help her set up the secret party for Sasha. But he was just using her. Danny had just had a bad break-up with his girlfriend and was simply using Kyria to make her jealous. Once his plan worked, he simply told Kyria that he had better things to do than set up a surprise party for a dog with a cat as gullible and stupid as she was.
She had felt so upset and betrayed that she called Sasha to come and comfort her, giving up the surprise that she had planned.
Of course, that was in the past now. She would be watching the GODC meeting in about half an hour. She had been looking forward to it all week, so it was just the thing to brighten up her mood right now. Dog knows the weather wasn’t helping.
Maybe I’ll even find a chance to tell Bino how I feel about him. Kyria thought.
All I’ve heard about him is how he hates dogs that might be “cat lovers.”
But that can’t all be true. He was so nice when he welcomed our family. I mean, he did act a little strange around me, but he thought that I was going to be a dog before he saw me, so I guess that’s understandable. Plus he still let me come to the meeting; I just need to exploit a loophole in the rules. Why would he do that if he didn’t like cats? He may not like us romantically, but he can’t hate us, right?
As Kyria walked, the clubhouse came into sight.
*Sigh*
I walk here slowly and I’m still about twenty minutes away from the start. I guess I should have waited at home a little longer before I started coming here. Oh well, I should at least hide for now. I don’t want a bunch of dogs to see me just hanging around right before the meeting starts.
-----
“Hey Joey.” Fox said.
Fox and Stealer were walking to the GODC when they ran into Joey, who was also going to the meeting.
Fox almost immediately noticed that something was bothering Joey, but when Joey spoke, he sounded upbeat. Almost like he had discovered himself again.
“Hey Fox, how have you been?” Joey asked.
“I’m fine, but are you ok? Something seemed to be bothering you a second ago.”
“I’ve just been trying to find a certain dog and haven’t been able to. Nothing big.” Joey said. He looked at Stealer. “Who’s this? I don’t believe that we’ve met before.”
Before Fox could say anything, Stealer introduced himself. “My name is Stealer. I’m staying with Fox for a little bit. I’m guessing that you’re going to the GODC meeting just like we are?”
“I sure am.” Joey said. “Maybe if I’m lucky, the dog that I’m looking for will be there too.”
All three of them started walking to the clubhouse together. As they were walking, Joey asked “So Stealer, why are you here in Babylon Gardens? Are you planning to stay?”
“I- Uhhh…” Stealer hated lying about why he was really here, but he knew that he had no choice. How he wished he could tell someone the truth. “I had a bad break-up with my girlfriend. I just needed a change of scenery for a little while, I don’t know how long I’ll be staying.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Joey said with sympathy in his voice. “How are you doing?”
“I’m doing fine. I just need a little time is all.”
“That’s good to know. If you ever need someone to talk to though, this town is super-friendly. I’m sure you could find someone to talk to. I’m sure you noticed that by now anyway.”
Stealer realized that he hadn’t noticed anything about the town. He had been too busy looking for Jiff. However, he simply nodded his head in agreement.
“Hey Joey.” Fox said. “With all this talk about girlfriends, where’s Squeak? I haven’t seen her.”
“I’m right here.” Squeak said as she popped out of Joey’s head fur. “Sorry if I’ve been quiet, but I haven’t gotten much sleep the last few days. I plan on catching up during Bino’s speech.”
Stealer looked back to Fox. “Speaking of Bino, you haven’t told me a lot about him. He’s the club president, right? What’s he like?”
“Well…” Fox chose his words carefully. “He’s… interesting.”
“Interesting how?” Stealer asked.
“I- Ummm…” Fox struggled to find the right words. “I think that you should just wait to meet him. It’s kind of hard to describe him. Without saying what a jerk he can sometimes be.” Fox silently added.
The three dogs and Squeak kept talking until the clubhouse came into view. They were so involved in the conversation that they almost walked right by.
Stealer looked at it and was impressed. He had been expecting an old shed or something, but the clubhouse had two stories, was well maintained, and seemed big enough to actually hold a meeting with every dog in town. And that was good, because the sky looked like it was going to start raining at any second.
The three dogs walked in and all sat down and waited for the meeting to start.
However, Joey noticed that something was missing. “Hey, where’s Fido at?”
-----
“Fido, I swear, if we don’t find this “Prowler” soon, I’m going to open up a dimensional vortex and dump you in it.”
“That’s enough Sabrina, he didn’t know just how dangerous Prowler might be. And it’s in the past now anyway.”
Tarot, Fido, and Sabrina were looking all over town to try and find Prowler.
“You’re right.” Sabrina said. “I’m sorry Fido, I’m just stressed right now.”
After Fido told Sabrina about Prowler, they went and found Tarot. The three of them decided that they should find Prowler as soon as they could. They had spent the last day looking, and they were all tired.
“Maybe he left town.” Fido said. “We haven’t found any trace of him at all.”
“He’s here.” A voice said from behind Fido. Fido turned around to see who it was.
It was Ralph. “He didn’t leave yet. He’s just hiding. He’s waiting for a specific dog to show up.”
Fido was speechless. Only a few days ago Ralph was almost beyond the point of rational thought. Now he was here, in total control.
It was hard to surprise Fido, but this did it. He was struggling to find anything that he could say.
Tarot was the first to ask anything. “Are you sure that he’s still here? We’ve looked all over and haven’t found anything.”
“I’m sure.” Ralph stated. “He was waiting for someone to come.”
“Was it a friend or foe?” Tarot asked.
“I don’t know.” Ralph said as he looked at the ground. “All I know is that he was waiting.”
He looked back at Tarot. “And that he’s been waiting for a long time.”
“Well it’s great that we know this.” Sabrina said. “But where is he?”
Ralph now looked at Sabrina. “I don’t know, but we can find out. KEVIN!”
Kevin came running over from around the corner. He was holding something in his hand. A red collar.
Fido finally found his voice when he realized what it must have been. “That’s the collar that Prowler was wearing when you fought him, isn’t it?”
“It is.” Ralph answered. “It has the tag and everything.”
“I have a scent.” Kevin said. “But it’s weak. We were following it when we saw you. We have to go now, if it starts raining before we find him, it’ll wash the sent away.”
Tarot didn’t need any more convincing. “Let’s go.” She said.
-----
Bino was pacing back and forth at the clubhouse, listening to the conversation of all of the dogs that had gathered.
He was in the back, counting the minutes until the meeting was supposed to start.
Only ten minutes until the meeting starts. That means Kyria should be here in about fifteen. Man, I would do just about anything to not have to be here right now. I don’t think anyone will do anything to her, but what about me?
If I don’t explain the loophole just right, it will look like I’m trying to let her stay. Everyone will think I’m a cat-lover. They will probably kick me out and elect a new president. Maybe they’ll just leave the club.
That’s what they’ll do. They’ll leave it and go start another club, one that wasn’t founded by a cat-loving dog. And then Prowler will come and say that’s it’s my fault that Kyria can’t come to the club anymore, then put me in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.
“AHHH!”
Stop thinking like that! This whole thing has me distracted! I haven’t even prepared a speech on anything. What am I going to do when I get in front of everyone? I know that I’m too distracted to make one up on the spot.
Bino looked at the clock.
Well, I guess I’m going to find out. It’s time to go.
-----
The dogs have stopped entering the clubhouse. It seems to have gotten quiet inside the building too.
Kyria stood up and started walking toward the door.
I guess it’s now or never. Time to go in.
-----
Bino stood in front of the gathered members of the GODC. This was the first time he could ever remember being nervous while speaking as club president.
“I- I would like to thank everyone for coming on such short notice of the meeting being moved. It- I- Ummm… I don’t have anything ready today to talk about. Uhhh… But I will talk to you all about… er- something…”
No one said anything. They could tell that he was a nervous wreck. Between his strange sentences and constant Umm’s and Uhhh’s, he was simply speaking in circles.
While he was self-centered and usually had the longest, most boring speeches, he was good at speaking in public. Nothing like this had ever happened with any of his weekly speeches.
Everyone started to whisper and mumble to each other, wondering what could have done this to him, and should they be worried about it?
Between Bino’s speech and all of the whispering, no one noticed Kyria walk in the back door.
She simply stood in the back, watching everything that was going on.
It wasn’t until Bino noticed her and froze, mid sentence, and stared at her.
When everyone turned to see what Bino was staring at, they saw a nervous looking Kyria standing there.
Almost immediately, there was more whispering between the members, wondering why a cat was standing in the back of the clubhouse.
Eventually, one of the dogs called out “Go home, this is the Good Ol
Dogs Club!”
“I don’t want to.” Kyria said without hesitation.
A different dog stood up and said “If you don’t want to leave, I’ll make you leave.”
“You wouldn’t touch a lady now, would you?” Kyria asked.
The dog stopped. “
You’re right.” He muttered as he sat back down.
Bino was actually impressed with how Kyria was handling herself. Other than refusing to leave, she wasn’t doing anything to get on anyone’s nerves. She stood her ground, but wasn’t being aggressive at all.
Some of these dogs could learn a thing of two from her. Bino thought.
But then, another dog stood up and said “If we can’t make you leave, I’ll go find someone who can.”
“NO!” Bino quickly cried out.
Everyone turned to look at him.
“I mean, the meeting has already started. No member may leave until it’s over.”
There was an uproar in the clubhouse. Things like “Oh, come on!” and “You’re just going to let this cat stay here?!” and some other not so PG-13 things.
As if the uproar triggered something, Bino suddenly acted like the leader he was right now.
“EVERYONE SIT AND BE QUIET!”
Their pack instincts kicking in, everyone listened to the current alpha male in the room, Bino. He was no longer babbling like a nervous kid giving a science project presentation. His tone of voice showed that he meant business right now.
“Just because a cat wandered in here does not mean we can break the established rules. What are we if we decide not to listen to the rules because it causes us a minor inconvenience? If we start breaking them for what seem like “good reasons” at the time, pretty soon we will start breaking them for not-so-good reasons. They will eventually just become a set of guidelines to follow when we feel like it.
“Are you all telling me that you can’t handle a cat watching one of our meetings? The rule states that no member may leave unless it’s an emergency.”
Bino seemed to look at everyone at once as he said “So unless someone has a broken leg, no one is leaving. A cat listening to our meeting is not an emergency, it’s just annoying is all.”
While not all of the dogs may have agreed with him, no one dared to question him right now. He was the alpha male, and was doing a very good job at it. To question him right now would only lead to trouble.
The entire room was quiet until a Grey husky with a dark patch of fur on his back stood up and said “The rules say that no MEMBER can leave, right?”
Kyria just looked at the dog, then back to Bino when he went “… Yes. That is the rule.”
Then her eyes went back to the grey dog when he said “Well, I haven’t officially joined the club yet. This is my first meeting.”
Bino and Kyria both knew where this was heading before the dog even had to say it.
“Because I’m not a member yet, I could escort her out, right?”
There was an immediate uproar of agreement from the rest of the club. Everyone agreed that this would be the best option for getting rid of the cat.
Bino looked at Kyria. He could see the look, no, the plea in her face. A plea that said ‘Don’t let him do this to me. You need to do something.’
But Bino had no other choice. The entire club was in an uproar over this. If he said no at this point, it would only make him look like he was trying to let the cat in the club.
He hoped that Kyria would understand as he said “Go ahead and escort her out.”
Bino gave one last look at her, and all he could see was the look of betrayal on her face. Kyria turned and ran out of the club herself, not knowing where she was going, or caring.
Even though she was gone, all Bino could see was the look of betrayal she gave him.
Somehow, that look was even worse than looking into Prowler’s eyes.
She had trusted him, she had looked forward to this all week, and he just let some dog be able to take her away. He didn’t even care that Prowler would inflict massive pain on him for this, he just wanted Kyria to forgive him.
Not caring about the meeting anymore, Bino jumped down and ran to go look for Kyria.
I have to find her. He thought.
I have to explain to her why I had to do that.
-----
Stealer stood back up.
“Where are you going?” Fox asked him.
“I’m going to go and find either Bino or that cat that I offered to escort out. I don’t know what just happened here, but I have a feeling it’s partly my fault for making that offer. I want to straighten things out with both of them.”
“Well, I’ll come along too.” Fox said. “Bino hasn’t been acting like himself lately, and I want to find out what’s been going on.”
“I’ll come too.” Joey said. “Bino is my brother. He may not be the nicest dog in the world, but he’s still family. I have to try and help if something might be wrong.”
The three dogs snuck out of the meeting, which was now just a scene of confusion since Bino seemed to run out for no reason.
-----
That jerk! He was going to let that dog kick me out!
Kyria had ended up in the park. Due to the heavy cloud cover that promised rain sometime soon, there was no one playing in the park. There was hardly anyone outside at all.
To think that I just wanted to spend some time with him!
She ran underneath a big tree and sat down, leaning her back on the trunk, knees tucked into her chest. The fetal position.
Why did I ever think that he would let me watch the meeting? I’m a cat, he’s a dog. He’s not the kind to fall in love with a cat. He-he…
Kyria started to cry.
Why did this have to happen to me? All I wanted to do was spend some time with him. It’s not like I’m a bad pet of anything.
“I- I just wanted to get to know him better.” Kyria said out loud.
Suddenly, as if waiting for that exact sentence, a black dog appeared out of seemingly nowhere in front of Kyria.
It smiled an evil grin as it said “You can get to know me better if you want.” while it reached to grab her.
Kyria screamed.
END
I give Silentprincess828 credit for reviewing my story for mistakes.
Yea, this is getting dark. But don't worry, it'll get better soon.
But not for a while...
(If you see any mistakes with the italics for showing thoughts, please let me know. I always miss something with that.)