Sam Manson was driving home from Tucker's condo when she saw something move in the corner of her eye. She glanced out the left side of her window to find a puppy flung on the porch and an angry looking man hovering above him. The man was dressed in a slick black suit, with a build that could have rivaled Jack Skellington. She craned her head back to see more when the sound of a honk finally reached her ears.

"Shit!" Sam brought her eyes back to the road, swerving slightly as the oncoming car nearly crashed into her. The driver yelled a comforting threat out the window as he drove passed, but Sam ignored him, instead checking all directions before making a careful U-turn. She traced her way over to the house with the man and the puppy.

As the tall building came into view, it didn't take much to figure out this man was rich. The estate was large and gray, supported by several white pillars. A fountain was positioned in the center of a circular driveway, where cars she had only ever seen her parents discuss buying waited on a gravel driveway. She parked not too far from the place, but enough to be hidden from prying eyes.

Both the man and puppy had disappeared, leaving an empty porch in its place. Sam turned off the ignition and stuffed the keys in her pocket, slowly exiting the vehicle.

She ran up to the porch in a crouching position, using one of the many pillars around the mansion to hide herself. A housekeeper was coming out to clean the windows. Luckily, the woman left the front door open on her way out.

Sam waited until the old lady had her back turned to enter the house. The interior was even more extravagant than outside. The floor was made of marble and a display case with Packers items was across from the entrance. Sam kept her head down as she ran down the hall, hoping the sheer size of the place would keep her from running into anymore housekeepers.

Sam knew very well that she was trespassing, but she wasn't about to let some rich bastard get away with abusing animals. If there was anything she hated more than ungrateful millionaires, it was someone who abused others. She had only seen the puppy for a fraction of a second, but she was determined to save his life. As Tucker would say, Sam was one brave soul. The rest of the world liked to refer to her as insane.

Sam stopped and pressed her back to the wall when another worker walked nearby. How was she going to find such a small animal in a place this big? There had to be twenty plus rooms. Sam quickly re-evaluated her plan. She would work from the ground floor up, then sneak out to the backyard and make her way back around to the front. Hopefully she'd find the dog by then.

The first few rooms were, at best, random. She walked into an empty theater, a library, a gallery and even an ice skating rink. The kitchen had also been on her agenda, but an entire staff was attending to the room. When Sam came across the laundry room, she grabbed a spare chef's uniform, along with an awkward looking paper hat. She searched the kitchen for the puppy, but didn't find so much as a dog dish.

Were they starving him? Sam wondered, angry and worried now. Fortunately, because of the chef's uniform, Sam didn't have to go sneaking past workers. She traveled up the large, wood staircase to the second floor.

There were several bathrooms and guest bedrooms, and oil paintings that would have served better in a museum. All the rooms looked plain and simple, leaving one to assume no one owned them. She hadn't seen any other members of the house as far as she could tell.

What would a man need such a large mansion for? It was an awfully empty place, with workers that seemed very focused on their duties. Sam entered the last room on the floor and spotted a white blob at the head of a gray bed.

"There you are!" Sam ran into the room, tossing the annoying paper hat onto the mattress. She took a seat in front of the puppy. He was curled up on his side, sleeping soundly. Parts of his body appeared to be swollen, and his white coat was scruffy and ungroomed. Around his neck was a heavy looking collar that could only be described as mechanical.

Sam stared at the puppy, afraid to touch him. She pulled off the chef uniform and used the clothing as a bed for the puppy. Carefully, she placed the small animal on the cloth, and bundled it in her arms.

"It's okay," Sam whispered. "I'll get you help."

The dog let out a soft whine, wiggling slightly in her arms, and Sam felt every bone in her body tense, wanting to punch the bastard that hurt this innocent creature. How could people do this without feeling any remorse?

A loud alarm went off, causing Sam to jump. Someone must have noticed she was here. She ran passed workers on her way downstairs, holding the puppy close to her chest. Her heart was beating in time with the alarm.

Downstairs, someone managed to snag the back of her shirt. Sam stumbled backwards before shifting her weight onto one foot. Sam leaned the upper half of her body to one side, effectively sending her captor hurling into a wall with a powerful side kick. She made it out the front door without anymore trouble, sprinting all the way to her car. Sam gently placed the dog in the passenger's seat, running over to the driver's side, and hitting the gas.

"We made it!" Sam gasped in surprise and delight. She laughed, speeding down the street in victory. "We did it."

A thin man sat at his desk, enjoying a cigar when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," the man said, brushing off dust from his black suit.

An employee a part of the kitchen staff walked in, closing the door behind him. "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but it seems an intruder came in and stole the dog."

The alarm was still going off, only it was much softer inside the man's office. The man reached for a button beneath his desk and stopped the siren.

"Let me see the security footage."

The employee set up the computer surveillance, moving aside so his boss could watch. The man stared at the video carefully, slightly disappointed at the young girl's efforts. She managed to get on his property because he had permitted it. Of course, he had known all along that someone was sneaking into his estate. Any movement within ten feet of his land would be caught by motion detectors. He could have had her arrested before she even reached the porch, but what was the fun in that?

But she hadn't gone for what he had expected. Instead of stealing one of his valuable objects, she left every room untouched except for the small dog. That was definitely something to take under consideration. And when one of his employees got hold of her, she had him down in one kick.

The girl's face flashed in the camera and the man paused the video. "Right there." He pointed at the screen. A silver ring on the man's finger caught the employees. "What is that?"

"The intruder, sir?" The employee asked in confusion.

"And what does the intruder have?"

"The...dog?"

It was quiet as the man took a long drag from his cigar, silent.

The employee swallowed. "I don't understand, sir."

The boss laughed, leaning back in his chair. "No need to panic. I have everything I need to begin the experiment." He held up the paper chef hat and smiled down at it. "I sure hope that young girl likes surprises."