It wasn't anything abnormal.
She picked up strays all the time, though admittedly this one looked and felt... wrong. It was dark out, so she couldn't tell anything about the animal other than the basics. It was a dog, she knew; it had barked at her before it fell unconscious and she had started dragging it to her car. God this dog was heavy.
Groaning with the weight, she managed to shift her hold to just one arm and open the waiting car door. The resulting light pooled out, blinding her for a moment as she blinked rapidly to clear her vision. "Wh-"Her breath caught. This was no ordinary dog; it was red, with a black stripe of a mane falling messily about red-white eyes that were half-rolled into the back of its head in unconsciousness. With shaky hands, she reached out and gently pushed the upper lip back. "It can't be," she whispered in horror, staring openly at the square, too-human molars that gleamed yellowish white in the car's dim illumination.
The dog looked like Smile dog. It looked a little too much like Smile dog to be healthy... or faked. For a long time, she simply stared at it in indecisive horror. What should she do? If it was Smile dog, then she would attract a lot of trouble by bringing it to her house. However, leaving it to fend for itself was cruel; it couldn't even walk when she came across it.
She sighed, looping her arms around its torso again and heaving it into the back seat. As she got in the driver's side and started the car, she had a bad feeling in her gut that she was making a horrible mistake.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Wren Jones' house was full of animals. Stray cats came in at all hours from the little doggy door in the kitchen and lapped up the saucer of cream she left out; there were four or five dog beds around the living room that looked recently occupied, as though the users had just left. A large crate housed several abandoned ferrets she had discovered one day, and the large bird cage next to it was always open and sometimes occupied by injured avians.
The only animals that lived there permanently were the two crested geckos that shared a glass tank. Those had been a gift from a friend of hers last year, and she loved them just as dearly as she did the other, part-time tenants. As the door opened, the eyes of several animals turned towards the thin, struggling girl and the large dog she was carrying.
"Yeah, I got another dog," She grunted, addressing a tabby nearby, "Deal with it, Minerva; s'not like you have to stay here." The cat blinked regally as Wren attempted to gently set the monstrous dog onto the biggest of the dog beds. The dog's head lolled, then shifted as it returned to consciousness at the less-than-gentle drop Wren had ended up giving instead. It lifted its head and gave a deep, rumbling growl; the other animals shifted and shied away at the sound.
"Hey," She scolded, voice wavering, "Don't give me that. I just took your butt off the street and gave you a warm, comfy bed to rest in. How about you just lay still, don't kill any of the other animals, and rest?" It continued growling, but the threat wasn't behind it anymore. Wren swallowed nervously and continued, "Are you... are you Smile dog?"
Its ears perked. "I... okay. You're really Smile dog?" She jumped when it nodded. "You can understand me?" Another nod, and an eye roll. Wren bit her lip. This was entirely new; what was she going to do now? "Do you have an owner?"
Smile dog nodded, smiling wide and opening its eyes up until they looked like they were going to pop out. It took her a minute to realize it was trying to tell her something, and when she did her heart dropped into her stomach. "Your owner is Jeff, isn't it?" She said hollowly.
The dog nodded excitedly, and she felt like crying.
"He's going to come looking for you," she said in a shaky voice, "He's going to come looking for you and he's going to kill me when he finds you here." The dog nodded again, slower this time. "He'll kill me anyway, even if you're not here; I'm dead meat walking..." She reached out her hand unconsciously as she spoke, rubbing behind Smile dog's ears. It let out a contented growl and leaned into her touch, seemingly unconcerned with her impending demise. "I... you. You can't let him kill me, okay?" She said, turning her attention back to the dog. It gave her a half-blissed look. "I'll pet you all the time and feed you real meat and... And bacon. Just... when he comes, don't let him kill me, okay?"
The almost unconscious nod she got in return didn't make her feel any better.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Thankfully, Smile had seemed to settle in after that. Will the promise of warm lodging and exceptional food, the demonic husky was more than content to relax into the dog bed and growl at Minerva whenever she came near. Wren wasn't nearly so relaxed. She prepared the food for the multitude of animals with the kind of jumpy nervousness one might expect to experience after a horror movie.
As promised, Smile got his bacon, and a pork chop Wren found in her freezer. The dog ate it up ravenously, a terrifyingly human smile lighting his face. Minerva got a full can of tuna, which seemed to occupy her for the moment and take her away from the latest canine intrusion in what she considered her home. When the cat was finished, she rubbed up against Wren's leg and received a gentle scratch under her chin for her efforts.
That didn't last long however, as Wren was soon checking Smile's injuries and fixing him up. Minerva, far from being irked, watched with her bright green eyes. It was a ritual for them; Wren would patch up the latest stray's injuries and Minerva would wait patiently, never interfering. Smile met Minerva's eyes and growled low in his throat, clearly stating that he considered this territory to be his now and she was no longer welcome. If cats could smile, Minerva would have given him a smirk. She turned away and flicked her tail once in a sharp yet lazy motion, sauntering away.
/You're not the first to say that/ she seemed to say by her actions, /yet I am the one still here./
Smile growled and took his last bite of bacon. /We will see./
The tabby cat didn't suffer to reply, instead heading up to Wren's room. The cat was the only one allowed in of the uncaged animals, and if the Tabby had any more of her unusually high intelligence she would have thought something of it. As it was, she took it as a sign that this was her house and that her human had accepted that fact finally. Minerva jumped up onto the bed and curled up, taking a nap while she waited for her Wren to join her for the evening
A quiet, nearly inaudible bump woke Minerva. The cat's head shot up as her mind raced to wakefulness, ears perked for more suspicious noises. Another bump, barely louder than the first, prompted her to jump silently onto the floor and slip between the slim opening to the hallway.
Downstairs, Smile's eyes alone shone in the moonlight. No other animals were active. The dog smiled as he caught Minerva. His tail thumped once on the bed and his ears pulled back slightly.
/You heard it too?/ He had asked. The cat flicked her ear and sat, acknowledging that she had. Smile looked towards the door, nose twitching as he sniffed. /It's my human./
Minerva hissed. Smile's grin widened.
/He'll be inside soon to get me, and your human will be gone. Then, this will be my house and you will not be welcome./
Minerva turned from the unnatural dog, tail flicking agitatedly and ears plastered to her skull. /We will see, abomination. We will see./
From the sound, Minerva tracked the stranger's whereabouts to the window near the kitchen, where he had moved when the door had proven too time consuming and public to risk any longer. Wide, icy blue eyes stared unblinkingly at the Tabby, a permanent grin twisted into a frown at the killer's trouble getting inside. Minerva tilted her head at him, recognizing the visage from the strange flat box Wren was fond of looking at. The human's name was Jeff, if the cat recalled, and he made her Wren uneasy and yet strangely excited. Humans had no preservation instinct.
Purposefully to rub his failure into his face, the cat turned and raced across the house, finding her favorite exit. It was small and even she had a difficult time getting through, but it was convenient for a quiet entrance and exit. Minerva was exceptionally fond of quiet.
Jeff's frustration was noticeable even to the cat as she approached him. A white, long-fingered hand shot out and attempted to grab her. She twisted out of the way with a furious yowl that set the human to looking nervously around. "Hush, you," he growled, pulling out a knife from the white hoodie covering his front, "I won't have any trouble from some cat while I work."
Smile started barking from inside, causing the maniac's eyes to brighten and his stance to straighten. "Smile!" He said, louder than before but still not even a whisper. The barking ceased, and in the resulting silence Minerva could hear Wren coming down the stairs. Oh that silly girl! The cat raced furiously to her secret entrance, slipping through and sliding in between her human and Smile. Wren looked confused and scared.
"Minerva? What... what's going on? Is there someone out there?" She asked softly, clutching a baseball bat tightly in her hands. Minerva ignored the question she couldn't answer anyway and faced Smile with ears back and teeth bared. /Your human is here; get out. This is my house and my human; you will not take this from me abomination./
Smile grinned and barked again, a noise that was responded to with the sound of a window shattering. /We will see./