Chapter 4-Family Ties

Muffin looked at her phone. It was buzzing on the table beside her. She wanted to just sink further into the warm water and ignore the call-This lavender jasmine bath bomb is heavenly… but after a minute of irritating ringing she picked up without looking.

"Hello, this is Muffin." She answered.

"Muffin…" Bandit sniffed.

"Uncle Bandit?" She sat up, "Is everything okay?" While she hadn't never heard or seen her uncle cry, it certainly wasn't something she expected to hear over the phone.

"Muffin you were right… He, he came back and…" Bandit sobbed, unable to complete the sentence.

Muffin's brow immediately knitted together, "Wait, who came back, Michael?"

Bandit sniffed, "Yes."

Muffin growled. "I swear to God if that bastard did anything…" She raked her claws along the edge of the tub.

"He… he got them. Both of them. Now Chilli's with Bingo and… and Bluey… Oh God!" Bandit broke into fresh tears.

"What did he do?!" Muffin shrieked as she leapt out of her bubble bath.

"Bluey, she… she didn't make it." Bandit choked, "And Bingo's in surgery, they think she'll pull through, but… Oh God I can't…" Bandit exhaled, "Look, I know this sounds insane… But I'm killing that bastard, but I need your help. All that stuff you said, about how he was coming back…" Bandit exhaled. "Damn it, Muffin, I thought you were just being paranoid."

Muffin grabbed a towel off the rack and quickly dried off. "Do you have any idea where he is or what he's doing next?"

"No, I don't know why he went after the girls; he never did when they were kids…"

"But he did now." Muffin said, growing cold. "I know where he's going."

"What?" Bandit swallowed.

"Michael's killing off anyone who he let live last time. My parents, they're only a few blocks from Bluey's apartment. I have to get over there!"

"I'll meet you there. I'm gonna kill that fucker with my bare hands if I get the chance."

"Only if I get to watch." Muffin said, hanging up before she dialed her father.

After a moment he picked up, "Hey Muffy, what's up?"

"Dad! Where are you?" Muffin asked, running out of her apartment and slamming the button on the lift to take her down to her car.

"At Hammerbarn. Your mum wants some new shelves put up but I don't have the right screws. Doesn't help this store is so bloody big I can't find anyone to ask where the hell they have the screws…" Stripe irritably looked around at the seemingly endless aisles. He was somehow in the lawn and garden department even though he swore he'd already walked through that to get to appliances earlier.

"Dad, he's back!" Muffin shouted, now in the elevator, "He's back and he got Bluey and Bingo!"

Stripe frowned, "Muffin, what do you mean 'he got Bluey and Bingo'? Did something happen to them?" Stripe's pulse increased as he started thinking of who exactly Muffin was talking about.

"Bluey's dead and Bingo's in the hospital. It was him dad, he's back. He's killing anyone who escaped last time. Mum is next! We need to make sure she's safe!"

Stripe immediately let go of his shopping cart and started running toward the front of the store. "I'm on my way home."

"Uncle Bandit and I are heading there too. I'm gonna call Socks, you call mum."

"I love you Muffy."

"I love you too, Dad."

***Shortly Afterward***

Muffin growled, neither Socks nor her mother had picked up their phones. She was speeding through the streets heading toward her home, silently praying that somehow Michael wasn't there yet, that maybe things were alright…

Unfortunately they weren't.

Socks had been downstairs at the table studying when she heard a creaking noise from the kitchen. Her mother was in the living room watching something on television, so she knew it wasn't her. She got up and walked over, crossing the threshold. The sliding door was open to the backyard, the light from the moon glimmering off the pool. She slid the door closed and made sure it was locked.

"Hey mum, did you leave the door open earlier after your swim?" Socks called, still looking at the handle.

"Just a crack dear. Your father recaulked it as part of his home repair spree this morning. It should be dry by now, so you can close it."

Socks looked at the door and shrugged, she turned to head back toward the dining room when suddenly she was lifted up off the ground and her muzzle clamped shut by a strong pair of hands. She struggled, wriggling as she tried to get free. As she did she felt a sudden pain in her back, then another, and another…

She gagged, feeling something wet in her chest suddenly pooling out. She was tossed to the floor and quickly pinned, the beast stabbing again as she tried to escape. But it was no use. After a moment he stood up, looking down at her. Socks wheezed weakly, feeling the warmth leave her as the floor started to turn crimson. She turned toward the living room and mustered her strength. "Mum… Run!"

Trixie paused her movie and got off the couch, "What was that Socks?"

She was met with silence.

"Socks, everything alright?" She asked, leaving the living room and entering into the dining area. She froze when entered. Socks was lying on the floor, still alive as she gasped for air, with some hulking shape in front of her.

"Get away from my daughter!" Trixie screamed, aiming to charge at the intruder, but she was quickly knocked down. She slid across the floor and ended up facing up as the monster paced across the floor. Michael stood over the grey heeler matriarch. Socks watched from her position on the dining room floor, slowly bleeding out from the six stab wounds to her chest and back as he lifted her mother off the ground. Trixie was panicking, trying to free herself. She clawed at the shape's arms and neck, her paws leaving deep gouges that drew blood, but ultimately failed to bring any visible reaction to the monster. "Let me go!" She shouted, leaning back to try and tip him off balance.

By a miracle it worked, she managed to tip him and fall out of his grasp, landing on the floor across the room as he fell backward onto the table. She was winded, but had escaped. She rolled over and quickly got back up to her feet. He was close behind, despite being halfway across the room a moment before. She quickly armed herself with a glass vase off the sideboard, smashing the end to make broken shards. "You fucked with the wrong bitch tonight!" She yelled, wielding the vase.

Michael didn't seem to react, only nearing closer as she screamed. Trixie stabbed the monster in the face with the glass, leaving a large gouge in his fleshy mask revealing a split in his blonde fur that showed bleeding skin. The mother continued her attack, stabbing him repeatedly with the glass until it had lodged itself in many broken pieces in the attacker's face and neck. She took a deep breath as she stepped back. Any normal dog would've surely gone into shock, if not bled to death from the sheer number of stabs to the face and neck Trixie had landed. However…

Michael took another step forward and grabbed onto Trixie's face. He held her snout shut as he lifted her off the ground. Trixie's eyes widened as he started applying pressure. She struggled and swayed, trying to break free, but alas, her luck had run out. Socks watched in horror as her mother's jaw began to crack. She heard her mother's screams as Michael clamped together her jaws so tightly that the teeth started to crack and protrude trough the flesh, revealing shards of white poking through her grey fur. Blood followed shortly, and as Trixie's screams became more muffled Socks barely remained conscious to watch her mother's lower jaw be forced through the top of her snout, bits of teeth and bone poking through the maw as it deformed. She continued to struggle as he held her aloft, then he flicked his wrist. This completed the break and severed the entire front of Trixie's face off, the snout and muzzle ripped off, a bloody mess remaining in his hands as she fell to the floor. She was gasping for a moment before the blood pooled in the little remaining portions of her airway, ultimately asphyxiating the grey heeler.

***Forty Minutes Later***

Muffin had arrived too late. Her mother was dead, her sister was nearly there. Socks had been rushed by ambulance to the nearest trauma unit, and while she was in critical condition she'd mercifully managed to not get stabbed in any major organs or blood vessels. There was a chance she could survive. She'd been stabilized, and would be going into surgery shortly.

Muffin hadn't seen Michael leave; if she had she would've likely tried to kill him on sight. She stood trembling on the front porch, her father and uncle by her side watching as Trixie's body was rolled out on a gurney covered in black plastic. It was quiet as the three just held each other. Suddenly a green hatchback skidded to a halt in front of the house and a familiar dog got out.

He ran across the lawn, panting with tears streaming down his face as he stopped to look at the Heelers. It was Jack.

"Jack, what are you doing here?" Bandit asked.

"I… I got home from work and saw what happened. Jesus, I… I can't believe what happened." He shook his head, hoping this was just some nightmare he might be able to wake from. "The cops told me about what happened at my apartment-well, some of it- and that it was him…" He clenched his fists as his eyes went dark. He looked up at the other three, "I know I don't have the same claim as the rest of you, but Bluey was everything to me. I loved her. And I'm gonna personally make sure that bastard is dead so he can't do this again."

Bandit nodded approvingly, silently placing his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Okay."

"How are we gonna do that? He's too strong." Stripe muttered, looking down at his feet. "Even six shots just put him down for a minute!"

"I know how." Muffin said, "But I need some help."

***Two Hours Later***

The layout and guard patterns of Brisbane Mental Institute were something that Muffin knew intimately. Not from ever being there, she wasn't crazy after all, but as a result of a certain pen-pal. After leading the other three through camera blind spots, down an access corridor and through an abandoned elevator shaft until they arrived at the end of a long hallway. Muffin motioned for the others to be silent and quickly disabled the cameras before hiding behind a pillar and knocking out a guard. After she double checked everything was clear she grabbed his keys and motioned for the others to follow her.

"How the hell do you know how to do all that stuff?" Jack whispered.

"That is something I'd also like to know." Stripe commented.

"Mostly the internet, and a few classes I took with some friends over the summer." Muffin remarked.

"I assume its better we don't know, isn't it?" Bandit inquired.

Muffin nodded before unlocking a cell and motioning for them to enter. It was the same as all the others in the unit, a small room with a bed, dresser, toilet and sink. It wasn't dissimilar from a prison cell, only with slightly more privacy and no roommate.

"Muffin!" A voice beamed.

"Hey Sam, I told you I'd get you out when it was time." She replied.

"Sam?" Bandit looked at his friend, the sheepdog was largely the same despite twenty years passing, apparently he'd managed to keep himself fit despite the confines of his environment.

"You can catch up in a few, come on!"

Ten minutes later the group was back in Stripe's SUV, now barreling down the highway leaving Brisbane.

"Sam. I can't believe it's been so long." Bandit said looking at his friend in the passenger seat. "Did you get any of the letters we sent?"

"Aye, sorry I didn't reply. I, it was complicated." He admitted, not wanting to go into detail about how he'd felt the first few years after he'd been forced into the institution.

"You know you're not crazy." Jack said, looking up from his hands where he held a scrap of paper. "He is a monster. He's not a dog, at least, not really."

"And we're going to kill him. Tonight." Stripe said.

"That bastard killed my daughter." Bandit said, his eyes hot.

"My girlfriend." Jack stated, clutching tightly the note in his hands.

"And my wife." Stripe growled.

"My mum." Muffin clenched the steering wheel tighter.

"We know you know more about him than the rest of us, so we got you free. We think we know where he's going. We need you to lead us to him, then together we're gonna mulch the bastard into mince so he can't do this again." Bandit said, gesturing toward the boot where a large array of weapons were.

Loomis looked out the window, "Alright."

"Very good." Bandit smiled, "Muffin, turn right at the next exit. Wendy's new house is nearby."