Chapter three: Light In The Dark?

"I hope we never hear from her ever again." Chase sneered, clearly becoming upset just thinking about it.

"Now Chase, calm down." Frank soothed, talking the German Shepard down again. "She'll get what she deserves soon enough... but that's not our concern. Our concern is on you, and your recovery; especially after all you went through.. Nothing else matters right now." Chase huffed and walked his paws down to lay his head down on them.

XXXX

Chase lay where he was; eyes gently closed. He yawned a gasping breath in his sleep and shifted positions slightly. Everyone turned to look at him from where they were a short distance away, then turned back to one another.

"Is he really ok?" Mariana wondered aloud, concern clearly ringing in her tone.

"He was poorly treated by Mrs. CorDan." Ryder sighed. "But I think he's still just recovering from lack of good rest... he probably didn't get much while he was stuck there. I've learned that Chase doesn't sleep very well, in places he doesn't feel safe in."

"Sounds like Chase to me." Billy agreed. "One time when he was injured during training he had to stay at the academy's medical unit overnight for observation... I remember he didn't do so well in training that day. He was kinda tired and couldn't really focus very well. I had to asked my sergeant to give him an extra break."

"Physical wounds can also encourage sleepiness as well." Maggie put in. "He was hurt pretty bad; even though he won't admit it."

"That's what I was afraid of." Mariana sighed, dropping her gaze into her paws.

"Hey.. don't worry." Billy encouraged her, placing a hand on her back. "Chase is a tough pup, and if he survived a rough puppyhood; I'd like to believe that he can survive anything."

"So.. how bad was it, exactly?" Marshall asked, half wondering if he wanted to know.

"Pretty bad.. unfortunately." Billy sighed. "Chase wasn't supposed to live past his first few days... but somehow he kept fighting..."

Billy stared aimlessly into the small clear box... Maggie knelt down to peer over his shoulder; placing one hand on her brother's shoulder, and the other on the small stand next to the glassy box.

"He's so tiny." She breathed, unable to break her gaze off the tiny ball of fur. The small pup was barely recognizable as such, with all the tubes and IV's attached to him.

"The doctors say he's not gonna make it." Billy mumbled hollowly, as if only half there.

"I know.." Maggie sighed, lowering her gaze solemnly. The click of a cane on the floor tapped over to them.

"How's he doing?" Frank asked, setting his other hand on the cane with the first one. Billy simply heaved another deep sigh, staring on still. Maggie placed her other hand on his arm and looked back at her father, gently shaking her head.

"I figured as much." Frank breathed sadly, adjusting his grip on his cane. "..Well, at least he'll go, knowing he was loved." Billy swallow hard, a single tear snuck it's way down his cheek; which he immediately brushed away to avoid anyone seeing it. Maggie squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, before getting up to leave. She stood before her father to tightly hug him, and they both quietly left together. Billy almost didn't even hear the door close when they left...

XXXX

The gentle glow of the incubator, and the barely audible blips of the monitors hardly reassured him, as he stood against the wall. Waiting minute after agonizing minute for the dreaded moment to come. After another eternity, he pushed himself off the wall with his foot and approached the small glass box. He knelt down to peer in through the glass at the small, motionless pup.

"Come on, pup.." Billy softly begged, pressing his hands to the glass. "Fight.. I know you're tougher than this.. Just... don't give up yet. Cause... I'm not ready to give up on you." Silence was all that returned, as the state of the pup remained the same. Billy sighed and stood up. Turning his back, he headed for the door. Suddenly a noise stopped him, and he thought he was hearing things. He looked back, but nothing seemed to be there; the pup was still just as silent as it had been. Billy then turned to press his back to the wall, he slowly slid down to sit on the floor.. And, after sitting there for another short while, began to nod off to sleep...

"We were sure Chase was a goner." Billy explained simply. "But the next morning was the craziest day of our lives..."

Another noise roused him from sleep, and he really thought he was hearing things this time. But when it persisted, and even got louder, he realized he was not dreaming. Shifting himself forward, he detected movement. The whimper, he realized, was the tiny puppy cries of the glass-enclosed pup. At this time Maggie cracked the door open, Frank right behind her. And, seeing the movement as well, swung it open to come in quickly.

"He's still alive?!" She gasped, dropping down next to the incubator on astonishment.

"This is the first sound we heard from him since he was born." Billy stated; just as amazed at they.

"Maybe he's a fighter after all." Frank mused thoughtfully. And the pup's cries echoed through the air as the memory began to fade away...

"So why was Chase so sick?!" Marshall cried worriedly.

"Well he was younger and smaller than the rest of the pups. And he seemed to have been a little underdeveloped when he was born." Frank explained. "He was only about a week old, when we really noticed something was wrong with him."

"His immune system wasn't prepared to fight the infection." Billy told them, recalling the memory like it was yesterday. "And the pups were all born a bit early. Those two things, coupled with Chase being the smallest and weakest of the five... made for the perfect storm that day. They weren't expecting him to live because of it."

"And it was an uphill battle from there." Maggie put in, gently scratching Boomerang's fluffy coat.

"But then... why isn't he still that sick?" Rocky wondered.

"Cause he eventually grew out of it." Billy replied. "Otherwise he wouldn't have been accepted into the K-9 program."

"Chase slowly improved." Frank continued, stroking Mariana's shaggy neck. "And it took him a couple years to get there. But once he overcame it.. he seemed to have no problems at all."

"Chase was perfectly healthy when he came here." Ryder said, thinking back now. "..Other than being a little dirty, tired, and hungry from his trip in that box. Katie checked him out real quick, when I took him down to her for a bath."

"And now he's the strongest we've ever seen him." Billy said, as they all looked back at him once more. "He's really grown up."

"That he has." Frank agreed proudly.

XXXX

Chase's ear twitched, but no one saw... none could see him from outside the Lookout. And likely couldn't hear him either, as he lightly began to whine...

The German Shepard wandered aimlessly through dark hallways, which only lead to more like it. Possessing no sense of direction in this place, he simply continued the aimless wandering; only feeling like he was going deeper and deeper into being lost. The darkened shadows and shapes had him on high alert and the slow click of something hard on the wood floor faded in; as if it were slowly coming toward him. And the louder it got, the more his pace quickened; and the more panicked he became. Soon he was flying through the halls; tearing away from the horrible clap of the hard, wooden sound. Terrified to look back and he kept on running... 'what is coming after me!?!?' he thought to himself. He had begun to pant by now, and his breaths becoming more and more audible as he went. Suddenly the halls faded into complete darkness, and he found he couldn't run anymore; like he was suspended in the air where he was. Two large eyes, glowing an off yellow, peeled open; glaring at him fiercely before giant toothy jaws snapped open to swallow him in more darkness!!...

"No!" Chase shot up where he was. He glanced about; soon realizing where he was. He sighed deeply and lowered his head thankfully. Testing his shoulder again, he found that the tenderness was still there. Voices rang out and he looked up toward the door.

Hey, what's up everybody!! Been a little while, but I finally got the next chapter out! Can't wait to see what you guys think. The nightmare at the end was kinda fun to write, as was the flashback as well. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter and I'll see you next time! Enjoy!! Thx!!!