Injured Dog

Nathan walked down the street, his backpack hanging off of his shoulder as his head pointed towards the ground. He turned into an ally, wanting to get home faster. As he walked, he noticed a white dog laying on the ground by the garbage can, its body curled into a tight ball as it slept. Nathan always loved animals, and his heart broke when he saw the dog laying there, its fur matted with both blood and dirt.

"Hey there," he spoke softly, crouching down in front of the dog as it lifted its head. "You okay, little buddy?"

The dog looked at him with white eyes, its collar stained with dirt and partly torn. Nathan felt bad once he saw the dog's right leg. Flesh was torn off, along with fur.

"Aw, you poor thing," he said as he patted the dog's head. "Now, what's your name?"

Grabbing the collar and admiring it, Nathan found that the dog's name was Ghost. Though there was a name, there wasn't an address, nor was there a phone number. Sighing, Nathan stood up, gently lifting Ghost into his arms and walking towards his house.

"I'll keep you until I can find your owner!" he started with a smile, the dog looking up at him. "And if not, then I'll keep you as my own! Doesn't that sound nice?"

Ghost barked, telling him it was a nice idea. Nathan just smiled, crossing the street and making his way up towards his front door. His parents were never home anyways, so why would it matter he brought a dog home?

After tending to Ghost's cuts and wrapping them up, Nathan gave her food and water, watching as she devoured the steak, but never touched the water. Nathan found that a little strange, but didn't try to push her to drink any. Once she was done, he patted her head, called her a 'good girl', and went into the living room. Ghost followed, limping slightly on her bad leg. She managed to jump onto the couch, laying her head on Nathan's lap and closing her eyes. He just smiled, patting her head.

"I don't know who or what tried to hurt you," he said, still gently stroking her fur. "You're so sweet and nice!"

Ghost didn't do anything, except lay in her same spot and not move. Nathan felt happy to have a friend at his house, other than humans. He loved having Ghost here. He really enjoyed her company.

The clock struck eleven thirty at night, and Nathan decided it was time to go to bed. Picking up Ghost, Nathan made his ways upstairs and into his room. There, he sat Ghost on the bed, and got under the covers.

"Night, Ghost! Sweet dreams!" he said, closing his eyes and going to sleep. Ghost watched him for a few seconds, her eyes watching as his breathing slowed to steady pace. After managing to take off the wrap around her right leg, she got up, easily walking over to him, not even acting like her leg was missing any flesh. As she walked, the bed remained the same, as though it like she wasn't even walking on it. It only seemed that Nathan was the only one in the bed. Ghost's fur also wasn't like a dog's fur anymore. It seemed to be like white smoke, as her eyes started to glow a slight golden color. She glided over to Nathan, sniffing his throat.

"Hm? Ghost?" Nathan yawned, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. He then saw his one dog's new form. "AH! What happened to you!?"

He tried to jump out of his bed, to get away from this... thing, but Ghost grabbed onto his arm with her sharp teeth, making him cry out in pain. He tried to get away from the animal, but there was nothing he could do. Turning around, he swung his arm out, finding that he could actually touch Ghost. And when his fist made contact with her muzzle, she let go. Nathan fell to the ground, but quickly stumbled to his feet, running out his room and downstairs. Ghost flew after him, biting into his back and bringing him to the ground. Nathan screamed in pain, blood trickling out of his newest bite mark. He rolled over, seeing Ghost's glowing eyes glare at him. He swung his arm out once more, managing to scratch Ghost's face, giving her some marks as well. She growled, blood staining her muzzle. Once more Nathan clawed at the animal, now hitting her chest and ripping away some of the fur, bit of flesh being torn away as well. Ghost yelped in pain, lunging forward and latching onto Nathan's throat. He struggled, desperately trying to get away. Blood trickled from his throat as his eyes grew heavy. With one last look at the dog he took in, Nathan fell into a deep sleep, one he would never awake from.

Rain poured down on Suisun City, Brain quickly making his way towards home. He cut into an ally, walking under an overhang the building had. While he walked, he noticed a white dog laying on the ground, blood and dirt staining its once perfect white fur. Its muzzle had four scratch marks on it, while more marks were on its chest. Its right leg also had a large scar on it.

"What the...? Who would do this to a defenseless animal!?" Brain questioned out loud, crouching down to the dog's height. It lifted its head, white eyes staring into hazel, collar slightly torn and dirty. Brain gently grabbed the collar, looking at the name-tag.

"Ghost, huh? That's a nice name!" he said with a smile. "Come on, Ghost! I'll take ya home and clean ya up! You and I are gonna be great friends, yeah?"

Ghost got up, happily barking as she followed Brain towards his home.