Chapter 4

Bolt sat in the alley. "I have an idea. I'm gonna catch the Butcher."

"Who's the Butcher?" Mittens asked.

"He's a serial killer. Everyone in the town thinks he's me."

"Ah. All the pieces come together now. So how are you gonna catch him?"

Bolt chuckled. "Have you ever considered being live bait Mittens?"

"No. This is CRAZY!!" Mittens shouted. She was padding down Brey's alley. This was where five of the death's had taken place. Bolt wanted to draw the killer out.

"He's killed two cats already Mitts. He won't be able to resist you."

Mittens glared at the dog. "If I die you are screwed."

Bolt ducked behind a trash can and observed.

Mittens padded into through the alleyway. Nothing happened.

Bolt frowned. The alley was empty except for Mittens. No one. No Butcher.

"Come on. Nice unsuspecting cat in your favorite alley. Show yourself you prick." He muttered.

Bolt's eyes scanned the alley. Nothing.

Then there was a sound. It was coming from the wall. Bolt was immediately alert.

It had been only a small sound. But it had been the sound of movement. Bolt stared at the wall. There was something moving along. It was keeping to the shadows.

Bolt was on the move.

Mittens was unaware of what Bolt had seen. She padded down the alley. The hairs on her neck suddenly pricked up.

She turned. Something slammed into her. She was pinned to the alley wall.

"Don't cry out. Don't make a sound. I will kill you."

"Pay attention to ME sicko."

The figure turned to get hit in the face.

"See I told you I could take him Mittens." Bolt laughed triumphantly.

The Butcher got up and punched him in the face. Bolt stopped laughing.

He recovered. The Butcher was on the move. He pursued.

He didn't care about catching the Butcher. That was a secondary objective. The main objective was to identify him.

Bolt couldn't. If there was one thing the Butcher could do, it was stick to the shadows.

He entered the crowd. Bolt struggled to keep a visual on him. He ducked into the crowd.

"Damnitt. Where are you?"

"Here."

Bolt turned. The Butcher had disappeared back into the crowd.

He pushed his way through the crowd and ended up in another alley.

The Butcher was gone. He had lost him.

"You shouldn't have come into town."

Bolt turned in time to get pinned to the wall. Balto growled.

"I shouldn't have let you go."

Bolt looked left and right hoping to get a lucky view of the Butcher.

"Listen. I'm not the Butcher. But I just saw him. I chased him."

"Really. Then who is he?"

Bolt sighed. "I couldn't identify. He sticks to the shadows like glue."

Balto chuckled. "They're gonna burn you my friend. And I'm gonna watch you burn."

Bolt suddenly lashed out, punching Balto in the face. Balto was knocked back. Bolt stopped. Balto wasn't the only dog after him in the town. A large group of dogs approached.

Bolt turned and ran.

The dogs were in pursuit. But they were slow. The only one that could keep up was Balto.

Bolt jumped onto the side of a low building. He barely managed to hold on to one side.

Balto snarled. He was really mad. Believing he was responsible for two deaths and having just been punched in the face was not going well for him.

Bolt climbed onto the building roof. Balto leaped the roof and landed behind him.

"You little bastard."

"Language Balto." Bolt turned and ran towards the building edge. Balto was momentarily startled but followed.

Bolt leapt onto the roof of the other building. The chase began.

Bolt and Balto leapt from rooftop to rooftop in chase.

Bolt smashed through a window, cutting himself all over. Balto jumped in after him. Bolt shook off the pain and continued.

Suddenly there was a scream. Bolt turned in time to see a ball fly through the air.

"Over here Goldeneye!" Rhino shouted.

Balto froze. The plastic ball. Rhino ran in an opposite direction. Balto suddenly averted course to chase after him.

Bolt jumped down to the street. He was bleeding profusely.

He cried out in agony. "What did I do to deserve this?" He asked himself.

Balto eventually realized what he had done. "Damnitt!"

He turned around. It was too late. Bolt was gone. He jumped down to the street.

"What happened?" Seamus asked.

"I had him. I had Bolt. And he got away."

Seamus sighed. "Balto, I need to tell you something. I don't think Bolt is the Butcher."

"Why not? Dusty said that he was the dog that chased her."

"I…I think it may be more complicated than that." Seamus said. "He…I can't explain."

"Listen, could we talk later? I really need to work on catching this dog."

Balto padded away. Seamus sighed.

Bolt staggered along the outer edge of the town. He was bleeding all over himself.

The cuts weren't deep, but they were enough to draw blood. Lots of it.

He noticed a medium sized house up ahead. The back door was open.

He padded inside. There didn't appear to be anyone home.

He noticed a set of stairs leading into a basement.

He stealthily approached. Suddenly he slipped. He stumbled painfully down the stairs.

"Just stop." He said louder than he should have.

He got up and looked around. There was nothing in here to stop the bleeding. Suddenly something slammed into him.

"Who are you?" A voice demanded.

Bolt winced. Getting hit had hurt more than usual.

"I'm not here to hurt you!" He shouted.

"Well that's obvious buddy. If anyone's getting hurt here it's you."

Bolt turned to see the most beautiful husky he had ever seen.

"Hello there." He said with a grin.

The husky slapped him across the face. "Don't try that! Why are you here?"

Bolt put up his paws. "Don't hit me again! It hurts! Really bad!"

"I'll rip your head off if you don't tell me why you're here!" The husky shouted.

"Okay! I'm here because I'm bleeding and I need something to stitch up the wounds."

Balto sat next to the general store in town. Bolt was gone. He had failed again.

Kaltag sat next to him. "You shouldn't beat yourself up."

"Why not?"Kaltag chuckled. "You're the freakin hero of Nome. Dogs would kill to be you. You can afford to make some mistakes."

"But…twice he's gotten away because of my mistakes."

Kaltag sighed. "Trust me. We'll get him. He'll slip up and we'll be right there waiting."

Balto paused. He noticed something in the street. He got up. There was a trail of blood on the ground.

"He was here. He was injured. And he left me a trail of blood to follow."

Kaltag nodded. "See? I told you he'd slip up."

Bolt had developed a skill in talking himself out of things. Sometimes. The husky who had slapped him in the face was now stitching up his wounds.

"Thanks again for this. I haven't had someone help me in a while."

"What's your name?"

"My names Bolt."

"Bolt? That's a funny name. Like a lightning bolt?"

"That's the popular idea." Bolt replied. "What's your name?"

"I'm Jenna."

Bolt nodded. "That name rings a bell."

"Well I'm the mate of Balto, AKA the hero of Nome."

Bolt froze. He turned and stared at Jenna. "That can't be good."

Jenna smiled, not knowing what he meant. "What's can't be good?"

"Uh…nothing." Bolt said. He was in trouble.

Balto had followed the trail of blood for miles. "Geeze. Does this guy have any blood left?"

He followed the blood trail farther. Suddenly a familiar scent reached his nose.

He looked up. The blood trail led into Jenna's house.