yourself.”
  Grimm was silent, almost like he was in a trance. Einstein watched his face, seeing him stone-faced, hardly blinking. Walking a little closer, he gave the mix’s neck a nudge.
  “Grimm?”
  “What? Oh, sorry Einstein…” Grimm muttered, looking glum.
  Einstein halted, gently putting a paw on Grimm’s back and pushing down. “Come on buddy, talk to me.”
  Grimm sat at the gentle but commanding paw’s push, looking up at the big dog. “I’ve just thought of something… About my family. My brothers to be specific.”
  Being the first he had heard of it, the Great Dane sat by Grimm and nodded for him to continue.
  “I have two, Alphonse and Adrian. I love them both, but Alphonse doesn’t seem to care much…” explained the small dog, “Adrian followed me a lot and I was happy he looked up to me. But one day he decided he wanted to be more independent and split from me. I was proud of him, but lonely until I met you guys.”
  “And you miss them?”
  “Adrian really, I know Alphonse can take care of himself. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard from him.” Grimm sighed. “I sorta repressed thoughts of them both, thinking they didn’t care for me much. But I miss Adrian; he stayed with me as long as he could before he decided to be alone. Alphonse wouldn’t be so bad to see either.”
  The big doofus canine’s brow furrowed thoughtfully.
  “Why not just look for them?”
  “What?”
  “You know, ask around and see if anyone has seen them.” Einstein licked Grimm’s cheek heavily to cheer him up. “I bet they’ll know your brothers!”
  Grimm blinked, giving it some thought himself. He did miss them, and he was sure nobody else looked like him in the city. Maybe it could be the break he was looking for to find his relatives. He looked up at Einstein, whose tail was wagging proudly.
  “Alright buddy; we’ll give it a shot.” Grimm said, smiling. The two walked off, ready to start asking anyone and everyone if either of his brothers sighted. What they didn’t notice was a pair of glowering eyes staring at them from afar. The owner was too far away to hear Grimm, but he was glaring pure venom at the mix for reasons known only to himself. He just had to get Grimm to himself… Catch up, bandy words, and create havoc to make Grimm pay.
  The figure followed the two, looking for the right time to get Grimm alone.

  The two strays wandered all over the city, asking questions to any dog they met. They had gained minor leads, but it always turned out Adrian had seemed to vanish after he had been seen. Grimm was starting to get discouraged, but his Dane companion kept his spirits up with sheer optimism.
  “Don’t give up,” he would say confidently, “you’ll find him before you know it.”
  So the search went on, well into the evening, and the leads began to get better, leading them closer to an abandoned warehouse, filled with old crates full of long-forgotten goods. Curious, but determined to find his brother, Grimm looked around at the mixed-up aisles, the only one knowing where everything was supposed to be long-gone.
  “It’d be easy to get lost in here.” Einstein observed, looking around the eerie place.
  “We should probably split up though; it’ll help cover more ground. We might find a den or something.” Grimm said. The Great Dane looked a little spooked, but nodded in agreement. Both were a bit nervous, the setting sun providing light through the musty windows, making it look creepier than it probably was in the day, making their fur spike a little with their nerves.
  “See you later.” Grimm said, heading down an aisle to his left. His partner went to the right, both hearing the click of their claws against the concrete ground until they were too far away, surrounded by silence.
  The figure that had followed them there gleefully watched Grimm go, darting down a straight path, taking swift shortcuts, knowing where Grimm would end up and where he wanted him to be.

  Hearing other claws somewhere around him, the young mix swiftly turned his head both ways, trying to pinpoint it, but with the echo it was impossible. Can’t be Einstein, he’s on the other side of this place… Grimm thought, going back to his task of moving ahead. He found it a bit odd how the crates were stacked, he couldn’t see a thing.
  When he came up on two different aisles, he took the right, and then was forced to make a left, going straight towards the back of the warehouse. He kept walking, ignoring the sounds of his own claws, looking carefully around. He began to notice odd patterns around where he was walking: some crates pushed apart, far enough for a dog his size to fit in. He took a peek in one, and was able to see the next aisle over, and started to push through.
  I feel like I’m in some horror movie… But really, Einstein is here, I got nothing to be afraid of. The young canine firmly pulled himself out of the gap, looking around. This aisle looked about the same as the place he just came from, except the right way back was blocked off by a huge crate, so the hole was the only place to get in this aisle and the left was the only way to go. It was like a huge maze in the warehouse, and it was quite unnerving. He kept on the move, actually welcoming his claw noise over the silence, noting that the deeper in he got the darker it was through lack of sunlight.
  He heard something scurrying and paused, listening closely. It seemed to be coming from ahead of him, and he moved slowly forward, trying to only use his pads to walk. He made it about halfway down when he saw a shape around his size dash off at the end. It had orange fur, his build, similar markings…
  “Adrian!” Grimm barked, starting to run after his brother. He was excited; he couldn’t wait to see his sibling. But something was wrong: why would he run from him? Grimm was his brother, not some rough stray. “Adrian, wait!”
  Their claws echoed around the warehouse, and Grimm’s voice carried to Einstein. Thinking he was in trouble, he tried to get back to his young friend, but he had forgotten the way and was lost. He hoped Grimm would be alright with whatever was going on.
  Adrian soon ran around a corner, forcing himself through one of the many shortcuts. Grimm saw his tail pull through and tried to follow after him. He found this particular one hard to get through, and he had a feeling it was squeezed tighter in case a quick escape was needed. He forced his way through after figuring out how to work his body through it, and looked around.
  He and Adrian had ended up in a square-shaped patch of concrete, surrounded by crates. He could see a large door cracked open behind a huge stack of crates, for an escape route of sorts, and to let light into the desolate spot. There was a lot of dust, and many paw prints around, suggesting Adrian had practiced this many times.
  And there stood the dog himself, eyes hard and tough as ice. Grimm, on the other paw, was grinning. He didn’t realize how Adrian was looking at him because he was so happy.
  “There you are Adrian! I was wondering why you were running off.” Said the young dog happily, stepping forward. Adrian growled lowly, making Grim stop in his tracks. “Adrian…?”
  “Hello brother.” The other mix said rather venomously. “It’s been so long hasn’t it?” He started to walk around, still staring at his brother.
  “Well yeah,” Grimm said, nervous now, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
  “Hmph. Ever think of looking in your shadow Grimm? I’ve been following you for some time.” Said Adrian, a bit too coolly for Grimm’s liking. “I’ve been wondering if you would remember me.”
  Grimm stayed silent, starting to get a bad feeling about Adrian.
  “It took you this long to realize I might not be okay Grimm? Do you even know where I’ve been? Have you ever cared to check before now?” Adrian’s voice rose to a savage bark. But then it dropped right back to coolness. “No… No, you’ve been with your little gang all this time, having fun.”
  “Where have you been?” Grimm asked quietly.
  Adrian smirked. “Good to know you care enough to ask. I’ve been in the pound. Getting strong, thinking about how you didn’t care to check for me.” Explained the canine, flexing his body in preparation.
  “But Adrian I do care, I’m here aren’t I?”
  “Yeah, after weeks of not even thinking about me, even after I was locked up.” Adrian growled starting to move forward to corner his brother.
  Where’s Einstein when I need him? Grimm thought, standing his ground. Even though he tried to appear tough, he couldn’t help knowing it’d be a useless match. Adrian had gotten stronger, he was leaner, and Grimm was definitely sure he was faster due to their run. He knew there was going to be a fight, and he knew he was out-classed.
  Adrian pounced suddenly, lips pulled back into a vicious snarl, revealing his extra-sharp fangs. Grimm tried to dodge to one side but was caught on his right hind leg with a bite, and with the remaining momentum Adrian spun and tossed Grimm into one of the crate walls, a