Immense joy crept over Annette like a warm blanket. She wiggled and whined and snuggled closer to Kilian, nuzzling under his chin happily. Kilian was in no better state himself. He was quietly laughing, nudging Annette's neck and shoulders. Annette grinned and crawled over his forelegs, squirming around until she was on her back, ears flopped out on either side, batting Kilian's face with a paw. He slid one paw away from Annette's back and wrapped it around her middle.

"I've got you now." He said with a toothy grin. Annette could feel her little tail wagging fast.

"You've got me." Annette muttered softly. She felt as though she could fly away any second. That is, if Kilian's paw wasn't draped over her belly. A fleeting thought crossed her mind, one that made her head tilt.

"Kilian?" She started. "Why were you in the park this afternoon?"

Kilian nuzzled Annette's paw and dropped his eyes.

"I wanted to see you. Since you couldn't come visit me." His face brightened a second later. "Serves me right. I nearly got attacked out there."

Annette shuddered.

"That Harley is such a creep." She said.

Kilian's smile dropped.

"Oh. I was kind of talkin' about your sister. She ent' good company." Kilian's reply made Annette laugh again. As much as she loved Collette, she was thankful that Kilian had no interest in her, now more than ever.

"But Harley is bad too. Real badk. He's got thugs." Kilian continued. This shocked Annette. One Harley was bad enough, but multiple monsters wreaking havoc made the once quiet town would make the town a living nightmare. She wondered if they were willing to devour children like Harley was.

Kilian buried his face in Annette's belly and kept talking. His voice was muffled, but Annette could hear the fear in it.

"They bully you into joining their gang. They kidnap pups. If you leave 'em, you're dead. If you stay, you're good as gone." The patchy dog's words left Annette reeling. She'd seen the way Harley had looked at Kilian. What if he was next? She could hardly bear to even think of it.

Kilian seemed to instantly understand. He tightened his grip on Annette's middle and held her close. The two lay like that for a long time. It relaxed Annette so greatly that she eventually fell asleep, lying belly up under Kilian's surprisingly strong grip. He held onto her tightly that night, even in sleep. If anyone had been spying on them, they would have thought the pair spent every night together like this, for the relaxed and peaceful expressions on their faces. There was no need to squirm around or turn over to find comfort. The way they fit together as they slept seemed as though they were made for each other.

"Annette." Kilian was whispering. He nudged Annette's stomach and shook her with his paws until she stirred. She forced her eyes open to see what he wanted.

"Mmmhmm?" The cocker mix slurred. She blinked sleep from her eyes and gave a little yawn, pink tongue curling.

Kilian poked her in the ribs.

"It's almost dawn." He said nervously. Annette was awake in an instant. She'd been out all night. If anyone woke up and found her gone...she dreaded having to explain her absence.

Suddenly, the muffled, cold quiet of the house was broken with the echoing creak of a door. Both dogs were instantly launched into high alert. Kilian glanced at Annette while she rolled over and off of his legs. They stood up, but remained clustered close to each other. Kilian positioned himself protectively in front of the slightly shorter dog. She could hear voices now. Her ears perked high and then swept back against her head when she identified her father. The other 'voices' were his own echoing, he was talking to himself. He must have tracked her scent. Annette heard her name.

"That's my dad." Annette hissed nervously. Despite the Tramp being such an understanding dog, Annette knew that he would be unhappy with her sneaking out, especially in such an icy night, and with a dog he didn't know. She faintly regretted not letting someone at least meet Kilian. She should have told them that she was going out for the night. A dozen late possibilites crossed her mind in that instant.

Annette ducked around Kilian and crept silently out of the fallen cabinet. Kilian hesitantly followed behind her, looking as though he rather chew hot nails than meet Annette's father.

The pair tiptoed together alongside the crumbling kitchen wall until they reached the doorway. Annette didn't dare take a peek around the rotting frame, but she could hear her father's heavily limping step in the front room. She flinched inwardly with every thump. Had he walked all this way on a bad leg to find her?

The limping stopped. There was a dense pause, and then Tramp's voice rang out calmy.

"Alright, you two. Come on out. Let's see what's going on here." Annette inched around the doorway to meet him. She felt like belly crawling. Kilian was dragging along behind her with his short tail tucked away as far as it would go. Tramp didn't sound very angry. That was the infuriatingly scary part about him, it was hard to tell when he was mad. Annette reached her father's paws and dragged her eyes up to his face.

He was watching Annette quietly now. She wagged her tail in a tentative greeting and gave a smile. He remained quiet, only cutting his eyes over to Kilian, who stopped, stiff legged and terrified. The terrier's ears flattened in a flash.

Tramp's eyes were back on Annette. She couldn't bear to meet his gaze. The tall grey dog sighed and hunched his shoulders, lowering his head to his daughter's level.

"No more secrets. Okay?" He said gently. His soft tone made Annette turn her eyes to him. He wasn't angry with her. He was just worried. Annette could see it etched in the features of his slowly aging face. She tried to count how old he might be now and decided to stop at four. She didn't want him to grow old on her. In response to his question, she nodded.

Tramp gave her a quick and loving lick on the cheek, as if reminding her that she was his daughter and that he loved her. When he turned his gaze once again back to Kilian, Annette did as well. She turned around and made her way back to Kilian, who was frozen a considerable distance away.

Almost instictively, Kilian moved closer to Annette. He caught himself a moment too late, and gave the Tramp a fearful look. Annette couldn't determine if he was simply afraid of Tramp, or the fact that he was her father.

"May I meet your friend?" He said.

Annette boldly nudged Kilian's chin up with her nose to push her head underneath it while she introduced him to her father. Kilian's mouth, which had opened seconds before, snapped shut with an audible click.

"This is Kilian." Annette said to the Tramp. Kilian was quiet. Annette looked at her father, who ducked his head in way of greeting.

"It's nice to finally meet you, boy." He flashed a stern look at Kilian though as he spoke. "I don't want your first impression of ol' dad to be a bad one, but maybe you could keep Annette inside at night, now?"

"Yessir."

Kilian nodded, taking the blame for Annette's sneaking out. Annette wouldn't have it though. She scoffed at her father's words and protested stubbornly.

"I was the one that wanted to come here, Dad." She told him. "I just needed to check on some things and we fell asleep."

Tramp sighed heavily.

"Even so, we should get you home before everyone starts to worry. You gave your sisters a nasty scare."

Already? A mix of emotions went through Annette. She wanted to keep herself and Kilian out of trouble, but she was also hoping that her father would talk to Kilian for a while. She wanted him to be liked.

"You really do need to get home." Kilian muttered quietly. Annette threw him a short, regretful look. She didn't want to leave yet. But he was right, her family and her father were waiting for her.

"I'll be outside." Tramp said politely, while he turned around slowly to limp out.

When he was gone, Kilian and Annette gave each other a long nuzzle. Kilian kissed Annette's forehead, making her blush. Had all of this really happened in one night?

"Okay. You go now." Kilian said after a moment. "I'm sorry if I got you in trouble, Ma'am."

Annette shook her head, causing her silky ears to sway.

"No, it's okay. Will I see you this afternoon?"

Kilian's mouth spread into one of his crooked smiles.

"Ent' nothin' gonna stop that from happening."

Annette limped along the icy sidewalk behind her father. Both of them were terribly sore in the paws. Annette felt terrible as she watched her father hobble along on his broken leg. Having to walk on split pads was one thing, but traveling all this way on a splinted leg was unthinkable. He should have never come.

"We've all been wondering about you sneaking off lately." Tramp said, trying to strike up a conversation. He slowed his walk a little to match Annette's speed. She leaned on her father, supporting him as they went along.

"I'm sorry, Dad." Annette croaked. "I was visiting my friend. I should have told you all." She left out the fact that she was afraid of her sisters finding out.

"Seemed more than a friend to me."

Annette blushed hot under her fur.

"Maybe." She squeaked.

"I hope you two were behaving yourselves in there." Tramp said suddenly, looking at his daughter, who's mouth had fallen open.

"Daaad!" She whined, embarrassed beyond belief.

Tramp snorted and left the subject alone. It seemed he was afraid of a real answer. Instead, he switched to a different, equally uncomfortable topic.

"Your sisters have missed you lately. They think you've changed." Annette lowered her head and sighed.

I have changed.

"I just like doing my own thing sometimes." She muttered. When the bigger dog didn't respond, she went on. "I like having baths and combing my fur, and talking to Danielle and Collette, but I want more than that with my life." Even as she said it, she was admitting this to herself as well as the Tramp. Annette could feel herself mentally branching away from the narrow path that she had traveled for so long with her sisters. She was her own dog. She repeated in her head the phrase that Kilian had used to describe her.

I am my own dog.

The sun was rising in a pink haze when Tramp and Annette arrived home. Annette knew before seeing anyone that the family was awake already. The moment she entered the house through the creaky dog door, she heard her sisters yapping and barking, letting the world know that Annette was back from her escapade. She surpressed a groan.

Collette bounded into the room with Danielle in tow. Scamp and Angel also entered the kitchen, but simply settled into their breakfast with only a few curious looks.

"Annette! What on earth have you been doing?" Collette slowed to a stop in front of her sister. Danielle wiggled and squirmed underneath Collette, popping up inbetween her sister's front legs.

"You were outside in the cold?" The slower of the sisters had wide, astonished eyes. Annette tried to divert her siblings' attention.

"I am so hungry. What's for breakfast?" Annette said, limping quickly over to the row of dog bowls to sniff at their contents.

"Annette has a boyfriend." Tramp said quickly, and then scooted from the room as quickly as his stiff leg would allow. Annette, who had lowered her head to one of the bowls, cringed visibly.

Three..

two..

one.

"WHAT!" Collette yelped.

"Boyfriend?!" Danielle woofed.

"Haha! I knew it!" Scamp snickered.

Angel was the only one who didn't comment. She already knew, of course. Shock didn't register on her face. Her gray eyes met Annette's and she rolled them dramatically. Annette cringed when Danielle's front paws landed on her back. The weight hurt her feet.

"We should have story time now!" The deep voiced dog blurted excitedly.

"What's his name? What's he look like? Was Dad kidding?" Collette spewed.

"Um...no, he wasn't kidding." Annette admitted.

This only sent her siblings into a squealing fit. She had no idea what to tell them. Heaven forbid that Collette find out that she was involved with Kilian. Finally, Angel intervened. She was polite, but stern.

"Hey girls. Come on now, break it up. Annette is tired. Didn't you guys see her limping? Ice can really mess up your feet. I would know." The last bit was a reference to Angel's past on the streets.

Annette shot her friend a grateful look. Collette and Danielle said nothing more, they simply pulled back and pouted. Annette almost smiled in her amusement. Angel had a power of authority when she spoke.

"You'll tell us everything later though, right?"

"I wanna meet the guy!" Danielle up and down underneath Collette, making her sister's paws lift from the ground every once in a while.

Angel shot the two another warning glare when they started to launch into another chattering fit. Scamp was behind her, munching on the contents of his bowl and looking for all the world as if he was watching a very entertaining show.

Annette excused herself as quickly as she could. Angel fended the wolves off while she left. After making her way into the front room, Annette scooted under one of the big, comfortable looking sofas and curled up in a tight ball. After a short while, a pair of small golden paws appeared outside of the sofa. It was Angel. She lay down flat and peeked under the sofa at her friend.

"Grant me entry, secretive one." She said, reaching out to her friend in a tentative, hopeful way.

"Come on in." Annette replied, forcing a smile.

Angel wiggled her way under the sofa with Annette. She stopped in front front of the 'secretive one' with her paws splayed out in all directions.

"Thanks for helping me out back there." Annette said gratefully. Angel shrugged.

"They need to respect your privacy a little more." She smirked. "Or they could have me ask you questions. You'd spill everything then, wouldn't you?"

Annette gasped.

"They didn't."

"Oh they did. They bribed me with bacon. "Bacon! Do they even have bacon?"

Both dogs laughed a little. Once again, Annette didn't really mind talking to Angel. She was pleasant and funny, if a little sarcastic at times. The pair let their laughter die down.

"I really am curious. And I'm not saying that for your sisters." Angel said. Her ears were perked quizzically at Annette, who wrinkled her nose.

"You're as nosy as anybody!" She snapped, though she didn't mean it. Angel faked a pout.

Annette sighed and began to tell her everything she wanted to know. Angel listened quietly, only interrupting a few times with simple questions, like asking how she and Kilian had found their way into the blue house.

Annette left out a lot of details, mostly about her night with Kilian. She watched Angel while she talked. When she began telling Angel what Kilian had said about Harley and the gang of strays, a change came over the fluffy dog. She was stone faced, and scared.

Angel shook her head slowly when Annette finished. The fur along her spine was raised. The tale had frightened her worse than Annette had expected.

"I have a bad feeling about that." The pomeranian-mix said. "I wonder if you could get Kilian here, somehow. It's not safe out there."

Annette blurted out a fast 'no'. Angel tilted her head in questioning. Annette sighed deeply.

"Collette met Kilian in the park and decided that she's in love with him. She says he's the most handsome dog alive. She was all over him." Annette couldn't keep the jealousy out of her voice.

Angel didn't have time to respond to this. There was a muffled gasp on the other side of the couch. Annette closed her eyes with dread and crawled out of hiding with Angel.

"You lied to me." Collette said bitterly. Annette felt her heart breaking at the sound. How was she to know that her sister had been eavesdropping? She took a step towards Collette, ready to explain herself, but Collette was already retreating. Annette could do nothing but watch. Even Angel's smooth talk couldn't fix this. Tears sprang up in her sister's eyes. And then she was gone, running from Annette like she'd been burned.

Annette felt like her shoulders were suddenly weighted down. She hung her head in shame. Angel nudged Annette with a paw.

"Annette, come on. She's overreacting. It's just shock. She'll be okay."

Annette looked at her friend sorrowfully.

"I really hope so."

Kilian was waiting for Annette that afternoon near Jock's bone bank. When she saw him, she practically dove into him tearfully. He was circling her in an instant, panicking when he saw her crying. Annette was not a cryer.

"What's wrong, Ma'am? Annette?" Kilian examined her face worriedly. "Do I need to beat someone up?" Annette blinked tears from her eyes and sniffled.

"No." She then explained to her friend that Collette was now avoiding her. She hadn't spoken a word to Annette, or even acknowledged her existence since that morning. It seemed to make matters much worse when her father had obliviously asked her if she was going to visit Kilian today. Kilian stared at the mixed breed thoughtfully. By the end of Annette's disheartening story, she was blinking back another round of tears.

Kilian pressed close and nuzzled Annette softly, trying to comfort her.

"Hey now. Don't cry." He soothed. "It's gonna be okay. She's your sister. She'll forgive you. She's your sister." He repeated the last sentence gently in Annette's ear. She began to calm.

Kilian pulled away and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I know what you need. Come on, I wanna show you something."

Annette shook her head to clear the tears from her eyes, and stood up to follow Kilian. Despite her sadness, she wondered what her best friend was up to.

"We aren't going to the blue house?" She asked. Kilian steered close to Annette while they walked, brushing himself against her.

"Nope. We're going somewhere even better."

"The park?"

Annette and Kilian were standing on the edge of the lush green park now, side by side. Kilian wagged his tail and grinned. He had something up his sleeve, and Annette wanted to know what it was.

"Close your eyes." He ordered. Annette took a deep breath and did as she was told. She felt Kilian press his side firmly to hers.

"Okay." He said. "Stick right close to me, now. Don't open those eyes. And stop right when I tell you okay?"

Annette nodded. "Okay."

"You gotta promise that last bit, Ma'am." He was stern with his words.

"I promise." What was he up to?

"Alright, come on now. Stay close." The two set off at a slow pace. Occasionly, Kilian swerved Annette around in a wide arc, or made her stop while he moved sticks from her path. She felt the grassy park ground turn into dirt, then back into grass again. Finally, Kilian gave a sharp order.

"Stop!" He barked. Annette stopped dead in her tracks. She felt the terrier's tough frame tense next to her. He was excited.

"Open your eyes, Annette." He said softly. When she did as told, the cocker spaniel cross gasped audibly. They were standing on a natural, grassy ledge high above the town. Annette could see each and every street and house in the land, like a great lot of dollhouses and human childrens playthings, and a beautiful, rolling expanse of hills carried along the town's edge. The hills carried on like something out of a dream, with tiny farms dotting them every once in a while. Past the limit of the farms was untamed, yet to be settled upon. The sun shone brightly over all of this, leaving the sky as clear and blue as it could ever be. Neither of the dogs knew it, but this was the very location where, long ago, Annette and her siblings had been conceived.

"It's beautiful." Annette breathed. She tore her eyes away from the incredible scene below to look at Kilian. He was still pressed close, he hadn't moved after leading Annette here.

"You're beautiful." He said, giving Annette's cheek a little kiss. Annette flushed and returned the kiss, giggling and grinning. Kilian grinned back against her fur.

"Beautiful and sweet, and kind." He went on, nuzzling Annette's brown fur and sat down with her, placing a paw on hers. "Did I mention beautiful?" He said playfully.

"Yeah. You did." A smooth male voice interrupted the couple's happy moment. Both Annette and Kilian whipped around to see a pair of German Shepherds blocking the path. There was no way around them. The Shepherds appeared to be around the same age as Annette and Kilian, although they were much larger. They were identical in every aspect. Annette glanced between one and the other and couldn't tell them apart.

"William? Bill? Kilian shocked Annette by calling the Shepherds by name.

"Hiya, Mitchie." One of the big dogs said. "Funny meeting you here. Really surprised me." He didn't seem surprised at all, in Annette's opinion. The other dog snickered and flicked one of his huge ears. In true German Shepherd fashion, neither of the adolescent dogs had grown into their ears yet, so they were weak and slightly floppy.

"I ent' seen you two around in a while." Kilian said cautiously. William and Bill glanced at each other briefly.

"We got recruited for the gangs." The other Shepherd took a turn talking. His voice was rougher than his velvet voiced twin.

"You and William in a gang...fancy that." Kilian said tensely. In the same instant, he was in front of Annette, protecting her from even the word 'gang'.

Both of the Shepherds looked at each other again.

"There wasn't a choice for us." The gruff one, Bill, said.

"And you don't have one either." William said smoothly. Before Annette could comprehend what had happened, Kilian was shoving Annette with his paws.

"Go, go! Run! Run, Annette!" He said frantically. The two dogs darted like liquid between the Shepherds legs. Both of the bigger dogs looked startled for a second, but they recovered quickly. Far too quickly. Annette was running as fast as she could, with Kilian shoving her along the way to keep her going.

Kilian and Annette had speed, but the big dogs still had an advantage over them. Their long, loping legs caught up quickly to the two, and Annette was crushed under one of the Shepherds only seconds after she and Kilian had made a run for safety. Kilian was captured as well, lying flat on his belly. He was squirming and clawing the ground, leaving deep scratches in the dirt and grass.

Annette was on her back. She was staring right into a long muzzle full of huge, pearly white teeth. The dog's voice led her to believe that this was Bill.

"Hiya, doll." His hot breath washed over Annette's fur when he spoke, and even worse as he laughed. Annette felt a surge of anger. She raked one of her small paws over his muzzle, trying to scratch him. He just laughed again. Annette guessed that this pair of dogs didn't have any manners.

Bill roughly rolled Annette over with one of his tan colored paws and snatched her off of the ground by her scruff. The same was done to Kilian by William. She was far too big to be carried like this, at a year old. It hurt her skin. She curled her hind legs in against her belly in an attempt to stop herself from being dragged along the ground. Bill fell into step behind William, and they were off.

Annette didn't know the city very well. She had no idea where the Shepherds were taking them. Most of her concern for the time being was the pain in her rump as Bill dragged her across the land. She had had enough of this.

Annette kicked her hind legs out and braced her feet against the sidewalk that Bill was currently carrying her over. The big tan and black shepherd growled out his frustration around Annette's scruff. William was laughing around a mouthful of Kilian. When Bill tried to walk with her like this, he nearly tripped over her feet. A surge of hope flared up inside Annette's chest. She began squirming wildly in Bill's jaws. He snarled loudly and crunched his teeth into Annette's skin so hard that she felt his teeth scrape together as they pulverized the sensitive nape of her neck. Her head flew backwards with the pain, butting Bill hard on the nose. He somehow managed to tighten his grip even further, ripping through Annette's skin like butter. She screamed and squealed frantically, removing her feet from the pavement to curl up as tightly as she could. Bill was breathing hard in his anger, and Annette's blood bubbled out of his mouth with his own saliva.

"Stop! You're hurting her!" Kilian shouted frantically "Bill!" Bill huffed out another round of Annette's blood through his mouth and loosened his grip slightly. Annette didn't dare loosen her huddled position for fear that moving would anger him again. When he realized that she was behaving, he started walking again. Annette closed her eyes and prayed that she would wake up from this nightmare soon.

Their destination soon became clear. With Kilian muttering foul curses to the Shepherd twins, Annette finally opened her eyes to take a peek at their surroundings. They had reached the junkyard. Bill and William were slowing down now, as if they dreaded to enter the place themselves. After a moment's hesitation and a long look at each other, the big dogs dragged their prisoners through a black drainage pipe propped in the wooden fencing of the junkyard.

Once inside, Annette saw that escape would be near impossible. She and Kilian were thrown into the cold dust in the middle of the Junkyard. The place was nothing like what her brother had described to her on many different occasions. It was still the same junkyard, with the same filth, trash, and debris in it. It still had the pipe entrance, and it was surrounded with a mixture of wooden and chain link fencing.

The difference was the dogs. Even under Buster's rule, Scamp would tell her that the junkyard dogs were usually playful and jolly, living happily amongst each other here. Everything had changed. There was a single heavyset grey dog guarding the pipe. Huddled in an overturned baby carriage were a variety of very different puppies. Annette counted five of them. A dozen skinny dogs of all different sizes, though none too big, were milling around like sunken eyed ghosts. A few turned to gaze blankly at Annette and Kilian, who were lying stunned in the dirt. Aside from the starving canines, there were also at least six well fed, well muscled dogs studying the new arrivals from various high points in the surrounding junk.

Annette heard William's smooth, sarcastic voice somewhere behind her. His words left her chilled and frightened.

"Welcome to Hell."

Uh oh...something really big is going down. Where are you going with this Essansee?! Let me know what you guys think. :)