"This is all your fault!" Mary shouted at Agatha. "My fault?" Agatha gasped in disbelief. "MY FAULT?! My daughter has gone missing and you're going around blaming me?"
"Well she's your daughter so technically she's your responsibility, so yeah, it is kind of your fault," Bob said, standing as tall as he could in an attempt to look dignified.
"Hey, your daughter started this fight which distracted us from Janet running off," Felix said, "So it is actually YOUR fault."
"Oh yeah, go and blame the fat dude," Bob shot back, offended. "While meanwhile, your daughter is out in the dangerous city alone at night where she could potentially killed, abducted, or assaulted."
"Don't you dare even put those images in my head!" Agatha screamed. "However, I guess you would like to image that, wouldn't you?"
"W-What?" Bob asked. "Did you just imply that I like imagining kids getting killed, abducted and assaulted?"
"Oh, that's exactly what I'm implying," Agatha said. "How else do you think Brenda ended up the way she's like?"
Bob and Mary gasped in shock at the notion. "You're one to talk!" Mary shouted. "David's a cynic and Janet's a doormat! That doesn't seem like signs of good parenting!"
"Well Brenda's personality is worse!" Felix shouted. "She's-"
"Um, parents," David interrupted. "Shouldn't we be, I don't know, looking for Janet."
"In a moment son, we have deal with these hypocrites at the moment," Felix said, and he then turned towards Bob to continue the argument.
David groaned in dismay while Brenda face palmed. Brenda then whipped out a cell phone and started dialling in a number.
"What are you doing?" David asked. "I'm calling the police," Brenda said. "They should be able to deal with this."
David briefly smiled in relief until Brenda added, "Oh, and when this is all over, I'm going to be there to tell your sister what an idiot she is to leave her home so late."
David narrowed his eyes at Brenda before attempting to leave through the door. However, Agatha chose that instant to decide to see what David was doing and grabbed his arm.
"Oh, come on!" David protested. "I need to find my sister."
"No, David, you are not leaving our sight," Agatha said. "We are going to find her together!"
"Speaking of leaving your sight, we are out of here!" Bob said. "Come on Mary and Brenda, let's get out of here." He took Mary and Brenda by the arm and dragged them out of the house.
"Nice afternoon," Agatha said sarcastically. "Now, come on, let's go find our daughter." With that, the three left the house and went towards the car on the driveway.
…..
Janet wandered through the empty streets of Crystal City, shivering in the cold. It was raining lightly, and there was nobody else in sight at the moment.
"S-Sam?" Janet called out. She was met with silence. "Come on, you n-need to come back," She called out again. The only noise was the padding of rain on the ground.
Janet shivered. "Maybe I should just go back home," She whispered quietly to himself. However, as she glanced up, she saw a familiar figure walking on the street.
It was Sam.
"Sam, it's me!" Janet shouted. Sam spun around in disbelief, then he face palmed once he saw who it was.
"Janet, what are you doing here?!" Sam asked, frustrated. "You weren't supposed to follow me!"
"I couldn't just let you go by yourself, you being injured and all," Janet explained. "So I followed you here. You need to come back."
"Look, I'm more resilient to injuries than you," Sam said. "I'm totally okay." As if on cue, Sam then groaned in pain and rubbed his head.
"No, you're not," Janet reasoned. "You're hurt, and it's night time. It's dangerous in the night."
"If that's true," Sam said, turning around to leave. "Then why are you, an eight-year-old girl, out here?" With that, he vanished into a dark alley.
"Sam, please come back!" Janet shouted, exasperated. She raced off in the direction Sam had disappeared to. She stopped at a dark alley where Sam had been gone.
"Sam, where are you?" She asked. There appeared to be no trace of him.
A chill ran up Janet's spine. She had been told stories by her parents of people who had went into dark alleys and then disappeared, never to be found. David had rationalized it a just their parents trying to scare her, but now, she felt she was in genuine danger.
As she was about to find out soon, the danger was very, very genuine.
As Janet was about to back out of the alley, a trash can tipped over. "Sam?" Janet said hopefully, but then gasped at what she saw.
A large, black Doberman pinscher was standing behind the knocked over trash can. It stood nearly as tall as Janet, and his eyes were beat red. It was breathing heavily, and it's large canine teeth were visible.
As Janet looked closer, she saw that foam was pouring out of the dog's mouth.
The dog had rabies.
The Doberman growled furiously and started to advance towards the small girl, its claws scraping the ground. Janet backed away slowly.
"Um, help?" Janet whispered, hoping that some could hear her. The dog barked loudly and picked up speed. "Help, somebody!" Janet shouted as she backed away faster.
The dog raced forward, barking and snapping its jaws. Janet screamed and kicked a trashcan at the dog to distract it. The dog jumped back and Janet took the opportunity to run out of the alley.
However, the dog recovered quickly and raced out of the alley and sprinted after Janet, snapping its jaws crazily. Janet screamed out in a futile attempt to get help, but it was useless. Nobody heard her.
The dog briefly grabbed the back of Janet's shirt, but Janet twisted around, kicking the dog in the snout. The dog stumbled backwards and tore a hole in Janet's shirt.
Janet resumed running and raced to the door of a random house. Bashing her fists on the door, Janet shouted, "Please, help me! Oh please, help me!"
She twisted her head around to see the dog slowly advancing towards her and started thrashing her fists on the door more violently and started screaming even louder.
"HELP ME!" She screamed. However, the Doberman leapt towards her, knocking her on the pavement. Janet bashed her fists on the dog's snout as it started to drag her by her shirt towards the alley.
The moment they were in the alley, the dog tossed Janet into a wall. Janet's elbow smashed into the wall violently, and she screamed as she felt her right arm bend unevenly.
The dog hissed and surged forward as Janet collapsed on the ground, clutching her arm in agony. She struggled to pick herself up, but the pain in her right arm kept her from getting up. As she clutched her arm, she realized in horror that her arm had been broken from the collision in the wall.
The Doberman howled and tackled Janet.
"Someone, help me!" Janet screamed as she struggled to hold off the Doberman.
…..
Sam slowly trekked out from the city and into the surrounding forest. As he walked into the forest, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.
I shouldn't of left Janet alone in the forest, He thought. She said it herself the city was dangerous at night.
He stopped just a few feet from the forest. And she doesn't have the same powers as me so she wouldn't be able to defend herself if-
He heard Janet scream from the alley. "Janet?" He whispered in shock. He heard the scream continue, along with the sounds of a dog barking.
"Oh no, Janet!" Sam shouted, and he turned around and bolted back towards the city. As he heard the screaming continue, he jumped up and started hovering in the air and flew towards the sounds of the screams.
Flying up onto the roof of a building next to the alley, he looked down to see Janet being mauled by the Doberman.
The dog bit onto Janet's left arm and hung on tight. Janet kicked the dog in the leg in an attempt to get it off of her, but the dog continued to hang onto her arm.
Janet's eyes started to close as she began to lose energy. Soon, I'll be unconscious, and then, it'll all be over, She thought. It'll all be over….
"Hey, you!"
The dog let go of Janet's arm and looked up to see Sam standing at the trance to the alley. His hands were balled into fists, and he had a determined expression on his face.
"Come and fight me!" Sam challenged. "Sam, what are you doing here?!" Janet asked, horrified. "It will just kill you, too!"
The dog barked and charged forward, but Sam didn't falter. As the dog pounced, Sam side-stepped and dodged it. The dog spun around and snapped at Sam, but Sam swung his fist, striking the dog across the face, sending the dog flying into the wall.
Janet gasped in shock at his strength. No way could a little boy like him manage to knock that dog so far.
The dog recovered from the attack and glared at Sam, foam pouring from its jaws. It barked, and Sam took a fighting stance.
The dog howled and leapt towards Sam, and the boy drew his fist back. Then, as Janet watched in amazement, Sam's fist transformed into a bright blue blade.
Sam breathed heavily and stabbed the blade forward, piercing the dog in the stomach. Sam and Janet heard the dog yelp in pain, and it then collapsed on the ground, dead.
Sam analyzed the dead dog for a moment then rushed to Janet's side. She was one the ground, unconscious, both arms bloodied.
Sam picked her up and listened for a heartbeat. She was still alive, but she had lost some blood.
As Sam prepared to get Janet somewhere for help, a light flashed in his face. Sam turned to see two policemen in the alley, and several police cars driving up.
The first policeman flashed a light on the dead Doberman, then on the two children. The police didn't say a word, but walked forward, and Sam realized in dismay that he wouldn't be getting home anytime soon.