Two months later…
"Meow meow meow."
"Cali, I told you no treats tonight. We need to save some for the PAW Patrol when they get their baths tomorrow." said Katie as she was putting out pet shampoo bottles for display. Yet her kitten continued to claw at her pants.
"Meow meow meow." Cali seemed undaunted; the PAW Patrol wasn't an excuse for her rumbling tummy.
"And yes Cali your bath is also tomorrow."
"Meow! Meow meow MEOW!"
"You silly little kitty. There's a full moon out tonight. Why don't you go and enjoy it?"
Purring gleefully, Cali scampered out, the automatic doors closing behind her. In the far distant, Katie could hear the little feline let out a dissonant cat song full of misplaced accents and wrong pitches. It would surely have drove her neighbors up the wall!
As she was wiping the counters clean, Katie heard a soft rustle behind her. It was soon followed by a low buzz. First dismissing it blatantly as the wind, the noise grew in intensity until it filled the small salon with the eeriness of a haunted asylum. Finally, Katie turned around to investigate and saw what was horribly wrong: the windows at the front of the salon were completely missing.
'I must be hallucinating.' she thought. Shutting her eyes and opening them again, the image in fact was not a dream or an illusion. A light crinkle attracted her eyes to her feet. The shattered glass laid there, carefully arranged to spell out "Behind You". Katie's heart missed a beat. Zillions of sinking worms sank through her body, making the butterflies in her stomach look like amateurs
The low buzzing continued. What could be behind her? A revenge-hungry demon? A bloodthirsty zombie? A wolf infected with rabies? She was deathly afraid of horror movies, and this very moment was a nightmare come true. Katie tried to dash out of the salon, but it was no use, her petrified being refused to let logic and reasoning come into play. And for the first time in forever, she wanted Ryder by her side, to protect and make her feel safe.
Unfortunately for Katie, the worst was just about to commence. Suddenly, a sharp needle effortlessly poked through her clothes and sank into her back, releasing a wave of ravaging neurotoxins. It poured in her bloodstreams, busing up to her brain and one by one shut off the pet groomer's body. Katie found herself unable to produce even a faint murmur, let alone a step towards the door. Her heart stopped beating, her muscles stopped moving and she collapsed, as dead as a sack.