"In self-defense and in defense of the innocent, cowardice is the only sin."

~ Dean Koontz

FRIDAY

For Chance, the day had begun like any other. Like most of his kind, Chance greeted each new day with warm enthusiasm, a habit which was not shared by those he lived with.

While he ran in circles, leaping excitedly and making loud incoherent noises, the others generally stumbled out of bed like it was a funeral march. They would struggle to sit up, yawn numerous times and then stagger gracelessly out of bed.

This behavior was extremely perplexing to Chance who, like most of his kind, had been born to believe that each day was a gift, a wonderful adventure just waiting to be had. Each day brought with it the promise of something new, as well as the continuation of that which he found familiar and dear.

But Chance, like most of his kind, had little idea of the daily toils of those he lived with. He had no understanding of money, not of commerce or bargaining. He had no knowledge of government or education. He could not know why those he lived with thought leaving their home to be such a chore. Whenever he went with them, he had a grand time. Yet all behaved as if the bright world outside hurt their eyes, almost as if it distressed them greatly.

But for Chance, morning was a time to speak loudly, and rejoice in being alive. For this reason, he was usually let out of the house first thing in the morning. Sassy often slept until noon and, during bad weather, would refuse to leave the house at all. Shadow took his time getting up. He was always ready to go outside when someone was available to let him out, but the old dog was never in a hurry.

This was especially true at this time of year. The leg he'd injured a year ago had never quite healed, and it clearly pained him during cold weather, in addition to all the other aches which seemed to be such a part of old age. But he'd proven he could still run with the best of them, and had more in him even now than some dogs had in their prime.

In any case, Chance was first out the door. He had a lot to do today, and he set right to work. He barked at the mailman, and a delivery guy. He chased a number of squirrels and marked every tree in the yard before setting out into the woods behind the house in search of a bone he'd buried there last week. It was probably pretty delicious by now, having lain in the dirt all week.

Shadow was outside by the time Chance set out to the woods, but he did not accompany the younger dog. Instead, he found a sunny spot in the yard and lay down to bask in the warm rays, the last there would be for some time if the wind's chill was any indication.

"I don't see how you can just lie there with those woods out there, just waiting to be explored," Chance said, trying to bait the old dog into accompanying him.

Like most dogs, Chance enjoyed company. He wanted Shadow to go with him.

"Those woods have been explored," Shadow replied neutrally, "You explored them yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. Three times, most days."

"But not last night. Can you imagine the kind of stuff that's been going on in there? Squirrels, birds, rabbits, who knows! Maybe even a moose!"

Shadow rolled his eyes in the direction of the woods without raising his head. Then he looked at Chance. His expression was clearly dismissive. He had absolutely no interest whatsoever in going out to the woods, and wasn't impressed by Chance's description, either.

"Why would you ever want to explore the woods?" Sassy asked, stepping daintily out onto the front porch and then carefully seating herself, fluffy tail curled around her paws "You've lived in the woods. You know how awful they are," she began to bathe, pausing between licks to continue, "Haven't you seen enough yet? Or did you learn nothing at all from what happened to us?"

"You don't get it," Chance said, looking at the woods with longing, "There's all kinds of cool stuff out there, just waiting for me to find it. Maybe I'll even find a good stick to chew."

"How revolting," Sassy meowed, but Chance decided to ignore her and bounded out into the woods.

As he'd expected, Chance found a wide variety of things to occupy his attention. He chased some rabbits, almost cornered one when it reached the edge of a brook, but the rabbit veered sharply away and Chance splashed right across it before coming to an ungainly halt, turning and lumbering after the escaping rodent. He found a possum in a tree and yapped at it for awhile, before growing bored and running off to follow the scent of a deer herd which had passed through during the night. Tail high and wagging, he followed their trail, which led him back to the brook and then ran parallel to it. He briefly snuffled at an empty hollow log before picking up the trail once more.

"The wild dog must constantly work to hone his instincts," Chance said aloud to himself, "For only constant practice will enable him to-" he never finished the sentence.

The ground beneath his paws was vibrating. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the rattling pebbles on the trail, then up ahead. This had never happened before. He wasn't sure what to make of it. There was a roaring in his ears, but it might have just been the sound of his blood. He was so consumed by the vibration and sound that he forgot to sniff.

The bushes in front of him rustled, first quietly, then more and more violently. The big dog felt a tremor run through him and he backed up. If Shadow had been with him, he would have made a brave show, but as he was alone, he had no one to protect his reputation from.

Just as he decided to run, the bushes parted and large, swift figures bounded into view. The deer herd was stampeding towards him, leaping and bounding, their breath coming in snorting gasps. Chance barked at them futilely. They came on, rushing like a single body, faster than Chance could ever hope to be. Even so, seeing that they would not turn, he whirled about and fled at top speed, forgetting everything about being a "wild dog" and that adventure was specifically what he'd come out here to find. He'd found it alright, and wanted to lose it as fast as possible.

The deer had almost overtaken him when his path and theirs turned sharply away from one another. The deer followed the curve of the brook, while Chance splashed across it. He'd run on several yards before realizing they weren't following.

Curiosity overcame his fear and he halted, turned back and crept to the bank. He wanted a look at whatever it was that had scared the deer so.

The pungent smell of fear hung heavy in the late autumn air, seeming to cling to the forest like frost in winter. It was more than simple fear scent though. Chance noticed that smell each time he chased a rabbit. This was something... more. These deer were more than afraid, they were terrified.

What could frighten them so badly? Chance began wondering if he really did want to see the monstrous predator that was after the deer when a new scent blew in on the wind. A bad smell. An evil smell.

Chance yelped as though stricken, and backed up, an involuntary defensive growl welling up in his throat. His tail lowered, then tucked and he kept backing. The bad smell was overwhelming, all-consuming. He couldn't think, could barely breathe. All he knew was that he wanted to get away from it, but he dared not turn his back on it.

His lips curled and his eyes rolled and he growled again. As soon as he was beyond the bank of the brook, he turned and fled through the woods, making straight for home as fast as his legs were capable of carrying him, not slowing or stopping even when his breath began to come in gasps.

He hadn't managed to regain any composure at all on reaching the yard. He ran full steam, vaulted the seesaw and careened around the sand box. He leaped onto the porch and only then realized he had to slow down because his way was barred by the front door.

His claws skittered uselessly on the wood and he swung himself sideways, hitting the door with his shoulder. As he did so, Sassy yowled in protest and leaped from the welcome mat onto the railing, her fur puffed out and eyes wide.

As Chance impacted, Shadow had gotten to his feet and began to bark. He knew Chance was running from something, and it was his instinct to warn whatever it was off the property. He had no idea what Chance was fleeing from, but he didn't care. Whatever it was, it had no right to be here.

Hearing the deep bark of Shadow made Chance feel a twinge of embarrassment. He'd been a coward to run like he had, without even a bark, and he might well have led the thing, whatever it was, right to their front door. Trembling with guilt, he crept down the stairs and came crawling to Shadow's side, unable to muster in himself the courage to bark, but unwilling to let the old dog take a stand alone.

When nothing came tearing out of the forest after a minute, Shadow ceased his barking and listened expectantly. Hearing nothing unusual, he sniffed at the air, seeking evidence of the terrible something which had driven Chance from the woods.

"What is it? What's out there?" Sassy asked nervously, peering down from the railing.

She was seriously considering climbing up to the roof. For a better view, of course. After all, it wasn't like she was scared or anything. Her tail lashed of its own accord, refusing to let her kid herself.

"I dunno," Chance managed to whisper, "But it was big, and it was hideous and awful and... and... and I don't think it followed me. It must have kept chasing the deer."

"Deer?" Shadow swung his head towards Chance, his gaze critical, "You panicked over a herd of deer?"

"No, something was chasing them," Chance insisted, "Something huge and monstrous... it had these, these claws and... and this horrible smell."

Sassy hissed at the description, but Shadow wasn't impressed. He could see the guilt written plainly on Chance's face. Maybe something had spooked him, but it probably didn't match his description at all. Chance had the gift of exaggeration, and more pride than good sense.

"Show me where it was," Shadow ordered.

"I'll just stay here," Sassy meowed from the railing, "You two can tell me all about it when you get back."

Chance, having recovered from his fear, was eager to prove that the thing was really out there, and that it was every bit as terrible as he'd described. He led the way, actually running in the hopes that the creature would still be nearby. But Shadow would not be hurried and trotted at an even pace, keeping to the trail the two of them had forged through many a forest exploration, sniffing as he went.

"Hurry up!" Chance called, trying to goad Shadow into picking up the pace, "It's not far now!"

"The scent will still be there," Shadow replied mildly, "even if your monster isn't. You know that as well as I do."

"Well yeah, but-"

"If it was chasing deer like you said, it's already long gone. A minute or two more won't make any difference to the trail it left. So pipe down."

They reached the brook and Chance hesitated, putting his head down warily. Shadow didn't break stride as he splashed into the water, making his steady way across and then pulling to an abrupt halt. Even from across the water, Chance could see the golden fur about Shadow's neck bristle and the hair along his back rise in a stiff ridge. The older dog flattened his ears to his head and began to back up. Then he shook himself, and dropped his head, putting his nose to the ground and inhaling deeply. That only made Chance even more uneasy. If even Shadow had to struggle against the urge to run just from the scent, it must be bad.

"I told you I didn't imagine it!" Chance shouted, but Shadow ignored him.

Now Shadow was trotting up and down the bank, head still down as he made out the beast's trail by scent. Suddenly he stopped, one paw raised, halted mid-step by something he'd either seen or smelled.

"What? What did you find?" Chance asked, but Shadow didn't respond.

Taking a deep breath, Chance plunged across the brook and came to stand beside Shadow. The smell was not as overwhelming as it had been, the creature it belonged to was evidently long gone. But it was still awful, and Chance couldn't help but shiver. The forest didn't seem so friendly anymore.

At first, he couldn't figure out what Shadow had found. He sniffed and snuffed, but all he could find was the smell of the creature, the same wherever he found it. Powerful, offensive, all-pervading, so much that he could barely make out the smell of the deer underneath. Then Chance realized it wasn't the scent which had so entranced Shadow, but something on the ground. Something he was looking at.

Chance looked, but at first didn't see what was so interesting about the track on the ground. A dog's sight is relatively poor, and Chance certainly hadn't much practiced using his eyes for identification purposes. But when he did see, he had to sit down and whine a bit to ease his confusion.

There, right in front of Shadow, was a print. But not an animal one. It looked for all the world like the tread of a sneaker. That was impossible, there was no fresh human scent in the area, Chance would have smelled it earlier if there was.

But the print was there nevertheless, plain as day, unmistakable, undeniable and inexplicable.

A/N: I'd say this story is the product of too many nights without sleep and too many bad horror flicks (as though there's any other kind)

Set prior to Homeward Bound II (or, better yet, forget that movie even exists. Please. Do the world a favor). Potentially AU. Having written all this, I vaguely recall seeing a fence around the Seaver property but, for the sake of the story, I'm pretending the place was unfenced.