Power of Paws

Prologue

Crystal glanced at Thunder. “Look at them. They are perfect.” The pair fixed their gaze on two puppies, squirming in front of their paws.

“Jelly Bean and Spike.” Thunder murmured. “Those are their names, right? We agreed on that.”

Crystal snorted. “Of course. After my mother and your father.” Jelly Bean squealed and stumbled towards her mother, a soft whimper in her throat. Crystal crouched down and nosed her, tucking Jelly Bean in comfortably between her paws. Spike wailed at his sister, who squeaked back indignantly. Their parents laughed.

For a moment, the family stood together as one, full of love and happiness. Then, in another moment, they were gone. Only Jelly Bean and Spike remained, looking around for their parents with wide eyes. All that was left in their parents’ place was a puff of smoke, twisting up towards the sky like a black phantom…

***

In an apartment high above the city of New York, Skit pawed a chew toy away from her sister Sprink, growling teasingly at her. Sprink stuck her tongue out at her sister and launched herself at Skit, barking a challenge.

“Can’t get me!” Sprink shot at her sister, wiggling the toy tantalizingly in front of Skit’s nose.

“Oh, yes I can!” Skit growled back, grasping the chew toy in her teeth. The two tugged the toy between themselves, while their parents watched, amused.

“They're so energetic! Sometimes I wonder where that energy comes from, seeing that they hardly sleep.” their mother, Sophie muttered. The pup’s father, Hunter, smiled and nudged Sophie with his muzzle.

“Well, at least we also have two perfectly quiet puppies, along with our loud ones.” he joked. Sophie laughed, playing along.

“But we love them all just the same.” she replied. Buddy and Max ran out of their hiding place to join their sisters, who were now scuffling in a pile at the center of the room. The two brothers leaped on top and shoved Sprink and Skit. Skit simply fought back, while Sprink uttered a whine, then trotted towards her parents, complaining loudly.

“They’re so mean!” she sniffed to Hunter. “They are your brothers. You have to deal with it.” he replied. Sprink sat down with a grumpy expression, then charged back into the pile, tackling Buddy and grabbing the chew toy. From the hallway, the doorbell rang. Sophie got to her paws and walked down the hall. Mia and Myra ’s dad opened the door. Standing in the doorway was Mia, the kind girl who owned Sprink and...Myra.

Myra was Mia’s older sister. Sophie had remembered Myra as a child, nice and sweet, but there had been something off about her, something...evil. Mia kissed Sophie on the head, then ran past her, calling for Sprink and Skit. Myra grinned at Sophie and picked her up, smiling at her dad while she did it.

“I’ll just be in the book nook, catching up with Sophie.” she called to him, while walking into the nook. Myra sat down, glaring at Sophie. “You are such a stupid dog! You ruined everything!

“I wish you would just...die!” she whisper-screamed at Sophie. Sophie growled deep in her throat. Then, Myra hit her. She punched and pinched and kicked. As soon as Myra saw Sophie begin to droop and sway unstably, she left. Sophie fell to the ground. Behind her, the lock clicked. Sophie began to see black and red surrounding her. She glanced at the window to see one last sight before she died, and instead, saw Hunter. He smashed the glass and jumped through, curling himself around her. Sophie closed her eyes. And then, a voice within shadows, reverberating around the room with a deep snarl, spoke.

“Goodbye, Sophie, Hunter. Rest in chaos.” The voice began a maniacal laugh, shrill and scary. The shadows covered Sophie and Hunter. In a matter of seconds, they were gone. Outside, nobody heard Sophie and Hunter’s pleas for help. Except... Sprink and Skit. They glanced into the room where their parents had disappeared into. And, for a moment, they saw it.

A hulking black shape, with a silver, bloodstained collar, and red eyes, glaring at them from the darkness. The two puppies stepped back, frightened. Little did they know, more danger was on the way…

***

In a small alleyway, two dogs were fighting for their lives. Three puppies watched, wide eyed.

“Behind us, you two.” Hershey ducked behind her father Bandit, her cinnamon brown curly fur damp with rain.Her sister Cocoa joined her, shivering in fear.

“Patches!” Zoey called to her son.  “Fight with us.”

Patches shot to his mother’s side, eyes wide with anticipation. Hershey and Cocoa whimpered, then drew back farther away from the fight. The two rogues facing off with the family growled, livid with excitement of the brawl. The family backed away, then...struck. The mangy mutts never saw it coming.

They ran away, with their tails between their legs, howling with rage and disappointment the whole way through. Cocoa gazed after them triumphantly, wagging her tail in victory.

“Yeah, you better run!” Cocoa barked. She reared up and began to chase her tail. Hershey joined her. Patches watched them, amusement bubbling up in his eyes. The three turned to meet their parent’s loving gazes, only to find them gone.

“Mommy?” Hershey squeaked. “Patches, where did Mommy go?” Patches stared around the alleyway.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know.” Patches murmured back. He gathered Hershey and Cocoa close to him. A little way off, nearby the puppies, a thick black mist materialized for a single second, and in that second, glowing eyes watched the puppies, an evil presence.