The big strong man dropped Apollo on the hard, concrete floor and locked the gate. There were many dogs, isles and isles of them. Most were big and black, but there were some small ones. The man stood there, watching as Apollo looked around, scared. He bent down to the puppy's level. "Don't worry." There was a bright flash that blinded Apollo's little eyes. "Your owner will find you." He then stood up and walked down the isle surrounded with cages.
He wasn't cold, he was scared. The dog on the other side of the chain linked fence was aggressive. He lunged and growled at Apollo. Then, then a door opened and let out all the warm air. There stood his owners, Mac and Stella. They walked towards the cage, as Apollo jumped up and down, barking at them. They were opening the cage when a big black dog jumped at Mac, knocking him down. He hit his head and was passed out. Stella screamed and ran to his side. The big dog was tearing at Mac's sleave, Stella grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, making him yelp in pain. He swung around and attacked Stella. And all Apollo could do was watch. Stella fell to the ground, hitting the aggressive dog, trying to knock him off her. But it was no use. The dog grabbed her by the neck and...
Apollo jumped out of his sleep, yelping in the pain of loosing his owner. The other dogs jump awake, the barking starts again and Apollo relises it was only a dream. Stella and Mac were probably out looking for had to be.
The same door opened, snow fluttered in, Apollo jumped up, thinking it was Stella. But it wasn't. The same big man walked up tothe cage and unlocked it. His hands wrapped around the body of the scared puppy, lifting him up for all to see. Two other men stood there, watching him.
"Yea this is my wife's pup. This nauty little thing jumped the fence!" A skinny man with a beard told the dog catcher.
"You gatta make it higher then, Doberman's can jump up to 6 feet if they needed to. Once, i had one, jumped right through that there window." The man pointed to a window, outside was snow. It was snowing hard, and there Apollo saw her. Stella walked right past the building. Her curly hair flying in the wind. She had been crying.
"Yea, we sure will do that. Cant have him escape again." The bigger man carefully handed Apollo off to the skinny one who smiled at his friend. "I think he'll do well." They laughed as they walked into the cold night. The man holding Apollo dropped him in the back of their van. No windows and again, a lot of barking.
--
She had been walking for hours, just wandering the streets on Christmas night. She was too depressed to do anything else. Even though she was very man at her best friend, thats all she could think of. Mac. Just then, like it was ment to be, Stella walked by a couple on a bench. It was Mac and Peyton. His eyes lit up when he spotted his partner. But the sight of her crying, all alone on Christmas made him want to kill himself. What had he done?
"Stella!" He called after her. She didn't want him to see her crying. She didn't need pity from the man who caused it.
"Mac, just go, i don't want to talk right now."
"Stell, your breaking my heart!" He said, making Stella turn around and look at him. "I cant stand seeing you this way. So, for the rest of the night, we are going to search for your dog... together." She smiled as he walked up to her and grabbed her hand. They walked down the block, leaving Peyton standing near that same bench they once sat.
"I just cant stand thinking of Apollo in a dog fight!" Stella cried into Mac shoulder as they stopped to take a break.
"We will find him, dont worry."He wrapped his arms around her shoulder's, keeping her warm.
--
The van came to a halt and Apollo slid forward, a big dog lunged at him but the chain linked fence protected the puppy. The people talked out side and the double doors opened. The cold air quickly took over as the big man bent in and harshly picked him up. The building was big and cold. There were bright lights hanging from the ceiling and it smelt like death. More kennels were lining rows with big and mean dogs inside. They lunged at the fence as the man passed. He occasionally yelled "Shut up god dam it!" Or something of that kind. They came to an empty kennel where the man opened it up and tossed Apollo in. "Let's see what kind of fighter you are…"The man said with an evil laugh. His friend walked up to the open gate with a big Rottweiler with a muzzle and leash on. Growling at the little scared puppy. The men stood back and let the big dog go.
It jumped at Apollo, cornering him. The pup was shaking with fright and that's when it came to him. He wasn't as small as he used to be, he could get away. The Rottweiler called Toby stepped forward and lowered his head. Apollo stood up straight and also lowered his head and growled like the bigger dog. They stood there until Apollo lunged at his face. He grabbed a hold of the floppy ear with his puppy teeth digging in. Toby screamed in pain and shook violently until the smaller dog flew across the kennel, hitting his head.
"Go Toby Go!" Yelled the bigger man. Toby came around, ready to grab a hold of the pup's neck, the death grip. But that's when he came back to life. Apollo jumped up and attacked Toby. He got the top lip of the mean dog and shook his head, ripping the flesh. Toby screamed in pain again and flipped Apollo to his back. He stood over the younger dog, blood dripping down his torn up lip. The puppy squirmed loose and made a run for it. He ran under the men's feet, they screamed at Toby to chase, he did. His longer legs brought him to Apollo's speed. He lunged, grabbing Apollo's back right leg. He screamed an also lunged, grabbing the already torn up ear. Toby let go and Apollo ran, there was no way out. He had to try something or he would be dead. He couldn't run fast, he knew that his leg was broken. Toby fallowed close behind when he saw his only way out.
He ran as fast as he can, getting enough speed to jump into the sir, going right through the thin glass holding him capture. He landed on his feet, cutting up his paws as he ran. Broken glass and hard rocks everywhere. He could hear the men fighting.
"I told you to replace that window! If that little shit could go through it you know another dog can!" He yelled. Toby had to get the little dog, he jumped thought the open window and fallowed the bloody paw prints and smell of death. He was on the trail to kill.
--
Mac and Stella walk the streets still.
"Mac, its 2 in the morning, why don't you go home?" She asked as they waited to cross the street.
"I'm not going anywhere, like you said, it was my entire fault." He said with a smirk on, making Stella laugh. "Any way, I never gave you you're other gift." She had totally forgotten. They stopped and sat down on a bench in the middle of Central Park . The snow coming down lightly, making their hair a tint of white. "This is for you, Stella Bonasera." He said, handing her a long blue velvet box. She couldn't breath, she had told Mac how much she loves Tiffanie's but she never thought he would get something from there for her.
"Oh Mac." She didn't know what to say. It was a diamond necklace, beautiful. "You didn't have to, the puppy was more then enough!" She said, looking into Mac's eyes.
"I wanted to." He said, leaning in, he wrapped his arms around her and she did the same. They looked into each others eyes when Mac leaned in. Their lip's where about to touch when…
"Mac and Stella?!" Danny yelled in amazement. They sprung apart and stood up.
"Danny, Sheldon, Lindsey and Don, what are you doing here?!" She asked, fixing her hair.
"We were looking for Apollo, it wouldn't be Christmas without everyone together. Even you Mac." Lindsey answered for the boys. They laughed.
"Well, we should split up." Flack announced. "Mac and Stella, you to search the park, don't spend all your time making out." Stella's face felt warm as Mac's face turned stern, making Flack back off. "Danny and Lindsey, go over where we just searched, maybe he's there. Me and Hawks will search everywhere else." He took charge.
They all split up and left Mac and Stella alone. "Let's go." Mac said as he grabbed a hold of Stella's hand. He led her away from the bench, down the lonley, dark path.