straight into Hal’s grinning face. Little brightly colored dots flickered in and out of his vision as he returned the devilish grin with much vigor.

“You’ve finally joined us Star…” he laughed excitedly, “I’m very proud of you My Boy.”

Star stood up slowly, his head hanging near the hard earth. He lifted a paw and wiped a strand of drool from his grinning muzzle. “Heh, thank you Sir.”

Hal chuckled, “Please, call me Hal… But you’re timing is most impeccable… I have an assignment just for you and your friend Kaltag.”

A set of ears twitched and the Chinook stood, his eyes dull and bloodshot, his muzzle twisted into a crooked smirk. “Ha! Some action at last!”

“Ooh, Kal, I didn’t know you wanted in on it so badly,” Hal sniggered, “very well. Tonight you will be retrieving something for a friend of ours, a reward of sorts. It means very much to him, and you will have to be most crafty in collecting it.”

He whispered what they were to collect and where to bring it into their ears quietly. Their grins widened and Star laughed.

“Oh that’s rich!”

“I know! Isn’t it!?” Kaltag snickered, “I’m up for a challenge.”

“Good, good, good,” Hal hummed a familiar tune, “now, if anyone gets in your way, just… knock ‘em out with a good fist to the skull… Now get going…”

The two friends left quickly, giggling like schoolgirls. Hal heard a dog walking up to him, chuckling softly.

“So Nikki,” Hal began without looking towards the other dog, “you want to help out too?”

“Heh, what would you’s have me do?”

“I’m glad you asked…” he turned and gave a wide smile, “you and I will be doing the most important job. I shall explain on the way.” 

Hal turned his attention to his half-asleep sister. He whistled and she suddenly jumped.

“Y-yes?” she stuttered.

“Lilith… After Star and Kaltag finish their assignment, and I give you the go-ahead, I want you to contact one of three dogs. I will tell you what to tell them when we return… And do watch over the children. I wouldn’t want anything… bad to happen to them.”

She looked at the pups, somewhat nervously and she nodded her head slowly. Hal nodded back and led Nikki out into the frozen wasteland that was now Nome, Alaska.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Jenna woke up again, her eyes still shut and her body shivering. Had the fire gone out during the night? She suddenly felt a dull pounding in her mind. She rubbed the back of her head and felt a lump that stung when she touched it. When did she get this? She stretched her paws out and they dug into something unfamiliar. Dirt? But what was-? Jenna opened her bleary eyes and couldn’t see a thing. It took awhile for her eyes to adjust, and furthered her confusion. There were floorboards above her head, so she had to be under some building.

“Well, good morning Jenna…”

That voice… It sounded somewhat familiar.

“H-Henry?” she asked with a great deal of uncertainty.

“Close… Very, very close.”

A dog entered her vision. His crimson and white fur blended together perfectly, and his brown eyes shown, even in this dim climate along with a small, pink, makeshift bandana that hung from his collar. Jenna even saw the scar on his cheek that she had left there before. Her eyes widened in a horrible fear, and then she felt a growl resonate from her throat. This dog was much, much worse than the one she had thought it was. And now she knew exactly why Henry had been after her the way he had. This dog’s name had never been Henry in the first place. His true name was Douglas…

Back when Jenna had been born, she had had three brothers and one sister. But because of this one dog, she had been the only other one left. Her parents, nor their owner, told anyone, including Jenna, about this dog and for good reason. He was sick in the head in many ways. A nut job from birth. Her parents had run Douglas out of town, and they thought he had died long ago. But towards the beginning of 1927, he had reappeared, trying to win Jenna over, but it backfired when she had told him that she was already taken by Balto. That’s when her parents finally confessed to her about him. She had gotten him to leave, but only after making it painfully obvious that she was not interested, and that scar on his cheek was the proof.

Douglas was her brother. Her sick, twisted brother that had killed off their siblings because they were viewed as his ‘competition’.

“Well, well Sis. Lovely to see you again,” he said smoothly.

“I wish I could say the same…” Jenna muttered, “What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to leave for good.”

“Oh come on, no love for your own brother?” he asked disappointedly, “But you know that I love you…”

He edged closer to her until he was within a foot of her face. His eyes fluttered in a somewhat flirting manner. Jenna backed up slowly.

“Well you know that I don’t feel to same way at all, so back off and leave me alone.”

He made a sudden advance towards her and put a claw under her chin, bringing her muzzle right up to his. “Now… why would I let you go again? I lost you once, and I don’t plan to lose you again.”

Jenna jerked away from him and suddenly felt cold wood behind her. She glanced back and saw that she had been backed into a corner.

“Well, well, it looks like you aren’t going anywhere,” he grinned happily, “just how I like it.”

Now that she was trapped, she didn’t know what to do, but she knew what he was going to try and do. She started to panic, trying to find a way to get out of this tight spot. Douglas turned his body, cutting out any spaces that she could have slipped through.

“Let me go!” she cried.

“And what if I--Ooh, nice try.” Jenna had tried to slash him across the face, but he predicted her move and blocked it easily. “Now it’s my turn…”

He brought a paw up quickly and slammed her chin up before swiftly backhanding her and sending her flying into the wall. Her head slammed against the firm surface and she was knocked out as cold as the frozen wood. While she slumbered, Henry opened her delicate muzzle and slipped her orange bandana in before tightening it. He dragged her sleeping body out from under the building and towards the edge of town.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

This room was as dark as it ever had been since it was first built all those years ago. A stack of cardboard boxes blocked any light that could have escaped through the window, which was broken in itself anyways, and unlike the rest of this rundown shack, there were no holes in the ceiling. The room reeked of a lovely, acrid, yet intoxicating smell that swirled around the enclosed area. Hal’s nostrils flared as the scent overpowered his being. The paper at his feet was damp and smothered with a potent liquid. He licked his black lips and gave a delightful chortle as his head swam. Hal stole a peek into a toy baby carriage, one that you would see a merry female human pushing about on a sunny afternoon. He lifted a paw and brushed it tenderly over the porcelain face of a little doll. The paint that made up some of the more prominent features such as her rosy lips and blue eyes melted and burned away as this liquid ran down her delicate face. Her short, black hair and lacy dress, a very tender ruby red, were heavily soaked, somewhat ruining her more elegant appearance. He could just imagine it… The sweet gurgling sounds of another life slipping through his claws, and the begs and pleas of mercy that he pleasantly ignored. The feeling of another dogs throat in between his jaws or the taste of sweet, delicious blood on his tongue made his mouth water hungrily. The greedy flames in his eyes danced fiercely as if they were about to leap from his eyes and catch the entire structure ablaze. After tonight, these flames that demanded power and control would be set free, once and for all. All who had, and would have opposed him would cease to exist in this cruel world, just like all the useless pawns that would be of no use to him. After that, he frankly didn’t care where they went. A paw on his shoulder actually startled him, and he whipped around to face another dog.

Nikki gave him a smirk, “We’re finished here. Now what’a’we do?”

Hal began to hum quietly to himself. He walked to the nearest wall and began to peel the dusty paint with a sharp claw. On second thought, maybe he’d let a few live, spare them so they could live out the rest of their lives in mediocrity, just a thought.

“Alright,” he snickered, “go fetch Henry, he’ll most likely be far out of town on a boat. After you do, run back here so I can give you your next assignment.”

Nikki nodded cheerfully as he walked away from Hal, his eyes dim and his mind scattered beyond belief. He padded to the door and gave it a strong nudge. It swung open and thumped against the ancient hallway, sending a dull echo all around. Hal stopped Nikki briefly with a laugh.

“Now, don’t take too long My Boy, because your life is definitely on the line,” he snickered.

The chow didn’t even seem to be affected by his words, and he just laughed back as he left Hal by himself in this dusty, foul-smelling