Disclaimer: That's right. I still don't oen Petshop of Horrors. I never will. That honour belongs to Mari Akino. *applauds at the creator's genius* By the way, if you haven't figured it out yet, Rebecca belongs to me. Just thought I'd slip that in ^^ And if you haven't seen or read Petshop of Horrors, I advise that you do so. NOW! ^_^

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A/N: I'd like to thank Whit, my beta-reader...because without her, I'd have 20 spelling errors for the word incense *evil giggle* not to mention all of my improper grammer with the word "its". So thank you, Whit! ^^

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"Okay, China, I have your incense," Rebecca said as she climbed through her window. But China wasn't waiting in the room. Rebecca gasped in horror as she stared at her door, which had been busted open. "China!" Rebecca shouted, running out of the room and into the kitchen, where she slipped on a pile of broken glass, landing with a heavy thud. She blinked, trying to clear her head, when she saw a mass of grey and brown fur lying off to her right. Standing over the fallen dog was Rebecca's father, holding a long pole of bamboo...a piece of a decoration that had once belonged to her mother. He brought the bamboo down onto the dog with a violent SMACK that made Rebecca cringe. Her father was drunk, and, by her reckoning, very much out of control.

"STOP IT!" she screamed, crawling over to China, covering the dog with her own body. The bamboo pole came down across her back, but she didn't leave the dog even as the pain ran through her back. "Stop it!" she pleaded. "She didn't do anything!"

"I'll give her a reason to cry!" Rebecca's father shouted, his words slurred from the amount of booze in his body. "I'll show her why she should've listened to me!"

The pole fell across Rebecca's back several more times, but she just laid there and let blow after blow fall. She knew that she couldn't take him down on her own, and she wasn't going to let this man kill again, even if it was just a dog. Soon enough the blows stopped coming and both Rebecca's and China's cried of pain faded into soft whimpers. Rebecca's dad had wandered off, back into the living room, and had prompty passed out in his chair.

"China?" Rebecca asked softly, lifting her head from the animal's pelted hide. "China, please don't be dead." The dog's sides heaved with each labourous breath, and her amber-brown eyes held a dangerous half-mad look to them. Rebecca had a feeling that China would have bitten anyone in sight...if she'd had the strength to lift her head. "Oh China, I'm so sorry!" China could only whimper in response. "We have to get out of here," Rebecca whispered hoarsely. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

Rebecca rose to her knees...and was forced to stop at that position, for her back hurt so much that she couldn't pull herself to her feet. So she crawled, as quickly as her body would allow her, down the hallway to her room. Her hands and legs, which were bare, were torn up by the broken glass that was still on the floor there, but she paid little attention to this new pain. Instead she crawled over to her hidden jar and pulled out the rest of her money, stuffing it clumsily into her pockets. Then she grabbed her coat, a soft cotton blanket, and her duffelbag, and dragged these things back to the kitchen. China hadn't moved but was still breathing.

"Okay girl, lets get you wrapped up," Rebecca said in a soft, but determined, voice. "We're going to get out of here and we're going to go to a place where HE can't follow us. And we'll be fine there, I know we will. Mother used to take me there all the time; I know the way." And while she talked she had wrapped the canine in the blanket and had laid her inside of the duffel bag, which was barely large enough to fit China. Rebecca zipped the opening so that it was partially shut, but would allow the animal to breath, then donned her jacket. Dripping blood down her legs, Rebecca stood up slowly, pulling China along behind her. The only way out was back down the drainpipe, so Rebecca shouldered the duffelbag, and very slowly made her way down to the chilly ground.

"And we're free, China," Rebecca whispered as she headed away from the city, out into the countryside, where her special hiding place was. "We'll be fine now, just you see."

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"Hey Leon, you might want to check this out," a woman called to a blonde haired man, sifting through files on his computer.

"Yeah, what is it Jill?" Leon asked, running a hand through his blonde hair, while skimming several files on his computer.

"You remember the Robinson case?"

"The Robinson case?" Leon repeated. "Yeah, who in this department doesn't? Asian woman disappears about a month ago, after a fight with her husband, possible homicide but nothing to back up our suspicions . It's been shuffled over to missing persons."

Jill nodded. "The department just got a call, supposedly the daughter's gone missing."

"Robinson has a kid?" Leon asked, mildly surprised. "I don't recall questioning a kid."

"That's because you didn't," Jill stated. "No one did because no one could find her. Robinson mentioned in passing that he had a kid, but she was nowhere to be found at the time of the disappearance of Li-san Robinson."

"And she's missing now?" Leon wondered.

"That's right," Jill confirmed. " Their next door neighbor said when she didn't see the kid leave for school, she became concerned and called it in. Neighbor across the hall said she heard something last night, some shouting and some yelping... like an animal or something like that. "

"An animal huh?" Leon asked. "Jill, run a check for me real quick... see if the Robinson's were a client of our favorite little pet shop."

"Gotcha," Jill replied, running some info through her computer. "Your guess was right. They made a purchase yesterday. I take it you're gonna head down to Chinatown?"

"Leon!"

"Yeah, Chief?" Leon called back.

"The Robinson apartment. Get over there, now."

"Gotcha."

****

Leon arrived at the apartment, noting that several of the neighbors were peeking out of their doors to see what was going on but no one was offering the officers on scene any help. He found the apartment easily enough, and when he saw who was waiting outside he was shocked and slightly angered. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded of Count D, who was waiting patiently outside.

"Ah, Detective," D greeted. "It is nice to see you again."

"Yeah, right," Leon mumbled. "What do you think you are doing here?"

"I am here," D explained patiently, "for a friendly visit."

"Right. And what'd you sell this time?" Leon demanded angrily. "A killer bird? A man-eating parrot perhaps?"

"Not at all, Detective," D replied in a slightly hurt tone. "I sold the Robinsons a dog. A rare breed at that."

"Yeah, right. What is it this time, a werewolf?"

"Half werewolf, actually," D answered with a hint of a smile touching his delicate lips.

Leon looked at him with a stunned and confused expression. Then he said, "well, I sure hope you can calm it down. If I find a dead kid in there I'll be dragging your ass down to the station before you can even blink." D simply gestured for Leon to continue his job. Angrily, the homicide detective pounded on the door, shouting for Mr. Robinson. When he didn't get an answer he drew his weapon and kicked the door open. No one, man or beast, came to meet him. It didn't take long for the police to find Mr. Robinson, he was passed out in his chair, a bottle of beer still in his hand.

"Get him out of here," Leon ordered after searching the rest of the house. "Get him sobered up. I want some answers out of him." The other officers cuffed and hauled the drunk man out of the appartment, leaving just Leon and D. "I wonder where the kid and the dog are." D didn't miss the cutting sarcasm in Leon's voice, but he simply ignored it. Leon continued. "Hmm, it looks like they got into a fight...there's quite a bit of blood. Goes from the kitchen back to the bedroom. But no bodies...neither human nor canine. What's going on?"

"Perhaps they have both fled," D suggested, an odd look in his strangely coloured eyes. "One of them has been injured. The question is, which one, detective, which one?"