Dawkins walked along the dark halls, silence and a putrid smell to keep him company. He couldn't see any of his siblings as he looked around. "Hello, Dylan? Dante? Dolly? Anyone?" The inventor called out his heart racing as he moved towards a nearby door.
Opening the door revealed a disturbing scene, he had to turn away from the remains of five of his younger siblings. The grisly scene etched in his mind, as he went to investigate the house, terrified of what awaited him.
He started to notice blood and what looked to be canine remains all around him. As he approached the end of the hall, the images of Triple D, Dizzy, and Dee Dee wouldn't leave his mind. The inventor walked up to another door, and opened it to reveal another scene.
Da Vinci laid on the floor, slain and gutted with blood all around her. Dawkins' heart raced, the scene of his sister's body was too much. "I need to wake up, I need to wake up," Dawkins repeated with panic in his voice.
The bloody mass of the painter, he couldn't stomach it. Dawkins looked away, only to see Dylan's body. His older brother's skull smashed in, not as mutilated as the others, with blood and brains covering the floor.
The inventor turned once again, this time it was Dolly. Her throat was torn out from powerful jaws. The inventor wanted to get out of this nightmare, he needed to wake up. But, it was as if his body refused to let him awaken.
"Dawkins, I warned you!" Dante's voice rang out, grabbing the inventor with a bloody paw. Dawkins tried to break free, as he watched his brother taking his last breaths. The scenes he was seeing were unbearable as he closed his eyes hoping to open them and be away from the nightmare.
When Dawkins opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of someone he was surprised by. He was on the verge of tears as he saw his deceased brother, Dimitri 2 looked terrified about something. Dawkins gulped at the sight he was getting, it was the most haunting thing he'd seen.
"Dawkins, why couldn't you let me rest in peace?!" Dimitri 2 yelled out in front of him, his body covered in cuts and bruises. He looked at his deceased brother, who was covered in blood and his collar being stained red as well.
Dawkins looked at his brother's scarred face, it's expression stuck in his mind. The inventor stepped back and felt himself hit something behind him. Looking up, he saw a dark figure growling at him, it's jaws curled into a snarl.
The inventor turned and tried to back away from this dark figure, who reached out and grabbed him. "This time, I will finish the job boy," the assailant said with a low growl reaching out and choking the inventor. "No, no, it's only a dream, this isn't real," Dawkins screamed looking into the face of his attacker in terror.
"Wake up, Dawk. It's only a dream, it's okay," the voice of Dylan spoke as the inventor was shaken awake. Dawkins looked up Dylan and quickly hugged him, the nightmare still fresh in his mind. "It's okay, Dawkins. You're gonna be fine," the elder brother spoke, his voice was gentle and caring.
"I saw… It was…" Dawkins tried to say but was hushed, the space pup just patted the inventor on the head. The two brothers held the embrace for a moment, Dawkins soon found himself calming down. Dylan had always done his best to take care of his siblings, and the inventor was no exception.
"It's time to eat. You can tell me about it later," Dylan told his brother, the inventor broke the hug and got up. He looked over at the machine which was covered by a blue tarp. Dylan followed his gaze and noticed it, now curious as to what his brother was doing.
"What is that, Dawkins?" Dylan asked the inventor who shifted in nervousness. "A new invention, need to find a way to power it," Dawkins told his brother and made his way to the door, Dylan watched his brother leave wondering why the inventor left so quickly.
Dylan figured he'd ask later, but first he'd go and talk to Dolly. While she was back to her usual self, he felt bad for his sister. It seemed life was throwing her curveballs in every direction. She was up and about already, but it was never too hard to find the tomboy.
Dolly was adjusting a desk one of the pups had almost knocked over. "Dolly, anything on your mind?" Dylan asked his sister, there had been something she wasn't saying about what happened with Fergus. They had been happy together, but it seemed to change suddenly.
"Nothing, I've told you before. I'm fine, stop worrying about it," Dolly told him, not wanting to share. "Come on, Dolly. We've been through this before, and I want to help you get over this," Dylan told the tomboy, trying to reason with her.
"Fine, the reason for the break up wasn't typical," Dolly told her brother with a sigh, if she were honest she needed it off her chest. "So, not long after we became a thing. Mom said she needed to speak with me, about something urgent," the tomboy was still trying to figure out how to explain.
"What does this have to do with Fergus?" Dylan asked his sister, who huffed at his response. "We went to a room in private, and I got a little nervous. Then, she said she needed to ask me a personal question," Dolly said recounting the events, she didn't want the younger pups to hear this conversation.
"She asked if Fergus and I… Did anything, and I told her no. I wasn't prepared for it, but something was up," Dolly said recalling her mother getting ready to break the bad news to her. "As you know, me and Fergus could never have pups. Well, it's worse than that," Dolly said on the verge of tears.
"I guess it was strange, for us to be together. But then, mom told me that if we did something…" Dolly was struggling to finish, Dylan now realized there was more than things not working out. "That we couldn't do anything, or I would die. His DNA would be so incompatible, it would be like ingesting poison," Dolly told Dylan and bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes.
"I told Fergus, and he said it was for the best if we weren't together. I guess we'll find someone for both of us, but it was never going to be a happy ending with us together," Dolly finished as Dylan pulled her into a hug, embracing his hurting sister.
"Just remember, I'm here for you sis. I know it hurts, but don't worry you'll find someone else at some point," Dylan tried to reassure her, not sure how to comfort Dolly. He'd opened this can of worms, so he knew he had to be prepared.
Breakfast was silent as no one seemed to want to speak, it was eerie to Dylan. He hadn't had a breakfast this quiet since the incident. He looked over at Dimitris one and three, and sighed he knew they weren't over it, in truth no one was.
Soon enough, it was time for everyone to get ready for the park. Dante and Dawkins decided to join them, they stood with the two Dimitris who were chatting about what mischief they could get up to.
"We could play tug of war, it's been awhile since we did," D1 said to Dimitri 3, the two brothers thought it over and agreed to that. The two troublemakers walked with their siblings to the park. Dawkins listened and thought about how much those two changed.
It was a quiet uneventful walk, they made it to the park and all pups ran off to do their own thing. Dante and Dawkins walked along the trail, it wasn't a quiet day with the sound of playing near them. Yet, there was a charm to it that both could enjoy.
"Are you sure about this, Dawk?" Dante asked his brother, showing great concern. "Dante, this is just an experiment. I can assure you, if I manage this, it will be a great discovery," Dawkins shared with his brother, the inventor was thinking over how this would look.
"If I can scientifically bring the dead back to life, I would be famous and appreciated by many," Dawkins told the goth while gazing into the sky. Dante was confused at his brother's remarks, wondering what this was about. "It's not about bringing him back is it?" Dante asked with a glare.
"I- Dante, this is more than that. Look at the big picture, bringing someone back from the dead would be a big deal," Dawkins told his brother, this could be a huge scientific breakthrough. The inventor wished he could get his brother to realize how big this would be.
"Bringing the dead back to life, interesting discussion," a white pup told the brothers as she walked towards them, being about their age with a purple collar that had a crown pennant. "Who are you? This is kind of private," Dante told her, annoyed and wanting the new visit to leave.
"That's no way to talk to a lady, surely your mother taught you that," was all the pup answered with, her voice sounding regal in a sense. "My name is Diana, and it so happens I am familiar with this topic," Diana told them, the two brothers exchanged glances.
"Uh, well I'm Dawkins and this is my brother Dante," the inventor stated unsure of where this was heading. "Nice to meet you, now resurrection is something out of fantasy isn't it?" The regal pup asked, her sweet voice soft to their ears.
"Yes, though I believe everything has a scientific answer," Dawkins said matter of factly, Dante looked suspicious of this new pup. Sure he had love for the supernatural, but something seemed odd.
Her way of talking felt old fashioned, Dante couldn't quite place it. He wasn't willing to make accusations, but she also interjected herself into the conversation. Also she didn't scoff at the idea, which the goth felt was strange.
"Perhaps, you two could meet me in the moonlight. Then, I can introduce you to a device that can help with your experiment," Diana told them, and walked away. Dante and Dawkins merely looked at each other in confusion.
"Dante! Dawkins! Dolly has been looking for you two," the voice of Da Vinci called out to them as she ran towards them. The two brothers turned to face her, wanting to see what was going on.
"We're about to leave, and she asked me to come get you," Da Vinci told them as she approached, motioning for them to follow her. Dawkins and Dante nodded going with her, still not sure of what to think of their recent encounter.
"Do you think we should sneak out after dark to see what she was on about?" Dante asked his brother who seemed to take a long time to answer. "She was a little suspicious and what could she have possibly meant by what she said?" The inventor asked in concern.
"Something about her doesn't sit right with me," Dante admitted to Dawkins who let out a sigh. "Dante, I'm not sure I've asked or if you care to talk about it, but do the events of that night still bother you?" Dawkins asked curious about how his brother managed to handle it.
Dante just gave him a look as if to say 'What do you think?' He took his time to respond to that, finally giving a sigh. "He deserved it, trust me. I had Dylan ask Pearl to look him up, and he was a complete bastard," Dante admitted to the inventor with a sigh.
"I still took a life, and it's an understatement to say it doesn't bother me. But, if I hadn't… I'm not sure what would have happened," the goth spoke with a burden of guilt in his voice, he didn't doubt he did the right thing but wished there had been another way.
"I'm sorry, Dante. I was such a jerk to you that week, I hope we never fight like that again," Dawkins said hugging Dante, noticing Da Vinci smiling at the two of them as she led them to the group of pups.
"None of us qualified for handling grief well, it was hard on all of us. The truth is, there was no right way to handle it," Dante said to Dawkins, as they got in line. The events of that week ingrained in both their minds as they made their way back home.