asked, knowing he was right if Charlie was on this floor.
  “He won’t talk to me, and he’s pretty much pushing me back. I don’t know what to do anymore Itch, I just don’t…” Charlie said with a sigh. As he walked up, Itchy followed him.
  “He’ll come around Charlie, you’ll see.” The wiener dog said with a reassuring smile. “He’ll always have you guys, and that’s what counts.”

  Andrew peeked out from under the blanket when his dad left and he quickly pounced out and locked the door again. The reason his floor was so clean was because he had erased the ideas he had written on the dusty floor before his dad came in, and he sighed in relief. It was a close call, but his plans still had a shot to go well. He just needed to keep them all in mind.
  He was thinking about how he would get rid of Abyssus, what he would say to Sam, he wanted it all to go perfectly. He was almost ready to set his plans in motion, just a few more days. A few more days until his favorite niece would pay attention to him again.

  Abyssus hummed softly as he walked down the street, heading towards the Fleabite and the apartment his mate lived at. Sam had asked him if he wanted to meet her family, minus her uncle, since they knew she was about to have pups sometime soon. She suggested it’d be best so they knew their newest family member, so he wasn’t always such a mystery.
  He grinned happily, eager to meet his new family. His brother, Lupus, had told him he was happy for him and wished him good luck, and had hugged him before he left. They had decided to share a spot a ways away from the Fleabite to live with each other since they hadn’t seen each other in so long.
  Though he felt all warm and happy inside, something in his brain told him something wasn’t quite right. He looked around, and he didn’t see anyone. He had to admit, the city was a bit creepy at night, especially this part since it was so barren. He thought he heard a low growling nearby so he nervously increased his pace. He kept his mind on Sam to keep himself energized, keep him distracted.
  When he passed by an alleyway, something grabbed him by the throat, and he gasped as he was pulled in and was thrown roughly into a wall. Stars exploded in his eyes, blurring his vision as he tried to get up. When he got on his paws he was kicked back down, spread eagle on his back. His vision cleared up, and he quickly tried to adjust them in the dark.
  As he blinked the remaining stars out of his vision, he saw Andrew standing above him, a grin on his face. Something was wrong with the mutt and he knew it. There was something in his eye that practically screamed that he wasn’t right in the head.
  “Well,” Andrew started softly, “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
  “Andrew…?” The Husky asked nervously. “What are you doing?”
  Smirking, Andrew put a paw hard on Abyssus’s chest, the younger dog freezing up. He was afraid; the mutt was bigger than him through age and genes, and he didn’t like how he was pinning him down. “Oh you know.” He said with a sinister chuckle. “Nothing much, just takin’ back my niece.”
  Abyssus felt electricity shoot through him. “Sam?” He said softly, trying to squirm out from under Andrew, who merely pushed his paw down harder.
  “Yes, Sam, you stupid purebred punk.” Andrew growled. “Because of you,” he pushed down harder, making the Husky grunt at the weight, “because of you Sam doesn’t ever hang with me anymore. She doesn’t want to play; she doesn’t want to do anything with me. Someone has to pay.” As Andrew spoke his paw slowly crawled up to Abyssus’s neck.
  Eyes widening, the Husky tried to buck the larger hound off of him. “You’ve got to be joking!” He yelped. “Let me go!”
  “Sorry mister Purebreed.” Andrew growled, suddenly clenching so hard on Abyssus’s neck he started choking him, claws digging into his skin and drawing blood. “Say goodbye to Uncle Andrew!”

  “I’m sure he’ll turn up sweetheart.” Joey said, patting his daughter’s cheek while Rosa held her paw. Sam looked worried, sitting in the living room with her family. Her half-brother Matt was talking to Mel and her mate Phillip, talking about going out to look for Abyssus since he had been trained to find other dogs.
  Charlie and Itchy were quietly talking about how they were soon going to run out of room in the place, and were thinking about expanding and letting Sam and Abyssus be the first new tenants. The young female wasn’t fooled though and knew that Charlie was just as worried as she was, looking casually out the window now and then.
  “He should be here…” She said quietly, looking around. She hadn’t seen Andrew all day and was worried. “He doesn’t live that far away.” She stood up and started going upstairs, thinking that a higher point would somehow make it easier to see her love coming.
  Joey watched her go, his ears drooping. Hopping down from the couch, he walked to his half-brother Zak, who was frowning as he drank a beer. The tan Dobie wasn’t quaffing it down a usual; he was just sipping it, Duncan’s head in his lap. The older Doberman took a can of his own and opened it, sipping it.
  “Do you think he’ll show up?”
  “I think he should have.” Zak said, looking at his half-brother. “Sam talks highly about how wonderful he is, loyal, everything, especially how eager he was to meet the family. So where would he go?”
  The family continued to wait, lowly chatting. The one thing that came to their minds was where Andrew was, how he had been behaving lately. Charlie was more worried than the rest, knowing he had seen the signs that his son wasn’t right for some time due to his lack of eating and how he had stayed in his room for weeks.
  They all heard the door open and they perked up, but slumped again when they saw it was only Andrew. Zak glared at him, thinking Andrew had scared the dog away, but his eyes noticed something the family missed when they went back to chatting: there was blood on his paws. He watched him go upstairs, and he patted Duncan’s head to tell him to let him up.
  Sam was lying on her bed, head on her paws. She hadn’t seen Abyssus and had decided to lie down and rest awhile, hoping he would show up soon. She heard her doorknob turn and her head perked up, but it went back down as she saw it was Andrew.
  “Hello Uncle…” She said with a sigh.
  “Hey there Sam, what’s up?” Andrew said with a grin. Sam noticed that he looked strange, like he was hiding something and just couldn’t wait to get it out. “Rough day?”
  “Not really rough…” She said, slowly standing up. “Just concerned about where Abyssus is.”
  Chuckling, Andrew sat in front of the door, and she noticed her paws were a bit red. “I wouldn’t worry about him little niece.” He said that sly grin still on his face, unnerving Sam.
  “And why would that be?” She asked him. “Do you know where he is?”
  “Exactly where.” Andrew said, grinning a bit wider. “Somewhere he won’t bother us anymore.”
  Sam stared at him, the message starting to sink in. She didn’t want to believe her uncle could do something like that. She wanted to believe all he did was drive him away so she could find him.
  “Where is he…?” She asked softly.
  “In an alley, exactly where I left him.” Andrew said with a laugh. “He won’t bother us anymore; we can hang out just like the good old days Sam, just you and me!”
  “How could you…” She said, soft at first in horror before her voice rose in a screech. “How could you Andrew!”
  Andrew’s face fell a moment and he growled. “You were mine first Sam! He wanted to take you away from me!”
  “I can’t believe you! You…” She got down from the bed and shoved by him, catching him by surprise and knocking him over. “You’re sick Andrew! I loved him and you just…” Tears ran down her face as she ran down the hall and the stairs.
  The older mix was stunned a moment before scrambling up and chasing her. “Sam wait! Don’t you wanna hang out with me, go out by the ocean and play a little!” He called after her brokenly. As he turned at the bottom of the steps, he was tackled and the force of whatever hit him caused him to roll with it.
  When they both stopped, Andrew could see the figure of Zak framed against the light above him, his face twisted in rage. The tan Doberman raised his fist and slammed it hard against Andrew’s muzzle, bringing his elbow down on his chest, making him lose his breath. The mutt tried to fight back, defend himself, anything.
  But Zak was a trained fighting dog; his dad had been teaching him boxing and, though he naturally had them, had honed his muscles. He wasn’t pulling his punches, he wasn’t going easy. He was giving Andrew a complete and utter beat down. He could hear the rest of the family screaming, his ears suddenly rang as he was hit on the side of his head, his nose as bleeding and he felt his upper body becoming completely bruised and sore.
  The mutt was sure