-/-/-/-/- One hour before Now, approx. 7:30 AM

Mason walked down the street at a steady gait, mind whirling as he reviewed the events of the last day and a half. He was still wondering how his cousin had managed to rope Mason into helping him. The reaper wasn't the knight-in-shining-armor type, though it would seem that Jexter was that type. Mason shook his head in wonder every time he thought it. His cousin had grown up a lot in the nearly four decades since Mason had died. The reaper had no idea how it had happened; he and Jexter had yet to spend much time talking and reminiscing. They'd split up the previous evening to quicken the search for the perpetrator. Mason checked shops that sold ingredients the thief would need to perform his chaos ritual and stopped in a few demon bars to see if anyone had heard or sensed anything, and Jexter did the same.

Their efforts weren't entirely fruitless. They were able to gather that something was 'going down', but no one they talked to knew who was responsible or where to find them. Tired, the two wizards had put a halt to the search early in the morning and resolved to continue the next day. There were only a few more places to look. Jexter had a good feeling about them and was certain they would deliver answers.

Mason had gotten in five hours of sleep before getting up again and heading to Der Waffle Haus for his assignment. He felt exhausted and took a few pills to help him stay awake. That and he was feeling a slight withdrawal after staying drug and substance-free for the better part of a day, but that was really thanks to the Sobriety Charm than anything else. It took three days for the charm to wear off, and during those three days it was nearly impossible to get stoned or shit-faced drunk.

Mason thought over everything Jexter had said they could expect from the chaos ritual. Mass hysteria was one; complete and total disorder everywhere was another; lots of people dying was another factor, but that was a given. The ritual could be performed at any time in the next few days, and thankfully it would be possible to stop it once it had been started.

He glanced around as he crossed the street a block away from the restaurant. Everything looked normal. The streetlights still worked and no one was acting strangely, from all appearances.

He didn't realize what was happening until after it had happened. As he walked across the mouth of the alley next to the Der Waffle Haus, something sharp locked onto his arm. It sunk through the leather material of his jacket and cut into the flesh of his arm with ease.

The pain was both unexpected and intense. Mason screamed even as whatever was clamped on his arm gave one great jerk, forcing the reaper to surge forward into the alley or lose an arm.

Mason blacked out for a moment. When he regained consciousness, he was lying in the middle of the alley. It took him a moment for his pain-clouded brain to realize what had happened, and when he did he sat bolt upright, staring about him in abject fear. Circling around him, snarling and gnashing their teeth at random moments, were three full-sized dog-like creatures. He recognized them as crups, creatures that, despite their likeness to Jack Russell terriers, were anything but. Their eyes seemed to blaze, and their forked tails wagged in anticipation of the feast: him.

Mason had known many crups in his life, but none of them had been this…wild. Not to wizards or witches, at any rate. Did he have a different scent now that he was undead, one powerful enough for them to mistaken him as a Muggle, whom he had heard crups couldn't stand? What they were doing there, in that alley, was another mystery, but any questions would have to be put aside until he'd figured a way out of this situation without his body being torn up and divided among the crups' stomachs.

As Mason continued to panic, he wondered why they hadn't gone in for the kill. A second later, he had his answer. A growl announced the arrival of a fourth crup. The other creatures made way for their pack leader and Mason found himself staring less than three feet away into the leader's eyes.

He saw it in the dog's eyes, the decision to pounce. Only one thought flashed through Mason's mind, Fuck!

Without thought, he jerked his wand out of his jacket, ripping the pocket and almost snapping the wand in half in the process, not that he noticed. The crup jumped straight at him, jaw opened wide.

A spell flew from Mason's wand tip, impacting almost immediately with the creature's chest. The crup let out a yelp before it dropped onto the cobblestones, landing with a thud on its side. The stupefied creature's eyes were opened in surprise, and drool dribbled off its tongue.

Mason blinked as he realized what he'd done. Unfortunately, the pause gave the other crups enough time to process what had occurred. With howls of rage, they leapt forward.

"Oh, crap! Impedimenta!" Mason yelped, shielding his face from both the crups' claws and the brilliant flash of the spell. The dogs yelped as they bounced off of the temporary force field Mason had erected above him. Two of the dogs landed on the pavement several feet away, but the third hit the far well of the alley and fell to the ground where it lay, deadly still.

As the other two lay dazed, Mason got to his feet, mind furiously reviewing every spell he'd every learned. As one of the crups recovered and charged at him, Mason yelled, "Canis Exumai!"

The spell knocked the creature all the way to the far wall of the alley. It whimpered as it slid down the wall, colliding with several trashcans before it reached the ground.

The remaining crup growled at him. It hesitated a moment before charging him. Mason used the same spell on him, and the dog joined his buddies against the wall.

The alley was sudden very silent and still. Mason was frozen in place, staring down at the unconscious or dead dogs. He was nearly panting. He wasn't surprised in the least when he jumped at the unexpected shout behind him.

Rube demanded, "You mind telling me what the fuck is going on?"