didn’t… Nikki technically killed Stevan… and if I remember right, I said that I would never harm them. And you are a ‘you’ not a ‘them’…”

Her dark, blue eyes widened with fear. If there had been any question before of what he was going to do, it had dissipated. His pupils were little slits and dark as the very night itself as he stepped even closer to her. He put a claw under her chin and grinned. Out of pure desperation she shut her eyes and blindly slashed at Hal. She heard a hiss and she peeked an eye open. There wasn’t a soul in her vision. 

A voice came from right behind her. “Close Sister, very close…”

She barely had time to scream before she was thrown by the scruff of the neck into the hard building. The icicles above jingled and shook as she slammed the side. One weather-beaten icicle as large and as sharp as a butcher’s cleaver snapped loose from the roof. It plummeted like a bullet, and with a sickening, bone shattering sound, plunged through Lilith’s back legs. The intense pain slammed through her entire body immediately and her mouth hung agape. A patch of blood hit Hal on the cheek as his small sense of surprised vanished into a twisted grin. Lilith tried to scream, but she was voiceless. Tears welled up in her eyes and streamed out. A small chuckle escaped Hal’s throat as he watched his sister with much amusement. Hal raised his head high to the heavens and laughter exploded from his muzzle. His eyes twitched as his body shook from an intense sense of joy. He had done it! They were gone! At long last he was free from their clutches! Fate was smiling on him! He let out a shrill squeal before looking down at his barely-breathing sister. He gave a sigh and stepped closer to her. He dipped the tip of his tail into the puddle of crimson at her legs. He lifted his dripping tail and painted a series of dots on his back, almost like a snowflake pattern, totaling eleven. One for each that had perished by his plans or his own paws.

He leaned down and quietly whispered. “Goodbye, Lilith…”

As a final kick in the face, he slipped a claw through the bow of her lacy, red ribbon, the one given to her by her mother the day before she had been killed, and undid it in one satisfying movement. She looked down at the untidy ribbon which had held her together for all those years. He chuckled quietly as he left her there, words just beginning to come to her muzzle. A short while later, there was a small whimper from behind a nearby box. A little pup with white swirls on her black shoulders stepped over to her aunt cautiously.

“A-Aunt Lilith?”

“Becca…” Lilith swallowed hard, “come here… please.”

Her breaths came out hard and shallow as she struggled to talk. She lifted her front paw weakly.

“Take it…” she whispered, motioning to the undone ribbon.

Lilith dragged her paw across the ground, slipping it off. Becca looked at it unbelievingly.

“But I can’t!” she protested, “You’re going to need it when you get better!”

Lilith shook her head feebly. “Becca… I… I’m not going to get better…”

Becca swallowed as small, silver tears came to her eyes. “But you have to…”

She gave the best smile that she could. “Thank you… for making me whole… and giving me someone to…”

Lilith closed her eyes for the final time as her breathing slowed to a stop and her pain ended. Becca nudged her aunt’s head with her muzzle.

“To what?… To what!?… C’mon… please get up… Please!” she pleaded, now just beginning to truly understand the pain of death.

Becca backed away slowly, taking the ruby red ribbon in her mouth. She sprinted from the alley filled with death out into the blinding blizzard, sobbing. She passed by a lamppost just as the bulb inside flickered… and died.

~-~-

Balto hobbled out of the doctor’s home, dragging Star’s body. He didn’t know when the small dog was going to wake up, but he wanted to make sure that he couldn’t harm anyone when he did. He was surprised that Star had been so vicious. Balto paused to catch his breath after they were both on the porch. He rubbed the back of his neck and winced, pulling his paw back and seeing a streak of blood.

“Hey Dad!”

Balto’s ears perked when he heard his son’s voice. Kodi rushed up to his dad, followed by Haida. Balto smiled in relief.

“Glad to see a friendly face.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. We just got through with Nikki and Kaltag… I still can’t understand what would make them act like that…” Kodi murmured.

Balto shifted uncomfortably. “I met the dog responsible for whatever happened to them… And from how messed up he was, it makes sense I guess. We’ll just have to wait for them to tell us… Unfortunately, all I know is that Kaltag and Star dragged Jenna out, not where they took her…”

“Wait, Mom was dog-napped?” Haida asked.

“She was…” said a familiar voice.

All three dogs turned around and could only see a swirling mass of snow. A slender figure immerged from the blizzard and smiled, her crimson and white tail flickering about.

“But you’re mother’s good at getting out of certain restraints,” Jenna laughed.

“Jen! You’re okay!” Balto grinned.

He pushed passed his two sons and ran to embrace his love. The two nuzzled each other tenderly as their sons looked away out of embarrassment. Haida was the first to speak again.

“I know that, whatever you’re doing, is really romantic and all in a freezing blizzard, but I think we should vacate the premises and get the sleeping dogs home before they freeze to death… Who’s with me!?” he commanded heroically.

Jenna smirked, pulling away from Balto slightly. “You certainly do know how to ruin a moment, don’t you?”

“When it affects my dinner, yes I do.”

Balto licked Jenna’s cheek before walking back to the sleeping Star and lifting him onto his back. Kodi and Haida did the same with Kaltag and Nikki, of course, Haida nearly fell to the ground a few times from Nikki’s weight. As they walked down the blustery streets, Balto gave a casual look at Kodi.

“Kodi, next time you‘re down a dog, don’t come and ask me at least until next spring.”

Kodi chuckled. “You got it Dad.”

Epilogue:

Tom sighed heavily as he made the climb up the stairs. After what had seemed like forever, the townspeople had finally managed to put out the fire without it spreading to other homes, of course without the storm, it would have been much more difficult. Half-way up, he heard the sound of a swinging flap. Jenna must have come back. She must have been afraid of the fire. Whether Balto was with her or not, well, he’d find out in the morning. The grandfather clock downstairs began to chime softly twelve times… Scratch that, he’d find out when he wasn’t too tired to move. He lifted himself up the last few stairs, his wet, pink, bunny slippers squishing when he reached the landing. Tom pushed a half-open door and slipped inside. His little girl was fast asleep under a dark green comforter, her hands splayed across it. He walked to her bed side, bent over, and gave Rosie a kiss on the forehead.

“Good night Rosie,” he whispered quietly as he gently rubbed his hand over her healing one.

Tom gave a small smile and left her room, shutting the door ever so slowly behind him. He crept across the hall and entered another room that he shared with Nancy. The sound of the clicking door handle echoed dully through the house, a pair of red ears catching it. Jenna smiled as a tan hybrid slipped into her basket along with her.

“Looks like they‘re going to bed,” she said.

Balto nuzzled her softly and she licked his cheek. “Yeah, and we should be too. I think we‘ve both had enough excitement.”

“Amen to that,” she giggled.

Balto laid his head overtop of hers and took a deep breath of her sweet scent. The two watched the slowly dieing fire in comfort until both were soon fast asleep. The wind outside swirled outside the window with as much vigor as it had before. It whipped across the street and spied an older man fiddling with his keys. Doctor Welsh was home at last, feeling quite proud of himself for successfully saving the little girl in White Mountain. After a few tries, the key slid into the keyhole and twisted. The door opened and he stepped inside. He reached for his lamp, but found none. He lit a match from his back pocket and the room illuminated, showing the shattered lamp, stains on the floor, and a still playing record player. He showed little surprise.

“Should’ve expected something like this to happen. I mean, I was only gone for a few days. Gotta throw a riot when the Doctor’s not around.” 

He was about ready to start to clean up when he decided to instead head for his bedroom with a ‘It can wait ’till morning’ comment. A curious dog turned away from the doctor’s home and padded slowly back home. His old joints were stiff as he wandered back to the boiler room. He knew that he’d have to pick up the pieces left by that ruffian, Henry. Doc hoped that he would never have to go through anything like that ever again. He passed by another home along the way where there was an audible grumbling. Star pushed open his weary