Chapter 3 Fear Unleashed

Dylan revved the engine to his animal control van as he pulled off away from the diner. One of his closest friends has gotten into an accident and it involved some type of large animal; both of which were important to him but a choice had to be made. He turned his truck onto interstate 90 and headed toward the scene of the accident to see how bad the damage was for himself. The full moon was large in the sky and shined brightly into the vans interior. The traffic build up was not on his side of the highway but the accident was on the way to the animal shelter.

He would beat two birds with one stone by going to the Animal Shelter. As he got closer, the lights from the police vehicles and ambulance made him more anxious but he didn't slow down.

The Car was ok from the back but as he rounded the turn, the front of the vehicle exposed the damage. The entire front of the car looked like a soda can that was just stepped on. The windshield was completely shattered and there were red stains that were turning into a deep crimson; blood. The animal Pedro hit must have been massive. He slowed the car down just as he saw giant silver scratches down the side of the car. Almost nearing a complete stop, he analyzed the silver markings which now almost looked like giant claw marks.

It wasn't until the cop started shouting for him to keep moving that he regained focused on driving and sped off. Dylan pulled his phone out and began to dial Pedro's phone. He wasn't sure anyone would answer but he called anyway. The phone rang and rang until the voicemail picked up. It was pointless leaving a message so he just hung up and began to dial another number. As he sped down the interstate the rings kept coming and still no answer. This time he became even more worried for now the animal shelter was where he was attempting to reach.

As he exited off the freeway he didn't bother slowing down for the now yellow light and blew right through it as it turned red. The animal shelter was located in the back of town by mining caves. It never saw much action but tonight they were going to need help with whatever it is they brought in tonight. As Dylan made his way into the parking lot, he noticed that Maribeth's black ford explorer was there as well as Diane's silver Impala. Diane was the usual third shift bookie at the shelter but seeing Maribeth still being here meant that they were either really excited about this new animal or they were having trouble. The fact that there was no answer when Dylan called means that they were only having trouble.

Dylan parked the van and immediately heard the animals barking and screaming from the inside. Distressed animals and no answer on the phone caused a panic in him. He reached in the back seat grabbed his tranquilizer gun loaded it with enough ammunition to choke a bear and headed toward the building. As he reached the first step which lead into the lobby, the first thing that caught his eye was the fact that it was empty. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. He reached for his phone but it was not in his pocket; he must have left it in the van. As he took a foot off the step, a faint sound of a scream could be heard mixed in somewhere with the howls and he decided to say fuck the phone. He pressed on forward into the lobby and held the gun up high, aiming it at anything that might come his way.

The dogs and other animals were still going nuts in the back but he pressed on further into the lobby. He checked behind the desk to see if anything was out of the norm. Diane's phone and cup of coffee sat there as well as a pad of paper that had some scribbles on it. He picked it up and read it which only had information regarding breeds of animals. Husky, Pit bull, Burmese Mountain Dog and Wolfhound were all written down but the word "Wolf" in Wolfhound was underlined. She must have been looking into what kind of animal it was they brought in but one thing was for sure, it had K-9 somewhere in it.

A crunching noise caught his attention now, almost like the sound of bone being separated when preparing a chicken or when chopping up dear. He slowly walked towards the two double doors that separated the lobby from the kennels and readied his weapon. He now regretted leaving his real gun in the glove compartment of his van, for now he felt as if his tranquilizers might now do the trick.

He slowly pushed the doors open and the barking soon turned into whimpers as some of the dogs recognized him. One dog was standing in a pool of his own urine and he trembled with fear as he looked on at Dylan. He didn't pay the whimpering animal too much attention for at the end of the long corridor was another swinging door where they held the new or aggressive animals at. The light was flickering from the other side and he knew thats where the beast was going to be at.

As he got closer, the sounds became louder and he now remembered what the noise was. The sound reminded him of when a lion attacks an animal in the wild; flesh being torn from bone and large jaws with powerful teeth breaking through the bone as well. Dylan became sick and started shaking. Whatever happened beyond this door, he knew it wasn't going to be pretty. He would have to shoot the animal with as many tranquilizers as possible and make a run for it to avoid being attacked. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

Blood was everywhere. Splattered on the walls, the cages and light fixtures. The stench was horrid, strong and smelled of death. Dylan looked to his right at the first kennel closest to him and saw the remains of what could have been a human. The blood soaked name badge read Maribeth and it was all apparent what happened here. He couldn't hold back the gag from his throat but fought hard not to make a sound as he dry heaved. The crunching continued but with a loud pop, followed by the sound of flesh being chewed. Dylan lifted the gun again and began to walk away from the death and toward the beast. He turned the corner and looked into the kennel where the sounds were coming from.

Diane's head and arm was all he saw peeking from behind the large black fur. Her eyes lifeless as her hands still twitched from what ever feeling or nerve was being struck. The beast was massive, looked almost primate if it weren't for the long k-9 tail. To size it up, it was almost as large as a small black bear but definitely bigger then any dog he's ever seen. Dylan's gasp caught its attention and its massive head snapped back and looked at him. Blood and flesh smeared all over the massive snout. It snarled and started to turn all the way around slowly pushing the remains of Diane behind it. The bright yellow eyes looked almost florescent as they stared into Dylan's light brown eyes. It continuously growled as it stepped closer to him.

Dylan realized he hesitated enough and began shooting the rounds of tranquilizers at the beast. One missed but two others hit it. The monster leaped at Dylan, long arms extended ready to kill. Dylan fell back into the Kennel directly behind him and kicked the fenced door shut, separating him and the wolf like monster. The impact of the beast and the kennel caused a portion of the wooden beamed ceiling to fall in between the two. Dylan saw this as an advantage and shot two more rounds into it; the wolf kept coming. It's massive arm ripped through the fencing and reached for Dylan but the beam prevented it from getting him Dylan reached into his pocket for his knife and pulled it out. He swung it hard and fast slicing open the giant hand like paw and then monster pulled back.

It howled and ran off in the direction of the front door. Dylan back up further from the fencing and laid his head down. He breathed heavy and felt safe now for the tranquilizers should be taking affect soon. He assessed the damages done to his body and was impressed that nothing too bad happened. The beast killed two of his closest friends and coworkers and almost killed him. He felt accomplished by surviving the attack but a sudden and repetitive warm gust of wind and thud soon snapped him out of his self evaluation. It was then he remembered that each kennel had doggy doors which lead to the outside kennels. As he laid on his back very still he slowly glanced up at the one that was only inches away from his head.

He had no time to react or move away. The bright yellow eyes were there and the warm air he felt was coming from the monsters breath. The wolf reached in, sunk its claws into Dylan's chest and pulled him through the opening.